Ca·liph n.  Successor or vicar; the civil and religious leader of a Muslim state; -- a title of the successors of Mohammed both as temporal and spiritual rulers, used formerly by the sultans of Turkey. [Written also calif, kaliph, kalif, khalif.]
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  kaliph
       n : the civil and religious leader of a Muslim state considered
           to be a representative of Allah on earth; "many radical
           Muslims believe a Khalifah will unite all Islamic lands
           and people and subjugate the rest of the world" [syn: caliph,
            calif, kalif, khalif, khalifah]