The Caliphate Question

The British Government and Islamic Governance

Sean Oliver-Dee

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2009
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216315971
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The Caliphate Question combines the disciplines of theology, history, and international relations in order to approach the complex and sensitive issue of how Western governments-in this case the British-have historically engaged with foreign policy issues that have centered around questions of theology or faith. The British government's approach to policy-making in the field of Islamic governance from the First World War through to the early Cold War is the case study for this book, both because of the extensive documentation that exists on the period and because of its relevance to the current geo-political world.

While the book is not a critique of current British foreign policy, it does seek to furnish policy-makers and commentators with a framework within which such increasingly necessary policy-making can be created.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• Section I. THE CONCEPT AND EXECUTION OF "AUTHORITY" IN ISLAM: THEOLOGY AND POLITICAL THEORY
• Chapter One. The Caliphate in Political Theory
• Section II. THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT FILES AND THE APPROACH TO PAN-ISLAMIC GOVERNANCE
• Chapter Two. The Cairo High Command and the “Caliphate Question,” 1914–1919
• Chapter Three. Post-War Part 1: Professor Arnold’s 1918 Letter and the Khilafat Delegation Meetings 1918–1922
• Chapter Four. Post-War Part 2: The Khilafat Discussions, 1920–1921
• Chapter Five. Post-War Part 3: Government of India–India Office Correspondence 1922–1923
• Chapter Six. Caliphate Policy: Post-Abolition–Cold War
• Chapter Seven. Conclusions
• Appendix A. Religio-political Authority in Islam
• Appendix B. Table of Translations Q4:59
• Appendix C. The Reporting of the Caliphate
• Appendix D. Shi’ite Theory of the Imamate
• Appendix E. A Brief Comparison between the Papacy and the Caliphate
• Appendix F. Submission to the Lausanne Treaty Negotiators from the Armenian Delegation
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author