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WP Blog: "New Caliphate" Nonsense

WP Blog: "New Caliphate" Nonsense

Counter-Point -- Guaranteed to Stir Controversy in Counter-Terrorism Community...

New Delhi, India - "Muslims want to revive the Caliphate," I hear pundits say. The idea is just preposterous. The Caliphate is a pre-nation state concept, relevant only to the Age of Empire. The Caliphate was defeated by the British in 1918. It was buried by the Turks in 1924.

Upon first glance, it seems the Caliphate had a fabulous run from 632 to 1918. However, look again: Only for a very short while during these 1300 years was there a single Caliph to which all Muslim political formations gave allegiance. Usually, there were multiple Muslim communities. The Ummayads in Spain never recognized the Abbasids in Baghdad; and the Mughals in India certainly did not pay obeisance to the Sublime Porte of their Turkish kinsmen in Istanbul. Then Mustafa Kemal Ghazi packed off the last Ottoman Caliph with 2000 British pounds and a one-way ticket to Europe. He sealed the institution that had long outlived its utility.

The British drew most of the arbitrary lines around which nations were created out of the fallen Ottoman Empire. Those lines survived colonial mischief, local tyranny, despotism, socialism, popular upsurge against unrepresentative governments, war, and upheaval. Through nearly decades of turmoil, the power of the nation has been the one steady reality. The Arabs are united by a common language, culture and faith, and yet prefer to live in some 22 nations. They do not want to report to an Arab Caliph....

*By M.J. Akbar | December 11, 2006; 7:50 AM ET

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cgi-bin/mt/mtb.cgi/13930

* About the author: Mubashar Jawed Akbar is a leading Indian journalist and author. He's the founder and editor-in-chief of The Asian Age, a daily multi-edition Indian newspaper with a global perspective and editor-in-chief of The Deccan Chronice, a news daily based in Hyderabad. He has written books including Blood Brothers, Nehru: The Making of India, Kashmir: Behind the Vale, Riot After Riot, The Shade of Swords, and India: The Siege Within.

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For the Record/Hypothesis:

It is the previously stated belief of ERRI counter-terrorrism analysts that there is a "jihad" underway in an efort to achieve a new "caliphate." We believe that there is at least a substantial segment of radical Islam who are pursuing this goal.

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As reference, we might point to: “The Neglected Duty,” a pamphlet produced by Egyptian Islamic Jihad (or EIJ, the group that assassinated Anwar Sadat in 1981 and that was previously led by Ayman al-Zawahiri). This pamphlet, the group’s announced “testament,” is also a clear expression of the Sunni Islamist perspective on political violence as jihad. It argues that jihad as armed action is the heart of Islam, and that the neglect of this type of action by Muslims has caused the current depressed condition of Islam in the world. EIJ attempts to communicate a sense of urgency to Muslims, who are being victimized and whose territory is being divided and controlled by non-Muslim powers. The document also seeks to justify jihad against other Muslims who, because they are ignorant of this situation, actively cooperate with the unbelievers in the name of “modernization,” and are worse than rebels—they are Muslim traitors and apostates.

Furthermore, fighting such unbelievers without the limits imposed if they were rebellious Muslims is justified, since they are worse than other unbelievers. “The Neglected Duty” defines the current rulers of the Muslim world (as Sadat was defined) as the primary enemies of Islam and apostates, despite their profession of Islam and obedience to some of its laws, and advocates their execution. This document is explicitly messianic, asserting that Muslims must “exert every conceivable effort” to bring about the establishment of truly Islamic government, a restoration of the caliphate, and the expansion of the Dar al-Islam, and that the success of these endeavors is inevitable.

Reference: "The Concept and Practice of Jihad in Islam," by MICHAEL G. KNAPP, Parameters, Spring, 2003

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“Islamist terrorism is an immediate derivative of Islamism.This term distinguishes itself from Islamic by the fact that the latter refers to a religion and culture in existence over a millennium, whereas the first is a political/religious phenomenon linked to the great events of the 20th century. Furthermore Islamists define themselves as ‘Islamiyyoun/Islamists’ precisely to differentiate themselves from ‘Muslimun/Muslims.’ . . . Islamism is defined as ‘an Islamic militant, anti-democratic movement, bearing a holistic vision of Islam whose final aim is the restoration of the caliphate.’” Mehdi Mozaffari,“Bin Laden and Islamist Terrorism,” Militaert Tidsskrift, vol. 131 (Mar. 2002), p. 1 (online at www.mirkflem.pup.blueyonder.co.uk/pdf/islamistterrorism.pdf).

-- Source: "THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT," Index of sources, "Chapter 12. What to Do? A Global Strategy," Page 579

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The Caliphate: One nation, under Allah, with 1.5 billion Muslims

By James Brandon | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

AMMAN, JORDAN – The three middle-aged men sitting in an Indian restaurant in Jordan's capital scarcely look like Islamic revolutionaries. They are smartly dressed in Western-style suits and sip thoughtfully from cans of Pepsi as they share their plan to reshape the Muslim world. "[President] Bush says that we want to enslave people and oppress their freedom of speech," says Abu Abdullah, a senior member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Party of Liberation. "But we want to free all people from being slaves of men and make them slaves of Allah."

Hizb ut-Tahrir says that Muslims should abolish national boundaries within the Islamic world and return to a single Islamic state, known as "the Caliphate," that would stretch from Indonesia to Morocco and contain more than 1.5 billion people. It's a simple and seductive idea that analysts believe may someday allow the group to rival existing Islamic movements, topple the rulers of Middle Eastern nations, and undermine those seeking to reconcile democracy and Islam and build bridges between East and West. "A few years ago people laughed at them," says Zeyno Baran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the leading expert on Hizb ut-Tahrir. "But now that [Osama] bin Laden, [Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi, and other Islamic groups are saying they want to recreate the Caliphate, people are taking them seriously."

-- Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0510/p01s04-wome.html

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Zawahiri and the Caliphate

ERRI Comment: Ayman Zawahiri speaks extensively about the establishment of a caliphate in the Middle East, some examples come from a reportedly confiscated letter from Zawahiri to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2005. Several quotes from that letter speak directly to the Al-Qaeda desire to establish a caliphate that would encompass a large swathe of Europe, the Middle East, and even into Asia.

Zawahiri Quote: “It has always been my belief that the victory of Islam will never take place until a Muslim state is established in the manner of the Prophet in the heart of the Islamic world, specifically, in the Levant, Egypt, and the neighboring states of the Peninsula and Iraq; however, the center would be in the Levant and Egypt.”

"If we are in agreement that the victory of Islam and the establishment of a caliphate in the manner of the Prophet will not be achieved except through jihad against the apostate rulers and their removal..."

-- Source: Suspected Ayman al-Zawahiri’s July 9, 2005, in letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (now deceased)
Can be found at: http://www.rjchq.org/media/pdf/zawahiriletter.pdf

Additional translation of Zawahiri letter: http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/zawahiri_letter.pdf

In regard to the same letter, the Washington Post writes: "But Zawahiri urged Zarqawi in the letter to change that formula and refocus on politics. When the United States leaves, al Qaeda must be ready to claim as much territory politically in the inevitable void that will arise, he writes. Zawahiri called that stage the setting up of an "emirate," in as much of Sunni-dominated Iraq as possible, to be followed by the longer-term goal of a "caliphate," reuniting the historical Islamic empire centered in modern-day Egypt, Lebanon and Israel." -- Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR2005101101353_pf.html

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Excerpt of "10-04-04, Osama bin Laden's Scary Vision of a Grand Muslim Super State, By Juan Cole

" For al-Qaeda to succeed, it must overthrow the individual nation-states in the Middle East, most of them colonial creations, and unite them into a single, pan-Islamic state. But Ayman al-Zawahiri's organization, al-Jihad al-Islami, had tried very hard to overthrow the Egyptian state, and was always checked. Al-Zawahiri thought it was because of U.S. backing for Egypt. They believed that the U.S. also keeps Israel dominant in the Levant, and backs Saudi Arabia's royal family. Al-Zawahiri then hit upon the idea of attacking the "far enemy" first. That is, since the United States was propping up the governments of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc., all of which al-Qaeda wanted to overthrow so as to meld them into a single, Islamic super-state, then it would hit the United States first."

"Likewise, al-Qaeda was attempting to push the United States out of the Middle East so that Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia would become more vulnerable to overthrow, lacking a superpower patron. Secondarily, the attack was conceived as revenge on the United States and American Jews for supporting Israel and the severe oppression of the Palestinians. Bin Laden wanted to move the timing of the operation up to spring of 2001 so as to "punish" the Israelis for their actions against the Palestinians in the second Intifadah. Khalid Shaikh Muhammad was mainly driven in planning the attack by his rage at Israel over the Palestinian issue. Another goal is to destroy the U.S. economy, so weakening it that it cannot prevent the emergence of the Islamic superpower."

"Al-Qaeda wanted to build enthusiasm for the Islamic superstate among the Muslim populace, to convince ordinary Muslims that the U.S. could be defeated and they did not have to accept the small, largely secular, and powerless Middle Eastern states erected in the wake of colonialism. Jordan's population, e.g. is 5.6 million. Tunisia, a former French colony, is 10 million, less than Michigan. Most Muslims have been convinced of the naturalness of the nation-state model and are proud of their new nations, however small and weak. Bin Laden had to do a big demonstration project to convince them that another model is possible."

"Bin Laden hoped the U.S. would timidly withdraw from the Middle East. But he appears to have been aware that an aggressive U.S. response to 9/11 was entirely possible. In that case, he had a Plan B: al-Qaeda hoped to draw the U.S. into a debilitating guerrilla war in Afghanistan and do to the U.S. military what they had earlier done to the Soviets. Al-Zawahiri's recent message shows that he still has faith in that strategy. The U.S. cleverly outfoxed al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, using air power and local Afghan allies (the Northern Alliance) to destroy the Taliban without many American boots on the ground. Ironically, however, the Bush administration then went on to invade Iraq..."

" It remains to be seen whether the U.S. will be forced out of Iraq the way it was forced out of Iran in 1979. If so, as al-Zawahiri says, that will be a huge victory. A recent opinion poll did find that over 80 percent of Iraqis want an Islamic state. If Iraq goes Islamist, that will be the biggest victory the movement has had since the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. An Islamist Iraq might well be able ultimately to form a joint state with Syria, starting the process of the formation of the Islamic superstate of which Bin Laden dreams."

"If the Muslim world can find a way to combine the sophisticated intellectuals and engineers of Damascus and Cairo with the oil wealth of the Persian Gulf, it could well emerge as a 21st century superpower. Bin Laden's dream of a united Muslim state under a revived caliphate may well be impossible to accomplish. But with the secular Baath gone, it could be one step closer to reality...."

-- Source: History News Network, http://hnn.us/articles/7378.html

Mr. Cole is Professor of Modern Middle Eastern and South Asian History at the University of Michigan. Professor Cole could hardly be described as a "Bush apologist" or a supporter of the current foreign policy, yet he cautiously watches as Bin Laden/Zawahiri, et al attempt to carry out their plans for the establishment of a calliphate. His website is http://www.juancole.com/.

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ERRI Conclusion:

After an examination of much available evidence, it remains the considered opinion of ERRI counter-terrorism analysts that there is presently an attempt underway to attain a "large scale Caliphate in the Middle East." Our review would suggest that there are numerous adherents and supporters of this effort, including Usama Bin Laden, Ayman Zawahiri, and the Al-Qaeda and related organizations. Furthermore, our assessment would suggest that radical "Islamists/Jihadists" will wage "jihad" for many years in order to accomplish this goal, and that their perceived dimensions of time and space are not those of the modern, Western World. In other words, even if this effort extends into future decades, the true believers of this religion/philosopy/ideology will continue this struggle to unite the Ummah and reestablish the glory days of a "pure Islam"....

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