In 1914, the caliphate became a major issue in the First World War. After the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of Germany, General Lyautey was not content to encourage the marabout leaders to publish proclamations of loyalty. He proposed the creation of a "western caliphate" at the head of which he wanted to place the Cherifian sultan, his "protected".

The Interministerial Commission for Muslim Affairs gave its opinion, but the Minister of Foreign Affairs preferred to follow the British in the support given to the anti-Caliph of Mecca. Kaddour Benghabrit, who brought this mitigated support, as well as Lyautey had to revise their ambitions downwards to content themselves with opening Paris what Messali-Hadj called a mosque-advertising”. But the Western caliphate project was regularly revived after the end of the war. The former Secretary General of the General Residence in Rabat published scholarly articles to denounce the British who tried to place a Caliph agreeing to guarantee their colonial interests. And the director of the mosque hastened, each time, to bring religious support to the project of an updated Western caliphate. Eugene Jung reacted by contesting the fatwas of the "director" and recommended consulting the Emir Chakib Arslan, whose legitimacy was indisputable. Reading the texts produced by each attempt at colonial use of the Caliphate institution makes it possible to consider the current “problems” of Islam over the long term.