Wilāyah
has several connotative
meanings. All of these meanings flow in
two main streams. The first stream is
"vow and love”, and the second one is “loyalty and following.” However, they are truly related and unified
in one main river because the true “vow and love” of the lover causes “loyalty” to the beloved one, as well as the urge to “follow” him.
The Arabic word Wilāyah contains many meanings such as fidelity, love, devotion,
patronage, allegiance, guardianship, friendship, responsibility, promise,
well-wishing, pledge, government, covenant, benevolence, affiance, management,
agreement, support, leadership, authority, piety, sanctity, holiness, and so
forth. A Waliy is a person who is empowered with all these exquisite
qualities, and is endowed with the Divine authority as a guardian (or governor)
of a nation. All of these meanings are
related to the Divine word of “Allāh (j.j.)”. By its lexical (rhetorical or oratorical) and
semantic donation Wilāyah means supreme
loyalty, allegiance, perfect love, and indefinite authority over everything,
which requires to be followed.
In the view of the unithetical
linguistics, the word Allāh (J.J.) resembles: Eloah
, Elohim
, Alāhā
, Al-Ilāh
, All-Hallow, Al-Yahweh (Jehovah), Alleluia
, All-He, All-Hoo, All-ah (universal expression of calling out Allāh (J.J.)-given
inner feelings), All-Holy, All-Heaven, All-Hell
, All-Holder, All-Heir, All-Ahead, All-High, Al-Hayy, Aloha,
All-Love All-Light, All-Life, All-Alive, or All-Law.
So, all things are initiated,
controlled, owned, and kept alive by Him.
In the Glorious Qur
’ān
we read (āyāt 255
& 257, sūrah al-Baqarah (2)):
اللَّهُ
لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ لا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلا نَوْمٌ لَهُ
مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأرْضِ
…
اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ
آمَنُوا يُخْرِجُهُمْ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ
…
Allāh (J.J.)! There is no god save Him (Hoo), the Ever
Alive, to Whom all depend. Slumber does
not overtake Him, nor does sleep. To Him
belongs whatever is in the Heavens and on the earth….. Allāh (J.J.) is the Protecting Friend (Waliy)
of those who believe. He leads them from
darkness to Light…..
Allāh
(J.J.) has granted this Supreme
loyalty (Wilāyah) to His prophet Muḥammad (ph&hp), and his
progeny. The Noble Qur
’ān
refers to
’imām ʿAli
(a.s.)when he gave his ring to a poor person while he was bowing down in his
prayer. Please refer to the following
verse, āyah 55, sūrah al-Mā
’idah
(5):
إِنَّمَا
وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ
الصَّلاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ (٥٥)
.
Verily, your Waliy
(Guardian) is Allāh (J.J.) and His messenger, and those who believe; those who
pay alms while they are bowing down (as a part of the regular daily prayer)
.
This very Wilāyah was designated by the holy
prophet to the other 11
’imāms
after
’imām ʿAlī
(a.s.). When Jābir
ibn
ʿAbdullāh
’An ṣārī
asked the holy prophet
(ph&hp) about
’Ulil-’Amr
in
the following āyah from the
Glorious Qur
’ān,
the prophet (ph&hp) explained to him that
’Ulil-’Amr
are the 11
’imāms
after
’imām ʿAlī
(a.s.)(āyah
59, sūrah an-Nisā
’
(4)):
يَا
أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي
الأمْرِ مِنْكُمْ
…
(٥٩)
O’ you who
believe! Obey Allāh (J.J.) , and obey
the Messenger, and the “’Ulil-’Amr”[the Guardians who have received Divine Authorities] among you.
In this web site, we have tried to
project the Message of Wilāyah by
collecting and classifying their maxim words of wisdom from numerous authentic
sources. Then to translate them in three
live languages in order to reflect the Noble Message of the Holy Qur
’ān
from the tongue of Ahl
al-Bayt
. The purified Ahl al-Bayt are the speaking Qur
’ān
, who have reflected and echoed the silent Qur
’ān
.
In āyāt 77-79 of sūrah al-Wāqīah (56) the Glorious Qur
’ān
says:
إِنَّهُ
لَقُرْآنٌ كَرِيمٌ (٧٧)فِي كِتَابٍ مَكْنُونٍ (٧٨)لا يَمَسُّهُ إِلا
الْمُطَهَّرُونَ (٧٩)
Verily, that is the honourable Qur
’ān
, (taken) from the Preserved Tablet,
that no one should touch it but the pure ones
.
And the only purified persons are the
’Iṭrah
of the Holy prophet (
’Ahl al-Bayt
) by the declaration of
the Glorious Qur
’ān
(āyah 33, Sūrah al-Aḥzāb (33)):
…
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ
الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا (٣٣)
…Verily, Allāh (J.J.)’s Will is to remove away
impurity from you, the people of the Messenger’s
Household (Ahl al-Bayt), and to purify all of you, perfect purification.
The following 8 points regarding the Wilāyah are interesting to ponder upon:
1. All the14 infallibles from 11 generations
said the same thing and acted the same manner!
Has history ever recorded such dynasty?
Everyone else in this world may change his belief several times during
his lifetime, or may change his opinion several times within a short
period. How can the tradition of 14
ordinary persons be the same over the length of some 300 years, and, more
importantly, hold true forever? These
’Āwliyā’
of Allāh (the Wilāyah) are, definitely, not ordinary
persons!
2. They were all connected to the
Unique Enlightening Source.
3. All
’imāms
are martyrs for the same cause!
Even the 12th
’imām
is expected to be gifted with
martyrdom.
4. Not a single one of them ruled for
selfish desires, land, wealth, usury, greed, colonisation, despotism, and
tyranny during 11 generations! They were
all sacrificed for the cause of Allāh
(J.J.).
5. The above traits point to
miraculous nature of the wilāyah.
6. The
entire wilāyah would have been cut
off by
’imām ʿAlī
(a.s.)if the blessed being of ḤaḍratFaṭimah Zahrā did not exist. This is why she is referred to as the Kawthar
in the Glorious Qur
’ān
. What a great and graceful
endowment to the lady of all ladies, the wife of
ʿAlī
(a.s.), the waliy (a.s.), the begetter of 11 generations of
Divine nobility and honour, in the era and the environment that girl babies
were buried alive as useless birth! This
is another Sign from Allāh (J.J.) for
those who contemplate.
7. Briefly, the Wilāyah is related to Allāh (J.J.) , and is reflected on all
the creatures via the
’Āwliyā’
(some messengers and all
infallible
’imāms
) in order to lead all people thoroughly, and truly towards Allāh (J.J.). Hence the Waliy should be -and is- ahead of all
others in every aspect of loyalty, knowledge, love, authority, courage,
justice, honour, virtue, morality, beauty, speech, intellect, awareness,
temperance, goodness, government, and so forth, by the will of Allāh (J.J.), to be able to lead all
sorts of people towards the heavenly Fountain of Wilāyah (Allāh (J.J.) Himself). This is with reference to Āyah 55, Sūrah al-Mā
’idah
(5):
إِنَّمَا
وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ
الصَّلاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ (٥٥)
Verily, your Waliy
(Guardian) is Allāh (J.J.) and His messenger, and those who believe; those who
pay alms while they are bowing down (as a part of the regular daily prayer)
.
In short, Wilāyah is the intercession vehicle
to Allāh (J.J.). We, the ordinary people, cannot tolerate
approaching the Magnanimity and Grandeur of Allāh (J.J.), in the same way that we cannot
tolerate getting close to the intense light and heat of the sun.
They have all sacrificed themselves
in the way of Allāh (J.J.). Vanity
for the cause of Allāh
(J.J.) is the prelude for eternal being
. Thus they are alive
forever, even though their body is no longer with us.
8. Islām as a monotheistic way of life
teaches that:
A) All messengers of Allāh (J.J.) have said the same
thing. They have said “we are sent by Allāh
(J.J.)to invite you towards monotheism, piety, and obedience”.
B) Their specific missions might have
been different from time to time, according to circumstances. Some were commissioned to bring divine law,
and were law giver. Others were
commissioned for more spiritual revelation and walking along the path of truth,
showing to people the law, ethics, virtues, and morality, in practice.
C) They confirmed the previous divine
messengers, and gave glad tidings, introducing the next one. Consider the following verse as an example (Āyah 6 from sūrah aṣ-Ṣaff (61)):
وَإِذْ
قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ
إِلَيْكُمْ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشِّرًا
بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِنْ بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ
بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ قَالُوا هَذَا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ (٦)
(O,
Messenger! Remind them) When
’Isā
, Son of Maryam said: O, progeny of
’
Isrā
’
il
, I am indeed the Messenger of Allāh (J.J.) sent to you,
confirming the Tawrāh, which came before me; and bearing the glad tidings
of a Messenger who will come after me whose name shall be A
ḥ
mad
. But when he came with
Evident Signs, they said this is clear sorcery!
D) They were armed with Wilāyah to some degrees. But their prime assignment was Nubuwwah
and/or Risālah
. Bellow, you will realise
how Allāh (J.J.)perfects His divine dīn when He selects
Ḥ
a
ḍ
rat
ʿAlī
(the first manifestation of perfect wilāyah) to be the successor of Prophet Muḥammad
’s wilāyah
as a trustee, and
’imām
.
E) There is only One divine dīn, moving along the line of its
perfection with time, as the intellectual ability of the humankind has been
gradually gifted with higher ability.
Ghadīr-i Khum
With this background, let us review world’s most important event, which happened some 3 months before the holy
prophet departed to the eternal world:
On Thursday 18thDhil-Ḥijjah returning from his last
pilgrimage (the farewell pilgrimage) the Voice from Heavens cried (Āyah 67 from sūrah al-Mā
’idah
(5)):
يَا
أَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ بَلِّغْ مَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَبِّكَ وَإِنْ لَمْ
تَفْعَلْ فَمَا بَلَّغْتَ رِسَالَتَهُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ إِنَّ
اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَ (٦٧)
O, Messenger! Deliver what has been revealed to you from
your Lord
. And if you do it not, then
you have not fulfilled His commission (your assignment). And Allāh (j.j.) shall protect you from the people. Surely, Allāh (j.j.)will not guide the disbelievers
.
The prophet stopped at once, and
ordered all people to come around. After
making all possible preparations, he delivered a long sermon, by Divine
Command, called declaration of Ghadir at
a place called Ghadir-i Khum.
During this sermon, the holy prophet
delivered what has been revealed to him.
He announced the statement of al-Thaqalayn,
and introduced
Ḥ
a
ḍ
rat
ʿAlī
(a.s.) as the leader (
’imām
) and Waliy of the Muslims. This
significant event, is well narrated by both the Shī
ʿiy
and the Sunni narrators
and commentators. Please pay particular
attention that without the transfer of the Wilāyah
to
Ḥ
a
ḍ
rat
ʿAli
(a.s.), the holy prophet’s Risālah (the Divine Mission) would not
have been fulfilled.
The Messenger of Allāh (J.J.) declared the following
passage known as the statement of al-Thaqalayn:
“It seems the time has approached the
point in which I shall be called away (by Allāh (J.J.)), and I shall rejoin the
call. I am leaving among you two
precious things. And if you adhere to
them both, you will never go astray after me.
They are: the Book of Allāh
(J.J.), and (the tradition of) my Household, my Ahl al-Bayt. The two shall never separate from each other
until they come to me by the Pool of al-Kawthar
(حوض الکوثر).”
At this time, once again the heavenly
voice proclaimed (āyah 3 from sūrah al-Mā
’idah
(5)
):
…
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ
دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإسْلامَ دِينًا
...
(٣)
"…This day, I have perfected your dīn for you, completed My
Favour upon you, and I am pleased with you to embrace Islām as the way of
life( dīn) …"
This event, being towards the end of
the Prophet’s life, has special significance. It clarifies that the divine dīn of Allāh (J.J.) was still imperfect until ’imām ʿAlī (a.s.) was appointed as the Waliy of the Muslims. And that this delegation was by the Command
of Allāh (J.J.). And that if ʿAlī (a.s.), was not
introduced by ḤaḍratMuḥammad (ph&hp) as the Waliy, the Prophet’s mission, thus the
mission of all previous messengers, were not fulfilled.
More information regarding the Ghadir Khum can be found in another
section called “The Historical event of Ghadir” in this
web site.
This is the meaning of Wilāyah.
The perfection state of the dīn
of Allāh (J.J.), the Creator and
the Lord of all Worlds. In effect, it is
clear that Allāh (J.J.)’s recommended way of life (dīn)
for the entire humankind goes through Nubuwwah,
Risālah, ’Imāmah, and finally
reaches the perfected stage, i.e. the Wilāyah. We can either benefit from the perfected way
of life, prescribed by our Lord, including His perfected Favour and Blessing,
or stay unaware, cover the Truth, and walk by it naively. Most certainly, there will be a day when we
shall be asked about the Favour and Blessing Allāh (J.J.) has bestowed upon us, specifically, the Wilāyah,
His greatest physical and spiritual blessed Favour.
In āyah 23 of the 42ndsūrah
(Ash-Shūrā), our Creator instructs His Last Prophet:
…
قُلْ لا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي
الْقُرْبَى
…
(٢٣)
“… Say I do not demand
of you any reward except for the love of my near kin [the Ahl al-Bayt,]…”
Then, in āyah 47 of the 34thsūrah (Sabā), He commands the Holy Prophet:
قُلْ
مَا سَأَلْتُكُمْ مِنْ أَجْرٍ فَهُوَ لَكُمْ إِنْ أَجْرِيَ إِلا عَلَى اللَّهِ
وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ (٤٧)
“Say: No reward do I
ask of you: it is (all) for your own benefits. My reward is from Allāh (J.J.) alone and He is
witness over everything”.
And finally, in āyah 57 of the 25thsūrah (al-Furqān), He (J.J.) enjoins Rasūlul-lāh:
قُلْ
مَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ إِلا مَنْ شَاءَ أَنْ يَتَّخِذَ إِلَى
رَبِّهِ سَبِيلا (٥٧)
“Say I do not seek any
reward from you over it, except that the willing person takes the Straight Path
toward his Lord”.
Therefore, Allāh (J.J.)regards the love and
loyalty of people towards the Wilāyah
as the reward for the exhausting toils of the great mission given to His Last
Prophet. He also considers that the love
and loyalty towards the Wilāyah as
a great benefit upon the lovers themselves.
He finally clarifies that this love and loyalty towards the Wilāyah leads to the Straight Path
towards Him, the Lord of all worlds.
Therefore, Allāh (J.J.)clarifies
for us that the Gracious Wilāyah
is the gateway towards Him and His Garden of Paradise. The true love occurs when we actually obey
them at all times, in order to accomplish our loyalty.
It is interesting to note that Allāh (J.J.)considers Shahīds (martyrs in the way of Allāh (J.J.)) as alive, and not
dead. In āyah 169 of sūrahĀl-i
’Īmrān
(3) we read:
وَلا
تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ
عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ (١٦٩)
“Do not consider those
who are slain in the Way of Allāh (J.J.) as dead. Nay! They are alive and receive their
sustenance in the Presence of their Lord”
All the 14 infallibles are shahīds
(slain in the way of
Allāh
(J.J.)
) and are, therefore, alive. In fact they are visible by those who reach
very high stations of self purification.
The essence of Wilāyah is the living energy granted by Allāh (J.J.) to some of His messengers,
prophets,
’imāms
and prominent guardians (
’Āwliyā’
). Itis some sort of hidden
eternal energy, light, knowledge, and love.
It is divine spiritual power and does not die away, even if the body of
a given waliy (guardian) has
expired. The Waliys (
’Āwliyā’
,or Wilāyah)
are charged with exquisite divine qualities and authorities. They take the responsibility of our guidance,
and protection. They also lead us
towards closeness to Allāh (J.J.),
with the powers of Wilāyah,
and intercession, bestowed upon them.
We, the ordinary people, can never
tolerate the Magnanimity and Grandeur of the aspects of Allāh (J.J.). Therefore, Wilāyah is here to help. Symbolically, Wilāyah reflects various powers and
attributes of Allāh (J.J.)
to us, similar to the moon that reflects the unbearably intense
light of the sun.
In order to benefit from this great
source of living divine energy, light and guidance, we need to know them as
close as possible. We will certainly
fall in love and loyalty once we get to know them very well. And that is enough! They take care of their lovers themselves.
Wilāyah
, as the perfection stage of
the dīn, is marked with Ḥaḍrat
ʿAlī
(a.s.)’s
designation as the first ’Imām(Leader), Waṣiy(Trustee), andWaliy (Guardian) by the command of Allāh (J.J.), through the holy
Prophet. This is why prophet Muḥammad (ph&hp) is referred to as “seal of the prophets”. It was through him that Nubuwwah (prophecy) ended, and Wilāyah began in its perfected emergence,
as briefly mentioned above:
…
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ
دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإسْلامَ دِينًا
...
(٣)
"…This day, I have perfected your dīn for you, completed My
Favour upon you, and I am pleased with you to embrace Islām as the
way of life(dīn) …"
At the end, let us see what the
wilāyah says about itself (only a few examples):
’Imām ar-Riḍā
(a.s.) says: May Allāh
(J.J.) shower mercy upon an obedient who has revived our cause! The
’imām
was asked: how could he revive your cause? He replied:
to know our knowledge, then to present it to other people. This is because, if people know our exquisite
words, then they would follow us
.
’Imām
Ḥ
usayn
(a.s.) says: Verily, the love of us, Ahl al-Bayt, sheds (the burden of) sins
off an individual, as a strong wind sheds the leaves off the tree
.
’Imām Bāqir
(a.s.) says: A believer
can escalate to highest degree of belief with prudent study of our narration
.
May Allāh (J.J.) help us to be loyal
followers of both Thaqalayn. The most important part of the spoken will of
the prophet Muāmmad(ph&hp)
is:
“Verily, I am leaving among you two
precious things (ath-Thaqalayn): The Book of Allāh (j.j.), and (the tradition
of) my Household; my Ahl al-Bayt.