In the Name of Allah, the
Gracious, the Merciful
Wali
Extract from Chapter 2 of QUR’AANIC
STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir, discussing the meaning of the Qur’aanic term wali:
107. Alam
taAAlam anna Allaha lahu mulku alssamawati waal-ardi wama lakum min dooni Allahi min waliyyin wala
naseerin
107. Are you not aware that, certainly, it is Allah who has absolute 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
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) – 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 among 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]
Keep
us away from the sin of shirk, Allah!
Friday, the 7th of
April, 2017.
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