The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph ('successor')" (from the Arabic خلافة or khilāfa, Turkish: Hilafet), refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the leaders unity of the Muslim Ummah (community)^{[clarification needed]}. In theory, it is an aristocratic–constitutional republic (the Constitution being the Constitution of Medina), which means that the head of state, the Caliph, and other officials are representatives of the people and of Islam and must govern according to constitutional and religious law, or Sharia. In its early days, it resembled elements of direct democracy (see shura) and an elective monarchy.

It was initially led by Muhammad's disciples as a continuation of the leaders and religious system the prophet established, known as the 'Rashidun caliphates'. A "caliphate" is also a state which implements such a governmental system.

Sunni Islam stipulates that the head of state, the caliph, should be selected by Shura – elected by Muslims or their representatives. Followers of Shia Islam believe the caliph should be an imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt (Muhammad's purified progeny). After the Rashidun period until 1924, caliphates, sometimes two at a single time, real and illusory, were ruled by dynasties. The first dynasty was the Umayyad. This was followed by the Abbasid, the Fatimid (not recognized by others outside Fatimid domain), and finally the Ottoman Dynasty.

Halim Rane is an Australian academic and currently a Senior Lecturer at Griffith University. He is the current Deputy Director of the Griffith Islamic Research Unit. Prior to joining Griffith University Rane worked for the Australian Government in the Department of Immigration. He completed his PhD in international relations and Islamic studies in 2008. Rane has a Master's degree in media studies and a Bachelor's degree in sociology and Islamic studies from the International Islamic University Malaysia.

Rane's academic interests include Islam-West relations, political Islam, and the Israel-Palestine conflict. His research includes work on the maqasid or higher objectives of Islam, which he has addressed in the context of jihad, human rights, and second generation Islamic political parties. He is also engaged in research on Muslim communities in Australia. Rane is the author of Islam and Contemporary Civilisation: Evolving Ideas, Transforming Relations and Reconstructing Jihad amid Competing International Norms. He is co-author of Sources of News and Current Affairs and co-editor of Islam and the Australian News Media.

Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein (Arabic: الملك عبد الله الثاني بن الحسين‎, al-Malik ʿAbdullāh aṯ-ṯānī bin al-Ḥusayn; born 30 January 1962) is the reigning King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He ascended the throne on 7 February 1999 upon the death of his father King Hussein. King Abdullah, whose mother is Princess Muna al-Hussein, is a member of the Hashemite family. Since 1993, Abdullah has been married to Queen Rania of Jordan.

Abdullah was born in Amman to King Hussein of Jordan during his marriage to British born Princess Muna al-Hussein. He was the king's oldest son and as such he was automatically heir apparent to the throne of Jordan under the 1952 constitution. However, due to unstable times in the 1960s, King Hussein decided to appoint his brother, Prince Hassan bin Talal, as his heir.

King Abdullah II attended St Edmund's School, Hindhead, Surrey, before moving on to Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. He joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1980, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, and served as a troop commander in the 13th/18th Royal Hussars. In 1982, King Abdullah II attended Pembroke College at Oxford University where he completed a one-year Special Studies course in Middle Eastern Affairs. In 1987, he attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Abdullah would later serve in the Jordanian forces and became Major General in May 1998.