What happens when #religion is used for #political ends: A Mahdi or messiah rose up against the #French in #Egypt in 1799. The French killed him. Another Mahdi arose in the #Sudan in the 1880s. The #British killed him and then went on to rule the #Sudan until 1956. And, of course, Mulla Omar Uruzgani of #Afghanistan was proclaimed “caliph” by the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Hopefully he and al-Baghdadi will end up in the same jail cell so they can drive each other crazy claiming to be the real caliph. In fact, virtually no one in the Muslim world thinks Mulla Omar is a caliph. The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood developed the institution of the Supreme Guide, which under President Muhammad Morsi in 2012-2013 developed theocratic aspirations. Hes in danger of being executed. I’m just pointing out that calling yourself Supreme Guide and getting the loyalty of a sectarian group is no guarantee of worldly success. And the Brotherhood is way more important than the ‘Islamic State.’ Bin Laden issued a speech in which he complained about the calamities rained down on the Muslim world...referring to the abolition of the caliphate by Ataturk in 1924. His theory was that without a caliph Muslims were easily divided and ruled by the great powers. The flaw in that theory is that the Ottomans claimed to be caliphs toward the end of the empire but the Great Powers still divided and ruled them. It is hard to argue with military power, and fancy religious titles won’t win such power struggles.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:42:09 +0000
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