In time the Sunni theory of the constitutional process came...

In time the Sunni theory of the constitutional process came to be a composite of the actual circumstances of the historical appointment of various Caliphs. These various circumstances were codified in detail, and with some juridical expansion by al-Mawardi,[^3] but the Shari‘ah nature of the constitutional process had already been established.

Thus, the Shari‘ah was recognized as authority for the acts of the caliph and for the manner of appointment of a particular Caliph, but there remains the problem of the authority for the institution itself. Al-Baghdadi’s answer that the Caliphate is required because there are certain explicit Shar‘i duties incumbent upon the Caliph merely begs the…