Caliphate

A caliphate (Arab: rear RTL خِلافة) is the territory recognizing the authority of a Caliph (Arab: rear RTL خليفة), successor of the prophet Muhammad in the political exercise of the capacity. This word is also used to indicate the political regime itself and the period during which he is exerted (e.g. “during the caliphate of Haroun Al Rachid”).

In French, the word caliphate comes from the word caliph by addition of the suffix - At .

Several caliphates existed since the foundation of the Islam, following the fights that the various applicants delivered themselves under successor of the Prophète , after the first four caliphs.

Most important are:

The first caliphs (632 - 661)

See also: Rashidun

With died of Mahomet into 632, Islam is divided: whereas Abou Bakr is indicated, a quarrel is born between the inhabitants from Médine and Mecque concerning the succession from the prophet. Some prefer a succession resulting from the family by in particular proposing to Ali his son-in-law to succeed to him. The companions oppose and name Abou Bakr it: the first caliph will be thus Abou Bakr (or Abubéker) which continues the conquest of the Arabic peninsula. His death in 634, its Prime Minister Omar (or Umar) succeeds to him. This one conquers the Palestine, the Mésopotamie, the Egypt and the Perse; in 644, he is stabbed by a Persan slave not converted with the Islam to which Médinois had given the name of abu lu' lu' has in the mosque whereas he was in prayer. After his death, a third caliph was appointed by consultation of the companions of the prophet: Uthman (644 - 656). The fourth caliph is Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the prophet (656 - 661).

Omeyyades (661 - 750)

See also: Omeyyades, Omeyyades of Spain

The Omeyyades (or Umayyades) are a dynasty of caliphs who controlled the Muslim world of 661 with 750, establishing their capital with Damas. They hold their name of one their ancestors, Abu Umayya. They belonged to the tribe of the Quraych ites, tribe dominant with Mecque at the time of Mahomet. After being itself opposite with this one, they had joined it at the last time.

Omeyyades were dependant with the third caliph, Uthman. When this one was assassinated by opponents who carried to the capacity Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Mahomet, all those which were related to Uthman shouted revenge, in particular the omeyyade Mu `âwîya, which was then governor of Syria. Following some engagements, Ali was isolated capacity by an arbitration, and Muawiya was proclaimed caliph by the Syrians (661). Only the Shiites recognize the legitimacy of Ali. This one having been assassinated the same year by the Kharidjites, its former partisans, plus nothing was not then opposed to the reign caliphs omeyyades.

However, as from years 680, a series of internal disorders failed to put an end to this dynasty, but it always succeeds in taking again the top:

In 680, at died of Muawiya, notable of the city Shiite one of Koufa, in Mésopotamie, wanted to put on the throne Husayn, second wire of Ali. They were crushed with Kerbala by an army omeyyade.
In 683, notable a quraychite, Abd Allah Ben az-Zubayr, raised in Arabia the two Holy Cities of Mecque and Médine, and extended its capacity to Basra (Bassora), in Iraq. At the same time with Kufa a revolt organized by Mukhtar in the name of one of wire of Ali.
burst Moreover, various kharidjites groups caused disorders in southernmost Arabia, Iran central and High Mésopotamie.

Fortunately for Omeyyades, the various insurgent groups did not have any union between them. Kharidjites did not extend out of the deserts; Abd Allah was overcome by the caliph Abd Al-Malik, while Mukhtar was crushed by the brother of Abd Allah, which controlled Basra.
The adversaries of the mode showed it impiété for various reasons:

  • it had usurped the place and had poured the blood of the family of the Prophet;

  • it would have been too indifferent to Islam and its rules, in particular while neglecting to convert the conquered populations.

It is true that Omeyyades a long time preferred to make pay to the not-Moslems taxes (capitation and tax on land) rather than to convert them. However the successors of `Abd Al-Malik chose a more flexible solution: conversions were encouraged, and for the converts capitation was replaced by the legal alms of the believer; but the tax on land was maintained on their grounds (under pretext that those were not converted).

Omeyyades were then détrônés in 750 by the Abbassides, which founded their own dynasty. Almost all the family members were massacred, but the prince `rear-Rahman Abd Ier, succeeds in fleeing, gaining Spain and establishing there a new dynasty with Cordoue. The emir `Abd Al-Rahman III took the title of Caliph into 929, thus affirming supplements it independence of Cordoue.

The Abbasids (750 - 1517)

See also: Abbasid

The Abbasid news dynasty preserved the function of caliph until XVIe century, but these caliphs exerted the reality of the capacity only during certain limited periods.

Apogee and decline (750-945)

The beginnings of the Abbasid reign were marked by a reform of the empire taking better into account the populations not-Arabic and not-Moslem women. It was also a time of urban development, symbolized by the new capital, Baghdad, founded by Al-Mansûr in 762. However, the capacity was quickly destabilized, in particular by the strong presence of mercenaries Turkish in the army and the guard of the caliph. The tensions caused by this situation led the caliphs to move the capital with Samarra between 836 and 883.

In addition, as of the 9th century, the authority of the caliph grew blurred with the periphery of the empire. The Tunisia and the Tripolitaine took their autonomy under the control of the Aghlabides, Egypt under that of the Toulounides. the Transoxiane and the Khorasan were successively under the domination of the Tahirides, of the Saffarides then Samanides.

The capacity Abbasside completed to weaken with the foundation of the schismatic caliphate fatimide, but especially, as regards internal policy, with the increasing importance of the viziers and the emirs Turkish. In 936 is created the function of large emir whose capacity is very wide, as well in the military field as in finances.

Caliphate under supervision (945-1180)

After being itself gradually reduced, the statute of the caliph was not any more that, symbolic system, of “commander of the believers”, and the reality of the political power was ensured by dynasties not-Arabic.

Bouyides (945-1055)

See also: Bouyides

This family of Iranian origin seized in 945 the function large emir and dominated primarily the Iraq and the Iran.

Seldjoukides (1055-1180)

See also: Seldjoukides

At the beginning of the 11th century, the Turkish tribe of Oghuzz, dominated by the clan of the Seldjoukides, invades the Eastern provinces of the Arab empire then Iran. In 1055, their chief Tuğrul Bey took Baghdad and was made recognize like Sultan. Its posted ambition was to re-establish the legitimacy of a capacity sunnite vis-a-vis Bouyides Shiite and to the caliphate fatimide which had progressed towards the Egypt then until in Syria and with the Hedjaz, and to take again possession in the name of the caliph the Holy Cities of Mecque, Médine and Jerusalem.

In fact, the capacity Seldjoukide seized the Syria (but the Croisés took Jerusalem in 1099) and of the Anatolia. But quickly of the competitions were done day between the various clans Turkish and the capacity of the sultans decreased.

The revival of the capacity califien (1180-1258)

The decline of the sultans seldjoukides made it possible to the caliph Year-Nasir to restore its authority on the Iraq. But the Mongolian invasion of 1258-1260 and the execution of Al-Musta' sim reflect a final term with the Abbasid capacity.

The sultanate Mameluke (1261-1517)

See also: Mameluke

Al-Mustansir, an Abbasid family member, took refuge in Egypt where Saladin had destroyed the dynasty fatimide in 1171 and that the Mamelouks directed since 1250. The sultan Mameluke Baybars made admit Al-Mustansir as caliph in order to legitimate his political authority. But, in fact, the line of caliph who remained under the sultanate Mameluke did not have any more the least piece to be able and had a title purely honorifique.
In 1517, the Othoman sultan Sélim Ier conquered the Egypt, putting fine at the sultanate Mamelouk and, at the same time, at the Abbasid caliphate.

The Othoman institution califienne (1517 - 1924)

A late tradition reports that Sélim Ier wanted to perpetuate the supreme institution of Islam by assuming in its turn the title of caliph. This fact unverifiable and is largely questioned by the Arab historians, but the Othoman sultans were indeed regarded as carriers of this dignity. One can see an illustration in the care of it that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk took to abolish officially the institution of the caliphate on March 3rd, 1924, two years after that of the sultanate. The last caliph of the Othoman house is called Abdul-Medjid. He died in exile in Paris, 1944, and was buried in the Holy City of Médine, in Saudi Arabia.

Towards a new caliphate (1924 -)

The Chérif of Mecque Hussein Al-Rachid (grandfather of the dynasty currently reigning in Jordan), combined British lasting the First World War then undertook to restore the function with its profit, but it failed in front of the rise to power of Abdel Aziz ibn Saoud.

Today, certain movements panislamic of political Islam, the such Hizb C-Tahrir or the Muslim brothers, have in their political program the requirement of the restoration of the caliphate.

See too

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