Commander of the Faithful - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
General Material Designation
[Article]
First Statement of Responsibility
Marsham, Andrew
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.
Leiden
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Brill
GENERAL NOTES
Text of Note
(846 words)
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
" Commander of the Faithful " (amīr al-muʾminīn) was the main title of the caliph in protocol and inscriptions. With the decline of caliphal power after the fourth/tenth century, rulers used it to express rival or independent authority, especially in western Islamic lands. In Sunnī tradition the Prophet is said to have given the title "Commander of the Faithful" to some of his campaign commanders, and it retains that sense in a few accounts of commanders under the early caliphs. The second caliph, ʿUmar I (r. 13-23/634-44),