Caliphate
noun
The rule or reign of a Muslim leader, especially in the past.
The Abbasid caliphate was a major period of intellectual achievement that had a lasting impact on the world.
Often appears as...
- golden age caliphate
- abbasid caliphate
Usage tips
Formal
Historical
noun
A geographical area where a caliph, a Muslim leader, has authority.
In 2014, the extremist group ISIS declared a caliphate in large areas of Iraq and Syria.
Often appears as...
- isis caliphate
- declared caliphate
Usage tips
Formal
Political
noun
The rule or reign of a Muslim leader, especially in the past.
The Abbasid caliphate was a major period of intellectual achievement that had a lasting impact on the world.
Often appears as...
- golden age caliphate
- abbasid caliphate
Usage tips
Formal
Historical
noun
A geographical area where a caliph, a Muslim leader, has authority.
In 2014, the extremist group ISIS declared a caliphate in large areas of Iraq and Syria.
Often appears as...
- isis caliphate
- declared caliphate
Usage tips
Formal
Political
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Historical Significance
Understand that 'caliphate' often refers to period-specific Islamic rule, important in history study.
The Ottoman caliphate influenced many laws and customs in the Middle East.
Pro Tip 2/3Cultural Impact
'Caliphate' implies significant cultural and religious leadership beyond mere political rule.
The legacy of the Umayyad caliphate can be seen in today's architectural styles.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Geographical
The term may also refer to the influence realm of a caliph, not just physical territories.
The caliphate extended its educational influence throughout North Africa.
Compare with
dominiondynastyempirekingdomregimereignsultanate
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Video examples
How technology can fight...
defectors, for example, telling the story of their journey into and out of violence; stories like the one from that man I met in the Iraqi prison. There are locals who've uploaded cell phone footage of what life is really like in the caliphate under ISIS's rule.
Video examples
The rise and fall of the...
They overthrew the Umayyad caliphate in 750 CE, becoming the second great dynasty of the Islamic Empire. To establish themselves as the new rulers, they relocated the capital once more, this time building a new Baghdad.
Video examples
How technology can fight...
defectors, for example, telling the story of their journey into and out of violence; stories like the one from that man I met in the Iraqi prison. There are locals who've uploaded cell phone footage of what life is really like in the caliphate under ISIS's rule.
Video examples
The rise and fall of the...
They overthrew the Umayyad caliphate in 750 CE, becoming the second great dynasty of the Islamic Empire. To establish themselves as the new rulers, they relocated the capital once more, this time building a new Baghdad.
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Jeb Bush
American Politician
We need to focus our energies there, not these broad, blanket, kind of statements that will make it harder for us to deal with ISIS. We need to deal with ISIS in the caliphate. We need a strategy to destroy ISIS there. You can't do that without the cooperation of the Muslim world because they're as threatened as we are.
Quote examples
George Packer
American Novelist
Al Qaeda asks its recruits to establish their bona fides as a condition of membership, even requiring answers to a long questionnaire. But ISIS has democratized and globalized jihad by lowering the entry bar to an eve-of-destruction YouTube pledge of allegiance to the caliphate - and even that could probably be waived.
Quote examples
Malcolm Nance
American Author
Osama bin Laden has managed to replace fear of God and adherence to the Quran with his philosophy of jihad above all else. What's behind that facade is the true philosophical intentions of al Qaeda: the establishment of a new Islamic caliphate that will defeat democracy as the greater of the two political orders.
Quote examples
Naftali Bennett
Israeli Politician
The biggest danger for any organism is to not identify that it's being threatened. I want to hope that people realize that the source of danger and risk in the Middle East is not the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but the deep radical Islamic vision of forming a global caliphate.
Quote examples
Malcolm Nance
American Author
Al Qaeda's leaders seek to reverse what they claim are corrupt Islamic practices bookended by the Mongol invasions in 1256 and Ataturk's ending the caliphate in 1924. Theirs is a fight to turn Islam's clock back to the time of Prophet Muhammad's original followers.
Quote examples
Jeb Bush
American Politician
Barack Obama became president, and he abandoned Iraq. He left, and when he left Al Qaida was done for. ISIS was created because of the void that we left, and that void now exists as a caliphate the size of Indiana.
Quote examples
David Hackworth
American Soldier
Their plan is to return the entire world - not just the Middle East - to the days of the caliphate and either convert all of us so-called infidels into born-again Islamic believers or kill us.
Quote examples
Jeb Bush
American Politician
We need to focus our energies there, not these broad, blanket, kind of statements that will make it harder for us to deal with ISIS. We need to deal with ISIS in the caliphate. We need a strategy to destroy ISIS there. You can't do that without the cooperation of the Muslim world because they're as threatened as we are.
Quote examples
George Packer
American Novelist
Al Qaeda asks its recruits to establish their bona fides as a condition of membership, even requiring answers to a long questionnaire. But ISIS has democratized and globalized jihad by lowering the entry bar to an eve-of-destruction YouTube pledge of allegiance to the caliphate - and even that could probably be waived.
Quote examples
Malcolm Nance
American Author
Osama bin Laden has managed to replace fear of God and adherence to the Quran with his philosophy of jihad above all else. What's behind that facade is the true philosophical intentions of al Qaeda: the establishment of a new Islamic caliphate that will defeat democracy as the greater of the two political orders.
Quote examples
Naftali Bennett
Israeli Politician
The biggest danger for any organism is to not identify that it's being threatened. I want to hope that people realize that the source of danger and risk in the Middle East is not the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but the deep radical Islamic vision of forming a global caliphate.
Quote examples
Malcolm Nance
American Author
Al Qaeda's leaders seek to reverse what they claim are corrupt Islamic practices bookended by the Mongol invasions in 1256 and Ataturk's ending the caliphate in 1924. Theirs is a fight to turn Islam's clock back to the time of Prophet Muhammad's original followers.
Quote examples
Jeb Bush
American Politician
Barack Obama became president, and he abandoned Iraq. He left, and when he left Al Qaida was done for. ISIS was created because of the void that we left, and that void now exists as a caliphate the size of Indiana.
Quote examples
David Hackworth
American Soldier
Their plan is to return the entire world - not just the Middle East - to the days of the caliphate and either convert all of us so-called infidels into born-again Islamic believers or kill us.
Example 1 of 7
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