Wali
vs
Mawlaa.
Point
#1:
Allah
ta’ala says in suratul Baqarah ayah [2:257]:
وَلِيُّ
الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا
يُخْرِجُهُمْ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى
النُّورِ
‘Allah
is the Wali
of those who believe, He brings take
them from the darknesses into the light.’
اللَّهُ
وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا
أَوْلِيَاؤُهُمُ
الطَّاغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُمْ مِنَ
النُّورِ إِلَى الظُّلُمَاتِ
‘and
those who disblieve their Awliyaa’
are taghoot, they bring them out of the light to darknesses.’
Wali
is a
special type of friend, who
expresses the will to help to you and support you. A wali
is a friend that you turn to for help, protection and support.
The wali is the primary
in the relationship, they are the
dominant party.
Take for
example, if a father is the wali to his son, then the father is the
primary in the relationship.
Allah
ta’ala says in the beginning of the ayah that He
is the Wali for the believers.Those
who disbelieve have Taghoot
(anything
and everything that is worshipped besides Allah) as their Awliyaa
(plural of
wali).
There
are two comparisons taking place in this verse:
1) The believers and those who disbelieve, and
2) Allah (azza wa jal) and taghoot [those worshipped besides Him].
Looking at the
verse again, we see that there is a different arrangement for each
comparison: when
Allah
ta’ala says He is the Wali of the believers, He
comes first.
But
for those who
disbelieve, their
wali [those
who are worshipped along with Allah]
is mentioned last (as
a sign of humiliation to them).
Why
is the arrangment different?
Allah
ta’ala is being ‘compared’
to taghoot [i.e. the disbelievers
attempt to take their taghoot as
equals to Allah], yet: there is NOTHING like Him, NOTHING can be
compared to Him. These taghoot do
not deserve
to be mentioned in the same place as Allah (azza wa jal) was
mentioned. They do not deserve to be mentioned in even the same
sentence. So the Taghoot
are placed the furthest away
from Allah's Name.
Point
#2:
Allah
ta’ala says in Surat Muhammad ayah
11,
ذَ*ٰلِكَ
بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ
مَوْلَى
الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَأَنَّ الْكَافِرِينَ
لَا مَوْلَىٰ
لَهُمْ
‘That
is because certainly Allah is the
Mawlaa of those who believe, and
indeed the disbelievers have no Mawlaa.’
Mawlaa
is more than a Wali; a Mawlaa is
someone who can
protect you and actually does
so–they
are
protecting you,
while a Wali
is someone who is willing
to protect you.
When it came
to Wali,
both the believers and disbelievers had one,
but when it comes to Mawlaa
– someone who CAN protect you – only
the believers have One, and the
disbelievers have no Mawlaa [Protector].
SubhanAllah.
Allahumma
faqihnaa fid deen, O Allah grant us understanding of the deen
[religion], Ameen.