Walayah

Welayah or Walaya (وَلاية, meaning "guardianship" or “governance”) is a general concept of the Islamic faith and a key word in Shia Islam that refers, among other things, to the nature and function of the Imamate. Welayah is a word which a power gives authority/guardianship to a person, community, or country that is under the direction and rule on behalf of another. "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" (authority or guardianship) over somebody else. For example, in fiqh, a father is wali of his children. The term wali holds a special importance in Islamic spiritual life and it is used with various meanings, which relate to its different functions, which include: “next of kin, ally, friend, helper, guardian, patron, and saint”. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu l-Lāh can be used to denote one vested with the "authority of God": بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاَةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ"In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate: Only God is your wali and his messenger and those who believe, establish worship, and pay the poor due while bowing down (in prayer)." Two nouns are derived from the root W-L-Y ولي : walayah and wilayah, which means to be near to something, to be a friend of someone or to have power. The term welayah also has similarity with AWLIA. The term Wali derives from Quran. It occurs also in a number of hadith qudsi, such as “whoever harms a friend (walī) of Mine, I declare war against him and others". Welayah means literally "nearness" or " closeness" in which there is judgmental nearness on slavery. Also it means that being dependent of slave to Truth or God in annihilating. The welayah in the Sharia is the implementation of saying to others either will or not will. Arab lexicographers and semanticists distinguish between the words "wilayah" and "walayah." According to that, walayah sometimes represent the sense of assistance, alliance or nusrah, while wilayah invariably denotes the idea of power, authority or sultan.