Abstract
This chapter provides evidence on how Muslims understand the Caliphate and what leads them to consider it as an alternative for the current international order. It reviews some of the most influential accounts of the Caliphate from elites across history, with attention paid to its variations. Then, in highlighting descriptive findings from a self-administered survey, the chapter depicts that the Caliphate is connected mostly to notions of welfare and justice. It is also connected to Shariah, which is a fluid concept. Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) survey data in this chapter reveal that support for a global Caliphate correlates with favorability toward Shariah, with anti-Americanism, and with a rejection of Western values. The chapter concludes that the Caliphate is understood in instrumental or utilitarian terms, as a vehicle for the broad social welfare and justice long lacking in much of the Islamic world. Future research should take into account Muslim attitudes regarding the Caliphate.
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Notes
- 1.
“Stadium Crowd Pushes for Islamist Dream,” BBC News, August 12, 2007.
- 2.
See, for instance: “Extremists Call for Caliphate in London(istan),” The Telegraph, July 28, 2009; “Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Renaissance,” Jerusalem Post, September 18, 2007; and “Radical Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir Calls for Caliphate in Grand Meeting in Ankara,” Hurriyet Daily News, March 8, 2016.
- 3.
Mshari Al-Zaydi, “The Brotherhood’s ‘Caliphate ’ Revolution,” Asharq Al-Awsat, July 25, 2012.
- 4.
“Tunisia Islamist Causes Outcry with ‘Caliphate ’ Talk,” Reuters, November 15, 2011.
- 5.
“ISIS Declares New Islamist Caliphate .” The Wall Street Journal, June 29, 2014.
- 6.
“President Discusses Global War on Terror,” Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, September 5, 2006. In fact, Bush used the term “Caliphate ” at least 15 times in 2006 alone, with four uses in one speech (Rasheed et al. 2012).
- 7.
Sami Moubayed, “A Coup in ISIL-stan?” Huffington Post, May 14, 2015.
- 8.
“Anti-terror Code ‘Would Alienate Most Muslims,’” The Guardian, February 17, 2009.
- 9.
I use the English transliteration of the Arabic Khilafah and the English word Caliphate interchangeably in this chapter.
- 10.
Table 2.2 in the second chapter shows support for the Caliphate in all the major surveys in the Muslim world during the past decades.
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Isani, M.A. (2019). Support for a Global Caliphate as Alternative. In: Muslim Public Opinion Toward the International Order . Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97328-9_5
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