Yasir Qadhi - 100 Years Without a Khilāfah (And: Do We Need to Re-Establish One?)

About this lecture

On the 100th anniversary of the abolition of the Khilafa, Shaykh Yasir Qadhi delivers a frank and historically grounded reflection on what the Khilafa meant, why attempts to revive it have failed, and whether a new one is realistic today. He argues in five structured points that while the Khilafa is a valid ideal, it is not the top priority for Muslims, that living outside one is permissible, and that romanticized claims — such as "a Khilafa would have stopped Gaza" — do not hold up to historical scrutiny. He concludes with a bold reimagining: rather than waiting for a classical revival, Muslims should pursue a model of cooperative unity among Muslim-majority nations, inspired by the example of the European Union.