Al‐Wala’ wa’l‐Bara’ By Shaykh Muhammad Saeed al‐Qahtani. Al-walāʾ wa-l-barāʾ (Arabic: ٱلْوَلَاءُ وَٱلْبَرَاءُ) is a concept associated Islam. It literally means “loyalty and disavowal”, which signifies loving and hating for the sake of Allah.
The concept is derived from the Qur’an, and according to Wagemakers the earliest groups to have derived it in particular were the early Ibadi and Khawarij movements. Later on it also became associated with the Shi’a. Sunnis were less enthusiastic about a concept that they associated with heterodox groups, and the founder of the Hanbali school, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 H/ 855 CE) in particular was reported to have dismissed Al-Wala’ wal-Bara’ as Bidʻah.
However within a few hundred years, the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 H/ 1328 CE) adopted the idea in order to ensure Muslims were sticking on the straight path in disavowing the religious practices of the local non-Muslims. Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792 CE) being influenced by his teachings, taught this doctrine which subsequently has a central place in Wahhabism and modern Salafism.
Author’s Note of Al‐Wala’ wa’l‐Bara’ By Shaykh Muhammad Saeed al‐Qahtani
This book was originally submitted in the form of a thesis for a Master’s Degree to the Department of Aqeedah of the Umm al‐Qorah University in Makka, ‘Saudi’ Arabia.
The examining committee comprised the following: Muhammad Qutb, the supervisor, as chairman; Shaykh Abdur Razzaq Afifi as a member; and Dr. Abdul Azeez Obeid as a member.
The author was granted a Master’s Degree, with excellence, on Saturday evening, the 4th of Shaban 1401.
I am grateful to Shaykh Abdur Razzaq Afifi for writing the Foreword to this book.
Thank you.
Muhammad Saeed al‐Qahtani
Dhul‐Hijjah 1413
Download Pdf
