Wali

This is an article about the Islamic religious concept of Wali. In English, wali most often means a Muslim saint or holy person. It should not be confused with the word Wāli (Arabic: والي) which is an administrative title that was used in the Muslim Caliphate, and still today in some Muslim countries, such as the Wali of Swat . "Walī (a., pl. awliyā;)", Encyclopaedia of Islam

Alevi calligraphy "Ali is the Wali of God" Walī ( , plural ʾawliyāʾ أولياء), is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "helper", etc. "Wali" is someone who has " Walayah " (authority or guardianship) over somebody else. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walī allāh can be used to denote one vested with the "authority of God ": Only Allah is your Wali and His Messenger and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate while they bow. — Quran , sura 5 ( Al-Ma'ida ), ayah 55 However, the most common meaning of the word is that of a Muslim saint or holy person . In Turkish the word has been adopted as veli . In Palestine the word wali means both holy man and the tomb or mausoleum of a holy man . This is reflected in 19th- to early 20th-century Western scholarly literature, where the word is spelled "wali", "weli", "welli" etc. in English and "oualy" in French. It should not be confused with the different word wāli ( والي ) which is an administrative title that means magistrate or governor and is still used today in some Muslim countries, such as the former Wali of Swat . Historical Dictionary of the Sudan . Historical Dictionaries of Africa (4 ed.). The Arabic name for the tomb of a holy man...

Wali ( , walīy ; plural أَوْلِيَاء , ʾawliyāʾ ) is an Arabic word whose literal meanings include "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector" and "friend". In the vernacular, it is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint , otherwise referred to by the more literal "friend of God". In the traditional Islamic understanding of saints , the saint is portrayed as someone "marked by [special] divine favor ... [and] holiness", and who is specifically "chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to work miracles ". The doctrine of saints was articulated by Islamic scholars very early on in Muslim history, and particular verses of the Quran and certain hadith were interpreted by early Muslim thinkers as "documentary evidence" of the existence of saints. Graves of saints around the Muslim world became centers of pilgrimage — especially after 1200 CE — for masses of Muslims seeking their barakah (blessing). A Persian miniature depicting the medieval saint and mystic Ahmad Ghazali (d. 1123), brother of the famous al-Ghazali (d. 1111), talking to a disciple, from Meetings of the Lovers (1552) Since the first Muslim hagiographies were written during the period when the Islamic mystical trend of Sufism began its rapid expansion, many of the figures who later came to be regarded as the major saints in orthodox Sunni Islam were the early Sufi mystics, like Hasan of Basra (d. 728), Farqad Sabakhi (d. 729), Dawud Tai (d. 777–781), Rabia of Basra (d. 801), Maruf Karkhi (d. 815), and Junayd of Baghdad (d. 910). From the twelfth to the fourteenth century, "the general veneration of saints, among both people and sovereigns, reached its definitive form with the organization of Sufism ... into orders or brotherhoods". In the common expressions of Islamic piety of this period, the saint was understood to be "a contemplative whose state of spiritual perfection ... [found] permanent expression in the teaching bequeathed to his disciples". In many prominent Sunni Islamic creeds of the time, such as the famous Creed of Tahawi (c. 900) and the Creed of Nasafi (c. 1000), a belief in the existence and miracles of saints was presented as "a requirement" for being an orthodox Muslim believer. Aside from the Sufis, the preeminent saints in traditional Islamic piety are the Companions of the Prophet , their Successors , and the Successors of the Successors . Additionally, the prophets and messengers in Islam are also believed to be saints by definition, although they are rarely referred to as such, in order to prevent confusion between them and ordinary saints; as the prophets are exalted by Muslims as the greatest of all humanity, it is a general tenet of Sunni belief that a single prophet is greater than all the regular saints put together. In short, it is believed that "every prophet is a saint, but not every saint is a prophet". In the modern world, the traditional Sunni and Shia idea of saints has been challenged by movements such as the Salafi movement , Wahhabism , and Islamic Modernism , all three of which have, to a greater or lesser degree, "formed a front against the veneration and theory of saints." As has been noted by scholars, the development of these movements has indirectly led to a trend amongst some mainstream Muslims to resist "acknowledging the existence of Muslim saints altogether or ... [to view] their presence and veneration as unacceptable deviations". However, despite the presence of these opposing streams of thought, the classical doctrine of saint-veneration continues to thrive in many parts of the Islamic world today, playing a vital role in daily expressions of piety among vast segments of Muslim populations in Muslim countries like Pakistan , Egypt , Turkey , Senegal , Iraq , Iran , Algeria , Tunisia , Indonesia , Malaysia , and Morocco , as well as in countries with substantive Islamic populations like India, China, Russia, and the Balkans . Historical Dictionary of the Sudan . Historical Dictionaries of Africa (4 ed.). The Arabic name for the tomb of a holy man ... A qubba is usually erected over the grave of a holy man identified variously as wali (saint), faki, or shaykh since, according to folk Islam, this is where his baraka [blessings] is believed to be strongest ... J. van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3. See Al-Ṭaḥāwī, Al-ʿAqīdah aṭ-Ṭaḥāwiyya XCVIII-IX Reza Shah-Kazemi, "The Metaphysics of Interfaith Dialogue", in Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East , ed.

Arabic term meaning "master", "authority", "custodian", or "protector This article is about the Islamic conception of saints. A wali ( , walīy ; plural أَوْلِيَاء , ʾawliyāʾ ), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint , otherwise referred to by the more literal "friend of God ". When the Arabic definite article al ( ال ) is added, it refers to one of the names of God in Islam , Allah – al-Walī ( الْوليّ ), meaning "the Helper, Friend". In the traditional Islamic understanding of saints, the saint is portrayed as someone "marked by [special] divine favor ... [and] holiness", and who is specifically "chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to work miracles ". The doctrine of saints was articulated by Muslim scholars very early on in Islamic history , and particular verses of the Quran and certain hadith were interpreted by early Muslim thinkers as "documentary evidence" of the existence of saints. Graves of saints around the Muslim world became centers of pilgrimage – especially after 1200 CE – for masses of Muslims seeking their barakah (blessing). A Persian miniature depicting the medieval saint and mystic Ahmad Ghazali (d. 1123), brother of the famous al-Ghazali (d. 1111), talking to a disciple, from Meetings of the Lovers (1552). Since the first Muslim hagiographies were written during the period when the Islamic mystical trend of Sufism began its rapid expansion, many of the figures who later came to be regarded as the major saints in orthodox Sunni Islam were the early Sufi mystics, like Hasan of Basra (d. 728), Farqad Sabakhi (d. 729), Dawud Tai (d. 777–781), Rabia of Basra (d. 801), Maruf Karkhi (d. 815), and Junayd of Baghdad (d. 910). From the twelfth to the fourteenth century, "the general veneration of saints, among both people and sovereigns, reached its definitive form with the organization of Sufism ... into orders or brotherhoods". In the common expressions of Islamic piety of this period, the saint was understood to be "a contemplative whose state of spiritual perfection ... [found] permanent expression in the teaching bequeathed to his disciples". In many prominent Sunni creeds of the time, such as the famous Creed of Tahawi ( c. 900 ) and the Creed of Nasafi ( c. 1000 ), a belief in the existence and miracles of saints was presented as "a requirement" for being an orthodox Muslim believer. Aside from the Sufis, the preeminent saints in traditional Islamic piety are the Companions of the Prophet , their Successors , and the Successors of the Successors . Additionally, the prophets and messengers in Islam are also believed to be saints by definition, although they are rarely referred to as such, in order to prevent confusion between them and ordinary saints; as the prophets are exalted by Muslims as the greatest of all humanity, it is a general tenet of Sunni belief that a single prophet is greater than all the regular saints put together. In short, it is believed that "every prophet is a saint, but not every saint is a prophet". In the modern world , the traditional Sunni and Shia idea of saints has been challenged by puritanical and revivalist Islamic movements such as the Salafi movement , Wahhabism , and Islamic Modernism , all three of which have, to a greater or lesser degree, "formed a front against the veneration and theory of saints". As has been noted by scholars, the development of these movements has indirectly led to a trend amongst some mainstream Muslims to resist "acknowledging the existence of Muslim saints altogether or ... [to view] their presence and veneration as unacceptable deviations". However, despite the presence of these opposing streams of thought, the classical doctrine of saint veneration continues to thrive in many parts of the Islamic world today, playing a vital role in daily expressions of piety among vast segments of Muslim populations in Muslim countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey, Senegal , Iraq, Iran, Algeria, Tunisia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Morocco, as well as in countries with substantial Islamic populations like India, China, Russia, and the Balkans . Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Historical Dictionary of the Sudan . Historical Dictionaries of Africa (4 ed.). The Arabic name for the tomb of a holy man ... A qubba is usually erected over the grave of a holy man identified variously as wali (saint), faki, or shaykh since, according to folk Islam, this is where his baraka [blessings] is believed to be strongest ... : CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link ) Radtke, B., "Saint", in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān , General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. J. van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3. Al-Ṭaḥāwī, Al-ʿAqīdah aṭ-Ṭaḥāwiyya XCVIII–IX Reza Shah-Kazemi, "The Metaphysics of Interfaith Dialogue", in Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East , ed.

Islamic understanding of saints This article is about the Islamic conception of saints. The term wali is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint , or literally a "friend of God ". In the traditional Islamic understanding, a saint is portrayed as someone "marked by [special] divine favor ... [and] holiness", and who is specifically "chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to work miracles ". The doctrine of saints was articulated by Muslim scholars very early on in Islamic history , and particular verses of the Quran and certain hadith were interpreted by early Muslim thinkers as "documentary evidence" of the existence of saints. Graves of saints around the Muslim world became centers of pilgrimage – especially after 1200 CE – for masses of Muslims seeking their barakah (blessing). A 1552 Persian miniature of the saint Ahmad Ghazali (d. 1123, brother of al-Ghazali ) talking to a disciple. Since the first Muslim hagiographies were written during the period when the Islamic mystical trend of Sufism began its rapid expansion, many of the figures who later came to be regarded as the major saints in orthodox Sunni Islam were the early Sufi mystics, like Hasan of Basra (d. 728), Farqad Sabakhi (d. 729), Dawud Tai (d. 777–781), Rabia of Basra (d. 801), Maruf Karkhi (d. 815), and Junayd of Baghdad (d. 910). From the twelfth to the fourteenth century, "the general veneration of saints, among both people and sovereigns, reached its definitive form with the organization of Sufism ... into orders or brotherhoods". In the common expressions of Islamic piety of this period, the saint was understood to be "a contemplative whose state of spiritual perfection ... [found] permanent expression in the teaching bequeathed to his disciples". In many prominent Sunni creeds of the time, such as the famous Creed of Tahawi ( c. 900 ) and the Creed of Nasafi ( c. 1000 ), a belief in the existence and miracles of saints was presented as "a requirement" for being an orthodox Muslim believer. Aside from the Sufis, the preeminent saints in traditional Islamic piety are the Companions of the Prophet , their Successors , and the Successors of the Successors . Additionally, the prophets and messengers in Islam are also believed to be saints by definition, although they are rarely referred to as such, in order to prevent confusion between them and ordinary saints; as the prophets are exalted by Muslims as the greatest of all humanity, it is a general tenet of Sunni belief that a single prophet is greater than all the regular saints put together. In short, it is believed that "every prophet is a saint, but not every saint is a prophet". In the modern world , traditional Sunni and Shia ideas of saints has been challenged by fundamentalist and revivalist Islamic movements such as the Salafi movement , Wahhabism , and Islamic Modernism , all three of which have, to a greater or lesser degree, "formed a front against the veneration and theory of saints". As has been noted by scholars, the development of these movements has indirectly led to a trend amongst some mainstream Muslims to resist "acknowledging the existence of Muslim saints altogether or ... [to view] their presence and veneration as unacceptable deviations". However, despite the presence of these opposing streams of thought, the classical doctrine of saint veneration continues to thrive in many parts of the Islamic world today, playing a vital role in daily expressions of piety among vast segments of Muslim populations in Muslim countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey, Senegal , Iraq, Iran, Algeria, Tunisia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Morocco, as well as in countries with substantial Islamic populations like India, China, Russia, and the Balkans . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ). Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Historical Dictionary of the Sudan . Historical Dictionaries of Africa (4 ed.). The Arabic name for the tomb of a holy man ... A qubba is usually erected over the grave of a holy man identified variously as wali (saint), faki, or shaykh since, according to folk Islam, this is where his baraka [blessings] is believed to be strongest ... J. van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3. Al-Ṭaḥāwī, Al-ʿAqīdah aṭ-Ṭaḥāwiyya XCVIII–IX Reza Shah-Kazemi, "The Metaphysics of Interfaith Dialogue", in Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East , ed.