THE CALIPHATE OF ISLAM

Victor M. Eskew

 

            Jesus commanded His disciples, saying:  “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).  Thus, the Christian religion is striving to convert every individual in every nation of the world to Christ.  Christians want all to become citizens of the kingdom of God.

            In like manner, Islam wants all men and women to become Muslims.  There are two main differences, however, between the Christian faith and Muslim faith.  First, Christians seek to bring individuals into the kingdom solely through the teaching of God’s holy Word.  Islam seeks to teach others, but it also uses force and violence to bring “non-believers” into submission.  Second, the kingdom of Christ is a spiritual kingdom.  It is not a literal, earthly kingdom in competition with other physical kingdoms on the earth.  Jesus said:  “My kingdom is not of this world:  if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews:  but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36).  Islam, on the other hand, is attempting to establish a physical kingdom throughout the entirety of the world.  This kingdom that they desire is referred to as “The Caliphate.”  In this article, we want to introduce our readers to this concept of Islam.

            The caliphate of Islam is a physical, government or state.  It is overseen by a caliph, khalifa in Islam.  It is governed by a law, shari’a law.  This caliphate is supposed to permeate the entire world.  This government is supposed to overthrow all other governments.  Sharia is supposed to be the law of the world.  Yes, Islam is a religion, but it is more than just a religion.  It is also a political system that seeks to control the world.  There have been three major attempts to do this in the past:  the Umayyed Caliphate (661-750), the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258, 1261-1517), and the Ottoman Caliphate (1517-1924).  There are numerous Islamic groups today that are seeking to establish another Caliphate and bring the world under the dominion of Allah. 

            It is essential for all nations to understand this fact about Islam, especially the United States of America.  Why do we say:  “…especially the United States of America”?  The reason is because we believe in the freedom of religion in our nation.  Islam parades itself as a religion, but it is more than just a religion.  It is a government that wants to rule the world.  If given a chance, it will overthrow our nation and replace our Constitution with shari’a law.  Dear readers, this has happened to nations in the past. 

            We have pointed out that the caliphate is to be ruled by a caliph or khalifa.  Some refer to this individual as “The Commander of the Believers.”  He is considered to be the religious and political successor to the prophet Muhammad.  He exercises divine authority.  He is a representative of the people.  He is God’s vice-regent.  Both the Qur’an and the Hadith mention the khalifa.  In Surah Al-nur, verse 56, we have this reading:  “Allah had promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He will surely make them Successors in the earth, as He made Successors from among those who were before them; and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He had chosen for them; and that He will surely give them in exchange security and peace after their fear:  they will worship me, and they will not associate anything with Me.  Then who so is ungrateful after that, they will be rebellious.”  This verse plainly teaches that Allah will give the nation of Islam successors after Muhammad.  A quote from the Hadith make this statement about the caliphs:  “Leaders will take charge of you after me, when the pious (one) will lead you with his piety and impious (one) with his impiety, so only listen to them and obey them in everything which conforms with the truth (Islam)” (Hisham Ibn Urwah reported on the authority of Abu Saleh on the authority of Abu Hurairah that Muhammad said).  Again, it is asserted that “leaders” will come after Muhammad that the followers of Islam were to listen to and obey.

            In Islam, there is to be only one leader at a time.  When Muhammad lived, he had no rivals.  In like manner, each caliph is to have no rivals.  Al Mawardi, an Islamic jurist of the Shafi'i school, has said:  “It is forbidden to the Ummah (Muslim world) to have two leaders at the same time.”  Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi, an influential Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and hadith scholar, stated:  “It is forbidden to give oath to two leaders or more, even in different parts of the world and even if they are far apart.”  This has created a huge problem for the Muslim world because they are extremely divided.  One of the great divisions is between the Sunnis and the Shia’s.  The Shia’s believe that the successor to Muhammad must be from the blood-line of Muhammad.  The Sunnis, however, believe that the leaders can be selected through a democratic vote of the people.  This division leads to two men being the caliphs, one from each group, claiming to be the caliph.  Muslims cannot follow both.

            In the not too distant past, there was a call for a caliphate by the al-Qaeda breakaway group ISIS or ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.  This happened on June 29, 2014.  Eventually, they changed their name to Islamic State (IS) indicating that this was the caliphate to rule Muslims all over the world.  Their caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made this cry to Muslims throughout the world:  “thos who can immigrate to the Islamic State should immigrate, as immigration to the house of Islam is a duty…Rush O Mulims to your state…” (quoted by Damien McElroy, “Rome Will Be Conquered Next, Say Leader of ‘Islamic State,’” The Telegraph, July 1, 2014).  In an article entitled, “Islamic Caliphate Declared:  What Does It Mean?”, Tom Robinson writes:  “Islamic terror groups the world over, including Hamas, al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, the Taliban, the Muslim Brotherhood, etc., ‘all profess the revival of the caliphate, the regime that was installed by Muhammed’s righteous successors, the caliphs, and has become the iconic model to be emulated by all future generations of Muslims” (Raphael Israeli, From Arab Spring to Islamic Winter, 2013, p. xiii).”  Dear readers, Islam wants the world to be deceived into thinking that their religion is not serious about establishing a caliphate.  Do not be deceived!  Let’s inform as many as we can about the Islamic caliphate so we can stand and fight against this government that wants to take over the world.