Reminder

Our topic of discussion is Wilayat of human being in the Holy Qur’an. The previous chapter was about the quiddity of Wilayat. Its gist is that quiddity means proximity and nearness. If the two matters are near to each other in such a way that there is no obstruction between them, it is said that they are joined to each other. Wilayat of human beings among themselves is the spiritual proximity to each other, whether they be good or bad. Believers are guardians of each other. In the same way, the hypocrites are also guardians of each other.

If the criterion is divine proximity, this Wilayat would be Wilayat internally also; but if the criterion is proximity of something or someone other than Allah, apparently this Wilayat would be proximity and love outwardly and inwardly enmity. Therefore, the Almighty Allah says:

“The friends shall on that day be enemies one to another, except those who guard (against evil)” (43:67).

Because, if the criterion of friendship is falsehood, the friends encourage each other to evil; therefore, they are in fact enemies of each other, although this enmity is concealed in the world and it would become apparent on Judgment Day, because it is the day of the appearance of truth. That is why they would fight each other in Hell and curse each other.

“Whenever a nation shall enter, it shall curse its sister” (7:38).

The basis of Wila’ is that human being should be near to the truth and should be adorned with its effects. In the Holy Qur’an, the Almighty Allah has guaranteed His Awliya with those effects, which imply help and love, sometimes in absolute way and sometimes in a conditional manner. It is mentioned in Surah Aali Imran:

“If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you” (3:31).

If you are a lover of the Almighty Allah, you should follow the Messenger of Allah (S) so that the Almighty Allah should make you His beloved. These results of Wilayat of love are promised in a conditional way. This same meaning in the absolute manner is mentioned in another Verse as well.

“Then Allah will bring a people, He shall love them and they shall love Him” (5:54).

He says that if some people do not help the religion of truth, the Almighty Allah would bring forward such people who are lovers of the Almighty and Allah also loves them. You saw how in an absolute manner, He is deeming them to be the lovers of God. A similar description has come regarding help also. It is said:

“If you help (the cause of) Allah, He will help you” (47:7).

Here the promise of help is conditional. Now, pay attention to the Verse of Surah al-Ghafir:

“Most surely We help Our apostles, and those who believe, in this world’s life and on the day when the witnesses shall stand up” (40:51).

Here the promise of help is unconditional.

So far, some points were mentioned regarding the first stage, which is concerned with the meaning of Wilayat.

Outward Existence Of Wilayat

Our second topic of discussion is: Does Wilayat really exists? Wilayat is indeed present in the outward sphere. If we have doubt about the existence of Wilayat in the outward world, we can remove every kind of doubt only by contemplating on our existence, because the recognition of the Self solves many problems of the imagination of the universe.

We see that our selves are having Wilayat on our internal matters and capacities. These issues, which are related to the Self, are under the control of the Self. And this control of Self encompasses all the matters, although this is prudential Wilayat, which is related to one-sidedness; one is Wali and the other is charge (Mawla alayh).

Human Being Is The Wali Of Allah

Is it possible for human being to be a Wali of Allah and Allah to be the Wali of human being? If the Wilayat of human being gains strength regarding his spiritual ranks, does he manage to gain outward matters as well or not?

Rational proof exists on the possibility of this Wilayat and Qur’anic proof is there in support of its occurrence. Thus, after this proof of Qur’an there is no scope of doubt in its possibility. The Holy Qur’an informs that some people are Awliya of Allah and the Almighty Allah is also their Wali.

“Now, surely the friends of Allah - they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve” (10:62).

Allah says that some persons are Wali of Allah and the necessary requirement is that there is no scope of fear and grief in them, because if human being is near to Allah, he would be in the refuge of monotheism.

“There is no god except Allah, He is My fort1”.

And if someone is in the fort of monotheism, he neither has any fear nor grief, because he has not lost anything that he should he aggrieved and neither would he lose anything, that he should be fearful, because no one can enter this fort. Whatever a believer loves is not going to be lost. And whatever is going to be lost is not loved by him. Therefore, some are Awliya of Allah just the Almighty Allah is the Wali of some persons.

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

proves the same point; that the Almighty Allah is the Wali of the believers.

Types Of Divine Wilayat

The Wilayat of the Almighty Allah is of three types: First is the common Wilayat, which is along with the absolute Lordship of God. All the existing beings are within His jurisdiction. Believers, infidels and even the Satans are under this Wilayat. Satan is a creation of the Almighty Allah and he is debased in the presence of Almighty Allah. This Wilayat, which is a result of the Lordship of the Almighty Allah, encompasses all the creatures and it is not debatable.

The second Wilayat is that special Wilayat, which the Almighty Allah has on all believers. The beginning of the Verse of the throne (Ayat al-Kursi) is regarding this Wilayat only. The third and the highest Wilayat is that special Wilayat, which the prophets and divine saints are having. Therefore, the Almighty Allah says through the tongue of His Messenger:

“Surely my guardian is Allah, Who revealed the Book, and He befriends the good” (7:196).

This Wilayat is that special bestowal and mercy of the Almighty Allah, which is there only for prophets and divine saints. He does not use this Wilayat for other believers. Our discussion is about the special Wilayat and if Allah wills, we will also speak about the most special Wilayat. In other words, these Qur’anic Verses prove that the believers are also divine saints and Allah is also the Wali of the believers. The Wilayat of believers with Allah implies that they entrust their beliefs, morals and actions to the Almighty Allah and Wilayat of Allah with the believers implies that He grants His grace and help on the believers and as a result of this:

“He brings them out of the darkness into the light” (2:257).

The Almighty Allah has mentioned the method of recognizing the divine saint in this Verse. Regarding one group, He says:

“If you think that you are the favourites of Allah to the exclusion of other people, then invoke death if you are truthful” (62:6).

If you are of the view that you are a divine saint, you should become eager of meeting the truth and do not fear death. If you do not desire death and you are fearful of it, you should know that you are not the Wali of God.

Causes Of The Actualization Of Wilayat

The third topic of discussion is: Al-Wilayah Lima Hiya (What Wilayat is for?) that is whatever is there in the soul of human being becomes the cause of coming into of Wilayat of Allah; what in fact, it is? The Holy Qur’an not only mentions the ways of proving Divine Wilayat through logical reasonings, on the contrary, it also mentions the outward actualization.

The argument mentioned to prove a point is sometimes a medium for proving and sometimes a proof as well, but if the support of smoke is taken in order to prove the existence of fire, it is only a medium of proving and not the proof.

Wilayat In The Holy Qur’an

Connection Between Proving And Proof

The Almighty Allah mentions such arguments, which are mediums in proof as well as in proving. He mentions such ways, that if the wayfarer walks on them, he would become proximate to Allah and because of the nearness of Allah would himself become the Wali of Allah and the Almighty Allah would also become his Wall It is mentioned in the 6th Verse of Surah al-Fatir that:

“Surely the Shaitan is your enemy, so take him for an enemy” (35:6).

That is one who calls you to sin, is your enemy; even though he might pose to be a friend of yours. Satan is not restricted to the Jinns; the Satans from Jinn as well the human Satans are enemies of human being, because they call human being to sins, whereas sins are fire and whoever calls human being to fire is in fact an enemy of human being, even though he might come in the guise of friend. It is mentioned in the 10th Verse of this Surah:

“Whoever desires honour, then to Allah belongs the honour wholly” (35:10).

If you wish to become honourable, it is necessary that you should be near to the main source of honour; and that you should be near to the source of respect. That you become proximate to the mine of reverence; that you become the honourable Wali, so that you may gain his respect.

The holy Verse does not imply that if someone wants to know the location of honour, he should know that it is with Allah; this is only an academic matter; that is by way of goodness. On the contrary, it means that if someone is in search of honour and he wants to become honourable, he should know that all honour is with the Almighty Allah and the below Verses guide him to reach it.

“To Him do ascend the good words; and the good deeds, lift them up” (35:10).

Good faith and nice deeds are a means to obtain honour. If the faith of someone is pure and the acts are virtuous, he becomes near to Allah and he becomes the Wali of Allah. Then Allah also becomes his Wali. As a result of this, He delivers him from all darkness and makes him illuminated and bright, because this is the effect of divine Wilayat.

“He brings them out of the darkness into the light” (2:257).

False Wilayat

What was mentioned previously was a discussion regarding the Wilayat of truth. There is another Wilayat known as the Wilayat of falsehood. As mentioned before, if the criterion of Wilayat is truth, the outer and inner of such Wilayat is Wilayat of truth, but if the criterion is Wilayat of falsehood, the outer part of Wilayat is love, although the inner part is enmity and rivalry. And the way of the Wilayat of falsehood is mentioned in the following Verse:

“And (as to) those who disbelieve, their guardians are Shaitans who take them out of the light into the darkness” (2:257).

The result of this unfortunate Wilayat 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).

If someone moves to falsehood, in fact he is under the control of the Wilayat of fire. Fire is his master and he is the Wali of Fire (Naar), because he used to love sins and the Satan was also instigating him to commit sinful acts.

Integration Of Proximity And Wilayat From The Aspect Of Its Results

The clarification of true and false Wilayat - after discussing the methods of reaching up to them and regarding their results, now, we reach the topic that all those Verses, which mentioned the actions of human being, which bring him near to God, the same Verses also prove the different ways of Wilayat. From these the most comprehensive is Verse 196 of Surah al-’Araf, which is spoken through the tongue of the Messenger of Allah (S):

“Surely my guardian is Allah, Who revealed the Book, and He befriends the good” (7:196).

Although this is the most special Wilayat, which is not for the general and moderate believers; on the contrary, it is said regarding the Messenger of Allah (S) and other divine prophets: Surely my guardian is Allah, Who revealed the Book; in this instance the application of this rule to the adjective indicates causality. He says: Surely my guardian is Allah, Who revealed the Book. It is learnt that the way of Wilayat is the way of Qur’an only. After that he says: “and He befriends the good”. That is I became righteous, because of the attachment to Qur’an and rope of Allah. And one who became righteous is under the Wilayat of Allah.

He has mentioned two minors and majors in this sentence. One is that Allah has sent the Qur’an; whoever achieved it became righteous. I have obtained the Qur’an; therefore, I have become righteous. Secondly, whosoever becomes righteous is under divine Wilayat; I have become righteous, therefore, I am under divine Wilayat.

It has become clear from the previous discussion also, that the Almighty Allah has revealed this Qur’an and suspended it. And not that He has thrown it and abandoned it. One end of the Qur’an is in the hand of Allah and the other end is suspended like a rope and He tells us: Take hold of this rope and come up.

“And hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together” (3:103).

These two principles, through which two logical analogies2 are formed, are not restricted to the Messenger of Allah (S). The path is open for all; although whoever covers that way in a better way, would gain more from it. Qur’an has arrived for everyone and is accessible to everyone. Whoever covers the path of righteousness, would gain as much from divine Wilayat. So much so, the highest grade is restricted to the Messenger of Allah (S).

There is a difference between the righteous and one who performs righteous deeds. Another point, whose mention is beneficial, is that there is a difference between the righteous and those who enjoin good deeds. One stage of good is only in its fulfilment, but its highest rank is goodness in the stage of being. Those who are in the initial stages of the journey and perform good deeds, they are from “those who believe and perform good deeds; but those who to at the end of the journey and faith and good deeds have gained expertise in them3 and they reached from the position of reformation of deeds to the position of reformation of the being, they are from the righteous, through whose being nothing is performed, except good acts.

Those who are in the limit of faith and good acts, they have gained divine Wilayat in this same limited measure, but those who have reached to the position of the righteous, they are bearers of more perfect devotion (Wild). Therefore,

“Allah is the guardian of those who believe; He brings them out from darkness into light” (2:257).

Is not same for all.

For some it has the position of warding off and for some it is in the sense of removing. Those who are in the initial stage of the matter, the Almighty Allah removes darkness from them; that is He keeps away darkness and destructions from them so that they become pure, but those who have covered the distance and reached to the end; for them the result of devotion (Wila’) to the Almighty Allah is the warding off of the darkness. That is the Almighty Allah does not allow them to be smeared and not that He purifies them after they have been smeared as mentioned in the Verse of Purification (Ayat at-Tat-hir):

“Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying” (33:33).

This removal and keeping away indicates warding off and not removal after it has smeared a person. That is the Almighty Allah does not allow Satan to approach you and besmear you; it does not mean that the Almighty Allah makes you clean after you have become besmeared.

If Allah wills, we will, in the coming pages, discuss regarding the types of Wilayat: Providential (Takwini) Wilayat and Legislative Wilayat. From the aspect of sequence of discussion, we have not yet reached the stage where we can discuss providence (Takween') and legislation (Tashree). At this point, the discussion is on the topic that human being should, till the limit of help and love, become the Wali of God; and to that extent the Almighty Allah should become his Wali; and his way is the Pure Word and righteous deed.

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

• 1. Kitab al-Tawhid (The book of Divine Unity) by Shaykh As-Saduq, Chapter: Reward of the monotheists, Traditions 21 and 23.
• 2. From the terminological point of view, analogy is of two kinds: one is the terminology of science of principles and jurisprudence and which does not reach to any firm conclusion. And the other is the terminology of science of logic; both of whose prefaces are certain and the conclusion derived through their proper scientific method is also certain. (Translator)
• 3. Because of repeating an act, the capacity of doing something by a person in such a way that it should become his way of life and a second nature, it is said that he has gained expertise in it. (Translator)