The Sunni caliphate was conceived as elective by a narrow college

Evidence

The death of the Prophet posed an immediate question of succession. As Prophet, he could have no successor. But the Prophet had not only created a religious community; he had also founded a state, which was rapidly becoming an empire, and that state urgently needed a sovereign. … The Sunni view, in contrast, as formerly set forth, was that the caliphate should be elective. This should not be understood in modern terms of universal suffrage. The juristic concept of election means that on the death of the caliph the most suitable successor is chosen by a small college of qualified electors. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 538

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the juristic concept of ‘election’ in classical Sunni succession theory against modern connotations of suffrage.