| When al-Musta'sim, the Abbasid caliph, opposed her reign, the sultana abdicated and married Aybek. |
| Inconveniently for the Saudi monarchy, this challenge from the upstart caliph comes at a time of uncertainty over the royal succession. |
| In AD 656, after the assassination of Uthman, the third caliph, Ali ascended to the caliphate. |
| Najaf's founding as a city dates back to 791, when the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid supposedly passed through during a hunt. |
| I went immediately to wait upon the caliph, and gave him an account of my embassy. |
| In orthodox writings the title caliph generally means deputy or successor to the Prophet Muhammad. |
