 "The Last Caliph", an illustration inLe Petit Journal illustré in March 1924, shortly after the abolition was carried out. | |
| Native name | Hilafetin kaldırılması |
|---|---|
| Date | 3 March 1924; 101 years ago (1924-03-03) |
| Venue | Grand National Assembly of Turkey |
| Coordinates | 39°54′42″N32°51′04″E / 39.91167°N 32.85111°E /39.91167; 32.85111 |
| Cause | Atatürk's reforms |
| Outcome | Deposition ofAbdülmecid II |
| ||
|---|---|---|
1st President of Turkey   | ||
TheOttoman Caliphate, the world's last widely recognizedcaliphate, was abolished on 3 March 1924 (R.C. 1340) by decree of theGrand National Assembly of Turkey. The process was one ofAtatürk's reforms following the replacement of theOttoman Empire with theRepublic of Turkey.[1]Abdülmecid II was deposed as the last Ottoman caliph.
The caliph was nominally the supreme religious and political leader of all Sunni Muslims across the world.[2] In the years prior to the abolition, during the ongoingTurkish War of Independence, the uncertain future of the caliphate provoked strong reactions among the worldwide community ofSunni Muslims.[3] The potential abolition of the caliphate had been actively opposed by the Indian-basedKhilafat Movement,[1] and generated heated debate throughout theMuslim world.[4] The 1924 abolition came about less than 18 months after theabolition of the Ottoman sultanate, prior to which theOttoman sultan wasex officio caliph.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk) reportedly offered the caliphate toAhmed Sharif as-Senussi, on the condition that he reside outside Turkey; Senussi declined the offer and confirmed his support for Abdülmecid.[5] At least 13 different candidates were proposed for the caliphate in subsequent years, but none was able to gain a consensus for the candidacy across the Islamic world.[6][7] Candidates included Abdülmecid II, his predecessorMehmed VI, KingHussein of Hejaz, SultanYusef of Morocco, KingAmanullah Khan of Afghanistan, ImamYahya of Yemen, and KingFuad I of Egypt.[6] Unsuccessful "caliphate conferences" were held in theDutch East Indies (today Indonesia) in 1924,[7] in 1926 inCairo, and in 1931 inJerusalem.[6][7] TheSharifian Caliphate under Hussein existed for a few years.
In the late 19th century, Ottoman sultanAbdul Hamid II launched hispan-Islamist program in a bid to protect the Ottoman Empire fromWestern attack anddismemberment, and to crush thedemocratic opposition at home.[citation needed]
He sent an emissary,Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, to British India in the late 19th century. The cause of the Ottoman monarch evoked religious passion and sympathy amongstIndian Muslims. A large number of Muslim religious leaders began working to spread awareness and develop Muslim participation on behalf of the caliphate; of these,Maulana Mehmud Hasan attempted to organize a national war of independence against theBritish Raj with support from the Ottoman Empire.[8]
Following theOttoman defeat in World War I, the Ottoman sultan underAllied direction attempted to suppress nationalist movements, and secured an officialfatwa from theShaykh al-Islām declaring these to be un-Islamic. But the nationalists steadily gained momentum and began to enjoy widespread support. Many sensed that the nation was ripe for revolution. In an effort to neutralize this threat, the sultan agreed to hold elections, with the hope of placating and co-opting the nationalists. To his dismay, nationalist groupsswept the polls, prompting the Allied Powers to dissolve theGeneral Assembly of the Ottoman Empire in April 1920.[9]
At the end of theTurkish War of Independence, theTurkish National Movement'sGrand National Assembly voted to separate the caliphate from the sultanate andabolished the latter on 1 November 1922.[10] Initially, the National Assembly seemed willing to allow a place for the caliphate in the new regime andMustafa Kemal did not dare to abolish the caliphate outright, as it still commanded a considerable degree of support from the common people. The caliphate was symbolically vested in theHouse of Osman.[11] On 19 November 1922, the Crown PrinceAbdülmecid was elected caliph by the Turkish National Assembly atAnkara.[10] He established himself inIstanbul (at that timeConstantinople) on 24 November 1922. But the position had been stripped of any authority, and Abdülmecid's purely ceremonial reign would be short-lived.[12]
When Abdülmecid was declared caliph, Kemal refused to allow the traditional Ottoman ceremony to take place, bluntly declaring:
The Caliph has no power or position except as a nominal figurehead.[13]
In response to Abdülmecid's petition for an increase in his allowance, Kemal wrote:
Your office, the Caliphate, is nothing more than a historic relic. It has no justification for existence. It is a piece of impertinence that you should dare write to any of my secretaries![13]
On 29 October 1923, the National Assembly declared Turkey arepublic, and proclaimed Ankara its new capital. After over 600 years, the Ottoman Empire had officially ceased to exist.[10]
In March 1924,Muhammad al-Jizawi, Rector ofCairo's prestigiousAl-Azhar University, in direct response to the collapse and the issue of preaching in such an environment,[14] formulated a resolution:
Whereas the Caliphate in Islam implies general control of the spiritual and temporal affairs of Islam; Whereas the Turkish Government deprived the CaliphAbdul Mejid of his temporal powers, thereby disqualifying him from becoming Caliph in the sense that Islam required; seeing that in principle the Caliph is destined to be the representative of the Prophet, safeguarding everything concerning Islam, which necessarily means the Caliph should be subject of respect, veneration and obedience; and whereas the Caliph Abdul Mejid no longer possesses such qualifications and has not even the power to live in his native land; now therefore it has been decided to convene an Islamic conference in which all Muslim nations shall be represented in order to consider who should be appointed Caliph...[15]
Two Indian brothers,Mohammad Ali Jauhar andMaulana Shaukat Ali, leaders of the Indian-basedKhilafat Movement, distributed pamphlets calling upon the Turkish people to preserve the Ottoman Caliphate for the sake of Islam. On 24 November 1923,Syed Ameer Ali andAga Khan III sent a letter toİsmet Pasha (İnönü) on behalf of the movement.[16] Under Turkey's new nationalist government, however, this was construed as foreign intervention; any form of foreign intervention was labelled an insult to Turkish sovereignty and worse, a threat to state security.Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk) promptly seized his chance. On his initiative, the National Assembly abolished the caliphate on 3 March 1924. Abdülmecid was sent into exile along with the remaining members of the Ottoman House.[17]
With the failure of the Muslim world to find consensus on establishing a new caliphate, the claim of the caliphate entered a period of dormancy.[citation needed]
In Egypt, debate focused on a controversial book byAli Abdel Raziq which argued for secular government and against a caliphate.[18]
Today, two frameworks for pan-Islamic coordination exist: theMuslim World League and theOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation, both of which were founded in the 1960s.[19]
The most active group that exists to re-establish the caliphate isHizb ut-Tahrir, founded in 1953 as a political organization in thenJordanian-controlledJerusalem byTaqiuddin al-Nabhani, an Islamic scholar and appeals court judge fromHaifa.[20] This organization has spread to more than 50 countries, and grown to a membership estimated to be between "tens of thousands"[21] to "about one million."[22]
Islamist organizations such as theFederated Islamic State of Anatolia (based in Germany, 1994–2001) and theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (1999–present, declaration of caliphate in 2014) declared that they had re-established the Caliphate, although these claims received little acknowledgment from other Muslims.[23]
Media related toAbolition of the Caliphate at Wikimedia Commons_(1881-1938)_in_westers_(3x4_close_cropped).jpg)