Caliph
A caliphate is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim world (ummah). Historically, the caliphates were polities based on Islam which developed into multi-ethnic trans-national empires.
During the medieval period, three major caliphates succeeded each other: the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), and the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1517). In the fourth major caliphate, the Ottoman Caliphate, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire claimed caliphal authority from 1517 until the Ottoman Caliphate was formally abolished as part of the 1924 secularisation of Turkey. The Sharif of Mecca then claimed the title, but this caliphate fell quickly after its conquest by the Sultanate of Nejd (the predecessor of modern-day Saudi Arabia), leaving the claim in dormancy. Throughout the history of Islam, a few other Muslim states, almost all of which were hereditary monarchies, have claimed to be caliphates.
Not all Muslim states have had caliphates. The Sunni branch of Islam stipulates that, as a head of state, a caliph should be elected by Muslims or their representatives. Shia Muslims, however, believe a caliph should be an imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt (the 'Household of the Prophet'). Some caliphates in history have been led by Shia Muslims, like the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171). From the late 20th century towards the early 21st century, in the wake of the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR, the war on terror and the Arab Spring, various Islamist groups have claimed the caliphate, although these claims have usually been widely rejected among Muslims, the most notable example being the Islamic State led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi which declared a caliphate in its territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
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