September 03, 2010
Pakistan: Hey, Let's Make Obama the Caliph Over All Muslims!
Ah, a cult of personality so big it transcends time, space, and religion.
Does this Pakistani politician actually think Obama is a Muslim? Given that Obama is more likely an atheist (a self-worshiping one at that) than a Christian or a Muslim, the idea comes off as more funny than anything else. PTI:
Minister of State for Industries Ayatullah Durrani, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan People''s Party, said the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr festival, expected to be observed on September 11, would be a "golden opportunity" for Obama to offer Eid prayers and declare himself the leader of all Muslims.If there is something more than funny here then it is that hopenchange now means a Caliph Obama. Because if Obama's US experience has shown the Islamic world anything it is that he's a uniter, not a divider. The kind of guy that is so popular that the sheer force of his awesomeness can bring together all people -- as Caliph."In this way, all the problems of the Muslim world would be solved," Durrani told The Nation newspaper.
Durrani, a former member of the Pakistan Ideological Council, contended that the Muslim world is in "dire need" of a Caliph and occupying this distinguished slot would provide Obama "exemplary titles" like "Mullah Barack Hussain Obama" or "Allama Obama".
But the fact that this guy in the Pakistani government wants a Caliph at all is ... troubling. If this is a mainstream sentiment in Muslim countries then we really are in for some trouble.
For a Caliph would mean that a single individual would have the power to declare jihad for the entire Muslim world (or, at least, Sunni Muslim world). And that is a bad thing, because much of moderate Islam's justification for not declaring jihad is that there is no Caliph to do so. They don't reject the doctrine of jihad per se, they just proclaim there is no one with authority to declare it.
Think we have problems with jihadis now? Imagine if a larger portion of Muslims believed that there was some ruler on the Earth with the authority to declare holy war. Big problem, folks.
I remember reading one or two of the Ender's Game sequels in which one of the kids unites the Muslim world and declares himself Caliph. Card's Caliph was a kind of benign dictator. The kind of dictator who had the strength and charisma to forcibly reform Muslim countries internally. But it didn't stop him from invading neighboring non-Muslim countries.
But even if we were to imagine some kind of benign dictator Caliph that was all about love peace and harmony, the problem with all dictators is that they eventually die. And who's to gaurantee that the next Caliph wouldn't decalre holy war on us?
Think it's bad with 10% of Muslims supporting violent jihad against the West? Imagine if it were 40 or 50%. Now that is a problem I don't want to have to deal with.
Thanks to Bill.
