Provincial caliph or a replacement? (9)
I believe the answer is:
parochial
'provincial' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'caliph or a replacement?' is the wordplay.
'replacement?' is an anagram indicator (I've seen 'replacement' mean this).
'caliph'+'or'+'a'='caliphora'
'caliphora' anagrammed gives 'PAROCHIAL'.
(Other definitions for parochial that I've seen before include "rather restricted" , "Having a narrow scope" , "Narrow in outlook" , "Related to local area - narrow" .)