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Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, who dissolved the institution of the Caliphate
Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On March 3, 1924 AD, the pro-western laic ruler of Turkey, Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, dissolved the institution of the Caliphate, transferring its powers to the Turkish Grand National Assembly. He thus expelled from Turkey Abdul Majid II, who was made caliph in November 1922 following the deposition of his cousin, Sultan Mohammad VI.
Abdul Majid II lived in France, where his daughter Princess Durr-e Shahvaar was married in 1931 to Prince Himayat Ali Khan Azam Jah, the son of Asaf Jah Nizam ol-Molk, the last king of Haiderabad Deccan. With the death of Abdul Majid II in 1944 concurrently with the Liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation, the institution of caliphate, which had become the prerogative of tyrants and debauchees, beginning with the Godless Omayyads and the equally evil Abbasids, came to its final end.
It should be noted that the English word “Caliph” is derived from the Arabic “Khalifa” (Vicegerent), a term which God Almighty uses for Adam in the holy Qur’an. Holy Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), as the Last and Final Messenger to mankind, had on God’s commandment, designated his cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) as the Khalifa (Caliph) or Vicegerent of Muslims; however, no sooner did the Holy Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) pass away, the political responsibilities of this office were usurped by certain people, who for 25 years deprived the Imam of his rights.
In 35 AH, when the caliphate came begging at his door, Imam Ali (AS), whose spiritual authority was beyond the grasp of any usurper, reluctantly took up the reins of political power, on condition that he would rule only in accordance with the holy Qur’an and the precepts of the Holy Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and not the innovations made by the three persons who preceded him in this office. The four-and-a-half year caliphate of Imam Ali (AS) is regarded till this day as the only instance of the rule of social justice. Following the Imam Ali’s martyrdom, the Omayyad rebel Mu’awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan seized the caliphate from the Holy Prophet Mohammad (SAWA)’s elder grandson Imam Hasan (AS), and thereafter this institution was never on the right track and became the most scandalous office in the Islamic history.
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