The vast territories which the Islamic State rules over are divided up in to administrative units to ease in the task of ruling. These units were formalised during the Abbasid period but their origins are from the time of the Prophet ﷺ and the Rightly Guided Caliphs.

The top level division is The Province (Wiliyah) which is headed by a Governor (Wali) or Emir.

The Province is divided in to Districts (I’mala) which are headed by a Mayor (‘Amil) or Hakim.

The District is sub-divided in to Cities (Qasabah) headed by a Chief Executive (Mudeer).

The City is further divided in to Neighbourhoods or Quarters (Hayy) each headed by a Director (Mudeer). Traditionally a Neighbourhood consisted of 40 houses.

The Ottomans used different titles for each of the administrative levels and these are shown below.