3. Quiddity Of Wilayat
Reminder
Our discussion is regarding Wilayat of human being in the Holy Qur’an. The best mode of discussion is to observe the logical style; that first of all it should become clear what Wilayat is? Al-Wilayah Maa Hiya? After that there should be discussion about the existence of Wilayat: Al-Wilayah al-Hiya and then the way of establishing its evidence should be specified; that is Al-Wilayah lima Hiya? Or in other words we have to see what the active (Faili) source of Wilayat is and what the wayfaring derived from that Wilayat is. In the end there should be discussion about its types: Al-Wilayah kam Hiya? Also from these types each of their effects and necessary conditions should also be mentioned.
Quiddity Of Wilayat
Sometimes it is said about the reality of Wilayat that there is fundamental and characteristic difference between Wilayat and Walayat. The word of Wilayat is used from love, help and assistance etc, but Walayat is used in the sense of control and guardianship. Inevitably, in the meaning of love and help, the discussion of Wila’ would be different and separate from the discussion of prudence and guardianship.
Therefore, we also have separate discussions for the two. Till in the end if Allah wills, it would become clear that the collective reality of the two is present and in the aspect of characteristic they are not different from each other.
Wilayat Of Help And Love
In the discussion of quiddity of Wilayat, we will also research about the Wila’ of help and love as well as about the Wilayat of prudence and guardianship.
Wilayat of help and love denotes that two things should be friends of each other due to proximity and they should be helpers of each other. This matter is possible between human beings as well. It can be possible between human being and God and between the Almighty Allah and His creatures.
This proximity in material matters is having reciprocal relationship. That is if one body is near to another, the other one would also be near to it. In the same way, if one body is far from another; that second one would also be far from the first, but in spiritual matters, it is possible that this relationship can be one-sided. That is, it is possible that one matter should be near to it and the other is far from it. For example, the Almighty Allah is near to all human beings, whether they are believers or disbelievers; like it is said in Qur’an:
“And We are nearer to him than his life-vein” (50:16).
Since the believer performs the rituals of proximity, he is near to the Almighty Allah, but that human being, who has deprived his actions from these acts of proximity, he is far from Allah. It is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an that:
“These shall be called to from a far-off place” (41:44).
Whereas the Almighty Allah is not far from anyone, because,
“And He is with you wherever you are” (57:4).
The relationship of the Almighty Allah with the disbelievers is like the relationship of the seeing with the blind. The seeing one is near the blind, but the blind is far away from the seeing. The seeing is able to see the blind, but the blind one cannot see the seeing one, although he is with him.
Servant - Initiator Of Wilayat
Since Wilayat is achieved through proximity, that is why it should begin from the servant, because whether one wants it or not, this proximity is achieved. The Almighty Allah, regarding whom it is said:
“Now, surely He encompasses all things” (41:54).
It is not rational that He should be far from anything. Thus, if human being desires to maintain this relationship, he should make himself proximate to the Almighty Allah through good deeds. If he made himself near to Allah, he has achieved the beginning of Wilayat; that is the path of love and help. And if he does not become proximate, he would not have love and help in his destiny, what can be said of the higher stages of Wilayat!
Acts like Prayer and Zakat make human being proximate to Allah, as is mentioned about Prayer:
Prayer brings the pious one near to the Almighty Allah1.
Moreover, it is said about Zakat:
“Zakat also makes one proximate to God, like the Prayer.2”
When this proximity is achieved, human being becomes the friend of God and God also becomes a friend of human being. Human being becomes a helper of the religion of God, as God also becomes his helper. This circle, which is a part of the initial stages, in this, the conclusion of Wilayat is love and help:
“If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you” (3:31).
Like the Verses, which talk of such two-sided love; the believer human being is a Wali and friend of Allah and Allah is also his Wali and friend. The beginning of the Wila’ of help also occurs at this stage.
“If you help [the cause of] Allah, He will help you and make firm your feet” (47:7).
This holy Verse proves the Wilayat of help. That is you are also the helper and Allah is the helped one and Allah is also the helper and you are the helped one. Since these loves occur in the circle of actions and they have nothing to do with the position of the holy divine personality, therefore, no doubt arises about the Allah’s being the helped one. Allah’s being the helped one denotes the religion of Allah being the helped one. And His being the loved one denotes the being beloved of the perfections of that holy being. Otherwise, the high-flying eagles of the personality of Allah cannot be the prey of the wayfarer.
Therefore, in the beginning, human being through performance of obligations and recommended acts joins the Wilayat of help and love. This Wilayat is in the meaning of love and help of the Almighty Allah. And whatever is with the Almighty Allah is the truth. Therefore, this Wilayat would be in the meaning of the love of truth and the help of truth and it cannot be opposed to this. That is the love and help of Allah is truth in the world and its rightfulness would also become apparent after death, but if someone establishes friendship, proximity and connection with someone other than the Almighty Allah, Wilayat and proximity would also be found there; but since it would be with other than Allah, that is why it would have the connection of Wilayat with falsehood, because according to the Holy Qur’an:
“And what is there after the truth but error; how are you then turned back?” (10:32).
Qur’an also says:
“That is because Allah is the Truth, and that what they call upon besides Him - that is the falsehood” (22:62).
Since truth and falsehood are combined with each other, therefore, here the truth is not discriminated from falsehood, but on Judgment Day, which is the day of the appearance of truth, that day there is no scope for falsehood. The internal condition of false loves, which would appear with true enmity and enmity of truth. In the same way, the internal aspect of the false help, which is against the truth, would also appear. That is why it is mentioned in Qur’an:
“The friends shall on that day be enemies one to another” (43:67).
It is not that they would become enemies that day; on the contrary, their enmity would become apparent on Judgment Day, because in the world they were inimical to each other and loved each other outwardly. Therefore, this outward love would not be visible that day and the true enmity would become apparent.
“Except those who guard [against evil]” (43:67).
However, since the love of the pious is true and their inner is like their outward, therefore, on Judgment Day these loves would remain in the same condition and then rise up and reach to the limit of intercession. Therefore, in the beginning the conclusion of Wila’ and proximity is love and help, whether this Wila’ is with the Almighty Allah or with something or someone other than Allah. The difference is that connection with the Almighty A Hah is love and true help, whereas connection with someone or something other than Allah is false help.
Quiddity Of Wilayat In The View Of Qur’an
The first part of the discussion is what is Wilayat? Regarding this there are many Verses in Qur’an.
“Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends rather than believers” (3:28).
This prohibition is there, because this first stage of Wilayat, whose conclusion is love and help, it reaches up to that last stage of Wilayat whose end is guardianship and prudence. Therefore, it is said after this:
“And whoever does this, he shall have nothing of (the guardianship of) Allah, but you should guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully; and Allah makes you cautious of (retribution from) Himself; and to Allah is the eventual coming” (3:28).
The holy Surah al-Ma’idah, which contains many points of Wilayat, it is said in Verse 51:
“O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely, he is one of them: surely Allah does not guide the unjust people” (5:51).
Here it is said that you must not make them you Wali, because if you make them your Wali that is lover, beloved, helper and helped one, it is possible that it may result in their becoming Wali in the meaning of planner and guardian; therefore, the Almighty Allah, in order to keep human being safe from that great danger, has restrained them from Wila’ of proximity, love and help. In the 54th Verse of this Surah, it is said:
“O you who believe! whoever from among you turns back from his religion, then Allah will bring a people, He shall love them and they shall love Him” (5:54).
This Wilayat is complimentary, whose result is complimentary love; therefore, it is said: If you desert religion, the Almighty Allah would bring those who themselves would love Allah and Allah would also love them and they would help His religion. It is mentioned in the 57th Verse of this Surah:
“O you who believe! do not take for guardians those who take your religion for a mockery and a joke, from among those who were given the Book before you and the unbelievers” (5:57).
We should not take the People of the Book and disbelievers as our guardians. That is friendship should not be established with them since the beginning, so that gradually it should not result in Wilayat of prudence and guardianship. Wilayat of Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) is mentioned in Verse 55 of this same Surah:
“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).
In these Verses, the foundation of Wilayat is the Wilayat of prudence and guardianship. It is said in Verse 72 of Surah al-Anfal:
“Surely those who believed and fled (their homes) and struggled hard in Allah’s way with their property and their souls, and those who gave shelter and helped- these are guardians of each other; and (as for) those who believed and did not fly, not yours is their guardianship until they fly; and if they seek aid from you in the matter of religion, aid is incumbent on you except against a people between whom and you there is a treaty, and Allah sees what you do” (8:72).
That is emigrants and helpers are guardians of each other, but those who are not the people of faith and the people of Hijrat (emigration), they are not bearers of your Wilayat. Neither are they having your Wilayat of love and help, nor are they having the Wilayat of prudence and guardianship. Here the word of Walayat is mentioned, which negates prudence and guardianship and also of love and help; however, the word of Walayat, which is mentioned in Surah al-Kahf:
“Here is protection only Allah’s, the True One” (18:44).
There Walayat implies prudence and guardianship.
Moreover, it is mentioned in the 73rd Verse of Surah al-Anfal:
“And (as for) those who disbelieve, some of them are the guardians of others” (8:73).
The infidels are guardians of each other and are having the help and love of each other. Believers are also mutual guardians of each other and are having the help and love of each other, but these two groups are not similar. On the contrary, the criterion of Walayat is the centre of proximity. If the centre of proximity is true, this Wilayat, help and love is truth and its result would not be opposed to it and if the centre of proximity is false this Wilayat, love and help are all false and their result would be opposite.
Result Of False Wilayat
It is mentioned in the 71st Verse of Surah at-Tawbah that:
“And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other” (9:71).
Its sign is that they call each other for good:
‘They enjoin good and forbid evil” (9:71).
The secret of this matter is that Wilayat of hypocrites is false, and the love obtained as a result of it, is untrue, it is mentioned as follows in the 67th Verse of Surah at-Tawbah:
“The hypocritical men and the hypocritical women are all alike” (9:67).
That is they are a single reality in different bodies:
“They enjoin evil and forbid good” (9:67).
Calling to evil and instigating to commit sins is false help and untrue love and the day truth would become manifest, it would be known that they were enemies of each other. Their enmity would become apparent on Judgment Day. It would not be created at that time. Those, who in the world, in the guise of friendship call to sins, are in fact enemies of each other. On Judgment Day this false attire of the world would be removed and their true dress would be exposed and it would be known that they were enemies of each other. Thus, they would be cursing each other as mentioned in the 38th Verse of Surah al-’Araf:
“Whenever a nation shall enter, it shall curse its sister” (7:38).
All the friends and guardians (Awliya) who have no connection with God are all related to falsehood and the result of relationship with falsehood is nothing, but false love and untrue help. If the love is false, enmity would be true and if help is untrue, the opposition would be true. It is not possible that enmity and love both should be false. It is not logical that both help and opposition should be untrue. Thus, if help is untrue, the opposition is real and if love is false, the enmity is true; therefore, the Holy Qur’an says that all irreligious friends would be inimical to each other on Judgment Day. The secret of this is clarified in Surah at-Tawbah only and it is that these people were enemies of each other in the world also, but they did not realize this.
“The hypocritical men and the hypocritical women are all alike; they enjoin evil and forbid good and withhold their hands” (9:67).
They refrain from helping the Islamic society. They have nothing to do with the common people and they encourage each other towards evil. Their calling to falsehood and restraining from good is in fact enmity in the guise of friendship.
Difference Between True And False Wilayat
The criterion of difference between true and false Wilayat is Mawla only. If the Mawla is God, the Wilayat is true and all its results are also true; if the Mawla is other than God, the Wilayat is false; and all its results are also false. That is why the Almighty Allah says that there are not more than two masters in the universe. One is God and the other is Fire. Fire is the Mawla of disbelievers and hypocrites:
“Your abode is the fire; it is your friend” (57:15).
You were the friend of the fire and you were of the view that you are a friend of Zaid and Amr, but on Judgment Day when the reality would be exposed, it would be known that you were subservient to the Wilayat of Fire. You have become the Wali of the fire and the fire has become your Wali. You lighted the fire and the fire also helped you. It instigated you and burnt you up. At that time, you did not notice that you are subservient to the Wilayat of fire.
“And evil is the resort” (57:15).
Whereas the Almighty Allah is the master (Mawla) of the believers.
“Most excellent is the Patron and most excellent the Helper” (8:40).
The Almighty Allah has in different styles, mentioned the two masters. It is mentioned in the 15th Verse of Surah al-Hadid:
“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).
An evil change came for you. The Fire is an evil abode. The literal meaning of abode (Maseer) is ‘to be’. Seerut means you became evil. You have yourself become fire. This Maseer is with Arabic letter ‘Saad’ and not with Arabic letter ‘Seen’ that human being should think that his journey is to fire; on the contrary, he has himself become fire. Therefore, some Verses of the Holy Qur’an are as follows:
“His abode shall be the abyss” (101:9).
“And what will make you know what it is?” (101:10).
“A burning fire” (101:11).
It says: These people are under the control of their mother; that is the Fire. Like the mother feeds the child, and rears him in her lap, they are also the children of fire. The fire controls their destiny. It would become clear in the coming discussion that some people are really under the control of fire while some are under control of Almighty Allah.
Conclusion
The result of the discussion of the first stage is that since Wilayat is in the meaning of proximity, therefore, if some existing thing is proximate to the truth, the effects of truth would be apparent in him and its result is true help and rightful love and if someone is proximate to falsehood, this Wila’ is false and its result is false love and help.
The meaning of false love and help is that if apparently there is love and help, but there is enmity and opposition in fact and on Judgment Day, the day of discrimination between truth and falsehood, it would be separated from inner falsehood, which is apparently in form of truth.
“And get aside today, O guilty ones!” (36:59).
At that time these guilty ones would enter the fire.
And praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
