Political Systems In The Islamic World

4 Pages 933 Words

Political Systems in the Islamic World

Islam, meaning “submission,” is a religion emerging from God’s revelation to the final, and most influential prophet, Muhammad. Those who follow Islam are Muslims: those who are submissive to God’s will.
Islam is a spiritual idea, as well as a religion. From its earliest roots, its spiritual aspect has been combined with politics. Muhammad helped to bring together people through religious faith and the social and political systems of the time. Under Muhammad, leadership was both a political and religious responsibility.
However, a problem with Muhammad’s position shortly followed his death in 632, which has caused two major political problems and has split Muslims into two distinct parts. Two main questions were considered after Muhammad’s death.




· Who will be the successor of Muhammad?
· Will there be a political civil war to settle this dispute?


First, the successors of Muhammad were called Caliphs. Caliph is the English form of the Arabic word, “Khalifa,” meaning “successor to the messenger of God.” Caliphs are the heads of the Muslim community, who hold a responsibility to continue in the path of the prophet, and to spread the word of God. Muslims were to obey the Caliphs under all circumstances as long as the obeyed the law of God.

Secondly, many arguments came about over who should be the successor of Muhammad. Due to the sensitivity of the issue of who next becomes Caliph, Islam then, broke out into two sects: Sunnis and Shiites.

Sunnis are those who favor a leader who will imitate the examples of Muhammad. They believe that the next caliphs should be those who best fulfill the position. In contrast, Shiites believe in a direct blood relation to Muhammad. They believe that Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad should have been the next caliph. However, Sunnis favored that leadership of the best candidate for caliph.

The Caliphate Period be...