itself, or the sainthood of a Sufi saint (wali) or a
Shii imam.
The form walaya is often used in Shiism as
an alternative vocalization of wilaya, to refer to
the spiritual authority thought to reside with the
Imams, and it is thus closely tied to the question of
succession after the death of the prophet mUham-
mad, which is the central point on which Shiis
differ from Sunnis. Shiis believe that Muhammad
designated as his successor his son-and-law and
cousin ali ibn abi talib when he announced at
the oasis of Ghadir Khumm: “For whomever I am
the authority (mawla), Ali is his authority.” Thus,
for Shiis, the spiritual and political authority of
the Muslim community should have passed to Ali.
Though political authority was assumed by three
caliphs before it came to Ali, and after his murder
it was claimed by Muawiya and his descendants,
Shiis believe spiritual authority, and especially
esoteric knowledge of the qUran, passed directly
to Ali, and from him to his sons Hasan and
Husayn. Walaya then passed to Husayn’s son and
continued in a line of descent for another eight
generations (in the dominant Twelver Shiism).
These 12 figures are known as Imams (leaders),
who served as representatives of God on earth.
The 12th Imam, al-mahdi, disappeared leaving
no heirs, though he is still thought to maintain a
spiritual presence.
Some Shii scholars distinguish between wilaya
(the authority of the Imams) and walaya, which
refers to devotion and loyalty to the Imam, which
is incumbent on Shiis, and is even considered a
pillar of faith.
See also Five pillars; tWelve-imam shiism; wali.
Mark Soileau
Further reading: ‘Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn
Tabataba’i, Shi’ite Islam. Translated by Seyyed Hossein
Nasr (Albany: State University of New York Press,
1975); Said Amir Arjomand, The Shadow of God and the
Hidden Imam (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1984); Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina, The Just
Ruler (al-sultan al-’adil) in Shi’ite Islam: The Comprehen-
sive Authority of the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1988).wali
In Arabic, wali (plural awliya) means someone
who is near, a supporter, a guardian, or a friend,
but most often refers to a saint in the Islamic
world. In this sense, the word is often used in the
expression wali allah—“Friend of God.” Saints
are found in almost all Islamic countries, but their
status as saints is usually not official, since islam
has no official process of canonization. Islamic
saints are those who are recognized as such by
the people, usually because they are considered
holy and/or able to perform miracles. They inspire
feelings of reverence in people, and their help is
sought in times of need. This is true for both liv-
ing and dead saints.
While there have been examples of Women
saints in Islam, the majority have been men. They
can be of a number of different types of histori-
cal figures: mystics, ascetics, founders of dervish
orders, poets, martyrs, warriors, or descendants of
the Prophet. Most saints are, however, associated
in some way with sUFism. While their appeal is
mostly to common people, Muslim scholars such
as al-Tirmidhi, Hujwiri, and ibn al-arabi have
made them the subject of much study, devising
elaborate hierarchies of saints. Saints are thought
to be endowed with the blessing (baraka) of God,
which they can transmit to ordinary humans
through contact and which is often thought to be
manifested in miraculous acts (karamat), such as
flying, changing form, multiplying food, healing
the sick, and foretelling future events. Legendary
accounts of the lives of many saints have been col-
lected in hagiographies (manakib). While many
people believe in the literal truth of such miracles,
Sufis often focus on their esoteric meanings.
Saints are thought to maintain their power after
their deaths, inspiring believers to make pilgrim-
ages (ziyarat) to their graves, where they may ven-
erate the saint by praying, circumambulating thewali 707 J