URDU 2 CHALLENGES TO THE REVIVAL OF KHILAFAH : AN ANALYTICAL STUDY

خلافت کے احیاء کو درپیش چیلنجز: تجزیاتی مطالعہ

Abstract

The motive behind sending the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) was to spread the message of Allah and Deen. It became the responsibility of Ummah after the demise of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H). He (P.B.U.H) gave the news that his Khulafa (Caliphs) would further this great task after him. That’s why the Khilafah (Caliphate) continued in the shape of Khilafat-e-Rashida (Rashidun Caliphate), Banu Ummaya (Umayyads) and Banu Abbas (Abbasids) in coming days. As the time passed, though, the elements of spirituality and divinity declined in the Caliphate but still this system protected the religious and worldly as well as collective interests of the people more than other systems of the world. Generally, a Caliphate or khilāfah is an institution or public office governing a territory under Islamic rule. The person who holds this office carries the title of Caliph and is considered a politico-religious successor to the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) and a leader of the Ummah. Historically, the caliphates were polities based on Islam that developed into multi-ethnic trans-national empires. While the importance of the Caliphate as a political power fluctuated throughout the history of Islam, the institution survived for over a thousand years. Often acting as little more than a symbolic figurehead, the formal office of Caliph remained from the death of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) in 632 until the Ottoman Caliphate was formally dismantled in 1924. During the medieval period, three major caliphates succeeded each other: the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), and the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1517). In the fourth major caliphate, the Ottoman Caliphate, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire claimed Caliphat authority from 1517 to 1924. The thesis analyses the hypothesis whether the establishment of a Caliphate is possible in future, what will be the procedure to be adopted to set it up and what will be the difficulties in this process