The concept of Wilayah, with all its\nroots and meanings, is common in all communities. In other words, it is common\nin all communities that a person has a certain right on another, along with a\nresponsibility based on the right. For example, the father of a child is the\nclosest person to him\/her, and subsequent to the father, the child\u2019s uncle,\nmother\u2026 might become responsible for taking care of him\/her. Therefore, from\nthis point of view, Wilayah is a common concept and is defined in the context\nof a community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, besides this common concept\nof Wilayah, there exists another interpretation of Wilayah which is defined by\nreligion and only by religion. For example, Catholics believe in a specific\ntype of Wilayah for the pope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, Islam has defined 2 types\nof Islamic Wilayah, namely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. The right of\na Muslim on another Muslim<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. The right of\nAllah (SWT) on a Muslim<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Fiqh (jurisprudence)\nof Shia, there are about 30 types of rights among the Muslims. In addition to\nthat, a Muslim who believes in Allah (SWT), the Prophet (PBUH&HP), and\nother Islamic principles believes in a right to command and forbid, and also\nWilayah for Allah (SWT) upon His servants. However, Allah (SWT) has the option\nto offer this right to His messengers and successors. The Hadith of Ghadir and\nthe phrase \u201cWhoever has me as his\/her Master (Wali), Ali is his\/her Master\n(Wali)\u201d (by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP)) are declarations of the offering of\nthis right to Amir al-Mu\u2019minin (PBUH) by Allah (SWT). But what is the exact\nmeaning of such Wilayah?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In general, the word \u201cWali\u201d has two\ndefinite meanings, namely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Vicinity or\nhaving the same boundaries: This meaning for \u201cWali\u201d has been used by the Holy\nQuran in verse 123 of Chapter 9: \u201dO you who believe! Fight those of the\nunbelievers who are near to you\u2026 (1)\u201d. This meaning is not discussed in this\nwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Guardianship,\naccountability, being in charge of people\u2019s affairs, and the right to command\nand forbid: This meaning for \u201cWali\u201d has been mentioned in the 55th verse of\nChapter 5 of the Holy Quran: \u201dOnly Allah, His Messenger, and the believers who\nkeep up prayer (Salat) and pay alms (Zakat) while they bow (Rokoo) during\nprayer, are your Wali (Master)(2)\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we study all the Islamic Hadiths,\nwe will find no correct meaning for the word \u201cWali\u201d other than the\naforementioned ones. Yet, some people have mentioned about 70 meanings for this\nword. However, they all well know that the exact meanings of this word are the\nones mentioned above, and the other meanings are just examples of Wali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, if a father, uncle,\nmother, owner \u2026 is called Wali, it is because they are all examples of\nguardians. For instance, a father is called \u201cWali\u201d because he is responsible\nfor taking care of his child\u2019s affairs. However, a father is not always\nidentical to Wali. If the father of a child dies while his\/her grandfather is\nstill alive, it is said that the child \u201chas lost his\/her father\u201d; but we cannot\nsay that \u201che\/she doesn\u2019t have a Wali\u201d since his\/her grandfather, for instance,\nbecomes the Wali and is responsible for taking care of the child\u2019s affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An owner (of anything) is also an\nexample of Wali; because the owner of anything is the guardian of it; however,\nWilayah is not identical to ownership or possession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On this basis, the meaning of the\nsaying of the messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP) on the day of Ghadir is as\nfollows: \u201dWhoever I am his\/her Mawla and guardian, this Ali is his\/her Mawla\nand guardian\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shafe\u2019i, the prominent Sunni scholar,\nhas mentioned the following statement in regards to the Hadith of Ghadir and\nthe meaning of Wali:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The meaning of Mawla in the Hadith\n\u201cWhomever I am his\/her Mawla (master), this Ali is his\/her Mawla (master)\u201d is\nthe Wilayah of Islam (the Wilayah that Islam has established), the proof for\nwhich is the saying of Allah (SWT) that \u201cAllah is the guardian of those who\nbelieve, and because the unbelievers shall have no guardian for them (3)\u201d.\nNevertheless, as for the saying of Umar bin Khattab in regards to Ali (PBUH)\n(spoken by Umar on the day of Ghadir) \u201cYou have become the Mawla of all the\nfaithful\u201d, what is meant is the Wilayah on all the Muslims\u201d. (4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As evident from the saying of Shafe’i\nsaying on the Hadith of Ghadir, he has also inferred the concept of Wilayah of\nthe Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP) and Amir al-Mu\u2019minin (PBUH) on the Muslims\nfrom the Hadith of Ghadir; because he refers to the 11th verse of Chapter 45 of\nthe Holy Quran. In this verse, the Wilayah of Allah (SWT) is intended;\ntherefore, the meaning of Wilayah in this verse is the legislative Wilayah, and\nthe authority to command or forbid. According to the saying of Shafe\u2019i, the\nHadith of Ghadir indicates the offering of this type of Wilayah from Allah\n(SWT) to Amir al-Mu\u2019minin (PBUH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Selection taken\nfrom the booklet of \u201cThe Divine Imamate\u201d, from the lecture series of Ayatullah\nMuhammad Reza Ja\u2019fari)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Roshd Website congratulates all\nthe Muslims, especially you dear friend, upon the arrival of the great divine\nEid, the anniversary of perfection of religion and the announcement of the\nsuccession of Amir al-Mu\u2019minin (PBUH) to the Prophet, Eid al-Ghadir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. The Holy\nQuran, (9:123)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. The Holy\nQuran, (5:55)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. The Holy\nQuran, (45:11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. The History\nof Damascus (Taarikh Damishq), vol. 42, p. 238<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The concept of Wilayah, with all its roots and meanings, is common in all communities. In other words, it is common in all communities that a person has a certain right on another, along with a responsibility based on the right. For example, the father of a child is the closest person to him\/her, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63647,28248],"tags":[18418],"class_list":["post-4943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-imam-ali-pbuh","category-occasional-letters","tag-occasion-letters"],"yoast_head":"\n