Caliph facts for kids
In Arabic, caliph means "a successor to the prophet". This is what leaders of the Islamic faith came to be called. Their rule is called a caliphate.
Some of the early leaders of the Muslim community following Muhammad's (570–632) death called themselves "Khalifat Allah", meaning representative of God. But the other title of "Khalifat rasul Allah", meaning the successor to the prophet of God, became the common title. Some academics write the term as Khalīf.
Caliphs were often also called Amīr al-Mu'minīn (أمير المؤمنين), leader of the Muslims. This title has since been shortened to "emir". It is also found as a personal name in some countries.
After the first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, and Ali ibn Abi Talib), the title was used by the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and the Ottomans, as well as by other dynasties in Southern Pakistan, Spain, Northern Africa, and Egypt. Most historical Muslim rulers simply titled themselves sultans or emirs, and the caliph himself often had very little real authority. The title was not used after the Republic of Turkey abolished the Ottoman caliphate in 1924.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Rashidun Caliphate at its greatest extent, under Caliph Uthman's rule
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Mustansiriya Madrasah in Baghdad
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The Almohad empire at its greatest extent, c. 1180–1212
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Map of the Fatimid Caliphate at its largest extent in the early 11th century
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Ayyubid Sultanate (in pink) at the death of Saladin in 1193
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The Ottoman Empire at its greatest extent in 1683, under Sultan Mehmed IV
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Abdulmejid II, the last caliph of Sunni Islam from the Ottoman dynasty, with his daughter Dürrüşehvar Sultan
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Official portrait of Abdulmejid II as caliph
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Hafiz Muhiuddin Aurangzeb, unlike his predecessors, was considered to be a Caliph of India
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ISIL's territory, in grey, at the time of its greatest territorial extent in May 2015
See also
In Spanish: Califato para niños
