التَّأوِيلُ الإِسمَاعِيلِيُّ لِلمُوَالَاةِ وَالمُعَادَاة — الوَلَاءُ وَالعَدَاء: كَيفَ تُقرَأُ العَقِيدَتَانِ الشِّيعِيَّتَانِ لِلتَّوَلِّي [مَحَبَّةُ الإِمَامِ وَمُوَالَاةُ أَولِيَائِهِ] وَالتَّبَرِّي [الانفِصَالُ عَن أَعدَاءِ الإِمَام] فِي التَّأوِيلِ الإِسمَاعِيلِيِّ بِوَصفِهِمَا تَوَجُّهًا كَونِيًّا لَا عَدَاوَةً طَائِفِيَّة
In Ismaili ta'wil, al-Muwalat wal-Mu'adat (المُوَالَاةُ وَالمُعَادَاة — Love-Allegiance and Enmity; *muwalat*: from *w-l-y*: to be close to, to ally with, to support; muwalat = the act of being close to, aligning with, and supporting the Imam and those allied with the Imam; *mu'adat*: from *'-d-w*: to be hostile to, to be an enemy of; mu'adat = the act of distancing from, opposing, and being hostile to those who oppose the Imam; in Shi'a theology, this pair is systematized as *tawalli* [التَّوَلِّي — aligning with the Imam's friends] and *tabarra'* [التَّبَرُّؤ — dissociating from the Imam's enemies]; these are among the pillars of Shi'a faith in various formulations; Quranic bases: [1] 5:55-56 'your wali [close ally] is only God and His Messenger and those who believe and establish prayer and give zakat while bowing — and whoever takes God and His messenger and the believers as wali: indeed God's party [hizb Allah] will prevail'; [2] 4:139 'those who take the disbelievers as awliya' rather than the believers — do they seek honor from them?'; [3] 60:1-2 'O believers: do not take My enemies and your enemies as awliya'''; the Hadith of Ghadir Khumm: the Prophet's declaration 'Whoever I am his mawla, 'Ali is his mawla; O God, be the wali of whoever is 'Ali's wali and be the enemy of whoever is 'Ali's enemy' — this hadith is the Shi'a proof text for tawalli/tabarra'; the Ismaili ta'wil of al-muwalat wal-mu'adat: [1] cosmological reframing: Ismaili ta'wil transforms tawalli/tabarra' from an inter-communal hostile stance into a cosmological orientation; tawalli is not primarily about hating specific historical figures [which is the polemical dimension of Twelver Shi'a tabarra'] but about aligning one's batin with the Imam; tabarra' is not primarily about hostility to Sunnis but about dis-aligning from whatever opposes the Imam's walayah within one's own batin; [2] muwalat as walayah: muwalat and walayah share the same root [w-l-y]; muwalat is the active verb form: actively aligning, supporting, being close to; in Ismaili ta'wil, muwalat is the practical dimension of walayah — it is what walayah looks like in action: proximity to the Imam, support for the da'wa, care for fellow mu'minun; [3] mu'adat as internal renunciation: in Ismaili ta'wil, the mu'adat [enmity] is primarily directed at one's own inner obstacles to walayah — the nafs-ammara [the commanding self that pulls away from batin-reception]; the 'enemy' is not primarily a group of people but the internal resistance to walayah; this moves the energy of tabarra' from inter-communal hostility to inner spiritual struggle; [4] hub wal-bughd fi Allah [love and hate for God's sake]: the hadith tradition establishes that the mu'min should love and hate based on God's guidance, not personal preference; in Ismaili ta'wil, this means: love what aligns with walayah [the Imam, the da'wa, the mu'min community, ta'wil] and dis-align from what opposes walayah [zahirism without ta'wil, ghasb of the imamate, the forces of darkness in batin-cosmology]; [5] the Dawoodi Bohra practice: in Dawoodi Bohra tradition, tawalli and tabarra' are maintained as formal theological principles but their application is primarily within the community's walayah-structure [tawalli = walayah with the Da'i al-Mutlaq; tabarra' = renunciation of what opposes this walayah] rather than as explicit hostility to other Muslims) is the Ismaili doctrine of cosmological alignment.
Love and Enmity as Cosmic Orientation
The Shi’a doctrines of tawalli (aligning with the Imam and his allies) and tabarra’ (dissociating from the Imam’s enemies) are among the most contested concepts in Islamic inter-sectarian relations. In their most polemical form — explicit cursing of early caliphs and companions — they have generated hostility between Sunni and Shi’a communities across centuries. Ismaili ta’wil performs a characteristic move: transforming a potentially inter-communal confrontation into an interior cosmological orientation.
The Hadith of Ghadir Khumm provides the foundation: the Prophet’s declaration that whoever takes him (Muhammad) as mawla should take ‘Ali as mawla, with a corresponding prayer that God should befriend those who befriend ‘Ali and oppose those who oppose ‘Ali. For the Ismaili tradition, this is not primarily a statement about political history but about the cosmological structure: the Imam’s walayah is the axis of created reality, and muwalat (active alignment) with that axis is the fundamental orientation of the mu’min’s life.
Mu’adat as Internal Renunciation
The Ismaili ta’wil’s most significant transformation of tabarra’ is its direction: rather than pointing outward toward historical figures or other religious communities, it points inward. The “enemy” that the mu’min is called to oppose is the nafs al-ammara (the commanding self that pulls away from batin-reception), the internal resistance to walayah, the zahirism that remains satisfied with the outer shell without opening to the batin.
This is not an evasion but a structural deepening: the obstacles to walayah are primarily internal. The historical figures who usurped the Imam’s position (ghasb) are enemies not because of tribal affiliation but because of what they represent cosmologically: the displacement of walayah from its rightful place. Tabarra’ in the Ismaili sense is the renunciation of whatever in oneself mirrors that displacement.
Muwalat and Walayah: The Same Root
The Arabic root w-l-y underlies both walayah and muwalat: both are about closeness, proximity, alignment. Walayah is the structure; muwalat is the active practice. The mu’min who lives in walayah is practicing muwalat — actively maintaining proximity to the Imam’s presence through bay’ah, through du’a, through attending majalis, through care for fellow mu’minun who share that walayah. The structural and the active are two descriptions of the same thing.
See also: Bayah And Walayah, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Mithaq, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Nass, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Nifaq