Wilayat (Guardianship)

Speech 5: Wilayat of Someone Other than God

From all the discussion so far what we have understood is that very Muslim and every person who claims to be a servant of God, should declare his Wali, ruler and guide in all matters of this world someone who has been appointed by God; he should hand over himself to the Lord's chosen Wali and should take his oath of allegiance on the hand of the God's Wali. In short for all his worldly activities he should consider Lord of the Worlds and His appointee his ruler.

However, we have discussed this point - who are those people who have been selected by God to represent Him - and that in the first phase it is the Prophets and then the Walis who deserve this station. The bottom line is that the Wali and the God appointed ruler is chosen by name or certain signs; or is appointed not by name but only by signs.

These were some of the points that we have already made clear.

The point to be addressed today is that if someone does not accept God's Wilayat and chooses the supremacy of someone other than God; the first thing is what is God's ruling for such an individual? What will this action be called? And thirdly, what will be the consequences of such an action?

These are the questions that come up in conversations regarding Wilayat. Once we accept them after debates and discussions and our minds agree on them, then they will be counted as the proven principles of Islam. Although these issues are included in the discussion about the principle of Wilayat, yet they stand on their own as principles.

The Glorious Qur'an renders every Wilayat other than that of God as the Wilayat of taghut and says that anyone who is not in the Wilayat of God is in the Wilayat of taghut.

What is meant by Taghut?

The source of the word, taghut, is tughyan - to rebel and get out of the physical and natural life cycle of a human being. As an example, suppose that a human being has been created to achieve perfection, if someone keeps an individual from achieving perfection then he is a taghut.

It behooves human beings to live their lives according to the laws of God. It is in line with the nature of human beings. If someone nurtures human beings in such a way and forces them to act in such a way that they spend their lives following a constitution other than that of God, then he is taghut.

Man should be constantly struggling to make his presence useful; hence, any action that incites him to non-seriousness, laziness, seeking excessive pleasure and prosperity is taghut.

Man should obey the Godly instructions. Everything that keeps him away from obeying God and makes him rebellious to God is taghut.

So taghut is not a proper noun. And it is incorrect to think that it is the name of an idol. Yes, there was an idol by the name of taghut. However, it is not a fixed entity. Sometimes we ourselves are taghut; sometimes it is our wealth; sometimes it is our luxurious lifestyle; sometimes it is our desires; sometimes it is someone whom we give our hand and close our eyes so he can take us anywhere he wants to; sometimes it is gold and silver; and sometimes it is the collective system and the law. So taghut is not one specific thing.

Wilayat of Taghut and Wilayat of Satan

Whoever has left the Wilayat of God has definitely entered the Wilayat of Taghut and Satan. However, what is the relationship between Satan and Taghut?

There is more than a relationship between them; Satan is Taghut and Taghut is Satan. As Glorious Qur'an says:

The believers fight in the path of Allah.

And the non-believers fight in the path of Taghut.

Then it says:

So you fight with the Satan's companions; certainly, the tactics of Satan are very weak. [^1]

In these verses we see that the names of Satan and Taghut have been used interchangeably. So Satan is an entity that instigates man from outside to create trouble, ruin, disgrace, oppression, evil and ignorance.

Satans are humans as well as jinns. There are satans who are among relatives, wives and ancestors. One example of a satan is Iblis who raised a standard against Prophet Adam and did certain things that we read about. All of us curse this particular Satan all our lives, whereas, he is not the only satan. Perhaps he may not be the only first and last satan. There are many satans in the world who can be felt through hands, eyes and sometimes they are even our companions. On the whole every Wilayat other than that of God is the Wilayat of satan and taghut.

Someone who is not spending his life under the rule of the real Wali should know that he is passing his life under the rein of Taghut and Satan.

You may ask what is wrong with living under the rein of Satan and Taghut and following their commandments.

This is one of the points addressed in the verses. The Glorious Qur'an gives us some answers in this regard. The first answer is that if you accept the Wilayat of Satan, he will gain control over all your constructive, creative and useful powers. Once you willingly accept the subjugation of Satan and Taghut, then you will never be able to get rid of it. It does not matter what productive and creative capabilities you have, Taghut and Satan will take over you; and once he is in control, he will drag you to wherever he wants to. It is obvious that Satan and Taghut will not guide a man towards light, cognizance, goodness and spiritual existence; these are not his objectives. In fact, the primary goal of Satan and Taghut is his personal interests and he wants to achieve them; so he uses you for that purpose.

If you think about these few sentences, you will notice a hidden message that is verified by the historical facts.

This friend has put a leash on my neck and drags me wherever he pleases.

The following verse of Chapter Nisa deserves our utmost attention and pondering.

And if someone opposes the Prophet after clear guidance and follows a path other than that of the believers, we let him go wherever he wants to go**.** [^2]

He will separate himself from the Muslims. Then we will tighten the leash he has put on. We will entangle him in the same Wilayat that he has accepted and the same group that he has joined.

And the Lord does not change the condition of a nation until it changes itself. [^3]

You have given your leash in the hands of the Satan, now it will remain there. This is the tradition of God or the law of creation.

So far in this verse it was related to this world; then moving forward it talks about the next world.

He will go directly from here to hell and receive the permanent punishment and wrath of God. [^4]

When one looks over history, this is exactly what he finds. It is one of the very important communal issues. Very little work has been done about Qur'anic viewpoint on these issues and we have not overlaid them with the Islamic history. It would be so good if those interested in the Glorious Qur'an, those interested in the communal issues and, especially, those interested in the historical issues of Qur'an should deeply ponder on these issues and superimpose them with the historical facts.

In order to further elaborate on this verse we wish to go over some history.

A Look at the Kufi Society

Kufa is considered one of the strangest cities in the Islamic history. In your mind you will have a myriad of ideas about Kufa. Whatever we say will not be new to you.

Kufa is a city that the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, chose for his seat of government even though there were several other cities in the great Islamic empire of the time. This was one distinction for Kufa. Another distinction for this city was that the residents of Kufa accompanied the Commander of the Faithful in several battles. They were with him in the Battle of the Camel, Battle of Nahrvan and the Battle of Siffin. The residents of Kufa and the tribes from nearby areas participated in these wars.

They were the same Kufis that the Commander of Believers used to complain to. He used to admonish them that when he asked them to come out to fight, they would not come out. Later it was the same Kufa whose elders wrote letters, visited Imam Hasan Mujaba and asked him, "Our lord! please come; we hand over this city to you." But Imam Hasan did not go there. Then it was the same city whose distinguished personalities wrote to Imam Husayn Ibn Ali, "We do not have an Imam and a Leader. We do not have a Ruler and a Guide. And now that God has destroyed this taghut, you should come." People such as Sulaiman Ibn Saro, Habib Ibn Mazahir, Muslim Ibn Awsaja, etc, were telling the truth.

Then they were the same Kufians who lined up against Husayn Ibn Ali and the great tragedy of Karbala took place.

After a short while a historical event took place in the hands of the same people; an event that is considered a very unique and most elegant happening in the history of Islam. This is the incident of Tawwabeen (those who repented) who took a stand by sacrificing their lives in order to repent and to compensate for not coming to the aid of Imam Husayn on the day of Ashura. It was the same city where seeds were sown for many revolts against Umayyads and Abbassids that took root and blossomed. People from this city gave many sacrifices; countless were killed; many achieved great successes.

Then there were those dwellers of Kufa who showed lethargy, weakness and cowardice. What was the reason?

Did the people of Kufa have two souls and two faces?

Figuring out Kufa is an important subject.

In our opinion a study of Kufa and an evaluation of the psychology of Kufians will be a very interesting discussion. Those who have the capability - the experts, sociologists and psychologists - should sit together and talk about Kufa; should reflect, discuss and observe how bizarre this phenomenon is that on one hand there is a display of mind boggling human acts and on the other hand there is extreme lack of conscience, laziness, wickedness and disgrace.

Why is it so?

Kufa is a city whose people got their grooming through the strong and eloquent words of the Commander of the believers; the Imam polished their personalities; this is why some of the greatest and bravest personalities in the history of Shi'ahs belonged to this city of Kufa. Their number is bigger than even those from Madina. The reason was the few years of Imam Ali's sermons and instructions (during his time in khilafat). The rein of the Commander of the believers Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib on this city was not an ordinary occurrence. It is true that this government during its four years did not achieve success at the Islamic world level; however, for sure it succeeded at the city of Kufa level and developed astonishing influences. Kufa turned into the cradle of Shii'at - full of Shi'ah attributes and blessings. Nonetheless, any place that rears superior qualities and blessings does not necessarily guaranty that all its residents will display such excellence and be ideal people.

It always so happens that in a society full of passion and vigor there is only a subset of people who truly represent this sentiment. Sometimes out of a population of millions, only a few thousand actually partake in the struggle and because of their action the place becomes known in the world for fervor and struggle.

Kufa too had just a group of extraordinary people; otherwise, the average residents were regular people just like any other place and were not any worse. They were just like the people of Mashhad or Tehran or Isfahan or Madina or any other areas. However, this small group in this corner of the Islamic world was a source of terror for the rulers at the time. This is why these governments always appointed the most despicable governors, the meanest servants and executioners in this city. These people would employ terrorizing means and venomous propaganda and foster poverty among these people so they would slip unconsciously towards evil and decadence with great vigor.

The reason for such treatment towards the Kufians was that unlike other cities here existed a defiant and notable group. The purpose of these governments was to totally eliminate all those supportive and helpful qualities from the ordinary people that this pious, noble and warrior group could take advantage of. So they would do false propaganda, keep people under pressure and suffocated and weaken them from worldly point of view. In short, they would use a variety of means to coerce the Kufa dwellers. Such was not the case of other cities. This is why immoral deeds happened in the hands of the people of Kufa. However, the reason for such depravity was not that these people were bad people.

In any case it was a short explanation of Kufa. If some people study her history and reflect on it, they will come across some interesting observations.

Ummayad khalifa Abdul Malik Bin Marwan knew that no one other than Hajjaj Bin Yusuf could handle the revolutionary and fighting people of Kufa. So he appointed his most vicious and meanest servant as the governor of Kufa. Hajjaj entered the city at midnight with a group of sword bearing people. No one knew about his arrival. Apparently the people of Kufa had expelled the former governor or made him lame duck. Hajjaj came at midnight and went straight to the mosque. At this hour voices could be heard of pious people - people praying and those praying the night prayer.

Upon his arrival at the mosque he gave instructions to his servants, appointed each one at a certain spot and then entered the mosque in such a manner that no one knew. Suddenly he got up in the midst of people and sat on the pulpit.

As the Kufa mosque was rather large, initially people did not notice. But then slowly people started noticing that someone was sitting quietly on the pulpit in a strange manner. Hajjaj had a red turban on and had wrapped his face up to his nose with one end. In this condition only his eyes were visible and he looked a bizarre sight.

Just imagine a sword bearing individual wearing a red turban sitting quietly on the pulpit of Kufa mosque. Suddenly someone looks up and finds this man in a strange appearance. He asks someone sitting next to him, "who is that?" Gradually everyone starts asking everyone else the same question. Eventually the whispers become louder and the people start gazing at the pulpit.

Think about it. A verse of Qur'an says:

We will further tighten the noose around the neck of a person who strays from the path of faith and the faithful.[^5]

You were a Muslim and you saw someone sitting on the pulpit of your mosque whom you did not know. Why did you sit quietly after seeing him? You should have gone up to him and asked him who he was and that he should introduce himself. Then a second person and a third person should have gone and all should have asked the same question. If everyone had asked the same question, situation would have been different. But people showed lethargy and proved to be cowards and courage-less. They just waited for him to speak.

When Hajjaj noticed that everyone's attention was towards him he spoke, "I think people of Kufa do not recognize me."

People started looking at each other making it very clear that they did not know him. Then Hajjaj said, "OK, I will introduce myself." He took off his turban, uncovered his face, looked at people and then read a couplet in Arabic:

When I take off my turban, you will recognize me.

Since Hajjaj had visited Kufa once before, a few people said, they thought he was Hajjaj. And then whispers, "Hajjaj, Hajjaj" started sounding. When it became clear that Hajjaj was sitting in front of them, they became terror stricken. Hajjaj saw this and said, "Yes, you have recognized me correctly; I am Hajjaj."

People were awe struck. None of them thought, "Hajjaj is a person just like me. The only difference is that he is sitting up and I am sitting below. Whatever he has, I have too." These people became cowards.

Hajjaj said, "O' residents of Kufa! I am looking at such heads on shoulders that are ready to be taken down like ripe fruit. I can see that some heads need to be severed from their bodies."

People got even more frightened with such shallow talk. After all Hajjaj did not come to Kufa with an atomic bomb. Even if he had such a bomb, he could not have exploded it, as no one would have survived that he could rule over. It was necessary that some people should live. He could not have killed everyone. If he had killed all, whom would he have ruled over? He could not have ruled over doors and walls.

But people were not thinking.

After saying the sentence that he was looking at some heads whose time had come to be removed from their bodies said, "Now I will decide whose heads will be removed." Then he called his servant. The servant got up. Hajjaj said, "Read them the letter from the commander of the believers." You know that he called Abdul Malik Bin Marwan commander of the believers. The servant opened the letter from Abdul Malik Bin Marwan and started to read it. The first sentence of the letter was:

In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, most Merciful. From the commander of the believers, Abdul Malik Bin Marwan, to the inhabitants of Kufa. O' Kufians, peace be on you.

When the servant read this much, suddenly Hajjaj turned towards him and said, "Stop. Be quiet." Then he turned towards the Kufians and said, "You people have become very un-courteous. The commander of the believers gives you his regards and you don't even respond. O' servant! read it over." The servant started reading again:

In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, most Merciful. From the commander of the believers, Abdul Malik Bin Marwan, to the inhabitants of Kufa. O' Kufians, peace be on you.

At this point there was a loud sound:

And peace be on you, o' commander of the faithful.

On hearing this a big smile surfaced on the face of Hajjaj and he said in his mind, "the game is over." And as a matter of fact that was the end of Kufians. They responded to the greetings of the commander of the believers, who in reality was the commander of the non-believers and debauchers. In other words these people by responding to the greetings of Hajjaj finished themselves off.

A person who quarrels with the Prophet and parts from him after the guided path becomes clear to him; and follows a path other than that of believers. Whosoever's Wilayat one accepts, we make that person his Wali and ruler.

Now that you responded to his call; you have agreed with him, so Hajjaj is your ruler. You have opened the door for Hajjaj. God will not use a miracle to finish Hajjaj off and put Imam Zain Ul Abideen in his place. Now Hajjaj is in control of you and until you express your hatred for Hajjaj and throw him out, your whole life, thinking and soul will stay subservient to him. This is the tradition of this world and that of history.

After the letter reading was over, Hajjaj got off the pulpit and went to the Governor's house. There he said, "Since some of the inhabitants of Kufa have sided with a rebel (apparently Muhammad Bin Ash'as), all Kufians should come and plead guilty that they have turned non-believers and need to become believers again."

All residents of Kufa (in other words all go-with-the-flow ordinary people; otherwise, for sure there were some who did not succumb to it; some of them stayed at home; others took up arms or adopted other means) went to the governor's house in droves to plead their guilt. What they had to do was to admit that they had gone out of the religion of God and were now outside the circle of Islam. Then they had to say, "we repent and God willing, the commander will accept our penitence so we could become Muslims again."

An old man walked up to Hajjaj. Hajjaj thought that the man had some honor left in him. He said, "old man! It appears that you have some doubt about your infidelity." What he meant was, "if you have any doubt, then I can take care of it with my sword." Because everyone who did not accept his infidelity, was killed. The old man immediately responded, "no sir, I am more infidel than all infidels."

This is the history. History is a lesson.

It is more joyful to witness praise for the lovers

Mentioned in the story of others

History is a commentary on Qur'an; search Qur'an in history.

Know that:

For the wise man who has seen the world

In this era, there is a need for two lives;

One to gain experience

And the other to put the experience to work

History is our past. Ponder over it. Develop a liking for history and discover what is hidden in it. Don't be content with just reciting poetry and stories; instead see what lesson history wants to teach us. What does the anecdote of Hajjaj tell us? There is no harm in mentioning that the same Hajjaj was brutally murdered by the same people for whom he had tyrannized people. Similarly it does not hurt to know that:

One who helps an oppressor, God forces the same oppressor on him. This is also a tradition.

Study history. See, what lessons it has for us. What guidance does it have for us? What message and advice does it have for us? Survey history with intense scrutiny. You will see that meanings of Qur'anic verses are being illustrated for us.

We have related to you the earlier part of history; we have left it up to you to establish a link with the present. Now we revert back to the Qur'anic verses and start the process over.

Once you have read Qur'an, seek refuge of God from the mischief of cursed Satan. [^6]

Now that you have read Qur'an and understood the Sciences of Islam, take yourself to the sanctuary of God out of harm's away from Satan. Satan does not want you to learn Qur'an; he does not want you to comprehend Qur'an. So try to ensure that Satan does not take way the knowledge you gain from Qur'an and prevent you from gaining more understanding and acting on it. So move to the safe haven of God to guard against the evil of cursed Satan.

Surely strife-creating Satan cannot overpower those who are believers and have faith and trust in Allah. [^7]

Satan does not have control over those who keep themselves sheltered under the Wilayat of God.

Surely Satan subjugates only those who accept his Wilayat.

Those who have handed over their neck's leash themselves to Satan.

Satan is able to control only those who consent to his Wilayat.

And those who believe in the plurality of Allah. [^8]

As we described earlier what is in Chapter Nisa.

A person who quarrels with the Prophet and parts from him.

After the guided path becomes clear to him.

And follows a path other than that of believers.

Whosoever's Wilayat one accepts, we make that person his Wali and ruler.

And we throw him in hell and what a horrible ending it is.

God does not forgive someone who makes up a partner with Him. [^9]

Here we come back to the meanings of Oneness of God and polytheism so that we know what polytheism is and what Oneness of God is; and what sin God does not forgive.

God does not forgive a person who has accepted a partner with Him in Wilayat. He does not pardon someone who has turned polytheist, who has handed over the sphere of God's rule to someone other than God. The wound that has been inflicted to his soul due to this sin, disobedience, vice and misfortune will never heal. In other words he will never be exonerated. If you are in the Wilayat of someone other than God, the remission of sins - healing of the wound caused by defiance, mistakes, slipping and ignorance - will not happen; the blemish and discoloration left by this sin will never go.

However, if man wishes, the sins lower than polytheism will be pardoned.

Allah will exonerate a person who comes back to Him through penitence and remediation.

And whoever declares a partner with God, he is gone very far from the guided path and has gone astray. [^10]

Sometimes it happens that you are lost in wilderness but you are only 1 km away from the right way. And sometimes you are lost and gone tens of kilometers away from the desired route; so far that it is no easier to come back and it requires a lot of struggle and cleverness and a strong guide is needed. Those people, who have created a God's partner, have gone very far from the straight and guided way.

They are way off-track.

There are a few women whom they call other than God.

They do not call anyone other than the defiant Satan who is bereft of goodness and blessing.[^11]

Curse of God on the God-expelled Satan. Right from the beginning he has vowed to oppose God. And fundamentally there cannot be peace between God and Satan. At this point the Glorious Qur'an describes the devilish people and the nature of the satans of this world.

Satan has sworn and said, "I will pull a certain segment of the servants of God to my side."

In other words, "I will drag some of God's servants from the right path to ignorance; I will seize their intellect; I will trash their prudence; I will carry them into my Wilayat and obedience instead of Yours."

I will completely trap them in far out desires and wants.

Just focus on the word " وَ لااَمَنِّيَنَّہُمْ ". This word contains all far-fetched wants and all those things that keep an individual from struggling in the way of God.

Ten years more of life with greater happiness, comfort and luxury; seeing the oldest son as a groom; marrying daughters; enlarging the current small house and the small shop; becoming the head of a certain organization; earning a certain amount of money; wishing to see the son as an engineer are some of the aspirations that weigh down one's neck; that bring the person to his knees; that make him powerless. If you cleanse your heart of such desires, you will be a free man. You will live a life of freedom and will not feel a prisoner to anyone.

So the Satan says:

I will trap them in far out desires and wants.

I will command them to cut the ears of animals.

This is an allusion to one of the bad traditions of the ignorance era. However, it is possible that there is some secret hidden in this sentence that I have not researched much and have not had the opportunity to study what has been written on this subject. Apparently the issue was that during the time of the Prophet of Islam there was a ritual of ignorance that they would cut the ears of animals and/or would make holes in them so they could be blessed with sustenance and peace. This was a tradition of the age of ignorance. The Glorious Qur'an mentions it as a sign of un-Godly traditions, ideas, ways and rituals.

See how comical and shallow it is. Fundamentally all satanic rituals and traditions are like this one.

The Glorious Qur'an further relates the talk of the Satan. "I will order those who follow my directions to make changes in the divine creation, nature and disposition. There will be people whom I will hunt in Your area of government and Wilayat and bring them to my desolate area of Wilayat. I will command and incite such people to let go of creation and Godly nature and get away from the path You have decreed for them. I will make laws against nature and put in front of them a path that goes against nature - a path that takes them some place other than the natural destination of man.

This is the Satan's promise to Allah. This promise shows his antagonism and animosity towards God. All satans have the same line of action and plan. All satans of this world do the same thing. Keep in mind that if people want to spend their lives according to God given nature and intellect, Satan would not get in their way. As a matter of fact Satan drags away from the God given nature and disposition those who accept his Wilayat and control because without it he is helpless; his work does not proceed forward and his satanism fails.

After this God addresses us:

Whoever accepts the Wilayat of Satan instead of God's Wilayat, will be at a loss that is manifest. [^12]

The Satan makes promises to them and indulges them in far out desires and longings. [^13]

And whatever promises Satan makes, they are nothing but deception, trickery and lies. [^14]

[^1]: Ch.4, An-Nisa’, verse 76.

[^2]: Ch.4, An-Nisa’, verse 115.

[^3]: Ch. 13 Raad, verse 11.

[^4]: Ch.4, An-Nisa’, verse 115.

[^5]: Ch. 4, an-Nisa’, verse 115.

[^6]: Ch. 16 Nahl, verse 98.

[^7]: Ch. 16 Nahl, verse 99.

[^8]: Ch. 16 Nahl, verse 100.

[^9]: Ch.4, An-Nisa’, verse 115, 116.

[^10]: Ch.4, An-Nisa’, verse 116.

[^11]: Ch.4, An-Nisa’, verse 117.

[^12]: Ch. 4 Nisa verses 119-120.

[^13]: Ch. 4 Nisa verses 119-120.

[^14]: Ch. 4 Nisa verses 119-120.