English
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Caliphate
The Caliphate (Arabic: was the state created by the prophet Muhammad. The first four caliphs were Muhammad's Sahaba (disciples); Abu Bakr, then Umar ibn al-Khattab, then Uthman ibn Affan, and the fourth was Ali ibn Abi Talib. Sunni Muslims consider Abu-Bakr to be the first legitimate Caliph, Shi'a consider Ali to have been the first truly legitimate Caliph, although they concede that Ali accepted his predecessors, because he eventually sanctioned Abu-Bakr. After these four caliphs, the Abbasid Dynasty, had fell apart, and the Fatimids from Kairouan took control, with a new capital in Egypt, Cairo.
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