ABSTRACT
The analysis of any political system requires that a clear distinction be drawn between the seat of authority, the seat of legitimate power, and the seat of virtual power. Authors who have failed to draw the necessary distinction have found it difficult to place the sultanate and emirate in the classical political system of Islam; since in their thinking the caliphate constitutes authority in itself, the sultanate and emirate are by implication seen as the seat of power. A study of the Constitution of Medina gives us a better idea of what actually took place during what was undoubtedly the most crucial period in the evolution of Islam and its material embodiment in the form of the new Umma. What differentiates Muhammad, and thus undoubtedly distinguishes him from others, is that his works were at the apex of generalization, universalization, and mystification.
