Editing Caliphate (section)

== Etymology ==
Before the advent of Islam, Arabian monarchs traditionally used the title {{tlit|ar|ALA|[[malik]]}} 'king', or another from the same [[Semitic root]].<ref name="Bowering2013">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2013 |title=caliph, caliphate |encyclopedia=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought |publisher=Princeton University Press |last1=Bowering |first1=Gerhard |page=87 |isbn=978-0-691-13484-0 |last2=Crone |first2=Patricia |last3=Mirza |first3=Mahan}}</ref> The term ''caliph'' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|eɪ|l|ɪ|f|,_|ˈ|k|æ|l|ɪ|f}}<ref>{{Cite Dictionary.com|caliph|access-date=2024-10-26}}</ref>) derives from the [[Arabic]] word {{tlit|ar|ALA|[[khalīfah]]}} ({{lang|ar|خَليفة}}, {{Audio|Ar-khalifa.ogg|pronunciation}}), meaning 'successor', 'steward', or 'deputy'—and has traditionally been considered a shortening of {{tlit|ar|ALA|Khalīfah rasūl Allāh}} 'successor of the messenger of God'. However, studies of pre-Islamic texts suggest that the original meaning of the phrase was 'successor selected by God'.<ref name="Bowering2013" />