Khalifa or Khalifah (Arabic: خليفة) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a

Caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups and others. Khalifa is sometimes also pronounced as "kalifa". There were four khalifas after

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) 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 mo ...

died, beginning with

Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...

. This was a difficult decision for the people to make, for no one except Muhammad had ever thought with foresight about who would rule after he would die. The ''Khilaafat'' (or

) was then contested and gave rise to the eventual division of the Islamic Umma into two groups, the Sunni and the Shi'a who interpret the word ''Khalifa'' in differently nuanced ways. The earliest Islamic uses include Khaleefa(ḥ)''' in The Qur'an, 2:30, where Allah commands the angels to bow down to Adam which more clearly guides to the root Classical Arabic meaning of the word as "Vicegerent", or divinely connected representative of Allah in the human form as a mercy to mankind. See also how this meaning interacts with the word, Shirk (associating a partner or partners to Allah ) by (for example) bowing down to them (in this case, Adam) with reverence. "Vicegerent", therefore, is more at "divinely-guided spokesman" than "deputy" in this context and leads to the discovery of the role of Imam in Islam, from the ''Shi'i'' or Shi'a point of view where, it is claimed, the spiritual ''Khilaafat'' or designation of ''Khaleefa'' in this meaning of spiritual and temporal guide falls upon the first Imam, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, "the favourite" (who received his mission from his cousin Muhammed himself but who also conceded the ''Khilaafat'' to the election and claim of the politically more powerful and more popular leader and his senior,

). In the Shi'i tradition, however, the dissolved claim to the ''Khilaafat'' by Shi'i thereafter crystallised into Imamat which continued with his descendants after him through appointment by '' nass'', or designation).

Living people with Khalifa as a name

Khalifa Haftar Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar ( ar, خليفة بلقاسم حفتر, Ḵalīfa Bilqāsim Ḥaftar; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LN ...

(born 1943), Libyan military commander *

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani ( ar, حمد بن خليفة الثاني; born 1 January 1952) is a member of the ruling Al Thani Qatari royal family. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 ...

(born 1952), former Emir of Qatar () *

Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa (born October 18, 1952) ( ar, هيا راشد آل خليفة) is a lawyer and diplomat from Bahrain. As ambassador to France 1999-2004 she became Bahrain's first ever female ambassador. She is one of the first women to prac ...

(born 1952), President of the 61st United Nations General Assembly *

Marcel Khalife Marcel Khalifé ( ar, مرسيل خليفة; born 10 June 1950 in Amchit) is a Palestinian- Lebanese musical composer, singer, and oud player. Biography In 1983, Paredon Records (later acquired by Smithsonian Folkways) released ''Promises ...

(born 1950), Lebanese musician *

Peter Khalife Peter Khalife ( ar, بيتر خليفة, ; born 29 January 1990) is a football agent, manager, and former player. Born in Cyprus to Lebanese parents, Khalife was raised in Sweden and has both Lebanese and Swedish citizenship. Khalife is the ow ...

(born 1990), Lebanese football agent * Omer Khalifa (born 1956), Sudanese sportsman *

Rafik Khalifa Abdelmoumene Rafik Khalifa (born 1 October 1966) is an Algerian businessman living in London. He was condemned in Algeria to a life sentence, charged of criminal association, corruption, abuse of trust, and forgery. His trial was one of the lar ...

(born 1966), Algerian billionaire *

Osama Khalifa Osama Khaled Khalifa () (born March 19, 1995, in Cairo, Egypt) is a professional squash player who competed for Columbia University. Khalifa was the #1-ranked US college squash player and the 2017 Collegiate National Champion, the first-ever C ...

(born 1995), Egyptian squash player *

Sam Khalifa Sam Khalifa (born December 5, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player. An infielder, Khalifa played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1985 through 1987. He retired from baseball when his father, Rash ...

(born 1963), American baseball-player * Mia Khalifa (born 1993), Lebanese-American pornographic film actress

Historical people

* Adam, The first ever creature said in the Holy Scriptures to be created in human form and also the first ''Khaleef'' of Islam appointed by Allah *

Khalifa ibn Khayyat Abū ʿAmr Khalīfa ibn Khayyāṭ al-Laythī al-ʿUṣfurī () (born : 160/161 AH/777 AD– died 239/240 AH/854 AD) was an Arab historian. His family were natives of Basra in Iraq. His grandfather was a noted muhaddith or traditionalist, and Kh ...

(c. 777 – c. 854), Arab historian *

Khalifa Keita Khalifa was a 13th-century Mansa of the Mali Empire mentioned by the medieval Arab scholar Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-8 ...

(), fourth mansa of the Mali Empire * Katip Çelebi, or Hajji Khalifa, (1599–1658), Ottoman-Turkish author *

Khalifa Cohen Khalifa Cohen (; died 9 July 1932) was a rabbi of Djerba, Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capi ...

(d. 1932), Tunisian rabbi *

Abdallahi ibn Muhammad Abdullah Ibn-Mohammed Al-Khalifa or Abdullah al-Khalifa or Abdallahi al-Khalifa, also known as "The Khalifa" ( ar, c. عبدالله بن سيد محمد الخليفة; 184625 November 1899) was a Sudanese Ansar ruler who was one of the principa ...

(1846–1899), known as "The Khalifa", Sudanese Mahdist leader *

Khalifa bin Harub of Zanzibar Sir Khalifa II bin Harub Al-Said (26 August 1879 – 9 October 1960) ( ar, خليفة بن حارب البوسعيد) was the ninth Sultan of Zanzibar from 9 December 1911 to 9 October 1960. His father was Harub bin Thuwaini, a son of Thuwai ...

(1879–1960), sultan of Zanzibar *

Sirr Al-Khatim Al-Khalifa Sirr Al-Khatim Al-Khalifa Al-Hassan ( ar, سر الختم الخليفة الحسن, 1 January 1919 – 18 February 2006) was a Sudanese politician, ambassador and an elite educator, who served as the 5th Prime Minister of Sudan. He was famous ...

(1919–2006), Sudanese politician * Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani (1932–2016), Emir of Qatar () *

Rashad Khalifa Rashad Khalifa ( ar, رشاد خليفة; November 19, 1935 – January 31, 1990) was an Egyptian-American biochemist, closely associated with the United Submitters International (USI), an organization which promotes the practice and study of Q ...

(1935–1990), Egyptian biochemist *

Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar,  خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان‎; 7 September 1948 – 13 May 2022) was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving from ...

(1948–2022), Emir of Abu Dhabi and UAE president *

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa Mohammed Jamal Khalifa ( ar, محمد جمال خليفه) (1 February 1957 – 31 January 2007) was a Saudi businessman from Jeddah who married one of Osama bin Laden's sisters. He has been accused of funding terror plots and groups in the P ...

(1957–2007), Saudi Arabian businessman

Khalifa dynasty

Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (; 3 June 1931 – 6 March 1999) was the first emir of Bahrain from 1961 until his death in 1999. Born in Jasra, Bahrain, he became emir upon the death of his father, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Early life and reign ...

Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salm ...

, King of Bahrain *

Meriam Al Khalifa Meriam bint Abdullah Al-Khalifa (born 1980) is a member of the Bahraini Royal House of Al-Khalifa. She is best known for fleeing her family and native Bahrain to the United States to elope with US Marine Lance Corporal Jason Johnson, who was, at t ...

References

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