If you don't know what a Caliphate is as an American is you should!

Simply, a caliphate is a form of government.  More precisely, it is an Islamic state that draws its authority from, and is based upon, Sharia law. Get used to hearing the word; it is the form of government advocated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

What exactly a caliphate looks like depends on whether you are a Sunni or a Shia Muslim.  Sunnis believe a caliphate should be a constitutional republic, whose leaders are elected by Muslims.  Shias believe the head of state is divinely chosen via a lineage of religious clerics called Imams.  Within Egypt, Sunnis outnumber Shias.

Those who dismiss the idea of a caliphate in Egypt are discounting the country’s history.  Egypt is hardly a stranger to such a form of government; it was part of the Ottoman Empire from the early 16th century until in the late 19th century.  The Ottoman Empire was the last great caliphate. It didn’t transition to a secular government model until 1924.

With almost four hundred years of history as a caliphate, it’s not surprising then that Egypt’s penal code is written and based upon Islamic law.  Perhaps this is to be expected in a country where an estimated 90% of the people are Muslim.  What is surprising is that Egypt’s government is, or at least has been, a secular model.   But will it remain so?

Given the country’s history and the religion of the overwhelming majority of its people, the stage may be set for the return of a caliphate, rising out of the present turmoil.  And what that means to you probably depends on who you are.  A caliphate may sound fine if you are Muslim.  It might chaff a little if you’re not.  Christians and Jews were treated as second-class citizens under the Ottoman Empire. Certainly to the American mind, raised to believe in the “wall of separation between church and state” as articulated by Thomas Jefferson, a caliphate is an anathema.

If the possibility of a caliphate in Egypt sounds improbable, consider these facts:  Egypt’s current government is in collapse, the largest and most organized opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood, champions Islamic law and Egypt was once part of a caliphate.

It never works out well to ignore history or facts.  The dramatic changes in Egypt cannot be denied nor can the implications for the entire region.  An improbable word has made a comeback. The government it represents might not be so far behind.