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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Short Treatise on The Guardianship of the Jurist Preliminary Discussions 1)The Definition of ‘Authority’ (walaya) Al-Raghib; the famous Arabic philologist says in his al-Mufradat: “ ‘wala’ and ‘tawalli’ is when two or more things occur side by side without anything external to them being between them. This is used metaphorically to indicate spatial, familial, religious, personal, political or ideological proximity.

‘Wilaya’ is aiding or backing, while ‘walaya’ is when one takes charge of an affair. It has been said that ‘wilaya’ and ‘walaya’ are like ‘dilala’ and ‘dalala’ (i.e. there is no difference between their meanings), but the correct opinion is that ‘walaya’ indicates taking charge of an affair.

‘Wali’ and ‘mawla’ therefore are used in relation to this meaning”[^1] According to this, the guardian (wali) of an orphan is the one who has charge of his affair, and a king may be described as: ‘the guardian of the affairs’. Thus, the permission to act is part of the meaning of the word. Therefore the claim of some who interpret ‘ wilaya ’ to mean only ‘love’ is not something that can be supported linguistically.

This is because if the intention was to speak of mere love, which is a matter of the heart, the expressions ‘love’ or ‘affection’- the antonyms of ‘hatred’ and ‘dislike’- would have been used. However, guardianship gives the meaning of taking up another’s affairs, and its antonym is ‘enmity’, which is transgressing against and infringing upon others’ affairs.

Therefore, acting for the benefit of another is guardianship whilst acting to harm another is enmity, and both are related to physical actions (not a mere affection). Allah, the Exalted, has said in the Holy Qur’an: “And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other; they enjoin good and forbid evil” (9:71).

Here, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, mentioned the mentioning of good and the forbidding of evil as examples of the guardianship of the believers over one another. Obviously, enjoining good and forbidding evil is in most instances physical action. Similarly, in the narration of Ghadeer: “whoever I am his guardian, then Ali is his guardian”, the Prophet (pbuh) meant to affirm for Ali (as) the same authority to act and the same precedence that belonged to the Prophet (pbuh) himself.