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The wali (friend of God)

الولي

The wali in the creed is one of the friends of the Merciful; the Tahawiyya affirms 'all the believers are friends of the Merciful, the noblest to God the most obedient' and 'we do not prefer any wali over any prophet' 1.

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Spirituality and Sufism

Overview

The wali in the creed is one of the friends of the Merciful; the Tahawiyya affirms 'all the believers are friends of the Merciful, the noblest to God the most obedient and most observant of His law', and 'we do not prefer any wali over any prophet' 1.

In the sources

The creed affirms all believers are friends of the Merciful, the noblest the most obedient, and that no wali is preferred over any prophet 1.

People and things also explored

Prophetic adab (proper conduct)· Akhi Baba (title of the guild shaykh and tanners' head)· The angelic and the satanic inspiration (lamma)· Asking people for help (al-masala)· The soul (nafs) and the spirit (ruh)· Tabattul (withdrawal from the world)· Intimacy with God (uns billah)· Certainty and its degrees (yaqin)

Sources

  1. al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya, Dar Ibn Hazm 1995 , §§86,127
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The wali (friend of God)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/wali/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Prophetic adab (proper conduct)

The body of proper conduct the believer is commanded in his words, deeds and relations with God and His servants; from the formula 'whoever believes in God and the Last Day' in Abu Hurayra's hadith Ibn Rajab derives that these traits are of the traits of iman and that deeds enter into iman, dividing the hadith's three commands into what belongs to God's rights — speaking good or keeping silent — and what belongs to His servants' rights — honouring the neighbour, withholding harm from him and honouring the guest; he transmits Aswad ibn Asram's report of the Prophet's counsel 'do not say with your tongue except what is good and do not extend your hand except to good', and that the tongue's uprightness is of the traits of iman; Abu Amr ibn al-Salah reports from Abu Muhammad ibn Abi Zayd, the Maliki imam of his time, that the conduct of goodness and all its reins branch from four hadiths: speaking good or keeping silent, leaving what does not concern one, 'do not become angry', and loving for one's brother what one loves for oneself.