Atatürk's words on the Caliphate!

These days, they keep shouting at Palestine rallies; “We want the Caliphate” they say. 

In reality, the true intention is the Caliphate, while Palestine is just an excuse. 

So, is the office of the Caliphate, which was abolished in 1924, possible today, or could it be restored? We cannot know that, but we can state what Atatürk thought about the Caliphate.

First and foremost, Atatürk was opposed to the office of the Caliphate. “I must state clearly and definitively that those who strive to distract and deceive Muslims with the dream of a Caliph are solely and only the enemies of Muslims and, in particular, the enemies of Turkey,” Atatürk says in his 1924 speech. He did not want a caliphate or anything of the sort in the country he founded and liberated. 

However, in the Nutuk (Speech) he delivered in 1928, he says the following for Islamic countries that desire a Caliphate;

“If Muslims living in Europe, Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world can gain their independence at a future date, and if they then find this (the Caliphate) necessary and beneficial, they can find certain principles of compromise and unity in accordance with the conditions of the age.

Certainly, every state and every community will have things to take from and provide to one another. They will have mutual interests. The authorized delegates of these envisioned independent Muslim states will come together to hold a congress, and thus these Muslim states will naturally establish relations among themselves on various issues. To maintain these common relations and to ensure cooperation within the conditions required by these relations, an assembly will be established from the relevant Muslim states. It is then that the assembly ”The president of this Assembly will represent the United Muslim States” if it takes such a decision and desires it, that entity shall be called the ‘Caliphate’ of the United Muslim States, and the person elected as President shall be called the ‘Caliph’.

Otherwise, for any Muslim state to grant a single person the authority to manage and execute the affairs of the entire Islamic World is something that reason and logic can never accept.”

Now, let us examine these words;

Atatürk possesses such high foresight that he can even predict that Islamic states might one day desire a Caliphate. However, this He states that the Caliphate should not be arbitrary and must have certain conditions.

For example;

1- Islamic states must be "independent",

2- They must see the Caliphate as "necessary and beneficial" in today's world,

3- The Office of the Caliphate must be peaceful and conciliatory in a manner suitable to the conditions of the age.

It should not be primitive and outdated as it was practiced in the past. Just as in World War I, it should not issue a "call for jihad". It should be a problem-solver and conciliatory. 

It cannot be done by screeching “We want the Caliphate” like cats with their tails caught in a door. A Muslim must be modern. And in this century we have reached, one should not still have the primitive mindset of the cave era.

That is what he is referring to.

Let us continue with Atatürk's words;

Atatürk after describing “how the Caliphate could be,” does not stop there. "Certainly, every state and every community will have things to take from and provide to one another," he says. "It is necessary to maintain these relations and ensure that we work together within the conditions required by these relations," he says. "These envisioned independent Islamic States would come together through delegates to hold a congress and establish an assembly," he says. In the assembly to be established, "If a decision is made that 'The president of this Assembly represents the United Muslim States,' then, at that moment, a 'Caliphate' is created in the name of the 'United Muslim States,' and the person elected to its presidency is given the title of 'Caliph'," he says.

Atatürk's thought on this matter is primarily that "Islamic countries must be independent, modern, and based on a legitimate parliament." However, it is in the form that a parliament possessing these characteristics could elect a caliph, similar to a presidency.

You cannot simply go around "I am a Sayyid, I am a descendant of the Prophet" bestowing little titles of Caliph upon yourselves. Because to be a descendant of the Prophet means to be a caliph. This issue has reached such an extreme point that

there are 80 sects in Turkey, and all 80 of them act as if they have declared their own caliphate.

If you ask, they all claim to be descendants of the Prophet. Such a thing is impossible.

Beyond all this, just as they have pinned it on Erdoğan, you cannot simply bestow the title of "Caliph of Islam" upon yourself. No one can take on this title on their own. Today, there are those who, thinking it is a legacy inherited from the Ottoman Empire, pursue the idea of a Caliphate and seek to establish superiority over the Muslim world. But it does not happen by simply giving yourself this title. The title of "Caliphate" could perhaps only be possible if the Islamic countries, whose characteristics Atatürk described above, came together and made a joint decision.

He did not say these words only for that day. He also said them for today's presidents who want to establish superiority over the Arab-Islamic world and dream of doing so, by propagating it as if it were a legacy from the Ottomans and as if it were a right granted to them. These people are at most "only and solely the enemies of Muslims and especially of Turkey"he says, emphasizing it firmly.

He is warning us today from 100 years ago. It is as if he is calling out to us.

So, is there an Islamic Community similar to this vision of Atatürk? Is there an assembly for this? Of course there is. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). This organization was established in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1969. It exists, but no one truly knows about it. No one knows what decisions it makes or what it does. If you asked, no one would recognize it.

It is effectively non-existent.

Now let us think. If Islamic countries had realized this vision of the Caliphate as contemporary, independent, and modern states, could Israel have attacked Gaza?

It would not be possible at all. But today, this cannot be realized.

Why?

Because they could not be contemporary and independent. Why? Because they remained in a tribal mentality and under American influence.

This is precisely why Islamic countries cannot come together and cannot utter a peep against tiny Israel. If there is to be a Caliphate, it must be this way. It must be "contemporary," and the Islamic countries that decide this must be "independent." It should not be under the influence of America or anyone else. Islamic countries should establish a modern and democratic assembly and act together through joint decisions.

Stop demanding a Caliphate. You cannot declare a Caliphate. You cannot just do it on your own "Caliph of Islam" you cannot be.

At best, you would only make yourselves look ridiculous.