Regarding the khilāfah, (the system of governing of Muslims by a Caliph) ‘Abd al-Majīd says that "the Islamic nation from the days of the caliphates of the Prophet's companions to the Ottoman Caliphs constituted a religious state in which religion and politics were combined."

"That is what prompts demands that Islamic movements operating in politics make clear their position regarding the khilāfah issue in the context of what they term 'a civil state with a religious reference.'"

[Reviewer: this is obviously a reference to recent press reports that the Muslim Brotherhood plans to seek to become a "political party with a religious reference."]