From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wali
Wali
See also: Walayah
Walī (Arabic: ,وليplural Awliyā’ ,)أولياءis an Arabic word
Use in Tasawuf/Sufism
meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authori- A hierarchy of Awliya and their functions are outlined
ty as denoted by its definition "crown".[1] "Wali" is some- in the books of Sufi Masters. There is disagreement as
one who has "Walayah" (authority or guardianship) over to the terms used for each rank but there is a general
somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of agreement about the numbers and functions of each lev-
his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي هللاwalīyu ’llāh.[2] can el. Starting from the top downwards:[5]
be used to denote one vested with the "authority of God": • One Ghawth (Helper)
• Three Qutub (Pole)
???????? ?????????? ??????????? ??????? ?????? • Three Nuqaba (Watchmen)
??????????? ??????????? ?????? ??????????? • Four Awtaad (Pegs)/Aqtab (Poles)
?????????? ?????????? ????????? ???????? • Seven Abraar (Pious)
?????????? ?????? ?????????? ??????????? [Qu- • Forty Abdal (Substitutes)
ran 5:55] "Only Allah is your Wali and His Messenger • Three Hundred Akhyaar (Chosen)
and those who believe, establish worship, and pay The Ghawth is the leader of "Rijjall ul Ghaib" (the invisi-
the poor due while bowing down (in ble men). He leads the world government.
prayer)."[Quran 5:55] Al Hakim al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Arabi amongst others
also contended that there was a Seal of the Awliya much
In Sunni Islam, however, ولي هللاwalīyu ’llāhis translated to in the same way that Muhammad is considered the Seal
mean the "friend ( )صديقof God." of the Prophets.[5][6]
In English, wali most often means a Muslim saint or A useful reference appears on p154 of The People of the
holy person. It should not be confused with the word Secret by Ernest Scott[7] quoting Al Hujwiri, the Afghan
Wāli (Arabic: )واليwhich is an administrative title that Sufi who died in 1063. Spellings differ, notably Abraar is
means magistrate[3], and is still used today in some Mus- rendered Akbar in Idries Shah’s Oriental Magic from which
lim countries, such as the Wali of Swat. the full passage is extracted. It places the above hierar-
chy into a valuable context.
Sunni Islam
In religious uses, it is generally short for Waliullah (Ara-
Shi’a term
bic )ولي هللاor friend of God. Belief in the Awliya is an Wali not only means “authority” to Shi’as, but is also
agreed upon article of faith in Sunni Islam having been used as a short form of Waliullah, the one vested with
mentioned in the earliest creeds to the most recent. the "authority of God". Waliullah references the authori-
Imam Tahawi mentions them in his creed: ty that was vested in the Prophet Muhammad, then suc-
ceeded by Ali ( the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad;
We do not prefer any of the saintly men among the husband of his daughter Fatimah Zahra) as the first of
Ummah over any of the Prophets but rather we say twelve divinely appointed “Imams”, or male descendants
that any one of the Prophets is better than all the of Muhammad through his daughter . According to this
awliya’ put together. We believe in what we know of view, there is always an “Imam of the Age”, and the
Karamat, the marvels of the awliya’ and in authen- twelfth is in occultation until God will command him to
tic stories about them from trustworthy sources.[4] establish His government on earth. For Shi’as, follow-
ing this "Wali" and believing in "Walayah" (divine au-
Islamic books of Aqeedah are not meant to be exhaustive thority) is mandatory. The Shi’a accordingly include the
of every branch of faith but rather to clarify points devi- third phrase “Ali-un-Wali-ul-lah” ("Ali is God’s appointed
ated from by non-Sunni sects. Thus Imam Tahawi clari- Wali”) in their kalimah.
fies some Sufis mistaken belief that the Awliya could be- Shi’as corroborate the revelation of the Quranic verse
come greater than Prophets and confirmed the majority 5:55 with the incident widely narrated in both Sunni and
of Sunni Muslims’ belief that the Awliya can perform mir- Shia narrations (ahadith) where Ali gave his ring in char-
acles. ity to a beggar while bowing in prayer, and cite the verses
In the Hanafi madhab, it is possible to get married use of the word إِنَّماto indicate that the subjects are spe-
َ
without the permission or consultation of a wali. cific, not general.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wali
ُ َ َ ُّ ُ ُ ُّ َ َ ِ ِ َّ ِ َ ْ َّ َّ ِ ْ
بِسم ٱهللِ ٱلرحمن ٱلرحيم إِنَّما ولِيكم هللا ورسولُهُ والَّذين آمنوْا الَّذين يُقيمون
َُ َ ِ َ
َ ُ ِ َ ِ
َ ُ ِ َ ْ َ َ َّ َ ُ ْ َ
الصالَةَ ويُؤتون الزكاةَ وهُم راكعون َّ
Legal (fiqh) uses of the term
"Only Allah is your Wali and His Messenger and those
who believe - establish worship and pay the poor due and
Marriage
bow down humbly (in prayer)."[Quran 5:55] In the Islamic law of marriage, the wali is a woman’s clos-
Another disputed use of “wali” in Quran includes the est adult male relative, who has authority and responsi-
verse: bility with respect to her marrying; in this context, wali
بِسم ٱهللِ ٱلرحمن ٱلرحيم يا أَيها الَّذين آمنوا ال تَتَّخذوا اْليَهود والنَّصارى
ٰ َ َ َ َ ُ ُ ِ َ ُ َ َ ِ َ ُّ َ ِ ِ َّ ِ َ ْ َّ َّ ِ ْ can be translated as "marriage guardian".
ْ َ ََّ َّ ْ ْ ِ
أَولِياء بَعضهُم أَولِياء بَعض ومن يَتَولَّهم منكم فَإِنَّهُ منهُم إِن هللا ال يَهدي اْلقَوم
َْ ِ ْ ُ ِّ ُ َ َ َ ٍ ْ ُ َ ْ ْ ُ ْ َ َ ْ
ظالِمين
َ ِ َّ ال Guardian of orphans
"Oh you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the
Christians as your Wali; they are but Wali of each other; Executor of wills
and whoever amongst you takes them for a Wali, then
surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the
unjust people." [Quran 5:51]
See also
Sunnis interpret this verse to mean that a Muslim • Mawla
may not take a Christian or Jew as a “friend”, whereas
Shi’as reject this and interpret the verse in a political References
sense to mean that Christians and Jews should not act as
“authorities” over Muslim people. [1] .وليGoogle Translate. Accessed February,7 2010.
[2] "Walī (a., pl. awliyā;)",
[3] [1]. Google Translate. Accessed February,7 2010.
Salafi [4] Imam Abu Ja’far al-Tahawi al-Hanafi. al-Tahawiyya.
Salafis (and all Wahhabis) also quote the following verse trans. Iqbal Ahmad Azami. Verse(?) 98. Accessed
to denounce any meaning of the word wali other than May 30, 2010.
master/owner/guardian: [5] ^ Chodkiewicz, Michel. The Seal of the Saints:
Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn ’Arabi.
???????? ?????????? ??????????? ??????? ?????? trans. Liadain Sherrard. Cambridge, UK: Islamic
??????????? ??????????? ?????? ??????????? Texts Society, 1993. ISBN 0946621403.
?????????? ?????????? ????????? ???????? [6] Radtke, Bernd, and John O’Kane. The Concept of
?????????? ?????? ?????????? ??????????? [Qu- Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism: Two Works by Al-
ran 5:55] "Only Allah is your Wali and His Messenger Hakim Al-Tirmidhi. Richmond, Surrey, UK: Curzon
and those who believe, establish worship, and pay Press, 1996, pp. 10, 109. ISBN 0700704532, ISBN
the poor due while bowing down (in 0700704132.
prayer)."[Quran 5:55] [7] Scott, Ernest. The People of the Secret. London:
Octagon Press, 1983. ISBN 0863040381.
Kashmiri Pandit
Wali is also a common last name among Kashmiri Pan-
Sources and external links
dits, the (Brahmins) of Kashmir. • Sajid, Imam Dr. Abduljalil (22 December 2004).
"Scholars Smash Hizb Argument Against British
Politics". Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK.
http://www.mpacuk.org/content/view/211/.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wali&oldid=467051859"
Categories:
• Islamic terms
• Muslim saints
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