A caliphate or khilāfah is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph, 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 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 caliphate was formally abolished as part of the 1924 secularisation of Turkey. Throughout the history of Islam, a few other Muslim states, almost all of which were hereditary monarchies such as the Mamluk Sultanate and Ayyubid Sultanate, have claimed to be caliphates.
Mustansiriya Madrasah in Baghdad
Abdulmejid II, the last caliph of Sunni Islam from the Ottoman dynasty, with his daughter Dürrüşehvar Sultan
Official portrait of Abdulmejid II as caliph
Hafiz Muhiuddin Aurangzeb, unlike his predecessors, was considered to be a caliph of India.
Muhammad was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets within Islam, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis for Islamic religious belief.
"Muhammad, the Messenger of God" inscribed on the gates of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina
Two folios of the Birmingham Quran manuscript, an early manuscript written in Hijazi script likely dated within Muhammad's lifetime between c. 568–645
An early manuscript of Ibn Hisham's al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, believed to have been transmitted by his students shortly after his death in 833
An early manuscript of the Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas, dated within his lifetime in c. 780