Discover the meaning of the term Khalf (خالف) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readAgainst (with 'inda), in contravention (khilafan): to contravene. To the thing: to come to it from behind; one says: "he defied him by going to the thing" (khalafahu ila al-amr), and "he turned back from it": intending the thing after forbidding it; in the Quran: "I do not wish to act contrary to you toward what I forbid you" (Hud 11:88); and: "Let those who contravene his command beware lest trial befall them or a painful punishment touch them" (al-Nur 24:63). Al-khilafa: the principality; the imamate; standing in another's stead. Al-khalaf: whoever comes after him who has passed; the recompense; in the noble hadith: "O Allah, give every giver a khalaf", that is, a recompense; in the jurists' usage: (the title) from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani to Shams al-A'imma al-Hulwani (shaykh 'Abd al-'Al). Al-khalf: like khalaf, but with the lam heavy in the good sense and unvoweled in the bad; one says: "khalf of truthfulness" and "khalf of evil", both meaning a people's offspring; al-Akhfash said: the two are the same; the contrary of "in front"; the worst part of speech; one says: "he kept silent a thousandfold and spoke khalfan": he was silent over a thousand words then spoke amiss; the watering. Al-khulf: the noun of al-ikhlaf; what stands in the future as lying stands in the past. Al-khalifa: the pregnant she-camel; plural: khilf, khilfat and khala'if. Al-khulfa: contradiction; defect and corruption; of food: its aftertaste. Al-khilfa: difference; what comes after the thing; in the Quran: "It is He who made the night and the day in succession (khilfa) for whoever desires to remember or desires thankfulness" (al-Furqan 25:62); the residue of anything; one says: "there remained a khilfa of the day", and "in the vessel a khilfa of water". Al-khalifa: the deputy; the supreme ruler, the ha being for intensification; plural: khulafa and khala'if.