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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Shiite Islam: Orthodoxy or Heterodoxy? Chapter 8: The Wilāyah: The Spiritual and Temporal Authority of the Imāms If we focus on the term wilāyah [primacy, guide, lordship] and words related to spiritual authority and temporal power, as Ayātullāh Mutahharī did in a formidable and authoritative synthesis, we note that this terminological repertoire has a very precise meaning in Shī'ite thought which is related to the idea of a unified government.[^1] Wilā' , walāyah , wilāyah , walī , mawlā , are nominal forms of the verbal substantive of the trilateral root walla ( waw - lam - alif maksurah ) which has the primary meaning of “being close,” from which is derived “to be at the front of,” from which is derived the meanings of “government” and “governor” in the temporal and political sense of the words and “leader” and “chosen” in the spiritual sense.

The same root gives place to a series of words which denote power and authority, that is, being close to the center [ wasat ] of sovereignty. And the Arabic word wasat [center] gives a gamut of terms which indicate “mediation” or “intercession” [ tawassut ]. Other unfamiliar terms derived from the same trilateral root waw - lam - ya are walī and mawlā .

Walī means “friend,” “intimate,” “close,” and with the respect to the Imāms “holiness” and by extension spiritual “closeness” to the divine center. The passive participle mawlā means, among other things, “one who deserves a clientele,” and more frequently “boss,” “lord,” “protector,” “tutor,” “master,” “owner” and so forth.

In Shī'ism, mawlānā [our lord / our master] is used to address the Prophet and the Imāms and, in Sūfism, it is used to refer to the great spiritual masters like Rūmī[^2] or Ibn al-'Arabī. We have listed the various forms and verbal nouns because with the auxiliary one can better understand everything which is implied by the idea of Imāmate or Caliphate and how it is conceived in Shī'ite thought in relation to spiritual authority and temporal power.

In the time of the Prophet, the title mawlā [master] had the connotation of spiritual authority and universal temporal power. The basis of any Caliphate or true government is the transcendence of its foundation, the very basis of its sovereignty, authority, and legitimacy. However, with the downfall of effective power in the succession of the Caliphate, starting with Abū Bakr, the title khalīfah also suffered from the same process of depreciation.