caliphate
Successor's religious state
A caliphate is an Islamic state under the leadership of a caliph, a successor to the Prophet Muhammad.
Historically, caliphates were vast empires—the Umayyad caliphate, the Abbasid caliphate—that unified Muslim territories under religious and political authority.
The term reappeared in modern discourse when ISIS declared a caliphate in 2014: The group claimed to have established a caliphate across parts of Iraq and Syria.
The word implies both territorial control and spiritual legitimacy.
Muslim canonical jurisprudence
- imamMuslim religious guide
- mosqueIslamic house of worship
- minaretMosque tower with balcony
- QuranIslam's central scripture
sunnah · hadith · fatwa · mufti · salat · zakat · hajj · halal
Supreme independent authority
- successionFollowing in order
- theocracyRule by religious authority
- emirateIslamic monarch's domain
- sultanateSultan-ruled state
dynasty · realm · dominion · throne · authority · legitimacy · allegiance · rule
Member of Turkish dynasty
- BaghdadIraqi seat of government
- DamascusSyrian seat of government
- Al-AndalusMedieval Islamic Spain
- MoorishOf medieval Iberian Muslims
Seljuk · Crusades · Golden Age · House of Wisdom · Harun al-Rashid · Suleiman · conquest · expansion
How authority is exercised
- bureaucracyRigid administrative system
- treasuryStored organizational funds
- taxationCompulsory government revenue collection
- judiciaryLaw-interpreting government branch
provinces · administration · ministry · diwan · qadi · bayt al-mal · statecraft · diplomacy
sharia
Muslim canonical jurisprudence
Quran · sunnah · hadith · fatwa · mufti · salat · zakat · hajj · halal · tawhid
sovereignty
Supreme independent authority
- successionFollowing in order
- theocracyRule by religious authority
- emirateIslamic monarch's domain
sultanate · dynasty · realm · dominion · throne · authority · legitimacy · allegiance · rule · power
Ottoman
Member of Turkish dynasty
- BaghdadIraqi seat of government
- DamascusSyrian seat of government
- Al-AndalusMedieval Islamic Spain
Moorish · Seljuk · Crusades · Golden Age · House of Wisdom · Harun al-Rashid · Suleiman · conquest · expansion
governance
How authority is exercised
- bureaucracyRigid administrative system
- treasuryStored organizational funds
- taxationCompulsory government revenue collection
judiciary · provinces · administration · ministry · diwan · qadi · bayt al-mal · statecraft · diplomacy · protocol
empire
Domain under unified control
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
- realmGoverned territory or sphere
- provinceRegional administrative district
frontier · Levant · Mesopotamia · Persia · Maghreb · Iberia · Anatolia · Egypt · Syria · Arabia
- governancegovernance, government, democracy, vote, parliament
- governmentsdemocracy, monarchy, autocracy, oligarchy, republic
- religionChristianity, Islam, beliefs, Judaism, Hinduism
- ArabiaSaudi Arabia, Mecca, Medina, Kaaba, Riyadh
- history educationhistorian, history textbooks, textbook, history teachers, primary source
- monarchiesmonarch, monarchy, kingdom, realm, sultanate
caliphatesecular state
Government separate from religion
democracy · republic · constitutional democracy · secularism · liberal democracy
caliphatepapacy
Pope's office and authority
Holy See · Christendom · Holy Roman Empire · theocracy · rabbinate
caliphatenation-states
Self-governing territorial polities
- Umayyad CaliphateEarly Islamic dynastic empire
- Sokoto CaliphateFulani-led Islamic state, Nigeria
- Fatimid CaliphateShia dynasty ruling medieval Egypt
- Rashidun CaliphateFirst major Islamic successor state