Muslims going in large numbers for noon prayer
at a mosqUe. This prayer service is typically longer
than others during the week because it includes a
sermon based on the qUran. Finally, astronomy
and the Muslim calendar are significant for Mus-
lims because they help them calculate precisely
when during each day they must perform the five
obligatory prayers.
See also Five pillars; holidays; sUnnism.
Jon Armajani
Further reading: Ahmad Birashk, A Comparative Calen-
dar of the Iranian, Muslim Lunar, and Christian Eras for
Three Thousand Years: 1260 BH–2000 AH; 639 BC–2621
c.e. (Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 1993);
David A. King, Astronomy in the Service of Islam (Alder-
shot, U.K. and Brookfield, Vt.: Variorum, 1993); Ahmad
Hussein Sakr, Feast, Festivities and Holidays (Lombard,
Ill.: Foundation for Islamic Knowledge, 1999).
caliph (Arabic: khalifa, deputy, vicegerent)
Caliph is the title of the ruler of the Islamic com-
munity after the death of mUhammad in 632 and
was claimed by many pretenders to that leader-
ship. Another title given the caliph was “com-
mander of the faithful” (amir al-muminin).
As a prophet, Muhammad had been a unique
leader exercising absolute religious and political
aUthority. The caliphs were not prophets and
therefore could not exercise this dual authority
in the same way, and yet the community was
accustomed to leadership that was both political
and religious. The first four caliphs, known as
the Rashidun, or rightly guided, exercised some
religious authority as companions oF the prophet,
but over time, the position came increasingly to
be a political one.
The majority Sunni view among Muslims is
that Muhammad did not appoint a successor,
and so his companions and leaders within the
community agreed upon abU bakr (r. 632–634).
There was no consensus, however, on whether
a caliph should be appointed or elected and by
whom, on what basis the selection should be
made, nor on the precise duties and responsi-
bilities of the caliph. These questions would con-
tinue to plague Islamic government throughout
the period of the caliphate. Abu Bakr appointed
Umar ibn al-khattab (r. 634—644) as his succes-
sor, and it was during his caliphate that many of
the early Arab Muslim conquests took place. Due
in part to the legacy of the conquests, but even
more to Umar’s ability to combine egalitarian
leadership and religious piety, he came to symbol-
ize the ideal caliph. His status was heightened by
the fact that the reigns of Uthman ibn al-aFFan
(r. 644–656) and ali ibn abi talib (r. 656–661)
that followed him were marked by internal strife
and civil war. These events led to the permanent
division of the Muslim community into Shii and
Sunni Islam and brought about the end of the
Rashidun caliphate. Subsequently, few caliphs
could be held up as ideal Islamic rulers. Rather,
they inherited and exercised their power in a
way similar to that of the kings and emperors in
neighboring non-Islamic lands.
After the 10th century, the caliph’s power
was overshadowed in the political realm by the
sUlta ns, and in the area of religion by the Ulama.
The caliph’s strength and significance was based
primarily on his role as the symbolic head of the
Islamic community. It was for this reason that the
Ottoman sultan Selim (r. 1512–1520), upon con-
quering the Islamic heartlands in the early 16th
century, adopted the title of caliph in order to
strengthen his religious legitimacy and authority.
As Ottoman power waned in relation to that
of European rulers from the 18th century onward,
Ottoman sultans sought to retain some authority
by claiming to be the spiritual leaders of the Mus-
lims and defenders of Islam. The Ottoman defeat
in World War I, which led to the rise of the new
Turkish Republic, meant the end of the caliphate.
The founder of the new secular state of tUrkey,
mUs taFa kemal atatUrk, formally abolished it in
1924.caliph 125 J