WI: Continuation of the 'Enlightened Caliphate'

Like it says, what if there was a contiuation of the 'Enlightened Caliphate', the caliphate where the next Caliph was elected by the tribal leaders. Could this have led to a Democratic Caliphate?
 
No- the Caliphate as an institution relied, in the beginning, on relations (by blood or otherwise) to Muhammad or to a previous Caliph. Once you have the Banu Umayya hijack things, its all over. Besides, the whole Sunni-Shia-Kharijite splitting really sort of ruined the "all Muslims" vibe of the Caliphal institution. There never would have been a "democratic Caliphate"- its like asking for a truly democratic Renaissance Papacy.
 
No- the Caliphate as an institution relied, in the beginning, on relations (by blood or otherwise) to Muhammad or to a previous Caliph. Once you have the Banu Umayya hijack things, its all over. Besides, the whole Sunni-Shia-Kharijite splitting really sort of ruined the "all Muslims" vibe of the Caliphal institution. There never would have been a "democratic Caliphate"- its like asking for a truly democratic Renaissance Papacy.

It may never become a Democracy but it could survive as an ogliarchy, no?
 
Messing with the Caliphate at such an early stage could quite likely mean that Islam as we know it never emerges at all- I very much subscribe to the theory that the early Caliphate was much more of an Arab state than a "Muslim" one, and that what we know as Islam only really began to crystallise around the year 700.
 
Because of what you posted before about that one author?

That's what sparked my thinking off, but it's been reinforced by casual conversation I've had with various other people with an interest in the field, and would generally seem to make a good deal of sense.
 
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