Ismaili Ta'wil of al-Awliya' — The Friends of God: How the Quranic Category of Awliya' Allah (The Friends/Saints of God — 10:62) Is Understood in Ismaili Ta'wil as the Imams Themselves and Those Who Participate in Walayah Through Bay'ah, Distinguishing the Ismaili Reading from Both Sunni Wali-Sainthood and Sufi Wilaya Theories

In Ismaili ta'wil, al-Awliya' (الأَوليَاء — The Friends of God, the Saints; singular: wali; from *w-l-y*: to be close to, to be a guardian of, to govern; the Quranic verse: 10:62-64 'Unquestionably, the friends of God [awliya' Allah] — no fear will come upon them, nor will they grieve; those who believed [amanu] and were fearing [yattaqun]. For them are glad tidings in the worldly life and in the Hereafter'; 2:257 'God is the Wali of those who believe — He brings them out of darknesses into light'; 5:55 'Your Wali is only God and His Messenger and those who have believed — those who establish prayer and give zakat, while they bow in prayer'; the classical Sunni reading of 5:55: the verse's context refers to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib [who gave charity while bowing in prayer]; Sunni commentators: wali here means 'friend/supporter'; Shi'i commentators: this is the explicit verse of 'Ali's walayah [religious authority]; the classical awliya' Allah: in mainstream Sunni thought, the awliya' are the righteous believers who have attained closeness to God through piety, scholarship, and spiritual devotion; they may intercede; they may perform karamat [miracles]; the Sufi theory of wilaya: the Sufi tradition developed an elaborate theory of wali-sainthood: the hierarchy of saints [qutb at the apex, abdal, aqtab]; the wali receives kashf and karamat; the wali has a specific rank in the cosmic hierarchy; the relationship between nabuwwa [prophethood] and wilaya in the Sufi tradition [Ibn 'Arabi: wilaya is higher than nabuwwa as inner is higher than outer]; Ismaili ta'wil of awliya': [1] the primary awliya': the Imams of the ahl al-bayt are the awliya' Allah in the fullest sense; they embody the qualities of 10:62-64 — fear protects them [through God's ta'yid/divine support], they receive the glad tidings [bushara], they are the channels through which God's walayah flows to the community; [2] derivative wilaya: the mu'min who gives bay'ah participates in the walayah of the Imams; the wilaya of the Imam flows through the da'wa hierarchy and reaches the mu'min in attenuated form; [3] 5:55 in Ismaili ta'wil: the verse's plural 'those who believed' [alladhina amanu] who give 'while they bow' refers in ta'wil to all who give their bay'ah [wilaya/walayah] to the Imam — the act of 'bowing' in ta'wil is the act of submission in bay'ah; [4] the Ismaili vs Sufi wali: the Sufi wali acquires wilaya through spiritual discipline; the Ismaili wali [Imam] has inherent wilaya through nass; there is no spiritual discipline that produces Imamic wilaya — it is given by divine appointment; [5] 2:257 in ta'wil: 'God brings believers from darkness to light through the awliya'' — the Imam is the instrument through which God exercises this guidance; the Imam is the 'wali' of 2:257, not a general description of righteous piety; [6] the karamat question: awliya' in Sufi tradition perform karamat [miracles]; Ismaili ta'wil redirects this: the Imam's 'miracle' is the inexhaustible ta'wil he produces from the Quran — the spiritual karama is hermeneutical, not supernatural) is the Ismaili ontology of sacred friendship.