The title was used for Muslim military commanders during the lifetime of
Prophet Muhammad. It was, for example, borne by the Muslim commander at the
Battle of al-Qadisiyya. On his accession in 634, the second
caliph Umar () adopted the title. This was likely not for its military connotation, but rather deriving from a
Quranic injunction to "Obey God and obey the Apostle and those invested with command among you" (
Surah 4, verses 58–62). According to
Fred M. Donner, the title's adoption marked a step in the centralization of the nascent Muslim state, as the was acknowledged as the central authority of the
expanding Muslim empire, responsible for appointing and dismissing generals and governors, taking major political decisions, and keeping the (), the list of those Muslims entitled to a share of the spoils of conquest. From Umar on, the title became a fixed part of caliphal titulature. Indeed, it appears to have been the chief title of the early caliphs, and the actual title of caliph () does not appear to have been adopted until the reign of the
Umayyad caliph
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (), who adopted it as a means to strengthen his position, which had become shaky following the
Second Fitna. Among
Sunnis, the adoption of the title of became virtually tantamount to claiming the caliphate. As a result, the title was used by the great Islamic dynasties that claimed the universal leadership over the
Muslim community; the
Umayyads,
Abbasids, and
Fatimids. In later centuries, it was also adopted by regional rulers, especially in the western parts of the Muslim world, who used the caliphal rank to emphasize their independent authority and legitimacy, rather than any ecumenical claim. The
Umayyads of Cordoba adopted it in 928, whence it was also used by several other minor rulers of
al-Andalus. From 1253, the
Hafsids of
Ifriqiya claimed the caliphate, and were followed by the
Marinids of
Morocco, following whom all successive
Moroccan dynasties—the last two of them, the
Sa'di dynasty and the current
Alawi dynasty, also by virtue of their claimed
descent from Muhammad—have also claimed it. The
Constitution of Morocco still uses the term as the principal title of the
King of Morocco, as a means to "[legitimize the monarchy's] hegemonic role and its position outside significant constitutional restraint". At the same time, the title has retained a connotation of command in the (, "
holy war") and has been used thus throughout history, without necessarily implying a claim to the caliphate. It was used in this sense by the early
Ottoman sultans—who notably rarely used the caliphal title after they took it from the Abbasids in 1517—as well as various
West African Muslim warlords until the modern period. The title was used by
Aurangzeb, the sixth emperor of the
Mughal Empire. In 1996, the title was adopted by the
Taliban leader
Muhammad Umar. Mullah Mohammed Omar was conferred the title in April 1996 by a Taliban-convened
shura () of approximately 1000-1500 Afghan
ulama in
Kandahar, when he displayed the
Cloak of Muhammad before the crowd. The title granted legitimacy to Omar's leadership of Afghanistan and his declared jihad against the government led by
Burhanuddin Rabbani. Omar was still referred to as by his followers and other jihadists, notably al-Qaeda leader
Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, the successor of Mullah Omar, was conferred the title in July 2015 upon his appointment as the new leader of the Taliban.
Hibatullah Akhundzada, the third
Supreme Leader of the Taliban, was also conferred the title upon his election in 2016 and became the
Leader of
Afghanistan in 2021. In 2005, the
Islamic State leader
Abu Umar al-Baghdadi adopted the title, nine years before the Islamic State proclaimed its caliphate in 2014.
Abu Umar al-Baghdadi was conferred the title after his appointment in October 2006 by the Mujahideen Shura Council as the first Emir of the newly declared
Islamic State of Iraq. As Richard Pennell commented, by claiming the title they positioned themselves as potential "caliphs-in-waiting", but for the moment, the title was simply the expression of their claim to an overarching "activist authority" over the areas they controlled. ==Views==