The Semiotics of the third Wave of Caliphate: Origins and Consequences

The violent and aggressive advent of a group known as Da’esh, who has the claim of caliphate in Islamic world, was a huge shock to everyone. Due to violent approach and perspective of Da’esh, this question comes to the one’s mind that whether the advent of this movement is the Muslim world innate or was constructed by great powers with the aim of drawing negative image of Islam? This study hypothesized that Da’esh has no relation with Islamic world but attributes the origin of caliphate to Islam. Unfortunately, improper functioning of political rulers and the people’s dissatisfaction from the current conditions in Arabic countries, which have caused the political abuse by regional and international powers, reinforced its appearance. In the present study to explain the hypothesis, the researcher used the semiotics theory. Then, by reviewing the history, he dealt with the hidden caliphate in Sunni Islam. In the process of expressing the ways of Da’esh formation, the researcher compared the signs of Da’esh caliphate with two previous periods of caliphate and identified the Da’esh symbolic, fundamental, and structural similarity with the earlier caliphates. The findings of this study showed that Da’esh caliphatism originated from disorders and mismanagement of the political leaders of Sunni Islamic world. The lasting and impressive symbols of the previous caliphate helped them to recruit power and dominate the entire Islamic world with reliance on them.