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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الولاء و البراء
Al-Walaa` wa al-baraa`
Walaa’ (loyalty, allegiance) and baraa’ (innocence from, disowning) are amongst the key concepts of the Islamic aqeedah which every Muslim must understand and hold close to their hearts. In essence it means the loyalty to Allah, to His Messenger (saw) and to the believers, and the innocence from and disassociation from disbelief, the disbelievers and all those who aid them in any way.
Imam Baidawi commented on this ayat - فلا تعتمدوا عليهم ولا تعاشروهم معاشرة الأحباب – “so do not rely upon them and do not be intimate with them in the same manner as the intimacy of beloved ones”.
Another ayat from the Qur’an reads
يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تتخذوا الكافرين أولياء من دون المؤمنين أتريدون أن تجعلوا لله عليكم سلطانا مبينا
Anyone who reads the book of Allah will find many verses explaining this point, such as when it is stated in the Qur’an -
يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تتخذوا اليهود والنصارى أولياء بعضهم أولياء بعض ومن يتولهم منكم فإنه منهم إن
الله لا يهدي القوم الظالمين
O you who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians as Auliya (friends, protectors, helpers), they are but Auliya of each other. And if any amongst you takes them (as Auliya) then surely, he is one of them. Verily, Allah guides not those people who are Zalimuun (oppressors) (Al-Maa’ida 51)
Imam Baidawi commented on this ayat - فلا تعتمدوا عليهم ولا تعاشروهم معاشرة الأحباب – “so do not rely upon them and do not be intimate with them in the same manner as the intimacy of beloved ones”.
Another ayat from the Qur’an reads
يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تتخذوا الكافرين أولياء من دون المؤمنين أتريدون أن تجعلوا لله عليكم سلطانا مبينا
O you who believe! Take not as Auliya disbelievers instead of believers. Do you wish to offer Allah a manifest proof against yourselves? (al-Nisa 144)
And as for baraa’, Allah mentions –
قد كانت لكم أسوة حسنة في إبراهيم والذين معه إذ قالوا لقومهم إنا برآء منكم ومما تعبدون من دون الله كفرنا بكم وبدا بيننا وبينكم العداوة والبغضاء أبدا حتى تؤمنوا بالله وحده
Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibrahim and those with him when they said to their people “Verily we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allah; we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you hostility and hatred forever until you believe in Allah Alone” (Al-Mumtahanah 4)
Ibn Katheer in his tafseer explains that the rejection of the disbelievers means rejecting their deen and their path (the way they have chosen to proceed in life).
To give allegiance to Allah and His Messenger (saw), and to the ummah of our Prophet, means that the bond of Islam comes before any other relations a person may have, however close or far. It also means an allegiance to Islam at the expense of any other way of life or deen, and to uphold the laws of Allah at the expense of any other laws from any source other than the Islamic sources. A believer’s own love and hate is moulded and directed by Islam, as our Prophet (saw) said
من أحب لله وأبغض لله وأعطى لله ومنع لله فقد استكمل الإيمان
Whoever loves for the sake of Allah, and hates for the sake of Allah, and gives for the sake of Allah, and prevents for the sake of Allah, has completed their Imaan (Abu Dawuud)
This understanding of walaa’ wa al-baraa’ has been exemplified in the Seerah and in the example of the Companions of the Prophet (saw), such as the words Umar bin al-Khattab after the battle of Badr when asked by the Prophet (saw) to give his opinion regarding what to do with the prisoners taken from the ranks of the Quraish. Though Abu Bakr had already given his opinion that the prisoners should be exchanged for ransom, Umar disagreed, saying
لا والله ما أرى الذي رأى أبو بكر ولكني أرى أن تمكنني من فلان فأضرب عنقه وتمكن حمزة من أخ له فيضرب عنقه وتمكن عليا من عقيل فيضرب عنقه حتى يعلم الله أن ليس في قلوبنا هوادة للكفار
No, by Allah, I do not see (the situation) as Abu Bakr sees it, but rather I consider that I should be put over such and such a person in order to strike his neck, and Hamza should be put over his brother in order to strike his neck, and Ali should be put over Uqail in order to strike his neck in order that Allah knows that there is no leniency/ love in our hearts for the disbelievers (Tabari)
This was the extent to which Al-Farooq wanted to demonstrate his allegiance and love to Allah ahead of any other tribal or familial considerations.
Another striking example is that of a Roman general, Jaraja, who embraced Islam at the hands of the Sword of Allah, Khalid bin al-Waleed immediately before the onset of the battle of yarmuuk. The two leaders met with each other in the battlefield between the two armies, the Roman army on one side and the army of the khilafah on the other. After a discussion between the two, Jaraja embraced Islam. He then returned with Khalid back to the ranks of the Muslims, made ghusl and prayed two raka’at before joining the battle against the Romans on the side of his brothers in Islam, during which he was killed, inshahAllah a matyr for the sake of Allah. Upon embracing Islam, his allegiance immediately changed to the Muslim ummah, at the expense of his own homeland, his own soldiers formally under his command, the Romans who he had been born from, raised and lived among.
And this is exemplified by the words of ibn Abbas,
أحب في الله وأبغض في الله و وال في الله و عاد في الله فإنما تنال ولاية الله بذالك
و لن يجد عبد طعم الإيمان و إن كثرت صلاته و صومه حتى يكون كذالك
Love for (the sake of) Allah, and hate for Allah, and give loyalty for Allah, and have enmity for Allah, the Walayat of Allah is only bestowed with that, and a slave of Allah would not find the taste of Iman, even if his prayers and fasts were plentiful, until he becomes like that
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