Qoran Shenakht

As one of the most frequently used keywords in the political system of Islam, the word "Khalifa" plays an important role in understanding religious issues. In "the Leiden Encyclopedia of the Qur'an", the American orientalist, Vedad Qazi, has referred to the meaning, examples and the history of the Qur'anic word "Khalifa" and the political-religious reality of the institution of caliphate. However, insufficient reference to authentic Islamic sources, disregard for Shia Qur'anic opinions and sources, lack of comprehensiveness in citing the verses of the Qur'an as well as insufficient documentation in some cases prevented him from understanding some issues such as the multiple meanings of this word in various verses and led to his presenting wrong examples and incorrect dates for the beginning of the commentators' political approach to the word "Khalifa". The result of this research, which was carried out with a descriptive-analytical method, showed that this word was used in the early years of Islam. By examining the appointment of caliphate and the Qur’anic criticism, the paper challenged the author's opinion on the political uses of the caliph and considers the meaning of "caliph" in all the verses of the Qur’an as "successor" or "substitute", which is realized in various types and instances (such as residence and inheritance). The cognitive analysis of "Khalifa" in the singular form shows that this word is synonymous with "Imam" and human beings are in the position of the divine Caliph.