Before I begin, I want to say this is just my perspective and I'm not passing it off as some truth or scholarly position. It's good to share our perspectives/ideas among each other so I'd thought I would when it comes to this interesting topic:
We see a lot Muslims sometimes ask if a Caliphate will resolve our problems or why don't we develop such kind a system to solve our social and political issues(weakness, poverty, corruption, etc...). I think we need to ask what even is a Caliphate? It's a political-religious state governing system. The political aspect is relating to worldly affairs/policies. The religious aspect is protecting and preserving the religion. And upholding the religious practices. The 'Khaleefah' is one that 'Ikhlfs' or 'succeeds' the previous ruler. In the beginning this is the 'Khaleefah' to Prophet Mohammed(AS). Who we know as Abu Bakr(RA). Now we know that many Caliphates protected Islam as a religon, didn't allow it to be changed, or done away with, thereby leading Muslims into some secular non-religious system and abandoning religion in its entirety. The very first that fought this was also Abu Bakr(RA), with the apostate wars. Abu Bakr(RA) was also considered one of the 'Khulafaah AlRashideen AlMahdiyeen'. Along with Omar(RA), Othman(RA), and Ali(RA). We can establish that at the minimum this state is supposed to provide political/social benefits to Muslim citizens on one hand, and on other hand at least preserve the deen, and if possible guide people to Allah(SWT) in the best manner.
However, today we have other systems for providing political/social benefits to Muslim citizens such as nation-state systems, and aren't necessarily in need of Caliphate system in that sense(if a nation is blessed with good rule, effective policies, and resources). We do not need a Caliphate for what most Muslims asking for today. What you need is simply God-conscious/fearing people. Not just the ones in power, but the ones who enable those in power as well. Power is not just held by a President, King or Supreme leader. Clerics, journalists, pop artists, teachers, imam's, and many others also have ability to influence peoples beliefs/thoughts/minds, and thereby influence their lifestyles as a result. Even ordinary people have influence in shaping up prevalent norms of society. For example, if most of ordinary people in society are in favor of drinking wine, then they shape up most of society to be that way.
The other aspect is the deen issue. It would wrong to say Muslim states/governments are trying to fight Islam today. But, you can say they are enabling alternative ideologies, or not allowing people with good morals/ethics/God-consciousness to assume areas of influence. In this case, it also has to do with ordinary people that are to an extent enabling this behavior. So it all comes down to obeying Allah sincerely, with our intentions and actions.
We can see here, simply implementing a system of governance or trying to 'implement' Islam like an instruction manual, expecting results, is not going to resolve these issues in our societies. Because we can not disconnect the heart and the spiritual from the tangible. Now that does not mean you can't solve issues like poverty and corruption without a Caliphate. You can. And solving issues doesn't mean eliminating adversity from our lives. This is against the Sunan of Allah. Challenges and obstacles will always be there. The point here is people perceive the Caliphate system of having some kind of divine blessing, and want to please Allah and receive his blessings. This understanding is wrong however. What tells us this? The first four Caliph's are the called the the rightly guided ones. They are rightly guided by Allah. Because of that, they are able to push society/individuals into best spiritual path for pleasing Allah. This is unrelated to the political/monetary/social benefits that could come as a result of Caliphate or non-Caliphate system.
But, the only way you achieve pushing people back to to the best spiritual path/lifestyle to Allah, is with a leader that is rightly guided. Many of our issues today are as a result of leaders not being rightly guided, but also ordinary individuals who have a poor understanding of piety. This is why in our time, a Caliphate will not come back until Allah sends the 'rightly-guided' one, or the Mahdi in Arabic. Thus, what's gonna bring the blessings during his time, is not that he implements a instruction manual and waits for something good to happen. It's rather because he worships Allah sincerely, and Allah guides him to the truth, thereby he can produce policies that benefit us in our dunya and deen. And especially deen. Since he shows people again how to get back to properly worshipping Allah.
This is why the Prophet(AS) called the Caliphate during the time as one on the methods/approach/cirruculum of Prophethood. This is because Allah guides the Mahdi to the understandings/approaches of the Prophets. But, he is not infallible, as he will not be able to implement all of that on himself, and falls short of complete character/meeting ibadah perfectly at least up until God fixes him in one night for this. Thus he is not a Prophet. But he has their understandings/guidance, which comes from Allah. Caliphate in our time, is not about getting a system to our benefit, we don't just do things for our benefit. It's about properly worshipping Allah(SWT), and with that comes blessings we didn't necessarily ask for.
Another thing is the Prophet(AS) said we will return to where we began. As in Al-Mahdi will guide us to proper worship/submission to Allah like when the Prophet first began with Islam. Starting from the ground up. Our understandings of the 'truth' will change. Not the doctrine or ideology. Quran/Sunnah/Ahkaam will all remain the same. It's about recognizing who's on the truth and recognizing which policies are misguided and the will to change them. This is why when people think of the Mahdi, they may imagine someone that's completely learned on Islam/Shariah/Memorized Quran and maybe does Qiyaam every night. And wears a thobe. This is a bad understanding among many other bad understandings we have. Which all comes down to lack of sincere worship to Allah. If we wanted Allah's mercy/acceptance sincerely, he'll guide us to the right understandings. And if we had right understandings, we wouldn't be more concerned with dunya as we are today, and had implemented better policies. Policies aren't just general policies or promises. For example, we have political parties that promise to treat everyone equally and work for their interests, but they work a lot harder for interests of their members/followers first, or at least prioritize them before general people unaffilated with any political parties.
In conclusion, when we wish for a Caliphate, in the sense of getting people back on deen and resolving the crisis's we are dealing with, we should not think of this as a system on paper which brings results if we implement it. Because it can be very different in some ways than previous ones, since we live in different times. What it is that you should wish for, is a rightly guided leader and rightly guided subset of population which by their piety/understandings alone can push us in right direction.
Now the issue how do we get a rightly guided leader or choose one, such that he can be on the understandings of the Prophet. The answer is we cannot get someone to that extent based on our own understandings. Because we will choose what conforms to our biases, over and over again. Thus, Allah is gonna provide the person, when the time is right, and our obligation is to obey them and accept their understandings as truths. In the meantime, Allah left us with everything we need. We can work on ourselves. To improve our understandings of piety, and leave behind us 'Yolo' popular culture as a start.
I would like people to share their perspectives on this topic if they see a interest. If not than no need to. It's not that serious of a discussion. We don't posses the truths nor claim to, its ijtihaad only.
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