Word: calif
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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...Grand Sheik of El Azhar called this assembly to order. It began to debate: 1) Who shall be recognized or elected Calif of Islam? 2) What shall be held to be the true and orthodox qualifications of the Calif? 3) If Islam is to have an elected Calif, who may be deemed at present eligible...
...wise and venerable representatives of Islam who debated these momentous issues were given pause by the following considerations: 1) In 1922 the Turkish Parliament abolished the Sultanate, deposed the Sultan-Calif Mohammed VI and conferred the Califate upon his cousin, Prince Abdul Mejid. Subsequently (1924) it abolished the Califate and banished from Turkey all members of the House of Osman, which had ruled as Sultan and Calif since 1517. Thereupon King Husein of the Hejaz was somewhat irregularly "elected" Calif by his adherents, but abdicated as King in favor of his son Ali, who was subsequently conquered and deposed...
Significance. In these circumstances it appeared unlikely that the deliberations at Cairo will have any immediate effect. The Calif or Khalifa is, of course, the "Successor" or "Representative" of Mohammed, and is theoretically the temporal and spiritual sovereign of all Mohammedans. Strictly orthodox Mohammedans contend that the Turkish Sultans were never "true califs," charging that they were not actually descended from Mohammed. Since the Sultans of Turkey "assumed" (bought) the Califate in 1517, it may fairly be said to be "extinct" or "lost," at present, if their claims were invalid...
Possibilities. The extreme nebulosity of the Califate, in a legal sense, does not prevent thousands of ignorant Mohammedan peasants from manifesting a desire to fight in the name of the Prophet under the banner of almost anyone who is judiciously proclaimed and trumpeted as Calif...
Long Beach, Calif...