The shape of the Islamic ruling system is not monarchical. It neither approves of the monarchical shape of government nor does it resemble it. 

The ruling in the monarchical system of government is hereditary where sons inherit the authority from their fathers the same way they inherit their legacy. Whereas in the ruling system of Islam, there is no concept of hereditary ruling, rather the ruling is held by whomever the Ummah gives her pledge (of allegiance) to, willingly and selectively.

The monarchical system allows the monarch special privileges and rights exclusive to him, and places him above the law and makes him personally answerable to no one. He is made the symbol of the nation, where he owns but does not rule like the monarchs of Europe; or he owns and rules, and even becomes the source of the rules, thus running the country and the people as he wishes, like the kings of Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Jordan.

The Islamic system however does not assign to the Khaleefah or the Imam any special privileges or rights, so he is treated the same as any citizen of the Ummah. He is not the symbol of the Ummah where he` owns and does not rule nor is he a symbol who rules and runs the affairs of the people and country as he pleases. He is a representative of the Ummah in ruling and power, where the Ummah selects him and gives him the pledge of allegiance willingly so as to implement on her the shar’a of Allah (swt). He is restricted in all his actions, judgements and looking after the affairs of the Ummah and her interests by the divine rules.

There is also no crown princeship in the ruling system of Islam. Islam abhors hereditary ruling and forbids that the ruling be taken by legacy. The Khaleefah only assumes the ruling when the Ummah willingly gives him the pledge of allegiance.