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( Umayyad)
 Flag The Umayyad Caliphate (Arabic ??? ?????, Banu Umayyah) was the second of the four Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. The Umayyad Arab Caliphate is historically the fifth largest empire, the third largest contiguous empire and the fourth largest empire by percentage of world population (29.5%). Damascus was the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate. After the Umayyads were overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate, they relocated to Al-Andalus, where they established the Caliphate of Córdoba. A caliphate is the Islamic form of government representing the political unity and leadership of the Muslim world. The Caliph's position is based on the notion of a successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's political authority. According to Sunnis, a Caliph is ideally a member of the Quraysh tribe elected by Muslims or their representatives; and according to Shia Islam, an Imam descended in a line from the Ahl al-Bayt.
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