Supporters of an Islamist movement are calling for a caliphate at a demonstration in Hamburg. But what is that anyway?
An Islamist demonstration in Hamburg on Saturday is keeping the German authorities busy. The participants held banners calling for, among other things, the caliphate. You can read more about the demo here.
It was registered by the group “Muslim Interaktiv”, which, according to the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is close to the banned Islamist movement Hizb ut-Tahrir, which, among other things, wants to create a caliphate based on the early Islamic model. But what is a caliphate anyway? t-online gives an overview.
What is a Caliphate?
A caliphate is an Islamic form of government. The ruler of such a caliphate is called a caliph. He combines the secular and spiritual leadership in his territory in one person. The jurisprudence in a caliphate is based on Sharia, the order established by God in Islam.
The idea of the caliphate goes back to the founder of Islam, the Prophet Mohammed. He already ruled over Medina as both a religious leader and a secular ruler.
What does a caliphate consist of?
According to the historian Hugh Kennedy, there has been no consistent image of this form of rule in the history of the caliphates. “Anyone looking for an aggressive caliphate in which the Muslim population is strictly controlled can find precursors in the extensive historical documents,” writes the researcher. “Anyone who is looking for a caliphate that is generous and open to ideas and customs, but of course remains true to its view of the will and intentions of God, will also find what they are looking for in the historical tradition.”
A caliphate can therefore have a wide variety of forms. What life is like under such a government depends particularly on the religious but also secular views of the ruler.
Central to the concept of the caliphate is the position of the caliph as God’s representative on earth. In history there have often been several caliphates at the same time and side by side, competing with each other.
The claim of a caliph is often to lead not only the people in his territory, but also the Ummah. The Ummah refers to the entirety of all Muslims. A caliphate can therefore aim to unite all Muslim-dominated countries into a larger area of dominion – regardless of their dominant current of Islam.
What would a Hizb ut-Tahrir caliphate look like?
According to “Generation Islam”, a successor organization to Hizb ut-Tahrir, which was banned from operating in Germany in 2003, a caliphate is a “unique state system” that is set out in Islamic scriptures. The Prophet Mohammed was also a “statesman, strategist and diplomat”.
According to the group’s idea, all population groups and faiths should be able to live in peace in a caliphate – under the government of a Muslim ruler. The followers of “Generation Islam” are referring to the Umayyad Caliphate, which is said to have encompassed a large empire from Spain to India in the sixth and seventh centuries.