After realizing that every kind of Wilayat, natural and legislative, is exclusive for Almighty Allah, it is necessary to know the difference between natural and legislative Wilayat.

Natural Wilayat of Almighty Allah is same for all believers and non-believers. That is no mature and sensible person is there who may be exempted from the Natural Wilayat of Allah, because like believers, it is necessary upon the disbelievers as well to have faith in fundamentals of faith and to act on the practical laws.

Thus, the Wilayat of Almighty Allah is of two kinds:

1: General Wilayat and

2. Special Wilayat.

General Wilayat, like legislative Wilayat is applicable to the believers and disbelievers; but Special Wilayat is only for believers, because on the basis of Natural Wilayat, it is compared to the good sense (Tawfiq) of completing a journey.

Eagerness to perform the religious duties is a natural matter, which is having its own cause. Therefore, those who are deprived of relationship connected to this cause, they never get the good sense (Tawfiq) for this. In some Verses, the same depravity is mentioned. It is stated:

“Those are they for whom Allah does not desire that He should purify their hearts” (5:41).

That is the Almighty Allah has not decided to purify their hearts. Indeed, it does not imply legislative intention, because according to law of religion, ritual purification is the duty of all. Thus, here the natural intention is implied, because the Almighty Allah says:

“I will turn away from My communications those who are unjustly proud in the earth” (7:146).

That is when artificial and natural signs are placed before them again and again and they pass away from them in the condition of inattention, arrogance and commit denial:

“And how many a sign in the heavens and the earth, which they pass by, yet they turn aside from it” (12:105).

We will not give them the good sense of pondering on the signs in such a way that they would not perceive the pleasure of study and taste the sweetness of contemplation, although like before they are under legislative Wilayat and it is their responsibility to perform religious duties:

“But Allah is the Guardian” (42:9)

This holy Verse proves the general and absolute Wilayat of Allah, but where the Wilayat of false idols and Shaitan on the infidels is mentioned against divine Wilayat for believers and pious, it implies special Wilayat as mentioned in the throne Verse:

“Allah is the guardian of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light; and (as to)'those who disbelieve, then- guardians are Shaitans who take them out of the light into the darkness” (2:257).

Or, as mentioned in the 19th Verse of Surah al-Jathiya:

“Surely they shall not avail you in the least against Allah; and surely the unjust are friends of each other, and Allah is the guardian of those who guard (against evil)” (45:19).

Verses, in which Special Wilayat is hinted at, include the 63rd Verse of Surah an-Nahl:

“By Allah, most certainly We sent (apostles) to nations before you, but the Shaitan made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so he is their guardian today, and they shall have a painful punishment” (16:63).

That when prophets were sent to the people and they called them to Almighty Allah through legislative Wilayat, Shaitan made wrong suggestions to them and showed the world as a beautiful thing to them and they regarded it to be an embellishment and now, Shaitan is their guardian and there is a painful chastisement from them.

This Verse proves the special Wilayat of Almighty Allah as opposed to the special Wilayat of Shaitan for those who leave the circle of the folks of belief and come under the Wilayat of Shaitan. It is said regarding this in 27th Verse of Surah al-’Araf:

“O children of Adam! let not the Shaitan cause you to fall into- affliction as he expelled your parents from the garden, pulling off from them both their clothing that he might show them their evil inclinations, he surely sees you, he as well as his host, from whence you cannot see them; surely We have made the Shaitans to be the guardians of those who do not believe” (7:27).

Shaitans are guardians of the disbelievers; although as mentioned previously, before the disbelievers took Shaitan as their guardian, Allah exhausted the proof on them through revelation and reason.

In the 14 and 15th Verses of Surah al-Hadid, where the fire of disbelievers is mentioned, the Almighty Allah says: They are such that in spite of being neighbours of believers, they have cast themselves into mischief and are involved in false hopes and worldly thoughts.

“They will cry out to them: Were we not with you? They shall say: Yea! but you caused yourselves to fall into temptation, and you waited and doubted, and vain desires deceived you till the threatened punishment of Allah came, while the arch-deceiver deceived you about Allah” (57:14).

“So today ransom shall not be accepted from you nor from those who disbelieved; your abode is the fire; it is your friend, and evil is the resort” (57:15).

The apparent connotation of these Verses proves that the fire of Hell, like the fire of the world is not an imperceptible matter; on the contrary, it is a fire, which is having Wilayat on disbelievers with perception.

The apparent meaning of some other Verses also proves this. Among them is the 12th Verse of Surah al-Furqan:

“When it shall come into their sight from a distant place, they shall hear its vehement raging and roaring” (25:12).

That when the fire of Hell would see them from a distance, the inmates of Hell will hear its angry roar from far away.

When the apparent meaning of Verses of Qur’an prove that the fire of Hell is not like worldly fire, for which the good and the bad are equal; on the contrary, it is a fire, which sees as well as recognizes and then intentionally pulls the disbelievers and considers them to be under its Wilayat, so there is no justification to overlook the apparent meaning and consider them allegorical.

Sometimes, the special divine Wilayat is attributed directly to Allah as in the following Verse:

“Allah is the guardian of those who believe” (2:257).

“And Allah is the guardian of those who guard (against evil)” (45:19).

And sometimes attribution is made directly as the following Verse:

“(As for) those who say: Our Lord is Allah, then continue in the right way, the angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not, nor be grieved” (41:30).

As the steadfast and determined believers receive the special favour of Almighty Allah through special angels.

Negation Of Free Will In Wilayat

From whatever is mentioned regarding divesting Wilayat from other than Allah, it becomes clear that where natural, general or special Wilayat is attributed to mediums, like the Almighty Allah says:

“Only Allah is your Guardian and His Apostle and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate while they bow” (5:55).

Or where Wilayat is compared to Fire, Shaitan or Taghut, in all these instances, the implication is Divine Wilayat, although some are expressions of the beautiful names of Allah; for example, where Wilayat is an expression of grace and guidance, whereas others are expressions of majestic names of Allah; like where Wilayat is an expression of divine fury.

In this way, it is known that in no instance of natural or legislative Wilayat is proved for anyone other than Allah by way of delegation.

Two rational arguments were mentioned on the impossibility of delegation. In the first proof, the average Emit was personal needfulness of existing things, because any existing being, whether human or non-human, if it does something independently, it is necessary that at that time it should be in existence, whereas existing things are always incidental and needful of others in survival.

Average limit in the second proof was limitlessness of Almighty Allah, because if Allah is unlimited, His Lordship and finally His Wilayat will also be unlimited and defectless, whereas free will is equal to the limitation and defectiveness of the Wilayat of the giver of favour.

These two reasonings, from the aspect of being rational proofs, are not worthy of restriction; that there can no exception in them; therefore, whatever is mentioned in some traditional reports of Al-Kafi regarding free will, it does not imply terminological free will, it implies expressiveness or a kind of trusteeship.

The difference between trusteeship and Wilayat is that in Wilayat, the main thing is Wali and the charge is under the guardianship of Wali; whereas in issue of trusteeship, the most important is not the trustee, it is the client. That, which the client does not want to do directly, he does so through his attorney.

Although in some instances of perfection, which are named as reliance, the attribution of reliance is made to other than Allah, in such a way that Allah becomes the attorney and the one other than Allah is His client; but as was clarified previously, in these instances also, the return of attorneyship is to Wilayat only, because the nurturer is having regard for Allah. That is he accepts Wilayat and not having attorneyship.

Almighty Allah has called His saints (Awliya’) as representatives in some Qur’anic comparisons. In the 89th Verse of Surah al-An’am, He says:

“Therefore, if these disbelieve in it We have already entrusted with it a people who are not disbelievers in it” (6:89).

Thus, if people deny the Wilayat of Allah, He sends it to the prophets and saints, who are the representatives of His religion.

Therefore, if representation is possible in religion, but free will in its terminological meaning is impossible, that Wilayat in whose attribution is made to the prophets is based in some instances on the explanation of some Verses and in some other instances, in opposition to distortions and disobediences, is the name of guardianship and defence of divine laws. The meaning of prophets being trustees is that divine laws should be applied and there should be defence of divine limits and laws before disobedience.

The prophet has two responsibilities in explaining Divine matters: One of them being recitation of the Verses revealed to him in the form of a divine book and another is the interpretation and explanation of fundamentals mentioned in Qur’an. In 44th Verse of Surah an-Nahl, it is mentioned regarding this:

“And We have revealed to you the Reminder that you may make clear to men what has been revealed to them, and that haply they may reflect” (16:44).

This right of interpretation and explanation also, which is bestowed to the Holy Prophet (S), is definitely not in the meaning of free will, because whatever the Prophet used to say was inspiration from Almighty Allah, which became apparent in the form of Hadith Qudsi. For example, when the Holy Prophet (S) explains and interprets the Verses of:

“And (as for) the man who steals and the woman who steals, cut off their hands” (5:38)

Or: “Pay Zakat”

When the Holy Prophet (S) explained the extent of cutting of hands or instances when Zakat is payable, it was definitely not that the Almighty Allah only mentioned the obligation of Zakat and penalty of cutting hands and the Messenger of Allah (S) fixed the extent of cutting hands and instances when Zakat is payable according to his personal view. The below Verse proves this:

“Nor does he speak out of desire” (53:3).

“It is naught but revelation that is revealed” (53:4).

Therefore, whatever the Holy Prophet (S) understood on Meraj as ‘obligation of Allah’ and ‘obligation of Prophet’ was definitely not in the sense that he added something from his own side; rather it means that he explained the last two units also with the help of divine revelation. That is why the interpretation of the Prophet is attributed to Almighty Allah. It is said in the 7th Verse of Surah al-Hashr:

“And whatever the Apostle gives you, accept it, and from whatever he forbids you, keep back, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah; surely Allah is severe in retributing (evil)” (59:7).

This Verse is regarding the issues of legislation and not imagination of universe, because the meaning of the Verse, especially of its first part, is:

“And whatever the Apostle gives you, accept it. (59:7).

The apparent meaning is in the second part, that is:

“And from whatever he forbids you, keep back” (59:7).

It implies that you must obey the commands and prohibitions of the Holy Prophet (S). This Verse proves the rightfulness of Prophet (S) to explain and interpret. Moreover, the teaching of laws and limits, and the right of guardianship and application of laws are also proved for the Prophet. The Verse of: “Obey Allah and obey the Prophet…” (4:59) also proves this.

It is so, because whatever the Almighty Allah has said that you must obey the commands and prohibitions of Allah, it is learnt from it that on one side the Holy Prophet (S) is the explainer of divine laws and on the other side he is also responsible for their application. Otherwise, if the Prophet had been only the teacher of Qur’an, he would not have commanded and prohibited, on the contrary, he would have only issued instructions of command and prohibition.

On the negation of terminological free will, in addition to rational and textual proof, even in those traditional reports, in which prophets are said to be delegated with Wilayat, there are many evidences of this, which prove that in traditional reports free will does not imply terminological delegation, which proves independence.

Such traditional reports are present in Usul al-Kafi, Kitab al-Hujjah, Chapter of delegation of the Messenger of Allah (S) and the Holy Imams (‘a) to the matter of religion. From Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (‘a) and other Imams the following kinds of statement are recorded:

“Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, disciplined and educated His Messenger. He then made his discipline and education to be the best. When his discipline and education was complete, He said: “O Muhammad, you certainly possess a great degree of moral discipline and education” (64:4). Then He made him in charge of the affairs of religion and the Muslim nation so that he would manage the social matters of His servants with wisdom. Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, said: “...what the Messenger (of Allah) gives you, you must take (obey) and what he prohibits you, you must desist from it…” (59:7). The Messenger of Allah was protected, successful and supported by the Holy Spirit. He (the Messenger of Allah) does not slip; make a mistake in any management of the social issues of the people. He is educated with the education of Allah.

Thus, in traditional reports, the meaning of delegation of training is different from terminological delegation, because the latter implies delegating something to someone independently in the interpretation of law or in application of law or independent fixing and deriving of secondary laws and their implementation, whereas in terminology, the fundamental rules are known as laws derived from principles.

And praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.