Abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate
From Mw
In 1915 CE (1333 AH) the Russian ambassador to Britain, sent a message back to St Petersburg:
"The Italian Government supports the Russian Government's opinion. The Italian government wholeheartedly supports wresting the Khilafah from the Turks and abolishing it if necessary".
When Turkey surrendered at the end of World War I, the allied forces occupied parts of Turkey. The French declared a protectorate over Kalikiya, the Italians over Adalya and the Greeks over Izmir. British forces, meanwhile, occupied Istanbul itself, taking over the Ministries of War and the Navy, and all communications authorities and services. In response, Mustafa Kemal, inspector-general of the 9th Army, disobeyed the sultan's order to return to Istanbul and rallied the Turks in Anatolia against the Allies. His campaign succeeded in routing the Greek forces, bringing the Turkish forces to the point of confrontation with the other allied forces. The standoff was resolved in an armistice agreement in Mudanya; other substantive issues were ultimately resolved in the Lausanne Peace Conference.
Essentially Kemal obtained what he had bargained for - an independent Turkish state based in Anatolia, but that would eventually take possession of Constantinople, the Dardenelles and eastern Thrace in the wake of the departing allied armies. But in Lausanne, Ankara also put its seal on the end of Turkey's relations with all of the Ottoman Caliphates's former provinces in the Arab world, from the Tigris-Euphrates valley, through Syria, Palestine and Saudi Arabia, to Egypt and Sudan. Henceforth, Turkey would be confined to Asia Minor, with a small annex in Europe. It was as though the new Turkish government under Mustafa Kemal had already resolved to rid itself of the past.
By the early 1920’s the ‘Committee for Union and Progress’ and the ‘Young Turks’ manoeuvred towards implementation of secularism. Their boldest initiative was a proposal for a secular constitution, presented to the National Assembly. This evoked an angry response. Kathim Qara Bakir, the Ottoman General , said,
"I have vowed to prevent any steps undertaken with the aim of transforming the country from a Sultanate to a republic, no matter how dear the sacrifice were."
Mustafa Kemal retorted,
"The constitution drafted by the National Assembly is not final...There is nothing in these laws to suggest that the sacred Sultanate and the sacred Khilafah would be undermined, or to suggest an incitement towards adopting a republican ruling system. Those who imagine that we wish to destroy the Sultanate and substitute the Sultanic rule by the republican rule are in fact living in another planet than the one we live in, that is the planet of fiction and imagination."
History has shown how empty these words were. Their ensuing actions showed that they wished to bring this planet from the realm of fiction and imagination, into bitter reality. The real motive for this apparent climb-down was that they realised Bakir was well respected and his views represented the view of the Ummah of the time.
On 4th November 1922 (14th Rabbi al-Awwal 1341) the Kemalist government deposed Sultan Mohamed VI, ending more than six centuries of Ottoman rule. Yet the final death throes of the Ottoman Caliphate lasted another 16 months. Although the nationalist regime deposed the last of the Ottoman sultans, it, nevertheless, retained the caliphate. On 24th November 1922 (4th Rabbi al-Thanni 1341), Ankara designated one of the more compliant members of the Ottoman house, Prince Abdel-Majid, as Mohamed VI's successor to the caliphate, legitimising his appointment through a speedily conducted rite of succession.
On 20th November 1922 (30th Rabbi al-Awwal 1341), the Lausanne conference was inaugurated. It was attended on behalf of the Ottoman State by a delegation of the Ankara government only, who acted as the representative of the Ottoman State that was defeated in the World War. It was also attended by Curzon the British Foreign Secretary, as head of the British delegation, for the government of Lloyd George had resigned on 19th October 1922 (27th Safar 1341). The conference started its sessions and during it, the head of the British delegation Curzon, stipulated four conditions prior to recognising the independence of Turkey. These conditions were:
- The total abolishment of the Caliphate
- the expulsion of the Caliph beyond the borders
- the confiscation of his assets
- declaration of the state’s secularisation.
The success of the conference rested on the fulfilment of these four conditions. However it was wound up on 4th February 1923 (17th Jumada al-Thanni 1341) without yielding any result and it was declared a failure.
Ismat returned to Turkey and Mustafa Kemal rushed to meet him in Eskisehir where he learnt from him all the matters which had been raised at the conference; then he returned with him to Ankara. On their arrival at Ankara station, the pair were surprised by the failure of Ra’uf, the Prime Minister, and the city’s deputies to turn up to greet them. Mustafa Kemal was incensed by this and summoned Ra’uf and demanded him to explain his beahviour. Ra’uf replied by expressing his protest against the sending of Ismet to the conference without consulting the government and against Mustafa Kemal’s rushing to meet Ismet in Eskisehir also without consulting the government, stressing that this was an unconstitutional act; he then followed his protest by handing in his resignation from the Premiership.
Consequently, the National Assembly convened to debate the peace conference. The Assembly sided with Ra’uf and gathered to lend him support and the majority of its members were against Mustafa Kemal. The debate was heated and the deliberation lasted for nine days, during which time the deputies condemned Mustafa Kemal’s acceptance of the truce with the enemies in Mudanya and described it as a trick which he had fallen for, stating that he should have rather continued his advance towards Istanbul, and even towards Athens if necessary.
The deputies then launched a fierce attack on Ismet, accusing him of infringement of procedure and imbecility in negotiating with Curzon. They also criticised his being sent without their consent and they decided to take a vote pertaining to his dismissal and the sending of a successor to resume negotiations in Lausanne. Upon this Mustafa Kemal started to issue threats and to incite the deputies against Ra’uf, until he managed to foil the decision of dismissing Ismat, for he was his confidant and a faithful envoy in his contacts with the British and the man who obeyed him without question.
At this point most of the colleagues who had sided with him in the darkest hours during the past for years started to join forces against him, led by Ra’uf. Amongst them were Rahmi, Adnan, Kathim Qara Bakir, Rif’at, Ali Fu’ad, Noureddine and others. Only Ismat, Fawzi and some of his friends remained on his side. The deputies joined Rauf one after the other and started criticising Mustafa Kemal openly. The majority in the National Assembly gathered against him and he realised that his defeat was a certainty.
These circumstances were not favourable to the resumption of the peace conference in Lausanne, for they would not allow the execution of the four conditions stipulated by the British which Curzon, the British Foreign Secretary, had made conditional for the success of the conference. Hence, it was imperative to obtain a decision from the National Assembly endorsing the establishment of the republic and electing him as president of the republic, and to obtain a decision endorsing the total abolishment of the Caliphate. Since the majority of the National Assembly was against him and since it was unlikely that it would execute his plans or agree to proceed with him, he thought about dissolving the National Assembly and holding fresh elections which would enable him to bring a new National Assembly from among his own men, who would support him, execute his aspirations and endorse the resolutions he wanted.
Hence, he endeavoured to dissolve the National Assembly and hold fresh elections, hoping to acquire a majority. However, the Assembly which the election produced was against him just like the old one. Thus, he resorted to plotting against the National Assembly in order to throw it into confusion and to place it in a position that would make it seem unable to function. Hence, he staged a political conspiracy in order to generate a crisis and exploit it. He invited the ministers to dinner at his house in the suburb of Cankaya during which they discussed the political status quo from all aspects. Then, on the basis of a request by with it. The next day, all the ministers resigned in accordance to what they had agreed upon the night before.
The National Assembly convened in order to form the new government but it could not do so, for arguments between the deputies increased and quarrels broke out. Each deputy attempted to impose his own opinion and look after his own interests until the situation resulted in total chaos.
Two days later, Mustafa Kemal hosted another dinner party for some of his loyal friends, among whom where Ismat, Fathi and Kemal-ud-din and they talked about the crisis into which the National Assembly had fallen due to its failure to agree upon the formation of a government. They exchanged their views about the situation and at the end of their discussion Mustafa Kemal addressed them by saying:
"it is high time we put an end to this mess. Tomorrow we are going to declare the establishment of the republic. It is the solution to all these problems. Therefore, you Fathi complicate matters in the Assembly as much as you can tomorrow, so you will incite the deputies against each other. Then you Kemal-ud-din will propose that I should be invited to take control in order to save the Assembly from its crisis."
The next day, every one set about carrying out what they had agreed upon. The Assembly convened and noisy arguments broke out. The deputies came close to fighting each other physically. Amidst this huge uproar between the deputies, Kemal-ud-din suggested inviting Mustafa Kemal to form the government. The deputies agreed and forgot all their differences with him. However, Mustafa Kemal turned down their request at first. Thus, they sent him a new message in which the Assembly admitted its failure in solving the governmental crisis and requested his help. Hence he stipulated that the National Assembly should accept his opinion without any discussion if they wanted him to form the government, to which they agreed.
The elected assembly in Istanbul resisted Kamal’s advances by referring the matter to the foreign affairs committee, comprising of lawyers and scholars. After studying the matter from the Quran and Sunnah, taking into consideration the achievements of the Caliphate over the thirteen centuries of its existence, the committee unanimously rejected the proposal. However, Mustafa Kamal angrily interrupted the committee proceedings, leaping onto a chair and hurling a threat that,
"This will happen whether you agree to it or not. All there is to it is that some of your heads will roll in the process."
Kamal then took his coercive tactics to the assembly. He rejected an open ballot, hurled even more threats, whilst his supporters rested their hands on their pistols. Even then the overwhelming majority of the assembly defiantly declared their rejection of Kamal’s proposal. Hoping for a more compliant assembly, Kamal ordered fresh elections but found that the new assembly was every bit as much against him.
One of the most important developments had been the elections for the National Assembly, which brought in a majority of Kemalists. To strengthen their hand, they barred "all members who did not declare their support for the new constitution" from entering the assembly. They also passed a law "leveling the penalty of high treason on anyone who refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Great National Assembly or the principle of national sovereignty, or supported the restoration of the sultanate." In addition, the Kemalists formed themselves into a new party - The People's Party.
In the summer of 1923, a publication titled “The Caliphate and National Authority” appeared. Of anonymous authorship, Al-Ahram newspaper surmised that the book had been commissioned by the intelligence agency in Ankara, at the behest of Kemal. Following a brief introduction reviewing the divergent Islamic schools of thought on the necessity of the caliphate, the author concluded that the caliph must be a descendant of the Quraysh tribe and that the post itself was a form of power of attorney. The essence of the book appeared in the second chapter, discussing the difference between the two concepts of the caliphate and power arguing "the legitimacy of the actions Ankara has taken with regard to the Islamic caliphate, provisions for which are not a religious issue but secular and political." The book says the true caliph must "possess all necessary virtues and attributes, be chosen by the people and invested with their full will and consent, and be devoid of worldly ends and various personal ambitions." Such a person, it claims, does not exist, and has not existed since the four "Rightly Guided" caliphs who immediately succeeded the Prophet. The conclusion in short is that the existence of the caliphate is not an integral tenet of Islam.
In addition to using this book to rock the belief in the necessity of the caliphate, the Kemalists began to propagate the notion that the republican system was closer to the spirit of Islam. In a republic, they said, "the people gain greater glory, further advancement in the sciences, industries and the arts, and have greater strength in faith, because every individual feels his existence in society and sees himself working for the general good." They also claimed that the defenders of the republic were closer to God, proof of which could be seen in how the sultan and caliph forfeited the rights of the nation in the Treaty of Sevres, whereas they had succeeded in stopping foreign encroachment.
On 14th July 1923 (30th Dhul-Qadah 1341), it was announced that "the headquarters of government will remain in Ankara." Until then, the commonly held view was that the government would only remain in that small inland town pending the resolution of affairs concerning the allied occupation of certain areas of Turkey.
In September 1923 (Muharram 1342), Kemal issued several statements to the effect that Turkey must become a republic with a "people's government." On 27th September 1923 (15th Safar 1342) suddenly issued a resolution to transform the form of government in Turkey to a republic.
In October 1923 (Safar 1342) the parliamentary commission of the People's Party moved to introduce a bill to change the name of the country to the "Turkish Republic", to retain Ankara as its capital and abolishing Islam as a way of life and reducing it to a personal, individual affair. When voting eventually took place, over 60% of the assembly did not take part in protest.
Moreover, other representatives highlighted the merits of the Caliphate, which provided stark contrast to Kamal’s position of abandoning the Ummah for the sake of narrow national interest. The secular Mustafa Kemal was incited by this rallying call and angrily retorted,
"Was it not because of the Caliphate, Islam and the clerics that the Turkish peasants have fought and lost their lives for five centuries? It is high time Turkey attended to her interests, ignored the Indians and the Arabs and saved herself from the burden of leading the Islamic lands."
Mustafa Kamal then resorted to even more desperate measures. He ordered the assassination of one representative and threatened another with hanging. It was in this atmosphere of terror that Mustafa Kamal then forced an oath of allegiance from Ra’uf Beik, who led a revolt of representatives against Kamal, having previously been loyal to Kamal for many years.
On 8th October 1923 (26th Safar 1342) the newspaper Al-Ahram commented on this development under the headline, "The Republican Coup." The new system of government, it wrote, will take elements from all known republican systems. "Its president will be accorded the vast powers granted to the president of the United States, its National Assembly will have the power vested in the Russian Soviet Council and the president of the Turkish republic will be elected by the parliament in the manner that takes place in France."
Al-Ahram's commentary predicted that Kemal would be elected as the new republic's first president "by a unanimous vote, in view of the absence of any rival to that position and in view of his great popularity in the country." It added, "True, some opposition has begun to evince itself in the National Assembly, but it is still very minor, voicing no more than some isolated criticism of some of the government's actions." In spite of the criticism, the writer believed Kemal to be a true patriot and visionary. "As long as God grants him a long life, he will bring to the Turkish Republic a great future, restoring to it the glory of the Ottoman Sultanate in the days of its brilliance. He will raise the country to the ranks of advanced nations, to a pillar of civilisation in the world, to become a model for the peoples of the East who yearn for freedom, independence, progress and advancement."
At 6.00pm. on Wednesday 29th October 1923 (18th Rabbi al-Awwal 1342), the National Assembly held an important meeting. After the assembled members (158 members) had discussed some side issues, one of the members proclaimed, "The Turkish people do not want to bow to a man with a crown. They want to be master of their own fate and to steer the course of Turkey, the republic. All who believe otherwise are pro-monarchists and merit destruction and death.". Mustafa Kemal took to the platform and delivered a speech in which he declared turning Turkey into a republic. To quote from his speech:
"You have sent for me so I could salvage the situation at this critical time. However, the crisis is of your own doing. The origin of this crisis is not a passing matter, but rather a fundamental error in the system of our government. The National Assembly is undertaking the function of the legislative power and the executive power at the same time. Every deputy from amongst you must interfere in every government resolution being adopted and stick his fingers in every governmental department and every ministerial decision. Sirs! No minister can fulfil his responsibility and accept the post under such circumstances. You ought to realise that a government built upon such a basis would be impossible to establish, and if it were established, it would not be a government but an anarchy. We ought to change this status quo. Therefore, I have decided that Turkey should become a republic with an elected president."
The deputies were stunned by this unexpected decision. When the voting took place, fewer than 40% of the deputies took part, the rest abstaining in protest. Nonetheless, the decree that had been prepared beforehand, stipulating that Turkey should be turned into a republic was approved and Mustafa Kemal was elected as the first president of the Turkish republic. Then he embarked upon working towards abolishing the Caliphate and declaring the secularisation of the state. People sensed his moves and public opinion started to attack him. The word was spread everywhere that the new rulers of Ankara were unbelievers. The orators and preachers started to attack Mustafa Kemal. Leaflets and caricatures which attacked him fiercely were distributed. Then many of the deputies and prominent figures started to leave Ankara and headed towards Istanbul to rally around the Caliph Abdul Majid. The atmosphere throughout the whole of Turkey turned against him. In response, he started to try to win over supporters and thereby alleviate the onslaught.
Amidst such a status quo, and at the height of the campaign against him, the two Indian Muslim leaders Agha Khan and Amir Ali sent a letter of protest on behalf of India’s Muslims, demanding that the dignity of the Ottoman Caliph, the Caliph of the Muslims should be respected. Agha Khan was the leader of the Ismaeli sect, and it was known in Turkey and other parts that he was a friend of the British. Hence, the letter was published in the Istanbul press before it reached the Ankara government. Then Mustafa Kemal started to dig into Agha Khan’s past. He highlighted the fact that he lived in Britain, that he ran his horses in the British race courses and mingled with the British politicians and ambassadors. He pointed out that the British had promoted his status through their propaganda machine during the World War until he was regarded as the leader of India’s Muslims so that they could use him to threaten the Sultan of Turkey whenever necessary; thus he was British puppet.
Mustafa Kemal became very active in striking the right note and inciting the public opinion against the Caliph. He used to say to people: "When Britain, the wicked arch enemy, failed to destroy Turkey through Greece, she resorted to her old tricks. Thus, she inspired her puppet Agha Khan to support the Caliph and split Turkey into two camps." He then set about stirring up the fervour of the National Assembly and this led the orators from among the deputies to rush into launching a fierce attack against the Caliphate, the clerics and the opposition leaders. They also endorsed a bill enjoining the fact that any opposition to the republic and any inclination towards the deposed Sultan would be considered a treason that carries capital punishment.
When some deputies highlighted the merits of the Caliphate from a diplomatic aspect, Mustafa Kemal’s supporters attempted to silence them by yelling and screaming and protesting. Then Mustafa Kemal stood up and said: "Was it not because of the Caliphate, Islam and the clerics that the Turkish peasants have fought and lost their lives for five centuries? It is high time Turkey attended to her interests, ignored the Indians and the Arabs and saved herself from the burden of leading the Islamic lands."
Then he sought to scrutinise the army and find out the extent of their support or their opposition to the abolishment of the Caliphate and the separation of the Deen from the state. So he attended the annual military manoeuvres near Izmir and spent days reviewing the situation with Fawzi and Ismat and probing the low ranking officers and soldiers. He found a strong opposition and failed to reach a conclusive outcome that reassured him.
He then decided to resort to coercion. One of the opposing deputies, on a day when he had shown his fierce opposition in one of the sessions, was assassinated him on the same night while he was returning home. Another deputy delivered a speech in which he supported the Caliph, so he was threatened with hanging if he continued with his support. He then summoned Ra’uf from Istanbul and forced him to take the oath of allegiance to him and to the republic before the central committee of the People’s Party, threatening him with dismissal from the party and from the committee if he failed to do so. He also sent a strict order to the governor of Istanbul, commanding him to cancel the pomp and protocol surrounding the Caliph during the performance of prayer.
Soon the intentions of Ankara, became increasingly evident. Sheikh Mustafa Fawzi, the Turkish minister of Shari'a (Islamic law) made a two-week visit to Istanbul without once having met the caliph. A People's Party commission subjected a Turkish admiral to a lengthy interrogation because of a visit he paid to the caliph. Commenting on the incident, Al-Ahram newspaper wrote that association with the caliph aroused the suspicion and censor of the Kemalists.
Amidst this atmosphere of terror, and this propaganda and rumours, the Greater National Assembly called for a meeting. Thus the Assembly convened on 1st March 1924. The inaugural speech focused on the necessity to abolish the Caliphate. This was greeted with a barrage of fierce opposition.
On 2nd March 1924 (25th Rajab 1342), the People's Party issued three resolutions, the effect of which was to create a secular republic. The first called for the deposition of the caliph, the abolishment of the caliphate and the expulsion of all members of the Ottoman house from Turkey within 10 days. The members of the former ruling family would henceforth be deprived of all rights of Turkish citizenship and all their palaces would be sequestrated. The second resolution abolished the Ministry of Awqaf (religious endowments) and empowered the president to appoint a head of Islamic affairs. The third abolished religious schools in order to unify the educational system and bring all schools and academies under the Ministry of Education. This ministry, in turn, would be responsible for creating a body of religious scholars to engage and train specialists in religious affairs and education.
Mustafa Kemal then addressed the angry deputies by saying:
"We must at all costs safeguard the endangered republic and make her rise upon solid scientific bases. The Caliph and the legacies of the "Ottoman Family" must go, the dilapidated religious courts and their laws must be replaced by modern courts and laws, and the clerics’ schools must concede their place to governmental secular schools."
Heated debates took place and bitter disputes broke out, but these came to nothing. On the second day, the National Assembly convened once more in order to review this decree; the session went on all night until 6.30 a.m. with fierce argument and unabated debate.
In the morning of 3rd March 1924 (26th Rajab 1342), it was announced that the Greater National Assembly had approved the abolishment of the Caliphate and the separation of the Islam from the state. On the same night, Mustafa Kemal sent an order to the governor of Istanbul stipulating that the Caliph Abdul-Majid should leave Turkey before the dawn of the next day; so he went with a garrison from the police and the army to the Caliph’s palace in the middle of the night and the Caliph was forced to climb aboard a car that took him through the borders towards Switzerland, after he had been supplied with a suitcase containing some clothes and money. Two days later, Mustafa Kemal gathered all the throne’s princes and princesses and deported them outside the country. All religious functions were cancelled and the "Awqaf" (endowments) of the Muslims became the property of the state, and the religious schools were turned into civil schools under the auspices of the education ministry.
The resolutions were brought before the National Assembly. As expected, they were passed "against a very weak opposition," as the newspaper Al-Ahram observed. In Dolmabahce Palace where Abdel-Majid resided, the last of the Ottoman caliphs surrendered to his fate. Nevertheless, he made one final plea to Ankara "not to exile the descendants of the dynasty that ruled Turkey for six centuries," and not to abolish the caliphate, so as "not to give credence to the foreigners' claim that Islam is an obstacle in the path of progress and civilisation." His appeal fell on deaf ears. As the curtain drew to a close on the end of the Ottoman Caliphate, Abdel-Majid and his family were being escorted out of the country under heavy guard, as Mustafa Kemal moved into Dolmabahce Palace for a few days to celebrate the victory of the republic.
In this way, Mustafa Kemal fulfilled the four conditions which Curzon, the British Foreign Secretary had demanded, and the impediment preventing the convening and the success of the peace conference no longer existed. Hence on 8th March 1924 (1st Shaban 1342), Ismat Pasha Turkey’s foreign minister and head of the delegation, sent a letter to the conference requesting the resumption of negotiations, and the Allies agreed. On 23rd April 1924 (18th Ramadhan 1342), the conference was reconvened and the conferees agreed upon the peace terms. The Lausanne Treaty was signed on 24th July 1924 (21st Dhul-Hijjah 1342). The states recognised Turkey’s independence, Britain evacuated Istanbul and the straits and Harrington left Turkey. Consequently, one of the British MPs protested against Curzon in the House of Commons for recognising Turkey’s independence. Curzon answered him by saying:
"The point at issue is that Turkey has been destroyed and shall never rise again, because we have destroyed her spiritual power : the Caliphate and Islam."
