[15] Wilayah - An Introduction to Wilayah

A series of discussions on the teachings of Imam Sadiq (sixth Imam of the Muslims), from the book Misbah ash-Sharia (The Lantern of the Path)

In His Name, the Most High

This is part fifteen of an ongoing series of discussions on the book by Imam as-Sadiq titled ‘Misbah ash-Sharia’ (the Lantern of the Path).

This is the first of our discussions on the subject of Wilayah or Guardianship/Authority.

It is strongly recommended that the previous parts are read, before proceeding with this one; to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding within the subject matter.

The nature of the subject matter, and the style of discourse requires that each part build upon those that came before it, so once more, I strongly recommend that the reader, read the previous parts, and then continue with this one.

The previous parts, can be found here:

The Lantern of the Path - Index

Video of the Majlis (Sermon/Lecture)

This write up is a companion to the video majlis (sermon/lecture) found below:

Contents

• Majlis - Misbah ash-Sharia - Servitude - Part 15

• Nasheed: Ya Houjat Allahi Shakwana Ilayk - English Poetic Translation

• Dua: Dua al-Iftitah - Ali Fani

• Ziyarah: Ziyarat Aal-i-Yaseen

Recap

Over the last 14 sessions, we have been discussing the idea of giving God His limits. This has been as part of our discussion on the book by Imam as-Sadiq titled Misbah ash-Sharia (the Lantern of the Path), and we have been looking at the first hadeeth therein, which is on the subject of Ubudiyyah - or Servitude.

We have thus far discussed the following subjects as part of giving God the limits due to Him:

1. Tawheed (Monotheism) or the Uniqueness/Unity of God.

2. Adalah (Adl-e-Ilahi) or the Justice of God.

3. Nubuwwah or Prophethood.

Our discussion on prophethood was reasonably extensive; and this was required to understand this important subject, and much of what we have learned there in will be pivotal to our understanding on the subject of wilayah, sometimes, mistakenly, known as Imamah.

It should, however, be understood that Imamah (the vicegerency to the Prophet) is a subsection of wilayah.

This is why we will be studying wilayah, which will incorporate the subject of Imamah within it.

Wilayah, can be understood as the idea of guardianship - primarily the inference here is to the guardianship of God, and God’s Prophets and their successors - but the idea of wilayah as we will learn applies across all spheres and plays an important part in our understanding of our position with relation to God also.

The importance of the subject of wilayah cannot be over-emphasised; and we implore the Lord of all Creation, who has absolute authority and guardianship over all His creation to grant us the patience, the ability (tawfeeq), the desire to learn, the calm when things appear confusing, and the fortitude to persist and press through, so that we can understand this subject; which is a natural complementary subject to Nubuwwah (Prophethood) and also is linked to all the other subjects within our ideology, such as Tawheed (Monotheism), and Adalah (Justice of God) at a deep and fundamental level.

Let us therefore, place our full trust in Him, calm our minds, and focus our intellects and begin to embark on this journey as a collective, that we can recognise His guardianship and authority and never dare to circumvent it or oppose it.

In His Name, we begin …

Introduction to our Discussion on Wilayah

As a quick introduction to set the scene of what we will be discussing, we will first have an introduction to the subject of wilayah, followed by a discussion on how wilayah impacts on relations within the people - specifically the ‘Ummah’ (or Muslim community/nation).

Following this we will be looking at the paradise of Wilayah, followed by a discussion on the notion of the Wali, the central authority, we will also be examining a notion that is extremely important, and that is Wilayah to the taghut.

Finally, in the first third of the subject of Wilayah - we will look at how we can migrate to the Wilayah of God.

These six headings, do not complete the subject of wilayah; and following these, which will give us the theological, the ideological understanding, we will then need to examine some history.

History is important in this context, as many lessons are buried within historical events; and to learn these important lessons; we must have some historical context. Therefore, we will then go through the history - in some detail - of the twelve Imams of the Muslims.

More information and detail on this, will be given as we complete this portion of wilayah, but as with Prophethood and the other sessions we have had, I will do my utmost to ensure the discussion flows and is easy to follow and read.

Wilayah (Guardianship or Authority) - Part 1

Introduction

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَيْهِم بِالْمَوَدَّةِ وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِمَا جَاءَكُم مِّنَ الْحَقِّ يُخْرِجُونَ الرَّسُولَ وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۙ أَن تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ رَبِّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ جِهَادًا فِي سَبِيلِي وَابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِي ۚ تُسِرُّونَ إِلَيْهِم بِالْمَوَدَّةِ وَأَنَا أَعْلَمُ بِمَا أَخْفَيْتُمْ وَمَا أَعْلَنتُمْ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْهُ مِنكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ

O you who have faith! Do not take My enemy and your enemy for allies, [secretly] offering them affection (for they have certainly defied whatever has come to you of the truth, expelling the Apostle and you, because you have faith in God, your Lord) if you have set out to struggle in My way and to seek My pleasure.

You secretly nourish affection for them, while I know well whatever you hide and whatever you disclose, and whoever amongst you does, that has certainly strayed from the right way.

- Quran, Surah al-Mumtahinah (the Chapter of the Woman to be Examined) #60, Verse 1

The subject that we will be discussing - as we have said - is called wilayah. The subject of wilayah as we will be approaching it, where we will be extracting its meaning from the Quran, is sadly not commonly discussed, even though many from within the Muslims, and especially the Shia are very familiar with the word ‘wilayah’.

In our invocations and supplications to God, in our narrations, in our salutations and common beliefs and ideas, the notion of wilayah is treated with great sanctity and reverence, and indeed, it is combined with a longing to preserve something called ‘wilayah’.

As Muslims, and especially from the Shia school of thought, we imagine ourselves to possess this thing called ‘wilayah’, and if we are Shia who are a little more prudent in our faith, then we are forever praying to God, and imploring Him to grant us this ‘wilayah’, let us die upon this wilayah, and to give us understanding of wilayah.

Therefore, we - especially the Shia Muslims - are very used to hearing this word ‘wilayah’.

Now, I want to spend some time discussing this word and its meaning, and looking at where it comes from.

We will eventually reach the Wilayah of Ali ibn Abi Talib (the first Imam of the Muslims), but before we get there, we must first traverse several stages of understanding.

We will bring the meaning of wilayah out of the verses of the Quran, and you will see what a sophisticated and profound concept it is.

Furthermore, any society or community that follows a certain set of ideas or beliefs, but lacks this idea of wilayah is ultimately rudderless and adrift.

This is what we want to grasp and comprehend.

Through this discussion, we will understand why, when someone lacks wilayah, their prayers are not prayers, their fasts are not fasts, and their worship is not worship.

You will understand why a society or nation, that is without wilayah, even if it spends the entirety of its existence in prayer, fasting, and charity, will still never receive God’s grace or forgiveness.

So, to summarise, in this discussion, we will gain a proper understanding - God willing and with His assistance and grace - of the traditions we have about wilayah, including the well known saying that several scholars have narrated from many of the Imams - in this specific case from Imam as-Sadiq, the sixth Imam of the Muslims:

“Even if a man spends his nights in prayer, his days in fasting, all of his wealth in charity, the whole of his life going on Hajj, but does not recognise the Wilayah of God’s wali or take him as his wali, then all of his good deeds shall go to waste.”

- Al-Kafi, Volume. 2, Page 19 / Bihar al-Anwar, Volume 27, Page 181

The Connection Between Wilayah and Prophethood

Now, even though we are discussing the subject of wilayah after the subject of nubuwwah (prophethood), it is not a separate issue to prophethood.

On the contrary, wilayah represents an additional addendum or one could say it serves as an annex to prophethood.

In fact, we will see clearly that, if there was no wilayah, the very institution of prophethood would be rendered deficient!

It should also be noted that this is further confirmed by the fact that there were some prophets who were also walis in their own right - such as Prophet Abraham, Prophet Joseph and Prophet Muhammad, to cite just three examples.

For this reason, we will have to recall some general points we made in our previous sessions on the subject of prophethood in order to properly understand wilayah.

However, it should be noted that this is not a trivial subject to discuss, and doing justice to it will be difficult. Amongst the reasons for this, is that some weak, illogical and baseless notions on the subject of wilayah have taken root in people’s minds.

Therefore, when we speak about wilayah in a way that corresponds to what the Quran and traditions say, it is inevitable that we will encounter one of two problems:

Either we will mistake what is said for the notions we have received from other sources.

Or we will feel that what is being said about wilayah does not correspond to what we imagined it to be.

This is why it is so difficult to discuss this subject.

Nevertheless, with God’s help and everyone’s efforts to learn and move forward, God willing, over the next few sessions we will carefully and diligently study this subject, and develop a proper understanding of wilayah, that is grounded in proper, authentic Islamic teachings.

Let us start by refreshing our memory:

Why did the prophet come?

We had said that the Prophet came to guide the human being towards perfection, to educate people with divine values, and to bring about the fulfilment of the best morals for humanity.

We derived this from the hadeeth - that we discussed in the very first session of our discussions on Misbah ash-Sharia (the Lantern of the Path):

“Indeed, I was sent to complete noble character.”

The Prophet’s Vision for an Islamic Society

The Prophet came to make human beings; he came to nurture something called humanity in people.

Through what means, or in what way did the Prophet set about making human beings?

How did the Prophet promote humanity?

Wilayah as a Social and Political Structure

Did he build a temple or place of worship?

No!

In order to produce human beings he made a human-making factory!

The Prophet was willing to wait ten or twenty years to succeed, but he did not want to produce just one or two, or even twenty human beings, he wanted to create a fully automated factory that would continuously produce perfect human beings who were accepted and liked by the Prophet - because of their worthiness.

Therefore, in order to create human beings and promote their values of humanity, the Prophet used a human-making factory.

But what exactly is a human-making factory?

It is an Islamic society, a tawheed-oriented society and system of government.

This is the central point that we want to emphasise here.

Everyone agrees that the Prophet wanted to make human beings, to make righteous human beings. Everyone agrees that the Prophet came to educate and enlighten people.

Everyone understands this.

But, what we need to understand - the detail that is sometimes missed, or lost on many - is that the Prophet did not come to change people one by one by speaking to individuals, nor did the Prophet create a moral or philosophical school of thought in order to produce a crop of students whom he could send to guide people in different parts of the world.

The Prophet’s mission was much deeper and more fundamental than this.

Establishing a Tawheed-Oriented Governance System

What was his mission?

To create a factory that would produce only human beings, and that factory was the Islamic - or tawheed-oriented - society.

How Wilayah Shapes Social Institutions

Now, what is an Islamic society? What defines it? What makes it? What is it?

This is another discussion, and a much lengthier one, at that, for now, I will provide a short explanation here, but it should be understood and known that this is just a glimpse at a much fuller and significantly more detailed discussion - that we will, God willing - have in future sessions, with His grace and permission.

The Foundation of an Islamic Society

An Islamic society, is a society which is ruled by God, and whose laws are the laws of God, where God’s ordinances are applied, and where God appoints and removes those in authority, so that, in the pyramid of society - if we imagine society diagrammatically, as some sociologists do - God sits at the very top of the pyramid, and beneath God is all of humanity and the humans.

The religion of God brings into being the institutions of society, and God’s decrees determine foreign policy, social relations, economic policy, government, laws … all aspects of society are determined by God’s religion.

God’s religion is implemented, and God’s religion stands behind the system of laws. This is what we mean by an Islamic - or tawheed-oriented - society.

The Model of Madinah: The First Tawheed-Oriented Society

Where can we see an example of this? In Madinah.

The Prophet came and formed a new kind of society in Madinah. Of course, the Muslims had been in Makkah before this, and wherever they were in the world before Madinah, they could worship God as individuals - but this was not enough.

They came to Madinah and created a society, and at the head of society it was God who ruled. God’s representative ruled over that society - who was this, in practice?

It was the Prophet.

Who was it that issued decrees? Who was it that promulgated laws? Who was it that directed policy?

It was the Prophet.

Who implemented the laws? Who ensured people followed the laws?

It was the Prophet.

In a society where everything is from God, the congregational prayers and the sermon that follows the prayer are no different than the military march played in the war.

The Mosque: The Center of Governance and Social Order

In the same mosque, as the Prophet stood to lead prayers, delivered sermons from the pulpit, and educated and guided people, there would be the battle standard, and the Prophet would give it to one his commanders - such as Usama ibn Zayd - and tell them to go forth in the name of God and fight such and such foe, or undertake such and such mission.

It was in the same mosque, that the Prophet of God implemented criminal punishments.

It was in the same mosque, that the Prophet heard legal cases.

It was from the same mosque, that the Prophet governed society and the economy.

It was in the same mosque, that taxes were collected and distributed.

It was a place of worship, a place of learning, a place for the mustering of troops, a place of government - it was a place which brought together all of the affairs of this world and the Hereafter, under the leadership of the Prophet in the House of God.

This is what we mean by an Islamic - or tawheed-oriented - society.

The Impact of Wilayah on Human Behaviour

All of the prophets came to create precisely such a society. It is through the existence of such a society that human beings are made righteous.

And even if members of such a society are not perfect human beings, they are still forced to observe basic standards of human decency.

Whoever wants to be good, can be good in the society of the Prophet, while this is not the case in societies that are not governed by God’s guidance.

In non-Islamic, non-tawheed-oriented, non-religious societies, even the people who want to be cannot be good. You want to avoid paying or charging interest - you can’t.

A woman wishes to remain modest because of Islam’s values, the social environment pressures her to do the opposite. All of the elements and forces of this society keep people away from God’s remembrance.

In a non-Islamic, non-tawheed-oriented society, the images, spectacles, details, comings and goings, dealings and conversations take a person far away from thoughts of God, and remove all traces of God from a person’s heart.

In an Islamic, tawheed-oriented society, the opposite is true.

In an Islamic society, markets, mosques, government buildings, friends, family, old and young alike, all foster a mindfulness of God in people, draw people towards God, make them familiar with God, and strengthen their relations with God.

An Islamic society produces people who are God’s servants and who serve nothing except God.

The Role of Wilayah in Social Transformation

If the Islamic society founded by the Prophet, had lasted another fifty years under his leadership, or under the leadership of his designated successor, Imam Ali, the first Imam of the Muslims, and the rightful successor of the Prophet Muhammad, then you can be sure that after fifty years, all of the hypocrites (munafeqeen), in this society would have been transformed into true believers.

If the rule of the Prophet had been immediately followed by the rule of Imam Ali, that human-making society would have naturally reformed people’s characters, changed their hearts, inspired spirits with faith, and made them know God and faith properly.

This is the natural function of an Islamic society.

Prophets come in order to make something. When they have made it, it is like a human factory; it does not make Muslims by the ones, by the tens or even by the hundreds; it makes them in generations.

It makes both outward Muslims, who outwardly observe the rules of Islam and inward Muslims, who are true believers in their hearts.

This is the ultimate goal of the prophets.

The Necessity of Forming a Unified Movement

Previously, we had said that we want to study, to learn about wilayah from its foundations.

When the Prophet first brought Islamic ideas, when he first began preaching his message, was he able to immediately form a society for himself to govern?

Did he not want to create a society?

Did he not want to establish social institutions?

Did he not want to raise an army to protect this society from its enemies and keep its people safe?

Is it not necessary for the Prophet to gather people to help him and spread his message?

The answer to all of these questions is ‘of course!’ but all of this had to be achieved through normal means.

In most of their activities, the prophets used the usual means at their disposal.

When a prophet comes, in order to be able to create the desired society that will act as a human making factory, he must first create a unified group around himself who believe in his mission, who believe in the very depth of their hearts, and who will stand firm and go forth to achieve this goal.

The Quranic Command for Collective Effort

Therefore, the first thing a prophet must do, is assemble a group like this.

He does so by reciting verses of the Quran, and through beautiful preaching.

ادْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ ۖ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِ ۖ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good advice and dispute with them in a manner that is best. Indeed your Lord knows best those who stray from His way, and He knows best those who are guided.

- Quran, Surah an-Nahl (the Chapter of the Bee) #16, Verse 125

In this way he brings Muslim hearts into being around this person. These constitute a group.

Put simply, the Prophet’s first task when he begins his mission, is to bring into existence a group of people, a movement, or a side to oppose the side of disbelief.

Who will constitute this movement?

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَن يَرْتَدَّ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِي اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ يُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَائِمٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

O you who have faith! Should any of you desert his religion, Allah will soon bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, [who will be] humble towards the faithful, stern towards the faithless, struggling in the way of God, not pay heed to any reproach [when it comes to following the path of God]. That is God’s grace, which He grants to whomever He wishes, and God is all-bounteous, all-knowing.

- Quran, Surah al-Maidah (the Chapter of the Table Spread) #5, Verse 54

The true believers, those who do “not pay heed to any reproach when it comes to following the path of God”.

These are Muslims of the highest degree.

When a prophet brings such a group or a movement into being, in what kind of society are they living? In a society founded on ignorance.

The Strength of Early Muslims: A Lesson for Today

For example, our Prophet, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him, his pure family and righteous companions, and his first followers were living in the ignorant society of Makkah.

Now, if they want this fragile movement called ‘Islam’, which they brought into being to survive, to endure in that society full of contradictions and hassle - if they want this movement of theirs not to vanish or disappear - then the Prophet must forge his followers together like steel.

These Muslims must be so closely connected to one another that nothing can drive them apart.

To use a perhaps more modern term, there must be a strong sense of partisanship amongst these Muslims.

To do this, they must be bound together as strongly as possible, and they must be kept apart from other movements and other ideas, because they are a minority.

When you are a minority, your ideas could be influenced by those of the majority.

There is a risk that their behaviour, identity and character, if brought into contact with that of the rest of society, which might differ from theirs, could disappear as a distinct group.

It is because of this pressure that they face, that means they must remain united as a group so that, in future, they can bring an Islamic society into being, govern that society and come to the aid of the Prophet.

So, the more closely they are bound to one another, the further they are from other movements.

For example, if there are some climbers taking a difficult route over the mountain, ten people amongst the snow, sticks in their hands, following a narrow and dangerous trail - they must follow this steep and winding path in order to reach the summit of the mountain.

In order for them to safely traverse this trail, they must tie themselves to one another with ropes around their waists and move not as individuals but as a group, because if they remain by themselves, there is a risk of falling.

That is why they tie themselves firmly together.

As well as tying themselves together, they do not take heavy loads with them, nor do they look here and there - they focus on the path in front of them and where they are putting their feet.

They tie themselves together with rope around their waists so that if one or two members of their party slip, the others can pull them to safety.

The way these mountain climbers are tightly bound to one another is a perfect representation of how early Muslims had to be bound to one another in their mission.

The Quranic Concept of Wilayah

Is there a name for this kind of close bond or not? This bond that existed between the members of the Muslim movement at the advent of Islam, who were so closely bound to one another that they could not be separated, who completely isolated themselves from other movements, who held fast to one another as tightly as they could - is there a name for this in the Quran and traditions?

Indeed there is!

That name is wilayah.

Now, there is a long way to go from here, to the wilayah of Imam Ali, or to the idea of

“The wilayah of Ali ibn Abi Talib (Imam Ali) is my protection”

- Jami’ al-Akhbar, al-Kufi, page 52, hadeeth 7 / Al-Amālī, Shaykh al-Ṣadūq, page 32

However, we have at least a few more hours of discussion before we can reach that - we are not there yet - so let us pay close attention to ensure we reach there successfully.

So what is the original meaning of wilayah that we find in the Quran?

The original sense in which the Quran uses this word wilayah means for a group of people to be bound to one another, to be part of the same movement, to be on the same side, because they share a common idea, are pursuing a common goal, and follow a single path.

They are striving for a single purpose, on the basis of a single idea and a single worldview.

The more closely bound together the members of the movement are, the further they must keep themselves from other movements and other poles in the society.

Why?

So that their movement survives.

This is what the Quran calls wilayah.

The Early Muslim Community and Wilayah

At the outset of his mission, the Prophet created a group of followers who were bound together in exactly this manner. They were joined to one another; they were brothers to one another, they moved as a single caravan.

It was through them that the Muslim Ummah came into being, that an Islamic society came into being.

They avoided being joined to the enemies of the Prophet, his opponents, his rejectors, and with other groups, as we will see in the verses we discuss in the next session.

They kept themselves apart from other movements in society, whether Jews, Christians or idolators, and they did everything they could to strengthen their ranks.

Why?

Because if they were not like this, if they did not have wilayah. If they were not one-hundred-percent committed to one another, then disagreements would have emerged between them and they would not have been able to carry out the important mission with which they are been charged.

They would not have been able to reach their destination.

However, later, when the Islamic society had grown into a great nation, wilayah was still necessary. Now, as for what wilayah means on such a grand scale and why it is necessary, I will explain this later when we come to discuss the concept of wilayah in the sense it is used by the Shia today.

We said that a small group of believers came into being in a world of darkness and ignorance, and that they must be tightly bound to one another, if they are to have any hope of surviving.

If they are not united, if they do not walk hand in hand, then the movement they have created will not last.

We gave an example of the state of the Muslims at the advent of Islam in Makkah, or in the very earliest days of the existence of an Islamic society in Madinah.

Is there another situation in which this applies?

Yes! When is that?

When there is a small group of Shia during the era of the anti-Shia and anti-Islamic caliphates in the early period of Islamic history.

Do you think that the Shia could easily survive under such regimes?

Do you think that the propaganda war on the one hand, and the suppression and repression on the other, and the imprisonment, torture and execution on the other, left much room for the Shia to survive in society?

A movement like the Shia, who were so implacably opposed to the powers that be and a constant thorn in their side, how could they survive this?

Because of wilayah. It was wilayah that enabled them to survive.

It was because of their remarkable unity and bonds of faith that they were able to endure under the oppressive yoke of the so-called caliphates.

This wilayah was fostered by the Imams in order to preserve the Shia movement in a hostile environment in which there were many other movements.

Lessons from History: Wilayah in Action

Imagine a great river into which numerous tributaries flow. The waters move quickly. Their surface is choppy and uneven. There are whirlpools, rapids and all manner of currents pulling this way and that, competing with one another as the waters churn.

Amongst all of these different currents with their muddied, turbid, dirty waters is a current whose water is clear, clean and sparkling that follows its own path in the bast and heaving river.

You can sometimes see currents like this in some rivers and seas: the waters are of two different colours, two different kinds, right next to one another without mixing.

This is of course, due to natural causes, which we will not go into here.

So, amidst the vast and fast flowing waters of this river, there is a current which takes its own path and strangely never mixes with the others, its colour never changes, its flavour never changes, never becoming bitter, but always remains sweet, its waters are always clear and pure without turbidity. And it goes on.

The Shia Perspective on Wilayah

The Islamic world under the rule of the Umayyads and the Abbasids was exactly like this river, in that it was filled with all manner of intellectual and political movements that were competing with one another and mixing together.

However, from the beginning until the end, you see that the Shia movement, exactly the pure current in the river, moved between the heaving waters. It may have seemed small or insignificant, but it was there, never mixing with the others, never changing its colour, never changing its taste, never losing its purity, never becoming like the other waters.

What was it that kept it that way?

What element ensured the survival of Shi’ism during these times?

The existence of the wali who enjoined people and his followers to have wilayah amongst themselves, who enjoined them to be united, who enjoined them to be kind to each other, who spread wilayah amongst them.

This is the same kind of wilayah that existed at the time of the Prophet.

This is the Shia wilayah, the wilayah whose importance everyone emphasises.

This is one dimension of it. There are other dimensions too, which we will come to in due course.

Here, we are only discussing one aspect of wilayah - there are still more to come, God willing.

This is wilayah in the sense of being joined to one another.

The Quran describes the faithful as guardians (awliya) of each other. Those people who are of true faith, who share the same orientation who are bound to one another, and who are called Shia.

The word Shia is used in the narrations to signify a true believer. If you look at the words of the early scholars and in many narrations, there are conditions mentioned for attaining certain spiritual ranks within Islam.

For example, they say there is Islam, and after Islam comes faith (iman). A person might wonder:

“What is faith?”

The meaning of faith means having a particular Shia mindset. It means to understand Islam from a Shia point of view, and to follow the logic of Shi’ism. This is the meaning of faith.

We can see that during the time of the Imams, may the peace and blessings of God be upon them all, the Shia were united and joined together as brethren in faith. It is by this means that they were able to preserve the Shia movement throughout history.

Were this not the case, Shi’ism would have disappeared a thousand times before today, its ideas would have vanished a thousand times before today. It would have been no different to any other sect which has long since faded from the pages of history.

In any case, this is one of the aspects of wilayah.

In the next session, God willing, we will deal with another aspect of wilayah that is perhaps more important than what we have discussed in this session - and that is the wilayah of God’s wali.

The wilayah of the shia between themselves is now known, but what does the wilayah of God’s wali mean?

What does the wilayah of Imam Ali mean?

What does the wilayah of Imam as-Sadiq mean?

If you and I are supposed to have wilayah for the Imams today, what does that mean?

Misconceptions About Wilayah

Some imagine that the wilayah of the Imams simply means that we should love the Imams - what a big mistake this is!

How far off the mark!

Wilayah is so much more more than just loving the Imams, otherwise do you think you can find anyone in the Muslim world who didn’t love the Imams from the family of the Prophet Muhammad?

So, does everyone have wilayah then?

Is there anyone who is their enemy?

Do you think that everyone who fought them at the advent of Islam hated them?

Many of those fighting against them loved them, but their love for this world made them ready to fight them.

There were many who knew how important the Imams were and recognised their great spiritual status.

When the Abbasid caliph al-Mansour learned of Imam Sadiq’s death, al-Mansour began to weep!

Was this just an act?

Who was he acting for?

Do you think he was making a show of weeping for the sake of his servants?

Do you think he was making a show of weeping for his chamberlain Rabi’?

This was not an act, al-Mansour was truly aggrieved by the death of Imam Sadiq - he was genuinely distressed!

But who was it that killed Imam Sadiq?

None other than al-Mansour! It was al-Mansour who gave the order to poison Imam Sadiq. But when he learned that Imam Sadiq had died as a result, his heart broke.

Does this then mean that al-Mansour had wilayah?

The same sort of mistake is made by those who claim that the caliph al-Ma’mun was Shia.

What does it mean to be a Shia?

Does being a Shia simply mean knowing that Imam Ridha - the eighth Imam of the Muslims - was right?

Is that all?

If that is all it takes to be a Shia, then certainly al-Ma’moun was a Shia, and so was his father Harun al-Rashid, and al-Mansour, and even Muawiyyah and Yazid.

In fact, they would be more Shia than anyone else if that were the case!

Were Imam Ali’s rivals at the meeting of Saqifah not aware that he too was right? They all knew that he was right! So were they Shia too?

Didn’t those who fought the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, also love him? Of course they did! So were they Shia? Did they have wilayah?

Definitely not! Wilayah is something else entirely. Wilayah is much more than this.

It is only once we know what the wilayah of Imam Ali and the Imams means, that we have the right to look at ourselves and ask whether or not we meet the criteria of wilayah.

Then, if we see that we do not, we should ask God to help us obtain the wilayah of the Imams and do our utmost to gain it.

The True Meaning of Holding Fast to Wilayah

Now, there are some people who are very pleased with themselves. They imagine that they truly have the wilayah of the Imams purely by loving them. Purely by believing them.

They think this is all it takes to have wilayah. But this is not wilayah. Wilayah is something more than this, as we shall see in the next session, God willing.

In the next session, we will see what it really means to have the wilayah of the Imams:

How can we recognise the Imams as our awliya, and hold fast to their wilayah? That is when we will see how different the reality of wilayah is from what some people claim!

Whenever Eid al-Ghadeer comes around, it is customary for people - within Shia communities - to say:

وهو يوم التهنئة، يهني بعضكم بعضا، فإذا لقي المؤمن أخاه يقول: الحمد لله الذي جعلنا من المتمسكين بولاية أمير المؤمنين والأئمة (عليهم السلام)

“It is the Day of Congratulations, where believers congratulate each other. When a believer meets his brother, he says: ‘Praise be to Allah who made us among those adhering to the Wilayah of the Commander of the Faithful and the Imams (peace be upon them).’”

- Ayatullah Muhammad al-Rayshahri, Encyclopedia of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib in the Book, the Sunnah, and History, Volume 2, page 340

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِي جَعَلَنَا مِنَ ٱلْمُتَمَسِّكِينَ بِوِلَايَةِ عَلِيِّ ٱبْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ

Praise be to God, who made us of those who hold fast to the Wilayah of Ali ibn Abi Talib.

However, it would be better to avoid saying ‘Praise be to God, who made us’, as we might be untruthful!

Better to say, “Oh God, make us of those who hold fast to the wilayah of Ali ibn Abi Talib”

اللَّهُمَّ ٱجْعَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلْمُتَمَسِّكِينَ بِوِلَايَةِ عَلِيِّ ٱبْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ

Oh God, make us of those who hold fast to the wilayah of Ali ibn Abi Talib

Let us see whether or not we qualify.

This is another topic that we will discuss, and it is yet another dimension of wilayah.

What we have discussed today, can be summed up as follows:

The wilayah of the Muslim ummah and the wilayah of that group that is striving in the path of God and for the sake of God, means that there should be strong bonds of brotherhood between the members of this movement.

The closer the hearts of these people can be to each other, and the further they are from other poles of attraction, and from those who believe differently to them and struggle against them.

This is the meaning of wilayah in this context.

The Quranic Perspective on Wilayah

The verse of Surah al-Mumtahinah (the Chapter of the Woman to be Examined), clearly illustrates this point as we shall now explain:

وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۙ أَن تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ رَبِّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ جِهَادًا فِي سَبِيلِي وَابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِي ۚ تُسِرُّونَ إِلَيْهِم بِالْمَوَدَّةِ وَأَنَا أَعْلَمُ بِمَا أَخْفَيْتُمْ وَمَا أَعْلَنتُمْ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْهُ مِنكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ

O you who have faith! Do not take My enemy and your enemy for allies, [secretly] offering them affection (for they have certainly defied whatever has come to you of the truth, expelling the Apostle and you, because you have faith in God, your Lord) if you have set out to struggle in My way and to seek My pleasure.

You secretly nourish affection for them, while I know well whatever you hide and whatever you disclose, and whoever amongst you does that has certainly strayed from the right way.

- Quran, Surah al-Mumtahinah (the Chapter of the Woman to be Examined) #60, Verse 1

Quranic Verses on Wilayah and Loyalty

“O you who have faith! Do not take My enemy and your enemy for allies (awliya)”.

Some explain the verse as follows:

“You should not take the disbelievers, who are My enemy and yours, as helpers.”.

This is very close to the meaning that Imam Khamenei has for this verse. Others say it means:

“You should not take My enemy and your enemy as friends”.

However, this meaning is not complete. This verse is not only about friendship and affection, it is more than that.

Do not take them as your awliya - as your wali.

In other words, do not think of them as being on the same side as you. Do not place yourself in the same line as them; we could say, that in your heart, do not suppose you and they are on the same path.

They are your enemy and God’s enemy. Do not think they are with you - see them as opposed to you and the opposite of you.

“[Secretly] offering them affection (for they have certainly defied whatever has come to you of the truth)”. You know that they reject the truth that has come to you from your Lord, “expelling the Apostle and you, because you have faith in God, your Lord) if you have set out to struggle in My way and to seek My pleasure’.

If you are truthfully setting out for My sake, you have no right to take my enemies as allies.

This chapter of the Quran is incredibly important and interesting. As we read the next few lines, it will become clear what God means. God does not mean that you should not be friends with any of the disbelievers. God does not say you should cut off all your relations with the disbelievers.

No, He makes clear which groups of the disbelievers this applies to. God divides the disbelievers into different groups - God willing, we will try to cover this in the coming sessions, with His grace.

Understanding the Importance of Disassociation from Falsehood

God, then says next in this chapter:

Whoever, knowingly takes the enemies of God as friends and protectors has surely gone astray and left behind the middle path!

Then, in order that the Muslims will be rationally convinced as to why they should cut their ties with these disbelievers, God describes them.

The Story of Hatib ibn Abi Balta’ah and the Quraysh

It is worth noting that the original context of this verse’s revelation was concerning someone named Hatib ibn Abi Balta’ah. Hatib was a Muslim of somewhat weak faith. When the Prophet wanted to goto war with the idolators of the Quraysh, Hatib was worried that the Prophet might be defeated, and that some harm might come to his relatives in Makkah if this were to be the case.

So, he decides to be clever. He goes with the Prophet to fight by his side and earn God’s pleasure, but at the same time he writes a letter to the Quraysh showing his friendship towards them.

What is the matter with this? It is not like he is going to help them if he meets them in battle, so what is wrong with writing a letter to the Quraysh to hedge against the Prophet’s defeat in battle? He can have the best of both situations in this way!

So Hatib wrote a letter to the leaders of Quraysh, in which he made himself known to them and reached out to them in friendship.

He gave this letter to a woman, and the woman concealed the letter in her clothes and set out to Makkah to give the letter to the Quraysh.

However, the Prophet became aware of this through God’s revelation. So, he sent the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, along with one or two trusted persons after the woman.

They intercepted her, pressed her into surrendering the letter and returned it to the Prophet.

Now the Prophet asked Hatib:

“Why did you do this? Why did you divulge our movements and strategy to our enemies?”

To which, Hatib replied:

“Oh Prophet of God, I have friends and family there, and I was worried they might come to harm. So, I wrote a letter to the Quraysh in the hope of softening their attitude towards me!”

This verse gives a clear response:

“Don’t make a mistake! Their hearts will not be softened towards you! Those who believe the opposite of what you believe, those for whom you beliefs and your faith are detrimental to their interests, those who want to destroy you religion and your faith, they will never be your friend!”

The next verse explains this further:

إِن يَثْقَفُوكُمْ يَكُونُوا لَكُمْ أَعْدَاءً وَيَبْسُطُوا إِلَيْكُمْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ وَأَلْسِنَتَهُم بِالسُّوءِ وَوَدُّوا لَوْ تَكْفُرُونَ

If they were to confront you they would be your enemies, and would stretch out against you their hands and [unleash] their tongues with evil [intentions], and they are eager that you [too] should be faithless.

- Quran, Surah al-Mumtahinah (the Chapter of the Woman to be Examined) #60, Verse 2

Oh Hatib, you fool! Do not imagine that just because you help them now, tomorrow they will help you - no, by God! The more you help them, the more power they gain over you.

The more you help them, the better they can oppress you and do you wrong.

They will stretch out their hands to put you under more pressure. They will turn their tongues towards you with evil. They will abase and humiliate you. They will not see you as a person, let alone an equal!

So, if you are helping them now, do not think that this will be of any benefit to you.

When they gain power over you, they won’t allow you to have even a grain of faith in your heart, they will want to bring you back to disbelief.

Do not think that they will leave you free to practice your faith or to follow its teachings.

The next verse contains a definitive statement about Hatib’s people and family, and the people’s and families of all the Hatibs of human history.

لَن تَنفَعَكُمْ أَرْحَامُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ ۚ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَكُمْ ۚ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ

Your relatives and children will not avail you on the Day of Resurrection: He will separate you [from one another], and God watches what you do.

- Quran, Surah al-Mumtahinah (the Chapter of the Woman to be Examined) #60, Verse 3

For the sake of your children, for the sake of your people and kin, for the sake of your noble-born, for the sake of giving your relatives an easy life, you are ready to befriend the enemies of God?

In order to win the friendship of God’s weak servants and gain some short-term benefit for yourself and your family, you are ready to abandon God’s commands?

How much do these family ties actually benefit a person?

You do this for the sake of this young man, for the sake of his job, for the sake of his salary, for the sake of his earning a living amongst the disbelievers of Quraysh.

How much benefit will this be to you?

How much of God’s punishment will this save you from?

You fool!

Hatib is willing to collaborate with the enemies of the Prophet to keep his family and relatives in Makkah safe from harm!

How much use will these kin be for him against God’s wrath and punishment?

As God says elsewhere:

يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ الْمَرْءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ
وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ
وَصَاحِبَتِهِ وَبَنِيهِ
لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِّنْهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ شَأْنٌ يُغْنِيهِ

The day when a man will evade his brother, his mother and his father, his spouse and his sons - that day each of them will have a task to keep him preoccupied.

- Quran, Surah Abasa (the Chapter of He who frowned) #80, Verses 34 to 37

In other words, the same child you are so worried for today, you will flee from on the Day of Judgement, and both of you will flee from everyone else, you will not have the time for each other, you will not have any concern for one another - “that day each of them will have a task to keep him preoccupied”.

On the Day of Judgement, each person will be so worried about his own predicament that he will not give any thought to the predicament of others, not even of his own children!

Today, if a thorn pricked your child’s hand, you would give anything in the world to make them feel better, isn’t that the case? Wouldn’t you?

Yet, on the Day of Resurrection, you will flee from them!

If we can grasp the logic of the Quran in this regard, we would understand that those people who are ready to give up this world and the next for the sake of their children, who are willing to suffer for all eternity for the same sake of their children, if they understood the logic of the Quran here, they might be shaken.

This child, this daughter, this son, this little darling that is leading you towards Hell, while you are not willing to let the slightest harm come to them and are willing to suffer anything for their sake, to what extent will this child help you in the next life?

Will the child carry any of your burdens on the Day of Resurrection?

No!

God says:

قَدْ كَانَتْ لَكُمْ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ فِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ إِذْ قَالُوا لِقَوْمِهِمْ إِنَّا بُرَآءُ مِنكُمْ وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ كَفَرْنَا بِكُمْ وَبَدَا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةُ وَالْبَغْضَاءُ أَبَدًا حَتَّىٰ تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ إِلَّا قَوْلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لِأَبِيهِ لَأَسْتَغْفِرَنَّ لَكَ وَمَا أَمْلِكُ لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِن شَيْءٍ ۖ رَّبَّنَا عَلَيْكَ تَوَكَّلْنَا وَإِلَيْكَ أَنَبْنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ

There is certainly a good exemplar for you in Abraham and those who were with him, when they said to their own people, ‘Indeed we repudiate you and whatever you worship besides God. We disavow you, and enmity and hate have appeared between you and us for ever, unless you come to have faith in God alone,’ apart from Abraham’s saying to his father, ‘I will surely plead forgiveness for you, though I cannot avail you anything against God.’

‘Our Lord! In You do we put our trust, and to You do we turn penitently, and toward You is the destination.

- Quran, Surah al-Mumtahinah (the Chapter of the Woman to be Examined) #60, Verse 4

Examples from the Life of Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim)

This verse is the climax of what we have read so far. God tells the faithful:

Look at what Abraham and his companions did, and you do the same!

What did they do? They took a clear stand against the people who had gone astray in their own time, disassociated themselves from the servants of the false gods and idols of their own time:

Until you come over to our way of thinking.

Here God tells the faithful to adopt the same approach as that of Abraham:

Then the Quran says:

لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِيهِمْ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ ۚ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ

There is certainly a good exemplar for you in them—for those who look forward to God and the Last Day—and anyone who refuses to comply [should know that] indeed God is the All-sufficient, the All-laudable.

- Quran, Surah al-Mumtahinah (the Chapter of the Woman to be Examined) #60, Verse 6

So if you collaborate with the enemy, and forsake your humanity, and give up dignity, you should know that God does not suffer any loss from this.

We should remember these words that Abraham and his followers said to the disbelievers of their own time:

Yahya ibn Umm Tawil: A Martyr for Wilayah

Imam Sajjad, the fourth Imam of the Muslims, and his followers dealt with the misguided people of their own time in the same way.

There is a tradition in Bihar al-Anwar which says that Yahya ibn Umm Tawil, a disciple of the fourth Imam, would go to the Mosque of Madinah and stand up in front of the people.

The people amongst whom Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn had lived for twenty years.

People who were neither Umayyad, nor were they pro-Umayyad in their views, so what were they?

They were cowards who, even though they believed in the Prophet’s Household, abandoned them during the events of Ashura and Kerbala out of fear of Umayyad persecution.

Yahya ibn Umm Tawil stood up in front of the people and uttered the following verse of the Quran:

In other words, the same words that Abraham spoke to the disbelievers, idolators and misguided people of his time, Yahya spoke to the people of his own time.

You notice how this is the same wilayah in both cases? Abraham and his followers had wilayah, and the followers of Imam Sajjad at their own time had wilayah.

How Wilayah Preserved the Shia Against Oppression

If one of Imam Sajjad’s followers, whether out of fear or greed, went over to the other side, he would have gone out from the wilayah of Imam Sajjad and would not be counted as being on the side of the Imam!

This is why Imam Sajjad’s disciple, Yahya, one of his closest and most-excellent disciples, would utter the following words to them:

The fate of this righteous believer was that the Umayyad governor Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, took him and chopped off his right hand and then his left hand, then his right foot and then his left foot.

However, Yahya would not stop preaching, so Hajjaj cut out his tongue and he died.

And this was at a time when he had organised the Shia and had established the main cornerstones of the edifice of Shi’ism after the time of Imam Sajjad.

Conclusion

This concludes our first session on the subject of Wilayah. In the coming sessions, we will dive into much more depth, and this subject of Wilayah has been divided into three distinct sections:

The first, this one, which is the theological and ideological understanding of Wilayah.

The second which is a study on the lives of the Imams from the household of Prophet Muhammad, as taught by Imam Khamenei in his excellent series of sessions titled “The 250 Year Old Man”.

And the third and last section, which will look at the subject of Wilayah from the more contemporary geo-political as well as from a judicial perspective standpoint. This section will also include examinations of the subject of Marjaiyyah and Taqleed, which are both closely related to Wilayah.

This last section will be extensive and will cover a lot of political, economic and cultural theories that make up the entire framework of the geo-political understanding of Wilayah, and the source material is books, essays and lectures by the likes of Ayatullah Misbah Yazdi, may God rest his soul, Imam Khomeini, may God rest his soul, Imam Khamenei, Ayatullah Mohsen Araki, Shaykh Shomali, Sayyed Mahdi Hejazi, Sayyed Mounir Khabbaz, Ayatullah al-Khui, and Ayatullah Jawadi-Amoli amongst others.

Having said that - I would say that without the previous two sections - the last section would be deemed useless. Therefore, as we proceed on this journey, I would strongly recommend, nay insist, that anyone reading this; be sure to read all the sections - from prophethood, to the sections on wilayah and so on, to be sure to get a clear, deep and correct understanding of this extremely important subject.

Oh Our Lord, Our Master, We beg you to give us the ability (tawfeeq), the wisdom, the courage to stay firm on the path of wilayah, the wilayah of the Imam of our time, Imam Mahdi, and of the righteous Islamic leadership.

Oh Our Lord, We ask you to strengthen our belief, and bestow upon us conviction of faith, that we can act as did Abraham and Yahya and be firm in the face of the oppressors and those who bend the knee to them

Oh Our Lord, We ask that you remove any and all mischief mongers from the ranks of the believers!

Oh Our Lord, We complain to you of the absence of our beloved Prophet, Your peace and blessings be upon him and his pure family, for the absence - ghaybah - of our wali, of our imam, at the large number of our enemies, at the few of our number, at the wide-spread disorder and sedition against the truth, and vicissitudes of time against us.

So, Our Lord, send blessings to Muhammad and his Household, and help us overcome all that through victory from You that You expedite, through relieving us from our injuries, through Your help that You confirm, through bringing in the rule of justice and fair-play, through mercy that You expand over us, and through good health that You cover us with, in the name of Your mercy, O most Merciful of all those who show mercy!

And from Him alone is all ability and He has authority over all things.