Good to see he wasn’t totally forgotten.
What book are you reading Alison? Is it the one by Lord Kinross, I was thinking of buying that one.
What does caliphate authority mean?
Who had this "authority" before them then....or was it their invention?
I’m sure there’re other members that know the history of Islam a lot better then me but the caliph was the appointed successor to the Prophet Muhammad and is regarded as the supreme Authority of Islam.
Although Muhammad is regarded as the last Prophet a political successor had to be appointed, the decision as to who to appoint has caused and deep and bitter rifted in Islam ever since. Sunni Muslim's believe the successor should have been appointed by senior members of the community and Shia Muslims believe that his successor should have been from his family, his cousin Ali.
The first four appointed caliphs are called the “rightly guided” caliphs as their appointments were made by senior members of the community of medina.
The Ottomans were very highly regarded within the Islamic world after the conquest of the Byzantium capitol Constantinople (Istanbul) as it was the centre of Christianity and I think was the centre of the world at the time. Although it wasn’t until the Ottomans expand into the Middle East that they were given to Caliphate. It’s also interesting that many Christians fought along side Muslims during the conquest of Byzantium apparently.
The Caliphate was abolished by Ataturk when the republic was formed.
It’s said that at the end of the Ottoman Empire, due to pressure largely from the Christian population who were influenced by Europe, they helped create the beginnings of a secular state giving senior government positions to Christian and Jewish officials and creating modern legal systems while trying to keep to the principles within the “Constitution of Medina” (The first constitution of the Islam set out by Muhammad).
A lot of that goes beyond my understand of Islam and the Ottomans but there’s a great Turkish journalist / historian called [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Akyol"]Mustafa Akyol [/ame] who is excellent at explaining Ottoman history its impact on Islam and modern day Turkey. Look him up on youtube if you’re interested.
There is also a book called "The First Muslims: History and Memory" by Asma Afsaruddin which is said to explain the origins of Islam and how it has developed over the years. I haven't read it but it is highly acclaimed.
[ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Muslims-History-Memory/dp/1851684972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254051109&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: The First Muslims: History and Memory (9781851684977): Asma Afsaruddin: Books[/ame]
