Be careful what you wish for

Submitted by Rick House (United States), Oct 26, 2006 at 20:16

If caliphate system emerges in Iraq, it would create the war of civilizations everyone fears and split Islam right down the middle. The Turks understood that the system had outlived its usefulness when they got rid of it in 1924. They understood that their society was stagnating while the West leaped forward, thus creating a divide that threatened the continuation of Islam. They saw Western progress as a lure to those new to the faith. They knew that Western advances in science, technology, and lifestyle would draw their young people away. Look what happened to the young people in the Soviet Union. The Islamic faith is strong but there is a practical reality to understand -- there is no one Muslims would acclaim as Caliph... You must also acknowledge that many Muslims reject the caliphate system for religious reasons.

It's true that Islam has to embrace a system of governance in this new era. However, the caliphate system has too many problems to be viable...I believe that shouting that the West (i.e the US) is the cause for all the problems in the Islamic world is a cop out. Muslims are their own worst enemies. They shout when they should listen and listen when they should shout.

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