Rashidun Caliphate

Au fil de sa lecture du Coran, de la tradition musulmane et de discussions avec des musulmans, Odon Lafontaine (dit Olaf) n’a pu empêcher la montée d’un sentiment diffus de malaise et d’incompréhension vis à vis de cette religion à mesure qu’il en découvrait ce qui était pour lui des contradictions et des invraisemblances, historiques comme logiques.

Pour tâcher de les expliquer, il a voulu en apprendre davantage sur les origines historiques de l’islam. C’est ainsi qu’il a découvert le travail d’Édouard-Marie Gallez c.s.j., docteur en théologie et histoire des religions, et qu’il s’est mis à son école. Sa thèse, intitulée Le Messie et son Prophète, et leurs échanges lui ont fait découvrir quantité de recherches historiques passionnantes. Elles ont transformé sa vision de l’islam en révélant une tout autre histoire que celle que le discours ambiant veut faire croire : l’islam n’est pas le résultat d’une révélation divine – ou de la prédication de Mahomet – mais celui d’un processus très long et très complexe de réécriture de l’Histoire, s’enracinant dans des croyances juives et chrétiennes dévoyées, et manipulées par les califes pour satisfaire leurs visées de domination politique.

Cette découverte restait encore à ce jour quasi inconnue du public. La faute sans doute à la complexité du sujet et à son caractère très sensible qui l’ont confinée dans les cercles discrets de la recherche. Comment alors la rendre accessible au plus grand nombre ? Comment l’expliquer et la replacer dans une perspective historique ? Comment s’articule-t-elle avec les recherches les plus récentes à ce sujet et les découvertes nouvelles qui ne cessent de s’accumuler ces dernières années ? C’est ce à quoi tente de contribuer cette importante mise à jour « 2020 » de l’ouvrage de vulgarisation qu’est Le Grand secret de l’islam, fruit d’un long travail personnel d’Odon Lafontaine et de sa collaboration avec Édouard-Marie Gallez et d’autres chercheurs.

Au monde de découvrir maintenant quel est le grand secret de l’islam

Slavery was still in effect mercilessly when Islam was born. Slaves were people living miserable lives who hoped to find salvation from the boundaries of others, and society treated them as commercial property for sale. Islam made significant reforms in slavery. This articles delves into the issues of the slave trade/markets, slaves' economic buitability and qualifications, jobs that focused primarily on slavery, as well as slave prices and the number of slaves in society in the early Islamic period.
Key Words: The Prophet Mohammad, The Rashidun Caliphs, Umayyads, economics, slaves, concubines.

L’islam n’est pas le résultat d’une révélation divine – ou de la prédication de Mahomet – mais celui d’un processus très long et très complexe de réécriture de l’Histoire, s’enracinant dans des croyances apocalyptiques juives et chrétiennes, recomposées par les chefs arabes et les califes pour justifier leur pouvoir "au nom de Dieu" et satisfaire leurs visées de domination politique.
Cette découverte, déjà formulée par É.-M. Gallez dans sa synthèse "Le Messie et son prophète" (2005-2010, Éd. de Paris), reste jusqu'à ce jour peu connue du public. Pourtant, quantité de découvertes nouvelles sont venues la compléter, la préciser, l'approfondir voire la corriger à la marge depuis une quinzaine d'années : histoire, numismatique, épigraphie, codicologie, exégèse, linguistique, etc. Il manque cependant la plupart du temps à ces découvertes leur mise en perspective globale.
C'est ce à quoi prétend l'édition 2020 du Grand secret de l'islam : une perspective globale détaillant la formation de l'islam à partir des travaux variés de la recherche, dans tous les domaines, expliquée et vulgarisée à l'attention du grand public.
Ouvrage disponible librement depuis le site http://legrandsecretdelislam.com

Through the centuries, the world has come to know some great leaders who have gone down in history as shapers and makers of civilisations. Many of them are recognised and honoured to this day, others have been forgotten, and some, for one reason or another, have often been deliberately ignored in western writings. The wise leaders discussed and quoted in this book are unfortunately from the last category. Although these exceptional personalities did not build palaces or compose volumes of books, they left behind a legacy that is unmatched in human history. Inspired by the message of their teacher, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), to this day they continue to touch hearts and inspire lives throughout the globe. These great polymaths are known as the first four caliphs of Islam, which include Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Umar bin al-Khattab, Uthman bin Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib (r.a). This work brings to light some of their sayings of wisdom which Muslims aspire to live by.

This paper considers the formation process of the concept of ‘rightly guided caliphs’ and its significance in political thought among the majority of Muslims, the Sunnīs. The term ‘rightly guided caliphs’ refers to the four rulers who governed the Ummah (Muslim Community) after the death of the Prophet Muḥammad — Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī. Their regnum has been considered as an ideal for a long time by the Sunnīs, who recognize them as the just caliphs. Therefore, its establishment signifies that the Sunnīs definitely have been distinguished from the others in aspects of thought and real politics. Then, why and how the concept of ‘rightly guided caliphs’ began being considered as the ideal, and when it became an index to discriminate the Sunnīs from the others, especially the Shi‘īs?
This paper, while taking the whole Islamic political thought into consideration, aims to clarify these two questions.
This paper is structured as follows. Chapter I attempts to clarify the technical terms used in the scholarly works on Islamic political thought. Islamic political thought deals with the political activity of the Ummah, especially of its leader, the caliph/imām. The people who play an active role in Islamic political thought are the ‘Ulamā’.
Chapter II explains the significance of tafḍīl, which is a key term in this paper. The tafḍīl works toward creating the ṣaḥāba (the companions of the Prophet) order from the viewpoint of virtue. Many intense arguments were carried out among the proto-Sunnī elites about whether to recognize ‘Alī as the fourth person of virtue among the ṣaḥāba after the Prophet. This is because they have to determine to regard ‘Alī as what kind of person against the Shī‘īs, who regarded ‘Alī as the sole just caliph and infallible imām.
Chapter II also shows that there are two different trends of discussion on the rulers (Imāma/Khilāfa) in the history of Islamic political thought: theological Imāma and juridical Imāma. A great deal of focus has been placed on the juridical Imāma, especially on that of al-Māwardī (d. 1058). However, to solve the questions about the concept of ‘rightly guided caliphs’ we must focus on the theological Imāma on the grounds that the discussion concerning who is the caliph and who is the most virtuous person among the ṣaḥāba took place within the theological domain.
Chapter III surveys the emergence of ‘Abbāsid Caliphs al-Qādir (r. 991-1031) and al-Qā’im (r. 1031-1075) as representatives of the Sunnīs in the first part of the eleventh century. They used the term ‘rightly guided caliphs’ in their official documents or proclamations to legitimize their rule and authority, which was against the ‘Abbāsid’ traditional basis. This fact explains that ‘rightly guided caliphs’ was to be not only a technical term in the area of Islamic political thought but also an influential concept in the field of real politics by the aforementioned time .
Chapter IV considers the content of tafḍīl discussed by Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal (d. 855) . Before his time, the leading faction of proto-Sunnī elites did not recognize ‘Alī as a caliph. Hence, they did not recognize ‘Alī as the fourth person of virtue. As opposed to this, it seems that Ibn Ḥanbal made an effort to include ‘Alī among the four caliphs. However, he could not claim ‘Alī to be the fourth person of virtue among the ṣaḥāba in his argument about tafḍīl.
Chapter V examines the development of tafḍīl after Ibn Ḥanbal. al-Ash‘arī (d. 935/6), who had been influenced by Ibn Ḥanbal, claimed that ‘Alī definitely is the fourth caliph as well as the fourth person of virtue among the ṣaḥāba from the viewpoint of tafḍīl. Ash‘arī combined the recognition of the four caliphs and the four persons of virtue, and he began to use the term khulafā’ rāshidūn wa mahdīyūn wa fuḍalā to represent these four virtuous caliphs, Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, and ‘Alī. In this term we can see the germ of the concept of ‘rightly guided caliphs’. Subsequently, the scholars of Ash‘arite theology developed his thought and added new discussion about caliphs/imāms, which constitutes juridical Imāma.
Chapter VI describes the situation in which the concept of ‘rightly guided caliphs’ was led to a completion, based on the texts of Imām al-Ḥaramayn (d. 1085) and al-Ghazālī (d. 1111). These two Ash‘arite theologians were scholars who lived during the period following al-Māwardī and caliphs al-Qādir and al-Qā’im. Imām al-Ḥaramayn, who had been influenced by the juridical Imāma of al-Māwardī, wrote a voluminous work on the juridical Imāma called Ghiyāth al-Umam. In this book, he uses the term al-khulafā’ al-rāshidūn (‘the rightly guided caliphs’) as a premise of his arguments. His pupil al-Ghazālī declared the principle of imām/khalīfa to the Sunnīs: the ‘rightly guided caliphs’ Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī took the post of caliph in this order, and that their order as persons of virtue among the ṣaḥāba was fixed in the same sequence. Thus, the concept of ‘rightly guided caliphs’ was established as an important Sunnī doctrine in their time.
In conclusion, the concept of ‘rightly guided caliphs’ combines the recognition of the first four caliphs in the historical order in which they assumed the caliph post with their acceptance, in the same order, as the most virtuous persons among the ṣaḥāba.
(in the chapter 3, Thought and Societies in the Middle East, ed. Yohei Kondo, pp. 45-73 in Japanese)

In this book, the concept of Bay'ah has been explained in terms of its historical and contemporary utilization among the Muslims. In order to substantiate the explanation, aid has been sought from 40 prophetic traditions (ahadith) on the topic.

Résumé : Dans cet article, nous analysons le meurtre de ʿUṯmān à travers le point de vue de Muḥammad ibn Ǧarīr al-Ṭabarī (310/923), auteur du Tāriḫ al-rusūl wa’l-mulūk. Al-Ṭabarī rapporte de nombreux récits, mais le complot est la grille de lecture principale pour expliquer le meurtre. Le présent article analyse également la signification du meurtre dans le Tāriḫ d’al-Ṭabarī.
Mots-clés : meurtre deʿUṯmān, al-Ṭabarī, califes « bien guidés », Coran, Pacte d’alliance, compagnons, ʿAbd Allāh b. Sabaʾ.

This study analyzes the political reasons that allowed the Islamic State to expand successfully in Syria and Iraq, by enabling to ‘franchise’ worldwide, and the role of the regional governments in this issue. The essay provides a different explanation from the classic approach of the “clash of civilizations” theorized by Samuel P. Huntington, ascribing responsibility for the growth and expansion of the Islamic State to the complex framework of geopolitical alliances within the Muslim civilization and the Arab world. The paper highlights the attempt by Turkey to establish itself as a regional power and guidance of the Islamic world, by resurrecting the Caliphate, and, based on this, explains the contrast with the Islamic State, which goal is the foundation of a globalized Caliphate. The plans of the Turkish President Erdoğan for a Great Turkey, allied with Egypt, have foundered with the coup that ousted the Muslim Brotherhood from power. The study relates the connection of Ankara with the Kurds, regarding the management of the crisis in Syria and Iraq, and the Turkish liaison with regional powers (Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel) and other powers (Russia, Cina and USA).

This paper studies how medieval Sunnite Muslim exegetes from al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) to Ibn Kaṯīr (d. 774/1373) understood the Qurʾānic term ḫalīfa and other Ḫ.L.F-derived terms. While previous scholarship has examined how exegetes generally understood the term, this paper scrutinizes the exegetical commentaries (tafsīr) chronologically in order to discern the semantic and terminological shifts accompanying different commentaries over time. It demonstrates the importance of an intertextual approach in placing tafsīr literature in dialogue with writings on the caliphate in works of theology (kalām) and law (fiqh). Overall, the paper argues that the legal and theological development of the Sunnite theory of the caliphate provided exegetes with new clusters of terminology associated with the caliphate to enrich their commentaries on the Ḫ.L.F verses. This process was in turn catalyzed by the systematization of the caliphate discourse and the canonization of the four-caliphs thesis during the Sunnite Revival.

The totalitarian ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is not a new phenomenon. It is the result of an Islamist movement that began in the early twentieth century. An examination of the traditional development of the caliphate and Islamists' interpretations of its reestablishment will reveal a significant disconnect with the historic facts about the caliphate and Islamist’s attempts at crafting a tradition that suits their political and theological needs.

This presentation describes the basic features of Iran's coinage 651-710 CE. The coins had the same design as the last coins of the Sasanian empire, which ended in 651, with the emperor in the middle of the universe on the obverse and a fire altar guarded by the emperor also in the center of the universe on the reverse. Four inscriptions make these silver issues historically important. Each coin names the authority behind the issue; the earliest name Khosro, fictitious, the last great emperor, but soon,  the names of Arab officials appear, some 46 in all. These names are mostly written in Persian script. Also on the obverse, in the margin, each coin has a religious inscription in Arabic. These vary as time goes on, telling something about the beliefs of the authorities. On the reverse there is a date, the year of issue; despite problems of interpretation, these give the exact date of this mini-document on silver. And, there is a short abbreviation of 2, 3, 4 or more letters specifying the city where the coin was struck. In 698 CE these coins were officially replaced by anonymous all-Arabic issues with no images, but a few Arab-Sasanian issues were struck in obscure corners and war-torn regions until the last of this series in 705 CE.

This presentation clarifies the history of Iran's coinage in the half-century 651-705 by dividing it into 12 phases or episodes that bring together the coinage of various cities and years into historical association. There is also a link to my presentation of the subject 12/12/2020 in the American Numismatic Society's Money Talks series.

This work claims that Musaylima served as a prophet for his own people in Yamama in more or less the same way as the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca and Medina. However, unlike Islam, Musaylima’s religious movement did not survive. Here, a complete story of Musaylima – his claim of prophethood, qur’ān (reading), religious activities, followers, opponents, and defeat – is reconstructed. A critical reading of the sources that contain the accounts of Musaylima is performed. Additionally, this study reveals that the remaining fragments of Musaylima’s qur’ān bear substantial similarities to the early Meccan verses of the Qur’ān – in terms of diction, style, and pattern.
To formulate the findings of this study, there was more than one prophet in the sixth-seventh century of the Arabian peninsula, as Umayya b. Abī Salt, Abū ‘Āmir, Tulayha, Sajah, Aswad, and Musaylima claimed prophethood. There was more than one qur’ān, as Musaylima also revealed his own qur’ān. It is possible that other prophets also did so. There was more than one mosque (masjid), since the followers of Abū ‘Āmir established their own, as did those of Abū Qays. So did the followers of Musaylima. There was more than one Abrahamic Hanīf monotheistic movement in the Hijaz and around the region, as some figures assumed the same mission.

Slaves were those that people in society had demoted as property, and they were treated differently from other individuals in terms of the laws, economy and social life. Slavery, which dates back long ago, was widespread all around the world at the time of Islam's birth. Islam made significant reforms in it, rather than abolishing at first. Islam restricted the conditions to decrease slavery and considered the slaves as ones to be saved. It also set forth humanitarian and legal regulations pertaining to guidelines which promoted better treatment by their owners, as well providing for a sooner release date from the bonds of slavery. Mawla, which refers to the freed , was also used to refer to all the muslims other than Arab ones at the Umayyad Period .The administrators were supposed to be freemen Mawla/mawali, which the author assumed to be in a status between that of slaves and freemen. This articles delves into the top positions and especially employement of the slaves and mawali in the early Islamic period.
Key words- The Prophet Mohammad, Rashidun Caliphate, Umayyads, administrative life, slaves, mawali.

Muhammads död innebar rimligtvis  en kris för den unga muslimska för-
samlingen. Muhammad hade inte bara fått kontinuerliga uppenbarel-
ser från Gud, utan också genom uppenbarelserna kunnat uttolka och
förklara Guds vilja för sina följeslagare. Under åren i Medina hade han varit
både en religiös och politisk ledare och mycket tyder på att han inte på något
tydligt sätt utsett en efterträdare till dessa viktiga roller, vilket innebar att det
tidigt fanns olika meningar om detta bland muslimer. De följande kapitlen
kommer närmare behandla hur muslimer, enligt de källor vi har att tillgå,
svarat på dessa utmaningar.
Den osäkerhet som Muhammads död innebar tycks ha lett till en makt-
kamp och olika röster höjdes om hur muslimerna skulle ledas. Vissa, som
ibland kallas shiat ‘Ali (‘Alis parti) menade att Muhammads kusin och svärson
‘Ali skulle leda muslimerna, medan andra inte ansåg det för självklart. Denna
meningsskiljaktighet är inledningen till splittringen mellan vad som senare
kommer att utvecklas till sunnitisk och shiitisk islam. Dessa två huvudgrenar
av islam har utvecklat olika historienarrativ som skildrar de historiska händel-
serna olika, genom att betona vissa aspekter av dessa händelser och nedtona
andra (Robinson 2003; al-Azmeh 2007).
Sunnimuslimer beskriver till exempel den period som ska behandlas i det-
ta kapitel som ett förverkligande av en påstådd profetia av Muhammad, en-
ligt vilken han skulle komma att efterföljas av rättledda ledare som i sin tur
skulle exemplifiera hur muslimer bör organiseras och styras. Perioden mellan
632–661 uppfattas ofta som en viktig religiös referens för många sunniter. Shi-
amuslimer är å andra sidan kritiska gentemot de första tre av Muhammads
efterträdande ledare, varför deras historieskrivning ser annorlunda ut på flera
punkter. Detta kapitel fokuserar på en sunnitisk historiografi, medan utveck-
lingen inom shiitisk islam kommer att behandlas i nästa kapitel.

Si veda ad esempio quanto affermato da Ghars al-Dīn al-Ḥalabī, un autore del XVI secolo, che mise in guardia dal dire che la qibla della moschea di ʿAmr fosse errata in quanto ciò sarebbe equivalso ad affermare che i Compagni fossero in errore (al-Ḥalabī in KING 1984, p. 112).

Caliphate: an idea throughout history
with Hugh Kennedy

What is a caliphate? Who can be caliph? What is the history of the idea? How can we interpret and use it today? In this podcast we discuss with Prof Hugh Kennedy his forthcoming book The Caliphate (Pelican Books) and the long-term historical context to the idea of caliphate. Tracing the history from the choosing of the first caliph Abu Bakr in the immediate aftermath of the Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632, the Orthodox (Rashidun) caliphs (632-661), the Umayyads (661-750), the Abbasids (750-1258) and the use of the idea of caliphate by the Ottomans down to the emergence of another Abu Bakr as “caliph” of the IS in 2014.

The traditional names for the early caliphates, invented in later times, do not accurately identify the political entities that shaped the history of the first Islamic century, and thus the subsequent history of the Islamic polities. This listing assumes that anyone called "Amīr al-Mu’minīn" was a caliph, an independent sovereign, for himself and his followers. Of course, no such person was considered legitimate and sovereign by other persons who claimed the title "Amīr al-Mu’minīn" or swore allegiance to such a person. It is not certain that the Arabic word "khilāfa," "caliphate," was in official use generally in the early period, but it is the common and handiest term for such a regime.

This chapter analyses the collective forms of government and egalitarian social movements found throughout both the history and doctrine of Islam. From the life of the Prophet through to the Ottoman era, the history of various Islamic empires and the teachings of its clerics and scholars reveal a picture very much at odds with the overwhelming consensus in the West that the religion of Islam is antithetical to democracy and works against inclusion, diversity and debate. Well before the advent of modern representative democracy in Europe, Islam enabled various forms of participatory governance and put in place certain power-monitoring institutions. Focusing the bulk of its attention on Iraq, this chapter also documents the fundamental role that Baghdad played in promoting the democratic ethos via an active public sphere of learned scholars, great theologians and schools of jurisprudence. It concludes by noting that the re-examination of Iraqi Islamic history and politics not only raises a specific challenge to the received dichotomy between Western democracy and Oriental despotism, it also reveals new and exciting ways of thinking about democracy in Iraq today.

"Akhbarions" of the 1st and 2nd centuries AH have had lasting effects on the Islamic historiography and the understanding of the Muslims of later centuries. Amer al-Shaabi (28-105 AH) is one of Akhbarions. He, who was famous in the fields of Fiqh and Hadith, and history, has received much attention from Islamic historians. There are contradictory narratives by him about the events and the influential Muslims of the Islamic world. The main purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the contradictions in the narratives of al-Shaabi. The findings reveal that Abu Omar's narrative changed as a result of the socio-political changes of Kufa and the interests of the nobility of Hamdān tribe and his own. These changes fall under three categories. The period of 28-66 AH was influenced by his childhood environment so that we can detect traces of Shiism in his narratives. The second episode of his life began with his separation from Mokhtar's uprising (66 AH) and continued until Ibn al-Ashath's uprising (81 AH). At this stage, he distanced himself from Shiism under the influence of his status in Fiqh and as a reaction to the growth of the Ghulat. Thus, his narratives became anti-Shiite, although he was still a supporter of Ali in this period. The defeat of ibn al-Ashash (84 AH) marked the third episode of his life in which he became devoted to the Umayyad dynasty to the extent that he quoted a story in favor of the Umayyad Caliphate and against Imam Ali.

De Nederlandse vertaling  van 'IS, the Kurds and the Caliphate',
'Turkey: from sick occupant to paranoid neighbor'
verschijnt hoofdstuksgewijs.
Hier hoofdstuk I.
(Link naar de complete, Engelse versie: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0141QB01Q/)