ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Shiism: Imamate and Wilayat Wilayat and Its Scope What is Wilayat? "Wilayat," derived from wila', means power, authority or a right of certain kind. In Shí'a theology, " wilayat " is the authority invested in the Prophet and the Ahlul Bayt as representatives of Almighty Allah on this earth.

According to the late Murtaza Mutahhari, wilayat has four dimensions: The right of love and devotion (wila'-e muhabbat): This right places the Muslims under the obligation of loving the Ahlul Bayt. The authority in spiritual guidance (wila'-e imamat): This reflects the power and authority of the Ahlul Bayt in guiding their followers in spiritual matters.

The authority in socio-political guidance (wila'-e zi'amat): This dimension of wilayat reflects the right that the Ahlul Bayt have to lead the Muslims in social and political aspects of life.

The authority of the universal nature (wila'-e tasarruf): This dimension reflects universal power over the entire universe that the Prophet and Ahlul Bayt have been vested with by the grace of Almighty Allah.[^1] Using this division of wilayat 's dimensions, I would like to point out the areas of agreement and disagreement among the various Muslim groups. The First Dimension: The Right of Love All Muslims unanimously accept the first dimension of wilayat of Ahlul Bayt.

Loving the Ahlul Bayt is one of the " dharuriyyat ad-dín, the essential parts of the Islamic faith." The inclusion of salawat [^2] in the daily ritual prayers is a sufficient proof of this.

See the famous anti-Shí'a books like as-Sawa'iqu 'l-Muhriqa of Ibn Hajar al-Makki and Tuhfa-e Ithna-'Ashariyya of Shah 'Abdul 'Aziz Dehlawi, and you will realize that the Sunni polemicists labour painfully to explain that they are against the Shí'a people but not against the Shí'a Imams for they know that loving the Ahlul Bayt is an essential part of Islamic faith. Love for the Ahlul Bayt is enshrined in verse 42:23 that we have already discussed in the last chapter.

Here I shall just quote one more hadíth from the Sunni sources.