by B. R. GOWANI
CARTOON/David Horsey/The Seattle Times
Ottoman Caliphate ended in 1920s
since then Sunnis are caliphless
but the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques exerts caliphic powers
so he’s kind of an undeclared/nonofficial caliph
then in 2014 a small group’s leader declared himself a caliph
two months later, dreaming-to-be-a-caliph leader became president
so middle of 2nd decade of 21st century had three caliphs
at present small-caliph is running for his life from the Global-Caliph
so he is out of the picture
(anyway, the small-caliph was no match for the custodian/president caliphs)
then there were two caliphs left
Custodian-caliph has a dementia problem
so his savage son became the Custodian-caliph
the real battle continues between the president-caliph and son-caliph
son-caliph has gone crazy, that is, he feels more powerful than he is
which has led him to do lots of dangerous/devastating things
then son-caliph crossed the line
creating furor on a worldwide scale
some rulers use brutality for political purpose
to gain or/to stay in power
some are cruel by nature
and use it for any/all purpose
caliph-son is of the second type
world is witnessing more of the second type
this was president-caliph’s god given opportunity to teach a lesson
the son-caliph has mellowed down a little
there are speculation whether he’ll hold on to power
I think he’ll use his power with more caution but will stay in power
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com