Meaning of Wali
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008Qur’aanic Verse 2.107:
107
أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۗ وَمَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ
Transliteration
107. Alam taAAlam anna Allaha lahu mulku alssamawati waal-ardi wama lakum min dooni Allahi min waliyyin wala naseerin
Translation:
107. Are you not aware that, certainly, it is Allah who has sovereignty over the heavens and the earth? And none is there for you, other than Allah, as a wali154 nor anyone who can help!155
Comments:
154. I find it difficult to find an appropriate English word for this Qur’aanic word, wali (plural: awliya). Some translators have rendered it as ‘guardian’ or ‘protector’. But in verse 10.62, the Qur’aan has called some good human beings as awliya of Allah. Surely it would be preposterous to call human beings as ‘guardians’ or ‘protectors’ of Allah! Let us therefore go to the literal meaning of the three-letter Arabic root word wali, which is to be close or near. It is used in the Qur’aan in that very sense. So when the Qur’aan says that good Allah-fearing persons are awliya of Allah, it means that Allah is so pleased with such persons that He has kept them spiritually close to Himself. In verse 2.257 we are told that Allah is the wali of the believers. In other words, Allah is so very close to the believers that He protects and guides them at every step they take in their worldly lives. In verse 60.9 Allah forbids the believers from being close to (tawallaw) only those who fight with them on religion, etc. It is in this sense that in verse 5.51 Allah asks believers not to take Jews and Christians as awliya. Otherwise, Allah makes it clear in verse 60.8, that He does not forbid the believers to have normal good relations with them if they do not fight with them (the believers) in religious matters, etc.
155. In the Qur’aanic light delineated in the preceding Note, the obvious meaning of the latter part of this verse is that if anyone were not to accept Allah as his/her wali, there could be no one else who could be that person’s wali or helper. If one accepts, without any reservations whatsoever, Allah as one’s wali, then there could be one’s other awliya among living believers, by way of being one’s confidants, advisors and helpers in worldly and spiritual matters. But there could be no question of any person, dead or martyred, or of any unseen being (jinn) of becoming a wali or helper of a living person. If one takes such a being as one’s wali or helper, besides Allah, one is committing the sin of shirk (polytheism). Alas! A majority of the Muslims today are openly indulging in this unpardonable sin. Allah asks, “Do then those who suppress the Truth think that, other than Me, they can take My worshippers as awliya? …” [Q: 18.102]
*************************************************************************************
The above extract is from Qur’aanic Studies - Volume II, which I have now republished on my new reconstructed site. In this extract from my Studies, I have tried to understand the Qur’aanic meaning of the Qur’aanic term, Wali. I invite visitors to offer their own responses in the space provided on the Blog.
Mohammad Shafi