caliph

Caliph, from the Arabic khalīfah meaning “successor” or “steward,” is the title traditionally given to the leader of the Muslim community. In Sunni Islam the caliph is the political and religious head of the ummah, whose authority is framed as a stewardship over the community and is typically seen as arising from the community or its scholars rather than from divine appointment.

The institution emerged after Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632, with the four rightly guided caliphs—Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali—leading the early community. Over time the caliphate became a dynastic empire, with the Umayyads and then the Abbasids establishing and shaping large state structures. The Abbasid Caliphate endured in Baghdad until 1258, when Baghdad fell to the Mongols; a later line of Abbasid caliphs continued in Cairo under Mamluk patronage from 1261 to 1517. After 1517, the Ottoman sultans claimed the title of caliph, a claim that continued until the abolition of the caliphate in 1924, following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the secular reforms of the Turkish Republic. Since then, there has been no universally recognized caliphate.

In contrast to Sunni practice, Shia Islam emphasizes the line of Imams as divinely designated leaders with religious authority; the term caliphology is generally not used in the same sense within Twelver or Ismaili traditions.

In modern times, the word caliphate has also appeared in political rhetoric and in the rhetoric of extremist groups claiming territorial rule, a usage rejected by the vast majority of Muslims and scholars.