Category Archives: History

In a special two-part film Rageh Omaar travelled across the US exploring the roots and influence of Islam in America. Islam in America The International Museum of Muslim Cultures Jackson, Mississippi

The potent representatives of Islam who assembled at Cairo (TIME, May 24) to select a new Calif, disbanded last week after irreconcilable rivalries had kept the Califate Congress in an uproar almost from its inception.

The Conference’s most notable act was to adopt a resolution stressing the fact that when a new Calif should be appointed he must be a free sovereign capable of defending Islam. Since the two other traditional qualifications for a Calif—descent from Mohammed and possession of the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina—were not mentioned, it was inferred that these latter qualifications may be explicitly waived at a later date. Continue reading →

When Turkey went to war against the Allies in 1914, the most dreaded weapon in her armory was the threat of the Jehad or Holy War—power to declare which was vested in the office of the Califate. Dutifully the Calif pushed the button. Nothing much happened. The Jehad did not prevent the British Moslems and the French North African troops from fighting against the Central Powers, nor did it hold back the Arabs from declaring their independence and fighting as Allies of the British in Palestine. The Jehad proved to be a “dud” shell; but when the Grand National Assembly at Angora abolished the Califate and sent the Calif, Abdul Medjid, to Switzerland in exile (TIME, March 10), the dud proved to be a bomb. The reverberations of the explosion still resound throughout all Christendom as well as the Moslem world. Continue reading →

At Angora, capital of Turkey, the Grand National Assembly passed a bill providing for the deposal of the Calif, Abdul Medjid Effendi, and the abolition of the Califate.

At Constantinople, Vali (Governor) Dr. Adran Bey, went to the Dolma Baghche Palace, home of the Calif. He there demanded to see the Calif in the Throne Room. When the Calif arrived, the Vali ordered him to ascend the throne, read the decision of the Grand National Assembly to him, ordered him to descend the throne and pack his things.

One hour later the deposed Calif, his wife, daughter, two members of his harem and his private secretary left the country for Switzerland Continue reading →