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How revered were the early caliphs, and how much religious vs. political authority did they wield? A curious view is attributed to al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī, the notorious Umayyad governor of Iraq ... a thread => 
Ḥajjāj reputed placed ‘the caliph of God (ḫalīfat allāh)’ even over ‘the Messenger of God (rasūl allāh)’. In a letter to the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik, he wrote, “God honored His caliph on earth over His messenger to [humanity]."
In another letter, Ḥajjāj is also said to have written, “The heavens and earth exist only by [the caliphate] and the caliph in God’s eyes is more favored than the cherubim and the prophets sent...
... That is why God created Adam with His hand and made the angels worship him and placed him in Paradise. Then sent him down to earth and appoint him is caliph/vicegerent and made the angels messengers to him."
Yet another letter of Ḥajjāj allegedly declared, "“A man’s deputy (ḫalīfah) among his family is held in nobler regard than his messenger (rasūl) to them; thus are the caliphs (al-ḫulafāʾ), O Commander of the Faithful, more exalted than the Messengers.”
How accurate such things written against al-Ḥajjāj are is open to debate. His views are also attributed to another Umayyad governor of Iraq: Khālid al-Qasrī. Most of my examples come *al-ʿIqd al-farīd* of Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih (d. CE 940), 'those who claim that al-Ḥajjāj was a kāfir'
