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Abdel Rahman's Defense: Waliy: min fi3l Wallaa, al wala2, it's different then the sou7ba which is friendship. El wala2 refers to the taba3iya (being a follower), it's hierarchical. This applies more toward the second meaning you presented. Of coarse you can still be friend with your protector, but it is not a normal friendship, it's a friendship of servitude. Again, the aya came as a guidance to the prophet in pure geopolitical circumstances. He was not having the best time with Christians or Jews or idolaters during that period. They were all out to take him down since he had a different message. You either acknowledge that or you don't. It does not speak of the average friendship or human interaction you or I have. And I warn you that you will find similar verses that bottom line to: at times of war or conflict, don't trust or comfy in non-believers. I as a human understand the wisdom in the verse. It doesn't alter my meaningful friendships which happen to be with Christians and Agnostics and a few Muslims. They are good people I trust, and I have no political conflict with them. Acting upon the aya, IF and only if I shall have a political conflict with one of them where my security is threatened and I am compelled to take a decision (when does that happen in a friendship anyway?), I will not drop his/her friendship (is it still a friendship at this point?), but I will not take him/her as my wali, meaning ask for their services or protection. I have to cover my butt. Are you going to do otherwise? The aya,
though political, is perfectly cogent with human nature. And I don't know
what you mean by "limited in wisdom"? It is a wisdom that outlast its time, so we can say that it is eternal. Allah (SWT) revealed it to Mohammad in times of war, and you and I can use it if we go to war. Two notes to end with: 1- I can't
stress the importance of sticking to the revelation in its original language.
This is a perfect example on how the meaning could be misinterpreted because
of the lack of accuracy in the translation. And I am shy to point that
this is one of the things Christianity has suffered I very much understand why the Islamic tradition emphasizes on encouraging people to learn Arabic thoroughly before reading the Quran. As an Arabic speaker, and so are you, when was the last time you called your friend your wali? The last time I heard the word is when the principle in my high school said: "go bring waliy amrak" which means go bring the person that is responsible for you (a parent). He surely wasn't asking for my friend when I ditched class to go play soccer. :) 2- The inaccuracy in the translation is one problem, the other problem is the background of the aya. Before coming to the conclusion, one must ask why? Why was it revealed? These are not words at random, and they are not words of a poet smoking pot, they are words of god guiding the faithful in his/her struggle. I understand how at first one could find such a verse shocking, but if you get the right translation, along with the circumstances of the event, you will find that the verse is rather valid and convincing. You can extract the good from it if you need to, and if you don't, it's there for those who do need it. Abboud :) Note: a true
Christian is a true Jew is a true Muslim: he/she believes in a single
god with no association. But is that enough of a criteria in a person
so that you give them your trust? I don't think so. But you can |