1st Edition
The Abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate, 1924 Debates and Implications
This book explores the decision by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in 1924 to abolish the caliphate. The Ottoman sultans had long borne the title of caliphs of Islam, with all the prestigious authority throughout the Muslim world which went with it, and even after the demise of the sultanate in 1922 the caliphate retained great symbolic relevance. The book considers the questions that arose with its abolition, including whether or not the caliphate should be revived, reformed or replaced by other forms of political affiliation and organization. It also assesses related issues concerning identity and legitimate authority, and how to reconcile time-honoured religious institutions and concepts to do with modernity, the nation-state and affiliations of an ethnic and religious nature. Particular topics are also addressed, such as Kurdish-Turkish relations, the divergent views held by deputies in the Grand National Assembly, the pan-Islamic congresses that discussed the fate of the caliphate, and the implications for the British and French empires with their large Muslim populations.
Authors
Abbreviations
One hundred years without the caliphate. An introduction
Elisa Giunchi and Nicola Melis
1. The tradition of the Ottoman caliphate and its end
Azmi Özcan
2. The pamphlet battle of deputy hocas: The caliphate versus the Grand National Assembly
Yasemin Tűrkkan Tunali
3. The caliphate debates in Turkey and beyond: Dissensus and politicization
Nurullah Ardıç
4. The caliphate and absent authority
Reza Pankhurst
5. The abolition of the caliphate, secularization, and Kurdish nationalism
Martin van Bruinessen
6. The end of the Ottoman Caliphate in Sulayman al-Baruni's writings (1920-1922)
Federico Cresti
7. The caliphate congresses and the Ottoman sultan
Nicola Melis
8. ‘The spiritual authority of the caliph’: Unpacking British policymaker’s perceptions of caliphal authority and its implications for British Imperial goals
Sean Oliver-Dee
9. Debating the future of the French colonial empire on the eve of the abolition of the Ottoman caliphate
Fatima-Ezzahrae Touilila
Index
Biography
Elisa Giunchi is a Professor at the University of Milan, Italy
Nicola Melis is an Associate Professor at the University of Cagliari, Italy
