The “East—West” Dilemma: The Caliphate in the Categories of Acceptance and Rejection by Muslim Ideologists of the 20th Century

Abstract

The article discusses the actualization of the problem of Islamic statehood after the official abolition of the Caliphate by the Parliament and the Government of Turkey in 1924. From that time on the institution of the Caliphate was no longer a part of the political reality in the Muslim world. However, it has become an arena of the movement for the revival of the traditional Islamic form of government and a platform for debates regarding the ways and prospects of restoring the Caliphate within the framework of new political realities. The search for a more pragmatic understanding of the problems of the Caliphate was followed by the shaping of the idea for debunking of its historical role as the foundation of the Muslim community. The authors of the article examine the concepts, logic and argumentation of the Egyptian theologian Ali Abd al-Raziq (1888—1966), who questioned the legitimacy of the Caliphate as a political phenomenon and criticized it from a theological and legal point of view. The analysis of the source material confirms that calls for the replacement of the Caliphate with other political models of government were not positively received in the post-Ottoman space of the Middle East and North Africa. The article also explores the foundations and practical actions of the Caliphate movement which emerged among Muslims in South Asia. The article focuses on the views and visions of the Caliphate’s future of two Muslim thinkers – Abul Kalam Azad (1888—1958) and Abul Ala Maududi (1903—1979). As advocates of Caliphatism, both intellectuals represented different approaches to the future development of the Muslim community in South Asia: the idea of coexistence of Muslims with other religious communities within the borders of a single secular state and the idea of Islamic fundamentalism based on the construction of a world Caliphate. Attempts to rethink the concept of the Caliphate continue in the modern Muslim world, which, however, is not ready to give an unambiguous answer to the question of the possibility of developing its societies in line with European civilization.