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84-408: Prior to its use as a monarchical title, the term "emir" was historically used to denote a "commander", "general", or "leader" (for example, Amir al-Mu'min ). In contemporary usage, "emir" is also sometimes used as either an honorary or formal title for the head of an Islamic, or Arab (regardless of religion) organisation or movement. Qatar and Kuwait are the only independent countries which retain

168-531: A jihād against the Sikh Empire in 1836. According to historian Richard Pennell, this pattern reflects the use of the term ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn for regional rulers with the connotations of wide-ranging and absolute authority over a region, the power to conduct relations with foreign states, the upkeep of the Sharia , and the protection of Muslim territory from non-believers. Timur (Tamerlane) also used

252-500: A Khawarij . Ali's tumultuous rule lasted only five years. This period is known as the Fitna , or the first Islamic civil war. The followers of Ali later became the Shi'a ("shiaat Ali", partisans of Ali. ) minority sect of Islam and reject the legitimacy of the first three caliphs. The followers of all four Rāshidun Caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali) became the majority Sunni sect. Under

336-728: A Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120. The Almohads succeeded in overthrowing the Almoravid dynasty in governing Morocco by 1147, when Abd al-Mu'min (r. 1130–1163) conquered Marrakech and declared himself caliph. They then extended their power over all of the Maghreb by 1159. Al-Andalus followed the fate of Africa, and all Islamic Iberia was under Almohad rule by 1172. The Almohad dominance of Iberia continued until 1212, when Muhammad al-Nasir (1199–1214)

420-564: A believer could never go astray. Among the Zaydis , the title retained strong connotations with the leadership of the jihād , and was thus the right of any rightful Imam who stepped forth to claim his right by force of arms. The title was thus part of the titulature of the Zaydi Imams of Yemen until the end of the Yemeni monarchy. The Kharijites did not use the term, except for

504-541: A center of knowledge, culture and trade. This period of cultural fruition ended in 1258 with the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan . The Abbasid Caliphate had, however, lost its effective power outside Iraq already by c. 920. By 945, the loss of power became official when the Buyids conquered Baghdad and all of Iraq. The empire fell apart and its parts were ruled for the next century by local dynasties. In

588-758: A gathering of the Ansar (natives of Medina ) took place in the saqifa (courtyard) of the Banu Sa'ida clan. The general belief at the time was that the purpose of the meeting was for the Ansar to decide on a new leader of the Muslim community among themselves, with the intentional exclusion of the Muhajirun (migrants from Mecca ), though this has later become the subject of debate. Nevertheless, Abu Bakr and Umar , both prominent companions of Muhammad, upon learning of

672-587: 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

756-615: A range of translations. The historian H.A.R. Gibb , however, counsels against the translation "Prince of the Believers" as "neither philologically nor historically correct". The title ʾamīr was used for Muslim military commanders during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad . It was, for example, borne by the Muslim commander at the Battle of al-Qadisiyya . On his accession in 634, the second caliph Umar ( r.  634–644 ) adopted

840-577: A shield protecting their thrones against the attacks of rebels". A summit was convened at Cairo in 1926 to discuss the revival of the caliphate, but most Muslim countries did not participate, and no action was taken to implement the summit's resolutions. Though the title Ameer al-Mumineen was adopted by the King of Morocco and by Mohammed Omar , former head of the Taliban of Afghanistan , neither claimed any legal standing or authority over Muslims outside

924-572: A title of leaders, governors, or rulers of smaller states. In modern Arabic the word is analogous to the title "Prince". The word entered English in 1593, from the French émir . It was one of the titles or names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . From the start, emir has been a military title. In the 9th century the term was used to denote a ruler of a state i.e. Italy 's Emirate of Sicily . In certain decimally-organized Muslim armies, Amir

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1008-554: Is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph ( / ˈ k æ l ɪ f , ˈ k eɪ -/ ; خَلِيفَةْ khalīfa [xæ'liːfæh] , pronunciation ), 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

1092-603: The Abbasid dynasty took power, as the Abbasids were descended from Muhammad's uncle, ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib and not from Ali. In 750, the Umayyad dynasty was overthrown by another family of Meccan origin, the Abbasids. Their time represented a scientific, cultural and religious flowering. Islamic art and music also flourished significantly during their reign. Their major city and capital Baghdad began to flourish as

1176-459: The Arabic word khalīfah ( خَليفة , pronunciation ), meaning 'successor', 'steward', or 'deputy'—and has traditionally been considered a shortening of Khalīfah rasūl Allāh 'successor of the messenger of God'. However, studies of pre-Islamic texts suggest that the original meaning of the phrase was 'successor selected by God'. In the immediate aftermath of the death of Muhammad,

1260-527: The Battle of Nahrawan , Ali was later assassinated by the Kharijite Ibn Muljam. Ali's son Hasan was elected as the next caliph, but abdicated in favour of Mu'awiyah a few months later to avoid any conflict within the Muslims. Mu'awiyah became the sixth caliph, establishing the Umayyad dynasty, named after the great-grandfather of Uthman and Mu'awiyah, Umayya ibn Abd Shams . Beginning with

1344-548: The First East Turkestan Republic . Amir al-Mu%27min ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn ( Arabic : أَمِيْر ٱلْمُؤْمِنِيْن ) or Commander of the Faithful is a Muslim title designating the supreme leader of an Islamic community . Although etymologically ʾamīr ( Arabic : أَمِيْر ) is equivalent to English " commander ", the wide variety of its historical and modern use allows for

1428-561: The Hafsids of Ifriqiya claimed the caliphate, and were followed by the Marinids of Morocco , following whom all successive Moroccan dynasties —the last two of them, the Sa'di dynasty and the current Alawi dynasty , also by virtue of their claimed descent from Muhammad —have also claimed it. The Constitution of Morocco still uses the term ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn as the principal title of

1512-665: The Khwaja Salimullah were popularly given the term khalifa . The Bornu Caliphate, which was headed by the Bornu emperors, began in 1472. A rump state of the larger Kanem-Bornu Empire , its rulers held the title of caliph until 1893, when it was absorbed into the British Colony of Nigeria and Northern Cameroons Protectorate . The British recognised them as the 'sultans of Bornu', one step down in Muslim royal titles. After Nigeria became independent, its rulers became

1596-499: The King of Morocco , as a means to "[legitimize the monarchy's] hegemonic role and its position outside significant constitutional restraint". At the same time, the title has retained a connotation of command in the jihād ( Arabic : جِهَاد , " holy war ") and has been used thus throughout history, without necessarily implying a claim to the caliphate. It was used in this sense by the early Ottoman sultans —who notably rarely used

1680-587: The Mughal Empire , who were the only Sunni rulers whose territory and wealth could compete with that of the Ottomans, started assuming the title of caliph and calling their capital as the Dar-ul-khilafat ("abode of the caliphate") since the time of the third emperor Akbar like their Timurid ancestors. A gold coin struck under Akbar called him the "great sultan , the exalted khalifah ". Although

1764-482: The Muslim community : the Umayyads , Abbasids , and Fatimids . In later centuries, it was also adopted by regional rulers, especially in the western parts of the Muslim world, who used the caliphal rank to emphasize their independent authority and legitimacy, rather than any ecumenical claim. The Umayyads of Cordoba adopted it in 928, whence it was also used by several other minor rulers of al-Andalus . From 1253,

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1848-534: The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was disastrous for the Ottomans. Large territories, including those with large Muslim populations, such as Crimea , were lost to the Russian Empire. However, the Ottomans under Abdul Hamid I claimed a diplomatic victory by being allowed to remain the religious leaders of Muslims in the now-independent Crimea as part of the peace treaty; in return Russia became

1932-716: The Rustamid dynasty . The Kitáb-i-Íqán , the primary theological work of the Baháʼí Faith , applies the title Commander of the Faithful to Ali , the son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. A similar (but not the same) title was afforded to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 's monarch as the Grand Duke of Lithuania by the Lipka Tatars , who used to speak a Turkic language. The title of sire

2016-564: The expanding Muslim empire , responsible for appointing and dismissing generals and governors, taking major political decisions, and keeping the dīwān ( Arabic : دیوان ), the list of those Muslims entitled to a share of the spoils of conquest. From Umar on, the title became a fixed part of caliphal titulature. Indeed, it appears to have been the chief title of the early caliphs, and the actual title of caliph ( Arabic : خليفة , romanized :  khalifa , lit.   'successor') does not appear to have been adopted until

2100-648: The partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and gave Greece a powerful position in Anatolia, to the distress of the Turks. They called for help and the movement was the result. The movement had collapsed by late 1922. On 3 March 1924, the first president of the Turkish Republic , Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , as part of his reforms , constitutionally abolished the institution of the caliphate. Atatürk offered

2184-722: The American ambassador to Ottoman Turkey , Oscar Straus , to approach Sultan Abdul Hamid II to use his position as caliph to order the Tausūg people of the Sultanate of Sulu in the Philippines to submit to American suzerainty and American military rule; the Sultan obliged them and wrote the letter which was sent to Sulu via Mecca. As a result, the "Sulu Mohammedans ... refused to join the insurrectionists and had placed themselves under

2268-484: The Ansar for his succession, explained by the genealogical links he shared with them. Whether his candidacy for the succession was raised during Saqifah is unknown, though it is not unlikely. Abu Bakr later sent Umar to confront Ali to gain his allegiance, resulting in an altercation which may have involved violence. However, after six months, the group made peace with Abu Bakr and Ali offered him his fealty. Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor on his deathbed. Umar,

2352-495: The Foundations of Governance . The argument of this book has been summarised as "Islam does not advocate a specific form of government". He focussed his criticism both at those who use religious law as contemporary political proscription and at the history of rulers claiming legitimacy by the caliphate. Raziq wrote that past rulers spread the notion of religious justification for the caliphate "so that they could use religion as

2436-580: The Great , the Polish-Lithuanian monarch as the King of Poland was tasked with the protection of the rights of the Jews and other non-Christians. In James Joyce 's 1939 novel Finnegans Wake (page 34.6), an informer who is spreading nasty rumors about the main character is described as "Ibid, commender of the frightful". In the French comic series Iznogoud , Caliph Haroun El Poussah , one of

2520-752: The Mughal Empire is not recognised as a caliphate, its sixth emperor Aurangzeb has often been regarded as one of the few Islamic caliphs to have ruled the Indian peninsula. He received support from the Ottoman sultans such as Suleiman II and Mehmed IV . As a memoriser of Quran, Aurangzeb fully established sharia in South Asia via his Fatawa 'Alamgiri . He re-introduced jizya and banned Islamically unlawful activities. However, Aurangzeb's personal expenses were covered by his own incomes, which included

2604-579: The Mughals did not acknowledge the overlordship of Ottomans, they nevertheless used the title of caliph to honour them in diplomatic exchanges. Akbar's letter to Suleiman the Magnificent addressed the latter as having attained the rank of the caliphate, while calling Akbar's empire as the "Khilafat of realms of Hind and Sind." The fifth emperor Shah Jahan also laid claim to the Caliphate. Although

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2688-710: The Muslim realm by the first half of the tenth century. The Umayyad dynasty, which had survived and come to rule over Al-Andalus , reclaimed the title of caliph in 929, lasting until it was overthrown in 1031. During the Umayyad dynasty, the Iberian Peninsula was an integral province of the Umayyad Caliphate ruling from Damascus . The Umayyads lost the position of caliph in Damascus in 750, and Abd al-Rahman I became Emir of Córdoba in 756 after six years in exile. Intent on regaining power, he defeated

2772-759: The Ottoman claim to the caliphate and proceed to have the Ottoman caliph issue orders to the Muslims living in British India to comply with the British government. The British supported and propagated the view that the Ottomans were caliphs of Islam among Muslims in British India, and the Ottoman sultans helped the British by issuing pronouncements to the Muslims of India telling them to support British rule from Sultan Selim III and Sultan Abdulmejid I . Around 1880, Sultan Abdul Hamid II reasserted

2856-480: The Ottoman sultan Selim I defeated and annexed the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo into his empire. Through conquering and unifying Muslim lands, Selim I became the defender of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina , which further strengthened the Ottoman claim to the caliphate in the Muslim world. Ottomans gradually came to be viewed as the de facto leaders and representatives of the Islamic world. However,

2940-451: The Rāshidun, each region ( Sultanate , Wilayah , or Emirate ) of the caliphate had its own governor (Sultan, Wāli or Emir ). Muāwiyah , a relative of Uthman and governor ( wali ) of Syria , succeeded Ali as caliph. Muāwiyah transformed the caliphate into a hereditary office, thus founding the Umayyad dynasty . In areas which were previously under Sasanian Empire or Byzantine rule,

3024-509: 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. Before the advent of Islam, Arabian monarchs traditionally used the title malik 'king', or another from the same Semitic root . The term caliph ( / ˈ k eɪ l ɪ f , ˈ k æ l ɪ f / ) derives from

3108-510: The Umayyads, the title of the caliph became hereditary. Under the Umayyads, the caliphate grew rapidly in territory, incorporating the Caucasus , Transoxiana , Sindh , the Maghreb and most of the Iberian Peninsula ( Al-Andalus ) into the Muslim world. At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 5.17 million square miles (13,400,000 km ), making it the largest empire

3192-587: The borders of their respective countries. Since the end of the Ottoman Empire, occasional demonstrations have been held calling for the re-establishment of the caliphate. Organisations which call for the re-establishment of the caliphate include Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Muslim Brotherhood . The AKP government in Turkey, a former Muslim Brotherhood ally who has adopted Neo-Ottomanist policies throughout its rule, has been accused of intending to restore

3276-574: The buildings of al-Andalus were constructed in this period. The Almohad Caliphate ( Berber languages : Imweḥḥden , from الموحدون al-Muwaḥḥidun , " the Monotheists " or "the Unifiers") was a Moroccan Berber Muslim movement founded in the 12th century. The Almohad movement was started by Ibn Tumart among the Masmuda tribes of southern Morocco. The Almohads first established

3360-474: The caliphal title after they took it from the Abbasids in 1517—as well as various West African Muslim warlords until the modern period. The title was used by Aurangzeb , the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire . Muhammad Umar Khan of the Kokand Khanate took on the title. Abdelkader El Djezairi assumed the title in 1834. The Afghan ruler Dost Mohammad Khan likewise used it when he proclaimed

3444-516: The caliphate to Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi , on the condition that he reside outside Turkey; Senussi declined the offer and confirmed his support for Abdulmejid . The title was then claimed by Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca and Hejaz , leader of the Arab Revolt , but his kingdom was defeated and annexed by ibn Saud in 1925. Egyptian scholar Ali Abdel Raziq published his 1925 book Islam and

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3528-537: The caliphate were united to any degree, excepting the final period of the Rashidun Caliphate under Ali himself. The caliphate was reputed to exercise a degree of religious tolerance towards non-Ismaili sects of Islam as well as towards Jews, Maltese Christians and Copts . The Shiʻa Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah of the Fatimid dynasty , who claimed descent from Muhammad through his daughter, claimed

3612-755: The caliphate. After the Umayyad campaigns in India and the conquest on small territories of the western part of the Indian peninsula, early Indian Muslim dynasties were founded by the Ghurid dynasty and the Ghaznavids , most notably the Delhi Sultanate . The Indian sultanates did not extensively strive for a caliphate since the Ottoman Empire was already observing the caliphate. The emperors of

3696-425: The caliphs lowered taxes, provided greater local autonomy (to their delegated governors), greater religious freedom for Jews and some indigenous Christians, and brought peace to peoples demoralised and disaffected by the casualties and heavy taxation that resulted from the decades of Byzantine–Persian warfare . Ali's reign was plagued by turmoil and internal strife. The Persians, taking advantage of this, infiltrated

3780-409: The capital from Baghdad to Samarra created a division between the caliphate and the peoples they claimed to rule. In addition, the power of the Mamluks steadily grew until Ar-Radi (934–941) was constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to Muhammad ibn Ra'iq . In 1261, following the Mongol conquest of Baghdad , the Mamluk rulers of Egypt tried to gain legitimacy for their rule by declaring

3864-403: The city of Cairo there in 969. Thereafter, Cairo became the capital of the caliphate, with Egypt becoming the political, cultural and religious centre of the state. Islam scholar Louis Massignon dubbed the fourth century AH /tenth century CE as the " Ismaili century in the history of Islam". The term Fatimite is sometimes used to refer to the citizens of this caliphate. The ruling elite of

3948-432: The command of Yazid son of Muawiya, an army led by Umar ibn Saad, a commander by the name of Shimr Ibn Thil-Jawshan killed Ali's son Hussein and his family at the Battle of Karbala in 680, solidifying the Shia-Sunni split . Eventually, supporters of the Banu Hashim and the supporters of the lineage of Ali united to bring down the Umayyads in 750. However, the Shi‘at ‘Alī , "the Party of Ali", were again disappointed when

4032-431: The control of our army, thereby recognizing American sovereignty." Political Militant [REDACTED] Islam portal After the Armistice of Mudros of October 1918 with the military occupation of Constantinople and Treaty of Versailles (1919), the position of the Ottomans was uncertain. The movement to protect or restore the Ottomans gained force after the Treaty of Sèvres (August 1920) which imposed

4116-414: The earlier Ottoman caliphs did not officially bear the title of caliph in their documents of state, inscriptions, or coinage. It was only in the late eighteenth century that the claim to the caliphate was discovered by the sultans to have a practical use, since it allowed them to counter Russian claims to protect Ottoman Christians with their own claim to protect Muslims under Russian rule. The outcome of

4200-470: The existing Islamic rulers of the area who defied Umayyad rule and united various local fiefdoms into an emirate. Rulers of the emirate used the title "emir" or "sultan" until the tenth century, when Abd al-Rahman III was faced with the threat of invasion by the Fatimid Caliphate. To aid his fight against the invading Fatimids, who claimed the caliphate in opposition to the generally recognised Abbasid caliph of Baghdad, Al-Mu'tadid , Abd al-Rahman III claimed

4284-405: The government led by Burhanuddin Rabbani . Omar was still referred to as ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn by his followers and other jihadists, notably al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri . Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor , the successor of Mullah Omar, was conferred the title in July 2015 upon his appointment as the new leader of the Taliban. Hibatullah Akhundzada , the third Supreme Leader of the Taliban ,

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4368-418: The hand and offered them to the Ansar as potential choices. He was countered with the suggestion that the Quraysh and the Ansar choose a leader each from among themselves, who would then rule jointly. The group grew heated upon hearing this proposal and began to argue among themselves. Umar hastily took Abu Bakr's hand and swore his own allegiance to the latter, an example followed by the gathered men. Abu Bakr

4452-426: 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 . An attempt to preserve

4536-402: The meeting became concerned of a potential coup and hastened to the gathering. Upon arriving, Abu Bakr addressed the assembled men with a warning that an attempt to elect a leader outside of Muhammad's own tribe, the Quraysh , would likely result in dissension as only they can command the necessary respect among the community. He then took Umar and another companion, Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah , by

4620-475: The ninth century, the Abbasids created an army loyal only to their caliphate, composed predominantly of Turkic Cuman, Circassian and Georgian slave origin known as Mamluks. By 1250 the Mamluks came to power in Egypt. The Mamluk army, though often viewed negatively, both helped and hurt the caliphate. Early on, it provided the government with a stable force to address domestic and foreign problems. However, creation of this foreign army and al-Mu'tasim's transfer of

4704-410: The official protector of Christians in Ottoman territory. According to Barthold, the first time the title of "caliph" was used as a political instead of symbolic religious title by the Ottomans was the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca with the Russian Empire in 1774, when the Empire retained moral authority on territory whose sovereignty was ceded to the Russian Empire. The British would tactfully affirm

4788-412: The piecemeal loss of territory through the revolt of tribes and districts enabled the rise of their most effective enemies, the Marinid dynasty , in 1215. The last representative of the line, Idris al-Wathiq , was reduced to the possession of Marrakesh , where he was murdered by a slave in 1269; the Marinids seized Marrakesh, ending the Almohad domination of the Western Maghreb . The Fatimid Caliphate

4872-479: The protagonists of the series, is frequently addressed by inferiors as commander of the faithful ( commandeur des croyants ). In Margaret Atwood 's 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale leaders of the fictional Republic of Gilead , a militaristic theonomy , are referred to as "Commanders of the Faithful." Caliphate List of forms of government A caliphate ( Arabic : خِلَافَةْ , romanized :  khilāfah [xi'laːfah] )

4956-417: The re-establishment of the Abbasid caliphate in Cairo . The Abbasid caliphs in Egypt had no political power; they continued to maintain the symbols of authority, but their sway was confined to religious matters. The first Abbasid caliph of Cairo was Al-Mustansir (r. June–November 1261). The Abbasid caliphate of Cairo lasted until the time of Al-Mutawakkil III , who ruled as caliph from 1508 to 1516, then he

5040-423: The reign of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ( r.  685–705 ), who adopted it as a means to strengthen his position, which had become shaky following the Second Fitna . Among Sunnis , the adoption of the title of ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn became virtually tantamount to claiming the caliphate. As a result, the title was used by the great Islamic dynasties that claimed the universal leadership over

5124-412: The second caliph, was killed by a Persian slave called Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz . His successor, Uthman, was elected by a council of electors ( majlis ). Uthman was killed by members of a disaffected group. Ali then took control but was not universally accepted as caliph by the governors of Egypt and later by some of his own guard. He faced two major rebellions and was assassinated by Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam ,

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5208-478: The sewing of caps and trade of his written copies of the Quran. Thus, he has been compared to the second caliph, Umar bin Khattab, and Kurdish conqueror Saladin . The Mughal emperors continued to be addressed as caliphs until the reign of Shah Alam II . Other notable rulers such as Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji , Alauddin Khilji , Firuz Shah Tughlaq , Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah , Babur , Sher Shah Suri , Nasir I of Kalat , Tipu Sultan , Nawabs of Bengal , and

5292-407: The state belonged to the Ismaili branch of Shi'ism. The leaders of the dynasty were Ismaili imams and had a religious significance to Ismaili Muslims. They are also part of the chain of holders of the office of the caliphate, as recognised by some Muslims. Therefore, this constitutes a rare period in history in which the descendants of Ali (hence the name Fatimid, referring to Ali's wife Fatima ) and

5376-471: The title "emir" for their monarchs. In recent years, the title has been gradually replaced by "king" by contemporary hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law. A notable example is Bahrain , whose monarch changed his title from emir to king in 2002. Amir , meaning "lord" or " commander-in-chief ", is derived from the Arabic root a-m-r , "command". Originally simply meaning "commander", it came to be used as

5460-515: The title as a way of countering Russian expansion into Muslim lands. His claim was most fervently accepted by the Sunni Muslims of British India . By the eve of World War I , the Ottoman state, despite its weakness relative to Europe, represented the largest and most powerful independent Islamic political entity. The sultan also enjoyed some authority beyond the borders of his shrinking empire as caliph of Muslims in Egypt, India and Central Asia. In 1899, John Hay , U.S. Secretary of State, asked

5544-420: The title as part of their titulature, and in the Nizari branch of Isma'ilism, the ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn is always the current Imam of the Time . In Nasir al-Din al-Tusi 's The Voyage ( Sayr wa-Suluk ), he explains that the hearts of the believers are attached to the Commander of the Believers, not just the Command (written word) itself. There is always a present living imam in the world, and following him,

5628-408: The title of caliph himself. This helped Abd al-Rahman III gain prestige with his subjects, and the title was retained after the Fatimids were repulsed. The rule of the caliphate is considered as the heyday of Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula, before it fragmented into various taifas in the eleventh century. This period was characterised by a flourishing in technology, trade and culture; many of

5712-432: The title of caliph in 909, creating a separate line of caliphs in North Africa. Initially controlling Algeria , Tunisia and Libya , the Fatimid caliphs extended their rule for the next 150 years, taking Egypt and Palestine , before the Abbasid dynasty was able to turn the tide, limiting Fatimid rule to Egypt. The Fatimid dynasty finally ended in 1171 and was overtaken by Saladin of the Ayyubid dynasty . The caliphate

5796-444: The title they positioned themselves as potential "caliphs-in-waiting", but for the moment, the title was simply the expression of their claim to an overarching "activist authority" over the areas they controlled. Twelver Shias apply the title exclusively to Ali , the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, regarded as the first imam by the Shia and the officially designated successor to Muhammad. The Isma'ili Fatimid caliphs used

5880-424: The title was adopted by the Taliban leader Muhammad Umar . Mullah Mohammed Omar was conferred the title in April 1996 by a Taliban-convened shura ( Arabic : شُورَىٰ , lit.   'assembly') of approximately 1000-1500 Afghan ulama in Kandahar , when he displayed the Cloak of Muhammad before the crowd. The title granted legitimacy to Omar's leadership of Afghanistan and his declared jihad against

5964-427: The title was tried, with the Sharifian Caliphate , but this caliphate fell quickly after its conquest by the Sultanate of Nejd (present-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

6048-553: The title. When Hussein bin Ali was buried in the compound of the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a caliph in 1931, the following inscription was written on the window above his tomb: Arabic : هَذَا قَبْرُ أَمِيرِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٱلْحُسَيْن بْنُ عَلِي , romanized :  Haḏa qabru ʾamīri ʾal-mūˈminīna ʾal-Ḥusayn bnu ʿAlī , which translates to "This is the tomb of the Commander of the Faithful, Hussein bin Ali." In 1996,

6132-462: The title. This was likely not for its military connotation, but rather deriving from a Quranic injunction to "Obey God and obey the Apostle and those invested with command among you" ( Sura 4 , verses 58–62). According to Fred M. Donner , the title's adoption marked a step in the centralization of the nascent Muslim state, as the ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn was acknowledged as the central authority of

6216-530: The two armies and attacked the other army causing chaos and internal hatred between the companions at the Battle of Siffin . The battle lasted several months, resulting in a stalemate. To avoid further bloodshed, Ali agreed to negotiate with Mu'awiyah. This caused a faction of approximately 4,000 people, who would come to be known as the Kharijites , to abandon the fight. After defeating the Kharijites at

6300-406: The world had yet seen and the seventh largest ever to exist in history. Geographically, the empire was divided into several provinces, the borders of which changed numerous times during the Umayyad reign. Each province had a governor appointed by the caliph. However, for a variety of reasons, including that they were not elected by Shura and suggestions of impious behaviour, the Umayyad dynasty

6384-793: Was also conferred the title upon his election in 2016 and became the Leader of Afghanistan in 2021. In 2005, the Islamic State leader Abu Umar al-Baghdadi adopted the title, nine years before the Islamic State proclaimed its caliphate in 2014. Abu Umar al-Baghdadi was conferred the title after his appointment in October 2006 by the Mujahideen Shura Council as the first Emir of the newly declared Islamic State of Iraq . As Richard Pennell commented, by claiming

6468-717: Was an Isma'ili Shi'i caliphate, originally based in Tunisia , that extended its rule across the Mediterranean coast of Africa and ultimately made Egypt the centre of its caliphate. At its height, in addition to Egypt, the caliphate included varying areas of the Maghreb , Sicily, the Levant and the Hejaz . The Fatimids established the Tunisian city of Mahdia and made it their capital city, before conquering Egypt and building

6552-670: Was an officer rank. For example, in Mughal India , the Amirs commanded 1000 horsemen (divided into ten units, each under a sipah salar ), ten of them under one malik . In the imperial army of Qajar Persia: The following posts referred to "amir" under medieval Muslim states include: In the former Kingdom of Afghanistan , Amir-i-Kabir was a title meaning "great prince" or "great commander". Muhammad Amin Bughra , Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra , and Abdullah Bughra declared themselves emirs of

6636-603: Was claimed by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire beginning with Murad I (reigned 1362 to 1389), while recognising no authority on the part of the Abbasid caliphs of the Mamluk-ruled Cairo. Hence the seat of the caliphate moved to the Ottoman capital of Edirne . In 1453, after Mehmed the Conqueror 's conquest of Constantinople , the seat of the Ottomans moved to Constantinople , present-day Istanbul . In 1517,

6720-693: Was defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena by an alliance of the Christian princes of Castile , Aragon , Navarre and Portugal . Nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of Córdoba and Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248, respectively. The Almohads continued to rule in northern Africa until

6804-465: Was deposed briefly in 1516 by his predecessor Al-Mustamsik , but was restored again to the caliphate in 1517. The Ottoman sultan Selim I defeated the Mamluk Sultanate and made Egypt part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Al-Mutawakkil III was captured together with his family and transported to Constantinople as a prisoner where he had a ceremonial role. He died in 1543, following his return to Cairo. The Abbasid dynasty lost effective power over much of

6888-496: Was near-universally accepted as head of the Muslim community (under the title of caliph) as a result of Saqifah , though he did face contention as a result of the rushed nature of the event. Several companions, most prominent among them being Ali ibn Abi Talib , initially refused to acknowledge his authority. Ali may have been reasonably expected to assume leadership, being both cousin and son-in-law to Muhammad. The theologian Ibrahim al-Nakha'i stated that Ali also had support among

6972-463: Was not universally supported within the Muslim community. Some supported prominent early Muslims like Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ; others felt that only members of Muhammad's clan, the Banu Hashim , or his own lineage, the descendants of Ali, should rule. There were numerous rebellions against the Umayyads, as well as splits within the Umayyad ranks (notably, the rivalry between Yaman and Qays ). At

7056-609: Was used "Vatad", as in "homeland" ("Vatan"), which meant "defender of the rights of Muslims in non-Islamic countries." The Grand Duchy was viewed as a new homeland . Vatad was viewed as a variation on the name Vytautas in Lithuanian or Władysław in Polish, which was known in the diplomatic notes between the Golden Horde and the countries of Poland (Lechistan) and Lithuania (Lipka) as "Dawood". One can claim that, since Casimir

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