September 11th, 2001: An Attempt to Revive the Islamic Caliphate?

September 11th, 2001, is a date that many people will never forget. Terrorists flew airplanes into two buildings at the World Trade Center, struck the Pentagon, and may have been planning to hit the capital (but were thwarted by brave passengers such as Todd Beamer). The world has never been the same since. It has had to deal with terrorist attacks and has seen the spread of Islam into the Western world. Recently, riots and instability have hit the Middle East, and the leaders of countries such as Iran and Turkey have expressed interest in an Islamic caliphate, or a government ruled by Islamic law (particularly when the Islamic world is united). September 11th was an important date to the Ottoman Caliphate. Was Al Qaida sending us a message when they attacked America in 2001? When they fired the opening shots in the "War on Terror" was their ultimate aim a revival of the Islamic Caliphate? Recent events make that seem likely.

The Significance of September 11th in History

In the 1600s, the Ottoman Caliphate was at its peak. They owned the lands of modern-day Greece, the northern part of Africa through Libya and Egypt, modern-day Iraq, Syria, Turkey, part of modern-day Iran, the West coast of what is now Saudi Arabia, and part of the East coast of Saudi Arabia. In 1683, the Ottoman Turks decided to extend their rule into Western Europe. At the time, much of Europe was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor, whose capital was Vienna. This is where the Ottoman Caliphate headed.

At the time, fortunately, Vienna was surrounded by a wall. The Ottoman army set up a siege around the city, hoping to force them into submission. In addition, they started to dig underneath the city. They were stopped when a baker heard the sound of digging underneath his bakery one morning; the soldiers protecting the city met the tunnelers and drove them back. Some believe that the bakers invented the croissant in honor of the victory.

The people of Vienna began to get hungry. Some were getting sick. They had run out of meat. It looked like the Islamic Caliphate would extend its territory; however, forces from France, Poland, and Germany were putting together their own army. On September 11th, 1683, Europe attacked the Ottoman army and defeated the Turkish forces. From that point on, the Ottoman Caliphate began to shrink in its size and influence, although it was around in one form or another for centuries to come.

Moving Towards the Modern Caliphate

It seems likely that Osama bin Laden chose September 11th as a symbolic date when he chose the date for Al Qaida to make their infamous attack. The bigger question is, was the goal of reviving the Islamic Caliphate in the back of their minds at the time? It has been nearly ten years since the attacks, and the world has dramatically changed since.

While it didn't seem apparent at the time that a caliphate was their end goal, recent events have revealed that the goal of a caliphate was probably in their heads on that September morning in New York. In 2005, Al Qaida revealed that their end goal was a caliphate. They named an Internet newscast "Voice of the Caliphate." A publication from that year reveals a seven step plan that Al Quaida had: step five was a caliphate, with a target date of somewhere between 2013 and 2016 (phase seven was victory over the entire world by 2020).

It does seem like Al Qaeda did have a caliphate in mind when they attacked New York City on September 11th, 2001. The question now is, will they actually succeed in their plans?

Sources:

Bauer, Susan Wise. Story of the World Volume 3. Peace Hill Press, 2010, pp. 174-177.

Google Maps. World Map. 3 February 2011.

Hall, Allan . "Al-Qaeda Chiefs Reveal World Domination Design". The Age.com, 24 August 2005.

Vick, Karl. "Reunified Islam: Unlikely but Not Entirely Radical". Washington Post, 14 January 2006.

Wikipedia. Croissant. 3 February 2011.