
Caliphate - Wikipedia
A caliphate (Arabic: خِلَافَةْ, romanized: khilāfah [xi'laːfah]) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph[1][2][3] (/ ˈkælɪf, ˈkeɪ -/; خَلِيفَةْ khalīfa [xæ'liːfæh], pronunciation ⓘ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of t...
Caliph | Definition & History | Britannica
Feb 14, 2025 · Caliph, in Islamic history, the leader of the Muslim community. The title was first used when Abu Bakr, companion of the Prophet Muhammad and an early convert to Islam, was chosen to assume Muhammad’s political and administrative …
List of caliphs - Wikipedia
A caliph is the supreme religious and political leader of an Islamic state known as the caliphate. [1][2] Caliphs (also known as 'Khalifas') led the Muslim Ummah as political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, [3] and widely-recognised caliphates have existed in various forms for most of Islamic history.
CALIPH Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of CALIPH is a successor of Muhammad as temporal and spiritual head of Islam —used as a title.
Islamic Caliphates - World History Encyclopedia
Dec 3, 2019 · Caliphate (“ Khilafat ” in Arabic) was a semi-religious political system of governance in Islam, in which the territories of the Islamic empire in the Middle East and North Africa and the people within were ruled by a supreme leader called Caliph (“ …
Why is the head of an Islamic State called a caliph?
Nov 10, 2024 · It simply meant that the caliph as head of the Islamic State would implement the law of sharia and look after the affairs of people according to this law. Ibn Khaldun says, “Allah made the caliph his substitute to handle the affairs of His servants.
Who Were the Caliphs? - ThoughtCo
Mar 3, 2019 · A caliph is a religious leader in Islam, believed to be the successor to the Prophet Muhammad. The caliph is the head of the "ummah," or the community of the faithful. Over time, the caliphate became a religiopolitical position, in which the caliph ruled over the Muslim empire.
Caliphate | History, Empire, Meaning, & Definition | Britannica
Mar 18, 2025 · Caliphate, the political-religious state comprising the Muslim community and the lands and peoples under its dominion in the centuries following the death (632 ce) of the Prophet Muhammad.
Caliph - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A caliph is a Muslim monarch who claims to be a successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the founder of the Muslim Arab rule in the 7th century. Their rule is called a caliphate.
Caliph - New World Encyclopedia
Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, nation or community of Islam. It is an Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalīfah (listen ) which means “successor,” that is, successor to the prophet Muhammad.