Wilaayat

Meanings Of Wali

There can be three meanings of Wali found;

1. Guardian
2. Ally
3. Friend

Which is to be selected
The ally and friend has nearly the same meanings, both can be expressed as a friend in
common language, if the meanings of Wali are of friend then what in case of Nikah (the
necessity of the admittance of Wali of bride can be expressed as the admittance of the
friend of bride which is not the case at all) the meanings of Wali taken are of Guardian,
there are some verses of Holy Quran also which clears the meanings.

Concept of Wilaayat

Keep us on the right path. The path of those upon whom Thou bestowed favors. Not (the
path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray. ( 1:6 -
end)

The concept given in the above verses of Surah-e-Fateha presents two things one
is the blessings of Allah are upon those who follow the right path, and the second thing is
that there are more than one on the right path. The most important conclusion that can be
easily drawn is that one has to follow the people (Whom Allah bestowed Favors) this is
the concept of Wilaayat. Wilaayat is the guardianship and Wali is the guardian (in the
case of Nikah the guardian who show you the way of worldly life and in the case of
religion the guardian who show you the way of religious life.). This is not the only verse
of Holy Quran that gives the concept of Wali but there are several verses in Holy Quran
on the topic, which broaden the concept and clear all complexities in the mind (later on
you will find in this article).

Importance of Wilaayat

Those who take unbelievers for guardians rather than believers, Do they seek honor from
them? Then surely all honor is for Allah (4:139)
 For guardian the Arabic word used here is of Wali, this verse presents two
concepts, one is simply do not prefer unbelievers over believers (Not in case of
Judgment) for honor the second important concept that I have to elaborate is the
importance of Wilaayat, and of Wali, it is confirm from the verse (for me it is Farziat of
Wilaayat) a Muslim must have Wali but from believers rather than unbelievers.

Those who ally themselves with GOD and His messenger, and those who believed,
belong in the party of GOD; absolutely, they are the victors. (5:56)

Surah-e-Maida the fifth Surah of Holy Quran (and third last Surah in the order of
revelation) has a specialty, it presents the whole Islamic law, you can find the instructions
about Halal, Haraaam the punishments for different false acts like killing, robbery, etc.
This verse of Surah-e-Maida gives the same concept as in the last verse (4:139) and if it is
observed with its neighboring verses, the concept of Wilaayat is completely presented in
these verses. (These will be presented to you later). The concept of reward is presented in
this verse unlike in the last verse (4:139). These two verses presents the both conditions
to the readers, if you and if you dont. These shows the importance of the Wali, if it is the
righteous you will be the victorious otherwise the loser (the victory and losing doesnt
means the victory in war or victory in any worldly competition only, but it is the victory
at the Judgment Day. This will be cleared in the upcoming text).

Properties Possessed by a Wali

At the moment after observing the above three verses following properties can be
found in a Wali.
He must be on the right path (path of Takhwa in Arabic) ( From Surah-e-Fateha)
He must belong to believers not from disbelievers
He could lead to the victory.
From general observation one could say that the guardian should be able to guard.

Another straight forward verse of Surah-e-Maida that completes our search is as

under.
Your real guardians are GOD and His messenger, and the believers who observe
the Contact Prayers (Salat), and pay the poor-rate while they bow down.(5:55)

This verse doesnt need a wide explanation here at the moment it is very much
clear, the word I underlined here is while, in some translations it is replaced by and.
The Arabic word used at the place is Wahum as I know can be found ___ places
which is in most of the other verses used as while by the same translator, and it is a part
of grammar so it doesnt have more than one completely different meaning and for and
in the Holy Quran many times the word used is . Readers of the articles if have different
perspective the can guide me by giving examples and explanations (I am not an Arabic
Scholar so presenting before you what I observed.) Back to the topic, this verse points the
Wali (other than Allah and His messenger) out, the believers who observe the prayers and
pay the poor-rate while they bow down. This is not the only verse even I will give you
some other verses as well.

Who is the Wali?

The answer of the question is mentioned in the last verse (5:55). History
recognizes that person as Hazrat Ali (A.S) who gave away the poor-rate (Zakat) as his
finger ring while he bowed down (Rukuh) during prayers, this verses was reveled
afterwards lets check the verse with the neighboring ones you will feel yourself lucky.

O you who believe, if you revert from your religion, then GOD will substitute in your
place a nation whom He loves and who love Him. They will be kind with the believers,
stern with the disbelievers, and will strive in the cause of GOD without fear of any blame.
Such is GOD's blessing; He bestows it upon whomever He wills. GOD is Bounteous,
Omniscient. (5:54)

Your real guardians are GOD and His messenger, and the believers who observe the
Contact Prayers (Salat), and pay the poor-rate while they bow down.(5:55)

Those who ally themselves with GOD and His messenger, and those who believed,
belong in the party of GOD; absolutely, they are the victors. (5:56)

If you observe the verse from two or three verses back you will know more. This is upto
you, I have to restrict myself to the topic.

Now lets verify the properties of Wali that we came across earlier.

He must be on the Right Path of Takhwa

Ahl-e-Bait (family members of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H)) were purified

from any evil deeds and sins as prescribed in the second part of the 33rd verse of Surah-e-
Ahzaab.

...Allah wishes only to remove ArRijs (evil deeds and sins, etc.) from you, O members of
the family (of the Prophet SAW), and to purify you with a thorough purification.(33:33)

The word mentioned and underlined in the verse that is Ar-Rijs which is used in
opposite to the word Takhwa in Arabic, so if Rijs is removed the left is Takhwa. So not
only Hazrat Ali (A.S) but all the Ahl-e-Bait were Muttaki. So the fist condition is
satisfied.

He must belong to the believers

Not only Hazrat Ali (A.S) but his forefathers were also the believers of Allah. It is from
history that when the Kaaba was attacked by the force having elephants the grandfather
of Hazrat Ali (A.S) was the Waali-e-Kaba (Guardian of Kaaba) the attacking force stole
his camels, when he asked the attackers to return his camels they replied,
Arent you worry about Kaaba of which you are Guardian ;
He replied,
These camels belong to me and I am responsible of there security, Kaaba belongs to
Allah and He is responsible of the security of Kaaba
That was the belief of Abdul Mutallib the grand father of Prophet Muhammad
(P.B.U.H) and Hazrat Ali (A.S) and it is also the historical fact that Muslims were
secured in Mecca before the death of Hazrat Abu Talib the uncle of Prophet Muhammad
(P.B.U.H) and father of Hazrat Ali(A.S).

He Should be Capable to Lead the Nation to the Victory

As I wrote earlier that here victory is not of the conventional war only but also the
victory at the Judgment day. We have many examples of the bravery of Hazrat Ali(A.S)
in Ghazwas of Badr, Auhd and all. But his status was lifted as compared to others in
Ghazwa-e-Khandaq, Ghazwa-e-Auhad and in the war of Khaibar. In Ghazwa-e-Khandaq
He was the sole warrior and solely by the Grace of Allah defeated Omro bin Abdobad. In
the war of Khaibar, when all the Companions (Ashaab) of the Prophet Muhammad failed
to defeat the fort, when he was given the flag of Islam Hazrat Ali(A.S) defeated the fort
and killed the great Khaibar warrior Marhab. These historical facts increase his level
against all who claimed the descendants of Islam and didnt took a part even in Ghazwas.
As Quran says on the event of Ghazwa-e-Auhad;

The holders back from among the believers, not having any injuri, and those who strive
hard in Allahs way with their property and their persons are not equal.(4:95)

The higher ranks come from Him, as well as forgiveness and mercy. GOD is Forgiver,
Most Merciful.(4:96)

On the event of the War of the Khaibar, Quran says

Allah promised you many acquisitions which you will take, then He hastened on this one
for you (Khaibar) and held back the hands of men from you, and that may be a sign for
the believers and that He may guide you on a right path.(48-20)

The guidance on that event that commonly drawn is that Hazrat Ali guided Muslims to
the victory in the path of which all the other companions of the Prophet (P.B.U.H) failed.
The Prophet (P.B.U.H) asked the Muslim army that a day before that
Tomorrow I will give the flag to the warrior who takes Allah as a Friend and Allah
takes him as a friend
And the next morning the Flag was awarded to Hazrat Ali(A.S) and he then
defeated the Khaibar Fort.
The next property is that a Wali should be capable to lead the nation to the victory
at the Judgment Day. This property of Hazrat Ali(A.S) is stated in the following verse of
the Holy Quran.

That is of which Allah gives the good news to His servants, (to) those who believe and do
good deeds. Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for me my near relatives;
and whoever earns good, we give him more of good therein; surely Allah is forgiving,
Grateful.(42:23)

If you love the relatives of the Prophet (P.B.U.H), you will receive more reward of your
every good deed. That is said in the above verse of Sorah-e-alShoura. There is nothing
more left for me to say in this regards.

Conclusion
The last property is of general observation that is the ability to guard the nation, this will
be the conclusion of the written text and the decision is left upon you. There are many
other verses of Quran that I could present here but due to limited knowledge I couldnt
expand the topic enough but I recommend for readers to read and observe the verses
(5:39), (4:83), (4:59), (48:29) and from (26:213) to (26:218).

Refferences:
Holy Quran Translation from http://www.PakData.com/quran
HodaPro Urdu; software by Quran Foundation & University of Karachi.
Sahih Bukhaari English translation from
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/
Idea of the Nikah for the meanings of Wali was given to me by Allama Talib
Jauhari in Majlis-e-Aza of 20th Ramazan

For Readers:
 I am a human and there is always a chance of Human error ,
Please do report any error (conceptual or typing) in this document to me. I require strong
feedback suggestions from the readers. Pray for me and forgive me if I wrote any thing
wrong in the document.
At the end of Every verse of the Holy Quran the Surah number
and verse number is mentioned in the form as shown below
(Surah Number: Verse number) like; (5:1) for 1st verse of the 5th Surah.

Authors Information:
Syed Najeeb Haider Zaidi
For feedback E-Mail: snhz_2k4@hotmail.com