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SUMMARY:Before the Caliphate – A Critical Historical Inquiry on the Orig
 ins of the Islamic Polity - Azfar Anwar – MPhil Student\, Islamic Studie
 s &amp\; History\, The Oriental Institute\, St Antony’s College
DTSTART:20160304T165000Z
DTEND:20160304T170000Z
UID:TALK64994@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Francisco Orozco
DESCRIPTION:Is the Caliphate an ex nihilo form of government of seventh ce
 ntury Arabia? Is it an Islamic doctrine where its institution is a religio
 us duty? What system of governance should Muslims adopt? Is the Caliphate 
 the only appropriate way to build and maintain an “Islamic” order? Suc
 h questions are some of which this presentation will address. While they m
 ay seem basic to some\, and may not necessarily be new\, already addressed
  by the likes of Ali Abdel Razek\, Patricia Crone and Khalil Athamina\, th
 is presentation will go even further beyond their respective premises to i
 nvalidate on Islamic grounds the notion of an Islamic polity\, headed by a
  qualified individual bearing the title ‘Caliph’\, with specific parti
 cular features. Through textual analysis of Muslim sources\, historical co
 ntextualization of traditional accounts\, and critical revision of histori
 cal narratives and scholastic-juristic Islamic rulings\, this presentation
  will argue that not only did the Caliphate start out as a tribal institut
 ion and only later given an Islamic identity\, or ‘islamicised’\, by t
 he ‘Ulamā (Muslim scholars) particularly during the Islamic middle peri
 ods\, its instatement is also thus not a religious duty. This presentation
  will challenge the very foundation of the theory of the Caliphate i.e. th
 e Saqifah conference\, by demanding a critical historical inquiry of this 
 conference\; asking questions that have not been asked before by scholars 
 and historians on the origins of the Caliphate.This presentation is adapte
 d from a paper\, however due to the brevity of the presentation\, focus wi
 ll be given on the unasked questions.
LOCATION:Lee Hall\, Wolfson College
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