LONGING FOR THE CALIPHATE?

In January of 2006, I composed a blog article largely based on the Washington Post article "Reunified Islam: Unlikely but Not Entirely Radical: Restoration of Caliphate, Attacked by Bush, Resonates With Mainstream Muslims." According to that Washington Post article:

"[T]he caliphate is also esteemed by many ordinary Muslims....Muslims regard themselves as members of the umma, or community of believers, that forms the heart of Islam. And as earthly head of that community, the caliph is cherished both as memory and ideal, interviews indicate."

On October 23, 2006, Dr. Walid Phares wrote an essay entitled "The Caliph-Strophic Debate" analyzing a recent article in Newsweek Magazine. Excerpt from Dr. Phares' article:

"It seems that the US is having a hard time winning the hearts and minds of Arabs and Muslims, but an equally serious problem can be observed in the intellectual circles of America where some have had a difficulty coming to terms with the terminology of the War of Ideas. If the educated elite of the United States is incapable of identifying the ideology and the strategy of the Jihadists five years after 9/11, we not only have a problem with handling the War in Iraq, but also with the future of American national security as a whole.

An article published in Newsweek magazine on October 13, 2006 illustrates this problem...."

Many Muslims, including CAIR, have objected to President Bush's use of the word "caliphate." In his essay, Dr. Phares explores Newsweek's errors and why it is important to understand the historical and current significance to Muslims regarding the utopian concept of establishing the caliphate. Read all of Dr. Phares' essay here.