The Qur‘an: an Encyclopedia
Khalafa means to succeed, be the agent of or substitute for someone.
Istakhlafa is to appoint as successor, while khalifa is chief, successor and, at 2.30, is used to describe the children of Adam, i.e. everyone. The word in its various forms is used 127 times in the 
The issue of who is the rightful caliph proved to be the cause of the first major schism in the Islamic world, with the supporting 
and the family of the Prophet, and the Sunni adopting a different criterion for selecting the caliph.
OLIVER LEAMAN
This is the complete article, containing 94 words
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