| Caliph |
 |
| Pronunciation: cay-liff or ca-leef |
|
|
| (K̲h̲alífih) A successor of Muḥammad as the head of Islam. |
| Shoghi Effendi calls
the Caliph 'self-styled vicar of the Prophet
of Islam' who 'exercised a spiritual sovereignty, and was invested with a sacred
character'2 and who 'usurped the authority of the lawful successors of the Apostle
of God (the Imáms)'.3 |
| The Caliphate is an institution of Sunní
Islam. |
| [BD 49] |
|
| Self-styled vicar of the Prophet of Islám (PDC 99). Sulṭánate and Caliphate were "the twin pillars
of Sunní Islám."
(WOB 173). The Caliphate, now abolished, was "the mightiest institution of Islám."
(WOB 196). The founders of the Caliphate "usurped the authority of the lawful successors"
of Muḥammad (WOB 178). "The
cardinal point wherein the Shi'ítes (as well as the other sects included under the more general term of Imámites) differ
from the Sunnites is the doctrine
of the Imámate. According
to the belief of the latter, the vicegerency (k̲h̲iláfat) of the Prophet is a matter to be determined by the choice and election of the followers, and the visible
head of the Musulmán world is qualified for the lofty position which he holds less by any special divine
grace than by a combination of orthodoxy and administrative capacity. According to
the Imámate view, on the other hand, the vicegerency is a matter altogether
spiritual; an office conferred by God alone, first by His Prophet,
and afterwards by those who succeeded him, and having nothing to do with popular choice
or approval...the Caliph...is merely the outward and visible Defender of the Faith;
the Imám of the Shi'ítes is the divinely-ordained successor of the Prophet,
one endowed with all perfections and spiritual gifts, one whom all the faithful must
obey, whose decision is absolute and final, whose wisdom is super-human, and whose
words are authoritative." (Browne, E.G., A Traveler's Narrative, 296). |
| [BG 13] |
|
| |
|
|
