Some extremist groups in Arab countries and abroad have made the revival of the caliphate their objective if they reach power some day. What caliphate are they talking about? Is there a history that we didn't study in schools and universities? We are in the Hejira calendar year 1432, and Islamic history has only two years that Muslims can be proud of – the caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, who brought the entire Arabian peninsula under the control of Muslims; from there he launched a series of conquests between the beginning of his caliphate in 632 AD until the conquest of Andalusia in 711, or only 69 years; since then we have been continuing to lose, and lose, and one day we might wake up and realize there is nothing left for us to lose. The Caliph Omar bin al-Khattab wanted to negotiate with the rebels, and Abu Bakr said to him: "Strong in the age of Jahilieh, and weak in the era of Islam? By God, had they denied me something they gave to the Prophet of God, I would have fought them over it." Omar was very just, but was every tough on his son, for drunkenness; he ordered him whipped, and the son was sick, and died. After becoming caliph following Abu Bakr, Omar sidelined Khaled bin Walid, the greatest military commander in the history of the entire world, because of a dispute they had when they were young. Othman bin Affan, meanwhile, favored his relatives and the years of his rule can be summed up by the saying of Imam Ali: Othman was guilty of misrule, and the people were impatient. Imam Ali bin Abi Talib was a genius in everything except dealing with people, perhaps because of his young age. Three out of the four rightly-guided caliphs ruled for a total of 29 years out of 1,432 years of Islam, and some of them were betrayed and killed. The Omayyads, whose leading figure Abu Sufyan converted to Islam during the year of the conquest because he feared execution, took over power, and they were kings and not caliphs. Yazid bin Muawiya killed the grandson of the Prophet and his son al-Walid shot the Quran with arrows after opening and finding it that threatened everyone who was stubborn and tyrannical. He wrote poetry about the topic; these verses are part of our heritage, and I will not repeat them here. The Abbasids fought in the name of the Prophet's family, and when they ruled they did so unilaterally. They began with al-Saffah, who was followed by Abu Jaafar al-Mansour; he killed his military commander, Abu Muslim al-Khurasani and placed a rug over his body, and then had a meal there, along with his men. There was the cruelty of Haroun al-Rashid toward the Baramika, angered that they were loved by the people, and perhaps because they were Shiites. Jaafar al-Baramki was cut into three pieces, each of which was hung on a branch. The Caliph al-Amin was a homosexual, and even the women in his time wore men's clothes. The Caliph al-Ma'mun killed his brother al-Amin, and killed or tortured the religious scholars of his era who opposed his views on religion and philosophy. As the poet said: "Behold what has become of the Caliphate, now held by the sons of concubines." The actual rule of the Abbasids, from al-Saffah to al-Mutawakkil, did not last even 100 years. After that, there was a caliph only in name, since the Buyids or the Seljuks actually ruled. The system of petty kingdoms ended with the Mongol Hulagu, who destroyed Baghdad and killed the Caliph al-Mu'tasim and his family, and the people, and burned their city. Before I forget, Tariq bin Ziad conquered Andalusia in 711 CE and was followed by his commander Musa bin Nusayr, who was rewarded by being ousted from his post. Musa returned to Damascus, with spoils the like of which had never been seen by the Muslims. When he reached the region of Lake Tiberias, Suleiman bin Abdel-Malik asked him to wait, until his brother al-Walid died, because the Caliph was sick. But Musa did not do so; he handed over the spoils and the princes of the Goths to al-Walid, who was followed by Suleiman, who punished Musa bin Nusayr as harshly as possible. He made him stand in the sun for an entire day, until he fainted; it was said that he was seen during his final days heading for Madina or in a nearby area of the Hijaz. These were the rewards of Khalid bin Walid, Tariq bin Ziad, Musa bin Nusayr and Abu Muslim al-Khurasani. The details are a thousand times more horrific than these summaries. However, the political history of the caliphate does not deny that the Arabs built an intellectual and cultural renaissance of the highest international order. They were the bridge used by Europe to cross from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance. It is enough to mention paper, for example, which reached the Arabs from China in 751 CE; the Arabs improved the way it was manufactured and popularized its use and without it, no renaissance could have taken place. In university I studied political science, and then Arabic literature and Islam. I started a doctorate in Middle History. During my studies and my work as a writer, I found that we cherry-pick our reading of history; we select the positive acts that suit us, and forget the crimes. The only caliphate I am proud of is that of Abu Bakr. I do not want to see any Arab country under a caliphate, but rather a civil state with room for all citizens, whose laws are guided by the Quran and the Sunna, and do not contradict Sharia; a modern state of law that is ruled by the people, and not a dictator, even if an enlightened one. [email protected]
