This is a fact which cannot be denied.

This is a fact which cannot be denied.[^6] As we pointed out earlier Islam has enjoined a sort of general form of the positive Wala’ towards all Muslims. The verse " The believers, men and women, are waly of one another ", refers to it. But the verse which says: " Your Waly can be only Allah, His Messenger and those who believe .. " is not general in its import. It cannot be said that it refers to general Wala’ for in this case the Qur'an does not intend to lay down a general rule.

It does not want to say that as a rule it is obligatory or even desirable to pay zakat while offering prayers. It only mentions a particular action characteristic of the person who did it and alludes to his being entitled to special affection. This style of using the plural form of a word while describing an event which related to a single person is not unparalleled in the Holy Qur'an.

For example it says " They say: When we return to Medina, the honourable ones will certainly drive out the mean ones ". (al-Munafiqun, 63: 8). In this case also the verse refers to an incident relating to a single person. It says "They say". In fact only one person, viz. Abdullah ibn Ubayy had said that. According to modern idiom also we sometimes say that "they say so" while we know well that only one single person has made the statement in question.

To pay zakat while bowing in prayers is not a common event. Hence it cannot be presumed that Allah extols all those who do such an action and affirms Wilayat for all of them, in whatever sense it may be. This shows that the verse in question has a particular and personal application. It means to say that there is a person, who while engaged in the worship of Allah, was not unmindful of his fellow being and performed this act.

Now the Holy Qur'an says that like Allah and His Messenger he is also the Waly of the believers (is entitled to their affection) and they should accept this Wala’ . As to what the nature of this affection is, and whether it is something higher than the special love and esteem, which the people should have for Imam Ali, we will shortly take up that question. At present we only want to emphasize that this verse has a particular application and not a general one. [^1]: Sahih Tirmizi Vol. 5, p. 297.

Sahih Muslim Vol. 2, p. 362 printed in Egypt. Mustadrak 'ala al-Sahihayn—Hakim Vol.3 p.109 Al-Bidayah wa'l Nihayah—Ibn Kathir Vol.4, p.211 printed in Egypt. Sawaiq al-Mohriqa — Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani Shafi'i p. 25.