The existence of an Islamic state before the accession of ‘Abd al-Malik is a debated subject. Jeremy Johns believes there was no hegemonic Islamic state before that time but rather a ‘loose confederation of Arab tribes’ which ’lacked administrative and fiscal apparatus’ and did not spread religious propaganda (Johns 2003, 418, 422). Contrastingly, Robert Hoyland believes the Islamic government was sufficiently bureaucratic under the caliph Mu‘awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan and the reticence about Muhammad in documents is characteristic of inscriptions of that period (Hoyland 2006, 396). This essay addresses debates on bureaucracy and Islamic ideology to argue that there was an Islamic state before the time of ‘Abd al-Malik considering the expectation of a new state to increase administrative power over the conquered lands gradually...