Khalifa

Khalifa or Khalifah (Arabic: خليفة; commonly "caliph" in English) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a Caliphate, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups and others. Khalifa is sometimes also pronounced as "kalifa". There were four Rashidun caliphs after Muhammad died, beginning with Abu Bakr. The Khilaafat (or Caliphate) 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 God commands the angels to bow down to 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, (who received his mission from his cousin Muhammed and who also conceded the Khilaafat to the election and claim of the politically more powerful and more popular leader and his senior, Abu Bakr). In the Shi'i tradition, 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 (born 1943), Libyan military commander
 * Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (born 1952), former Emir of Qatar ((r. 1995 – 2013))
 * Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa (born 1952), President of the 61st United Nations General Assembly
 * Marcel Khalife (born 1950), Lebanese musician
 * Peter Khalife (born 1990), Lebanese football agent
 * Omer Khalifa (born 1956), Sudanese sportsman
 * Rafik Khalifa (born 1966), Algerian billionaire
 * Osama Khalifa (born 1995), Egyptian squash player
 * Mia Khalifa (born 1993), adult film-star
 * Lina Khalifeh (born 1986), Jordanian black belt taekwondo champion and activist against sexual harassment in Jordan

Historical people

 * Khalifa ibn Khayyat (c. 777 – c. 854), Arab historian
 * Khalifa Keita ((r. 1274 – 1275)), fourth mansa of the Mali Empire
 * Katip Çelebi, or Hajji Khalifa, (1599–1658), Ottoman-Turkish author
 * Khalifa Cohen (d. 1932), Tunisian rabbi
 * Abdallahi ibn Muhammad (1846–1899), known as "The Khalifa", Sudanese Mahdist leader
 * Khalifa bin Harub of Zanzibar (1879–1960), sultan of Zanzibar
 * Sirr Al-Khatim Al-Khalifa (1919–2006), Sudanese politician
 * Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani (1932–2016), Emir of Qatar ((r. 1972 – 1995))
 * Rashad Khalifa (1935–1990), Egyptian biochemist
 * Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (1948–2022), Emir of Abu Dhabi and UAE president
 * Mohammed Jamal Khalifa (1957–2007), Saudi Arabian businessman

Khalifa dynasty

 * Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa
 * Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain
 * Meriam Al Khalifa