The term caliphate (from the Arabic خلافة or khilāfa) refers to the first form of government inspired by Islam. It was initially led by Muhammad's disciples as a continuation of the political authority the prophet established, known as the 'rashidun caliphates'. It represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah, and was the world's first major welfare state.[1] A "caliphate" is also a state which implements such a government.
Sunni Islam dictates that the head of state, the caliph, should be selected by Shura - elected by Muslims or their representatives.[2] Followers of Shia Islam believe the caliph should be an imam descended in a line from the Ahl al-Bayt. After the Rashidun period until 1924, caliphates, sometimes two at a single time, real and illusory, were ruled by dynasties. The first dynasty was the Umayyad. This was followed by the Abbasid, the Fatimid, and finally the Ottoman Dynasty.
The caliphate was "the core political concept of Sunni Islam, by the consensus of the Muslim majority in the early centuries.".[3]
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Love Histories
2009-01-17 17:05:00
By the 9th century the Ismailis are an identifiable sect, based in Syria and strongly opposed to the rule of the Abbasid . caliphs. in Baghdad. In the 10th century they establish their own rule over the entire coast of north Africa, . ...
