The Caliph and the Imam

I was listening today to an audio book by a great scholar of Islamic studies, Bernard Lewis. I recommend him to anyone who is short of reading materials. While I think that the suggestion of U.S. News and World -- "Learn something about Islam to better your life" -- comes completely from the wrong place, I think that knowledge of the intricacies of Islamic thought and suppositions is not just fascinating, but vital.

Bernard Lewis made a passing comment that struck me deeply. He was discussing the role of the Caliph in the Sunni Islamic "state." He noted that the Caliph was a religious and political leader, not a spiritual head.

Most people are aware of some vague concept of the Sunni-Shi'a divide in Islam, and though the sub-history and divisions of each (particularly Shi'a) are terrifically complex, the broader issues are not.

Shi'a Islam broke from Sunni the generation after Mohammad based upon the issue of succession -- those who would later be Sunnis, the majority, favored one successor, while another group, who would be Shi'ites, favored the son-in-law of the prophet.

Some rather major complications aside, the main branch of Sunni Islam followed Caliphates, leaders who were the heirs of Mohammad, from then on, while the Shi'ites followed a much more direct and formalized line of descendants of Mohammad, who led Shi'a Islam as Imams, through twelve generations. The Caliphate continued throughout Arab, North African, and Turkish lands through the early 20th century, when it was finally abolished, with the last serious Caliphate being done away with in Turkey under the rule of Mostafa Kamal - Ataturk.

The current wave of violent Islam worldwide is being waged on both Sunni and Shi'a fronts -- and though they are in combat with one another in Iraq, they are generally working for the same purpose.

In a sense, the ideal of each of the two Jihadist waves is the reestablishment of the Islamic order that once was. It is a misnomer to say state, because Islam has always superceded states. In the same way that we might break down a country by the demographic of religion, a good Muslim would look at broader Islam, and demographically break down ethnicity or nationality.

Sunni Islam in the extremist ideals is looking for a restored Caliphate, just as the Shi'ites are trying to bring about the return of the Imam. Just as Ahmedinejad has publically claimed that he has been shown in a vision that he will bring about the return of the Twelfth Imam, Osama bin Laden has been accused of attempting to establish himself as the new Caliph.

The Caliph is a political leader of a religion, while the Imam is a spiritual leader of a people. Ironically enough, Shi'ite spiritualism seems to lead more to Statism and terrorism by armies (such as Hezbollah, the various Iranian-sponsored forces), whereas the Caliphate Sunni extremism leads to the blood-thirsty, wild-eyed individualistic jihadist ferver that we see with the more agressive and uncontrollable terrorism of Al-Qaeda.