Islamic Caliphates

Caliphate (“Khilafat” in Arabic) was a semi-religious political system of governance in Islam, in which the territories of the Islamic empire in the Middle East and North Africa and the people within were ruled by a supreme leader called Caliph (“Khalifa” in Arabic – meaning successor). Caliphs were initially the sole sovereigns of the empire left behind by Prophet Muhammad and added vast territories of surrounding rival empires to it. They were initially selected by a group of senior members of a primitive parliament who kept in mind the will of the people. The first four caliphs, who were nominated in such a way, are referred to as the Rashidun (rightly guided) caliphs by mainstream Sunni Muslims; Shia Muslims consider only Ali, the fourth one, to be legitimate and discard the claims of the first three by branding them as usurpers.