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CHAPTER
VI
The meaning
of al-walayah and al-baraah:
The Arabic words
formed from the root (و.
ل . ي) give
the following meaning:
1.
waliya,
to be in
charge.
2.
Al-walayah,
guardianship, help, support, protection, association and
connectedness.
3.
Al-wala,
succession
4.
Istawla,
to get a thing in one’s possession
5.
Al-waliyah,
saddle blanket that comes next to the back of a camel, horse,
mule or donkey
6.
Tawalla,
to turn away.1
The general
sense which the first five of these words have in common is
propinquity (al-qurb). As it appears in Ibadhi writings
the term al-waliyah means:
a) Obligation
to pray to God to bestow His mercy and forgiveness on Muslims, (
إيجاب الترحم والاستغفار للمسلين).2
ii)
Love with
the heart and praise by the tongue.3
(
الودّ
بالجنان ، والثناء باللسان. الحبّ بالجنان والثناء باللسان).3
c) Friendship
and fraternity, (المودة
والمؤاخاة
).4
d) Religious
friendship, (
المودة
الدينية ).5
e) Love and
harmony, (
المودة
والمصافاة ).6
f) Friendship
and praying for forgiveness, (
المودة
والاستغفار).7
g)
Whole-hearted affection for an obedient (Muslim) for being
obedient, (
الميل
بالقلب والجوارح إلى مطيع لطاعته
).8
h) To like for
a fellow Muslim what one likes for oneself, in this world and
the World to Come. (يحب
للمسلم ما يحب لنفسه في الدنيا والآخرة
).9
i) To stand
up for the right of the friend and believe in loving him, (
تولّي القيام بحق الولي واعتقاد وده.
).10
The word friendship
is usually used for the Arabic word al-walayah, but to my
mind, the word friendship does not give the full import of the
word al-walayah as used in Ibadhi writings. It is a
religious duty which controls human emotions of love and hatred
in accordance with Islamic teaching. Realising this fact, the
term ‘al-walayah’ is used in this study to convey the
meanings: love, fraternity, unity among the Muslims and the
duties related to these.
The other Arabic
word, al-baraah, expresses the converse of al-walayah.
It means to excommunicate. This term was used in Ibadhi
writings to express the following:
i)
The
obligation to abuse and curse the infidel,
(
إيجاب
الشتم واللعنة للكافر .
).11
ii)
Hostility
and enemity, (المنابذة
والعدوة ).12
iii)
Hatred in
the heart and abuse by the tongue,
(
البغض
بالقلب والشتم باللسان
).13
iv)
Dissociation from the enemy and wrongful action initiated by
him, and the belief in hatred towards him,
(التبرّ
ى من العدو وحدثه ، واعتقاد بغضه
).14
These two terms,
al-walayah and al-baraah, were used by Ibadhis
scholars to indicate the attitude of the believers towards their
fellow Muslims and towards the infidels.
The third term
connected with al-walayah and al-baraah is al-wuquf,
‘reservation.’ If a believer is not certain with regard to the
deeds or faith of a person, he must abstain from passing
judgement on him until he becomes sure of these; he must then
arrive at a definite attitude towards him, either of walayah,
or of baraah.15
According to some
Ibadhi scholars, walayah is agreement in religion in
respect of word and works.16 The person deserving
walayah from the believers is he who is fully obedient to
God, and who attains all good qualities through his performance
of all religious duties, and through abstention from what is
forbidden.17 Other scholars believe that the verbal
agreement of a person with the Muslims is enough for him to
deserve walayah.
This opinion was
advanced by al-Salimi on the basis of the following Quranic
verse. “O Prophet, when believing women come to thee upon the
terms that they will not associate with God anything and will
not steal, neither commit adultery, nor slay their children, nor
bring a calumny they forge between their feet, nor disobey thee
in aught honourable, ask God forgiveness for them; God is
All-forgiving, All-compassionate.”18 Al-Salimi
argued that God ordered his Prophet to ask forgiveness for those
women on account of their agreement to the above terms by word
of mouth only, and that he should not wait to see their works.19
According to the
Ibadhi School, to act in accordance with the three concepts
discussed above constitutes the duty of the individual. He
should act according to those rules from the time when he first
arrives at the age of matuarity (i.e. in the case of boys
approximately fifteen, and in the case of girls -–twelve years).20
The concepts of
al-walayah and al-baraah, form one of the main
themes of Ibadhi doctrine. Ibadhi scholars devoted great
attention to this subject and many books were written to explain
the system of al-walayah wa al-baraah.21
Ibadhi literature
in North Africa did not treat these subjects in complete detail
until the end of the IVth century H. Strictly
speaking, the first work which resented a systematic study of
this subject was K. al-Tuhaf al-makhzunah wa al-jawahir
al-masunah,22 by Abu al-Rabi Sulaiman b. Yakhlaf al-Masati,
(d. 471H./1078 A.D.). Legal opinions on the subject appeared
throughout Ibadhi writings prior to Abu al-rabi. Biographical
works contain scattered material on this subject in opinions
recorded of Ibadhi Imams and learning scholars during the first
four centuries. |
