AHC: Influential Islamic Caliph

You challenge with a POD any time in history, is for a Caliph-like position to emerge which is at least as powerful among (Sunni) Muslims as the Pope is among Catholics - that is, even if the faithful disagree with the incumbent Caliph's doctrines, they will continue to hold loyalty to the "successor to the Prophet", etc.

Bonus (ASB, perhaps) if Shia also recognize the institution.
 
Ottoman Caliphate. They were on the path into becoming Islamic Pope before overthrown by Attaturk. Keep Ottoman Empire afloat and maintain the Padishah's gradual lose of active political role and you will transform him into a Pope-like figure for all Sunni muslims.

For Mainstream Shiites like Ithna Ashari, that would may be impossible, but OTL Ottomans did co-opted the heterodox ones like Bektashis, Alevis, Alawites, Druze (which aren't even muslims, but descended from Ismailis....)
 
Ottoman Caliphate. They were on the path into becoming Islamic Pope before overthrown by Attaturk. Keep Ottoman Empire afloat and maintain the Padishah's gradual lose of active political role and you will transform him into a Pope-like figure for all Sunni muslims.

For Mainstream Shiites like Ithna Ashari, that would may be impossible, but OTL Ottomans did co-opted the heterodox ones like Bektashis, Alevis, Alawites, Druze (which aren't even muslims, but descended from Ismailis....)

How would the Ottomans manage all that after losing Mecca and the rest of the holy cities in the Hejaz?
 
Historically the Caliphs were more powerful than the Popes and more akin to caesaropapism of the Byzantine emperors.

The Caliphate reached its nadir only with the fall in power of the Abbasids with local emirs taking power. But even then they still theoretically acknowledged the authority of the Caliph. At worst, the Caliphs were like the Popes during their worst periods.

In 1519, the Caliphate switched from the powerless Abbasids to the Ottomans, and it became powerful again - far more powerful than even the Renaissance popes since they ruled an actual empire that covered most of the Sunni world.

I think your problem is that the Pope is just the Bishop of Rome. His authority is entirely spiritual, any temporal power is secondary at best. The Caliphs combine spiritual and temporal power because Islam doesn't distinsguish between religious and secular authority, but are combined. The Caliphs were always more powerful in both conception and fact than the Popes ever were. Your AHC "challenge" is already our world.

The only way to get the Shiites to accept the authority of the Caliph is to prevent the Shiite split to begin with. Ali would need to become Caliph, avoid any civil war, and survive so that his faction never diverges from the Sunni.
 
The only way to get the Shiites to accept the authority of the Caliph is to prevent the Shiite split to begin with. Ali would need to become Caliph, avoid any civil war, and survive so that his faction never diverges from the Sunni.

Isn't it still likely that there'd be some sort of schism over doctrine at some point? I'm not especially knowledgeable, but look at early Christianity... it exploded into little argumentative sects (And yes, I am being hyperbolic here, I apologize :p)
 
Isn't it still likely that there'd be some sort of schism over doctrine at some point? I'm not especially knowledgeable, but look at early Christianity... it exploded into little argumentative sects (And yes, I am being hyperbolic here, I apologize :p)

There were significant splits within the Sunnis into different schools of thought since Sunnis are a lot more legalistic than Shi'a but it would be nothing like the split in Christianity, I think.
 
There were significant splits within the Sunnis into different schools of thought since Sunnis are a lot more legalistic than Shi'a but it would be nothing like the split in Christianity, I think.

So it would just become minor interpretative schools within the still united framework of [Sunni] Islam?
 
So it would just become minor interpretative schools within the still united framework of [Sunni] Islam?

Yes. While there were significant reforming movements within Islam in the 18th and 19th centuries that could be akin to the Reformation, they never displayed a huge willingness to challenge the central apparatus to any significant degree and split off from it. I could be wrong though; I know far more about Shi'i Islam.
 
How would the Ottomans manage all that after losing Mecca and the rest of the holy cities in the Hejaz?

It won't make much difference since Hashemites would remain Sharif of Holy Cities in either case. Khilafat movement in India IOTL was a nice evidence of showing how Padishah was still legitimate Caliph in the eyes of Sunni muslims worldwide even after losing everything south of Anatolia.
 
It won't make much difference since Hashemites would remain Sharif of Holy Cities in either case. Khilafat movement in India IOTL was a nice evidence of showing how Padishah was still legitimate Caliph in the eyes of Sunni muslims worldwide even after losing everything south of Anatolia.
This. Basically, the more success the Ottomans have, the more legitimate they would be seen as Khalif, especially after AbdulHamid's efforts to increase awareness around the world about his office of Khalif. If we can have the Ottomans as a force capable of holding off the expansionist Christian west (something that AbdulHamid at least attempted) then more Muslims around the world will naturally look towards the Khalif as an important part of their religious and political lives.
 
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