SPIRIT OF ISLAM JULY 2O18

26 Spirit of Islam Issue 67 July 2018 THE CONCEPT OF THE CALIPHATE Successors on Earth T HE Quran tells us that when Godmade man, a dialogue took place between God and the angels. In the course of this dialogue, God explained the purpose of creating man, saying: “I am putting a successor on earth.” (2: 30) The dictionary meaning of the word khilafat (or caliphate in English) is ‘to come after’. Khalifa (or, in English, caliph) is someone who takes the place of someone else, or, in other words, ‘successor’. This is the literal meaning of the word khalifa . But it is generally in politics that a person becomes the successor of someone else. That is why the word khalifa began to be used solely for political rulers, both for one who became a ruler through succession as well as someone who acquired this position without succession. The word khalifa in the above-quoted Quranic verse is used in this second sense. This means God settled man on earth as a creature possessing free-will. The earth was given to man’s charge for a temporary period. In line with the system of nature, although man is running the affairs of the world just as angels are running the affairs of other parts of the universe, it is only in a limited sense that the world is in man’s control. Until the Day of Judgment, man has freedom to spend his life in this world, in the sphere that is in his control. He is free to use this freedom in whatever way he wants—properly or otherwise. An important principle to bear in mind while seeking to understand the Quran is that one part of the Quran explains another part. In the light of this principle, it is clear from several verses of the Quran what appointing man as khalifa means. One of these verses (10: 14) reads: “Then We made you their successors in the land, so that We might observe how you would conduct yourselves.”     God has created man as an intelligent being. In terms of his abilities, the first man ever was as complete as the 21 st century man. The place where man was settled—planet earth—had everything in it for man’s needs. However, these were mostly present only in potential form. Until the Day of Judgment, man has freedom to spend his life in this world, in the sphere that is in his control. He is free to use this freedom in whatever way he wants—properly or otherwise.