Walāya and Barā'a

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Walāya and Barā'a ( Arabic الولاية والبراءة, DMG al-Walāya wa-l-barāʾa  , loyalty and defection ') are two socio-ethical concepts among the Ibadis and Shiites that concern the inner cohesion of the community of believers and their delimitation from the outside. Loyalty and solidarity (walāya) should therefore only be entertained with the members of one's own community, whereas defection and avoidance (barāʾa) should be practiced towards all other Muslims . In Sunni Islam, the two concepts were rejected in premodern times, but a similar doctrine developed in modern Salafism with al-Walā 'wa-l-barā' . However, it is primarily directed against non-Muslims and those who work with them.

origin

The concepts of Walāya and Barā'a have their origins in pre-Islamic Arab tribal society. Walāya referred to the protection that the tribe guaranteed against the individual members, Barā'a, conversely, referred to the exclusion of a rebellious member from the tribe. The term barā'a is also used in verse 1 of sura 9, which explains the separation of Muslims from non-Muslims: “A denunciation (barāʾa) on the part of God and His Messenger to those companions with whom you had made a covenant ". Sura 9 is therefore also called Sūrat al-Barā'a.

With the Ibadites

history

In its combination, the Walāya-Barā'a concept was first used by the Kharijites , who thereby distinguished themselves from other Muslims who did not follow their teachings. The Ibadites, who are in the tradition of the Charidishites, adopted the concept and laid down certain rules for it. The first statements on Walāya and Barā'a can be found in a fatwa collection of the Ibadit scholar Rabīʿ ibn Habīb (d. 806). Another early scholar who commented extensively on the use of Walāya and Barā'a was the Rustamidic Imam Aflah ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (d. 864/5). Almost all Ibadi fiqh works from the 9th century to the present day contain a detailed chapter on this subject.

With the Ibadites in the Mzab , the principle is maintained to this day. It works here as a "religious transformation of tribal politics". In Oman , where the Ibadis make up the majority of the population, the Walāya-Barā'a principle is now also the subject of religious instruction in schools.

content

Overall, walāya expresses a relationship of closeness. Among the things that it includes are love with the heart and praise with the tongue, friendship and brotherhood, asking for forgiveness (istiġfār) for the persons concerned, and the desire that such persons receive the same benefits in this world and hereafter as oneself. According to the classical Ibaditic doctrine, Walāya is obligatory towards 1.) the believers in general, 2.) those persons who are praised in the Koran, among them prophets, priests and monks, 3.) a righteous imam , and 4.) Individuals who meet the regulations in a satisfactory manner.

Among the things included in the barā'a are the duty to curse and curse those concerned and hostility (ʿadāwa) in the heart. Barā'a must be practiced: 1) against the unbelievers, both living and dead, 2.) against an unjust imam, 3.) against those who are disapproved in the Quran (maḏmūmūn) and described as rebels, and 4 .) towards those persons who have committed a grave sin (kabīra) . The bara'a of the great sinner is canceled when he performs the tauba . A person against whom bara'a has been imposed is called a mubtari '. Anyone who does not practice bara'a towards her is to be treated like her. The Barā'a marks the person punished with it as an unbeliever. If the Mubtari 'comes into conflict with the community, he is also threatened with death.

In relation to an imam, the rule applies that when a great sin is committed, one should not turn away from him immediately, but rather ask him formally to take the tauba. If he did so, the duty of walāya continued to apply. If, on the other hand, he refused the tauba, the believers had to renounce him and had to fight him.

In addition to the Walāya and the Barā'a, the Ibadites also know the possibility of abstention (wuqūf, tawaqquf) , which can be used in unclear cases. This principle is to be applied, for example, to the children of persons towards whom the bara'a is practiced. With them, the decision is postponed until after they come of age. Basically, there was the view that Wuqūf was preferable to “expulsion without sufficient knowledge” (barāʾa ʿalā ġair ʿilm) .

Walāya and Barā'a also have economic implications for the Ibadites. So they include the rule that the proceeds of the zakāt tax may only be distributed among needy Ibadis. Ibadites who did not adhere to this principle were not given Barāʾa, but were classified as Munāfiq . In Ibadi procedural law, it is also valid that only one who belongs to the people of the Walāya can appear as a witness.

Theoretically, the Walāya-Barā'a principle implies a complete isolation of the Ibadites from all other Muslims. In practice, however, the barā'a was seldom pronounced towards other Muslims. Any questioning to examine the claim to Walāya was also refused. Rather, anyone who shows agreement in religion should receive walāya if nothing is known about him to be condemned .

With the Shiites

In the alidic circles of Kufa, the double concept of al-Walāya and al-Barā'a was initially rejected. It later became an integral part of the Imamite Shia. Ibn Bābawaih quotes the Prophet as saying: "The belief of man is only accepted by God if he includes Walāya against ʿAlī and Barāʾa against all his enemies." Jafar as-Sādiq is said to have summarized the belief in six points: 1. Defection (barāʾa) from all tawāghīt , 2. loyalty (walāya) to the imams , 3. the return (raǧʿa) of the expected imam, 4. the permissibility of the mutʿa , 5. the inadmissibility of the eel and 6. al-Mash ʿalā l -chuffain .

When the believer dies, his adherence to the two principles of Walāya and Barā'a according to the Imamitic doctrine is checked. The Angel of Death should then ask ʿAlī regarding himself: “Was he fond of you and your family?” ʿAlī then replies: “Yes, he has shown affection for us and turned away from our enemies”. This information is passed on to the angel Gabriel , who in turn informs God about it. Imamites emphasize that walāya alone is not enough, but must always be accompanied by barā'a, otherwise it is a sign of weak faith. So it is also not allowed to pray behind an imam who only practices loyalty to ʿAlī but does not renounce his enemies. Failure to renounce should only be allowed for reasons of Taqīya . As soon as the bara'a is a duty of the enemies of the Shia, conversely the bara'a is considered an outrage towards the imams.

The concepts of Walāya and Barā'a are also part of the Fatimid - Ismaili teaching. They are described as the two elements that make up belief, but it is emphasized that barā'a is a requirement for walāya. Barā'a is understood as the renunciation of those who have separated from God's messengers and imams. Only those who have performed barā'a can practice walāya and thereby complete their faith. The Ismailis draw an analogy to ritual prayer : as well as ritual cleansing is a prerequisite for prayer and at the same time a part of it, then Barā'a should also be a prerequisite for faith and a part of it at the same time. Barā'a is therefore also regarded by the Ismailis as the "inner sense" (bāṭin) of wudū '.

Reception with the Sunnis

Among the Sunnis, the Hanbalites in particular rejected the concept. So to Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: "Al-Walāya is a bid'ah and al-Bara'a is a bid'ah. This is what those who say: We join someone and we break away from someone have imagined it. This teaching is a bidʿa. So be careful of it. ”Similarly, the Hanbali scholar Ibn Batta (d. 997) rejected Walāya and Barā'a as bidʿa.

literature

  • MA Amir-Moezzi: "Note à propos de la walāya imamite (Aspects de l'imamologie duodécimaine X)" in Journal of the American Oriental Society 122/4 (2002) 722-741.
  • Amr Ennami: Studies in Ibadhism . Ministry of Endowments & Religious Affairs , Oman, 2008. pp. 286-332.
  • Francesca Ersilia: From the Individualism to the Community's Power: the Economic Implication of the Walāya / barā'a Dynamic among the Ibāḍīs. In Annali dell 'Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 59 (1999) 69-77. Digitized
  • Valerie Hoffman: The Essentials of Ibadi Islam . Syracuse University Press, New York, 2012. pp. 156-212.
  • Etan Kohlberg : “Barā'a in Shīʿī Doctrine” in Jerusalem Studies of Arabic and Islam 7 (1986) 139–175.
  • Mandana E. Limbert: “Oman: Cultivating Good Citizens and Religious Virtue” in EA Doumato and Gregory Starrett: Teaching Islam: Textbooks and Religion in the Middle East. Boulder, London, 2007. pp. 103-125. Here especially pp. 114–118.
  • Uri Rubin : "Barā'a: A Study of some Quranic Passages" in Jerusalem Studies of Arabic and Islam 5 (1984) 13-32.
  • R. Rubinacci: Art. "Barāʾa II." in The Encyclopaedia of Islam Vol. I, pp. 1027b-1028a.
  • Werner Schwartz: The beginnings of the Ibadites in North Africa. The contribution of an Islamic minority to the spread of Islam. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1983. pp. 57-66.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Ennami: Studies in Ibadhism. 2008, pp. 311-313.
  2. ↑ See Uri Rubin: "Bar̄a'a: A Study of some Quranic Passages" in Jerusalem Studies of Arabic and Islam 5 (1984) 13–32.
  3. ^ Francesca: From the Individualism to the Community's Power. 1999, p. 70.
  4. ↑ See Schwartz: The beginnings of the Ibadites. 1983. pp. 63-65.
  5. ^ Francesca: From the Individualism to the Community's Power. 1999, p. 71.
  6. ^ Francesca: From the Individualism to the Community's Power . 1999, p. 74.
  7. ^ Francesca: From the Individualism to the Community's Power . 1999, p. 75.
  8. ↑ Limbert: “Oman: Cultivating Good Citizens and Religious Virtue”. 2007, pp. 116-18.
  9. ↑ See Ennami: Studies in Ibadhism. 2008, p. 286f.
  10. ↑ See Ennami: Studies in Ibadhism. 2008, pp. 290-303.
  11. ↑ See Ennami: Studies in Ibadhism. 2008, p. 288.
  12. ↑ See Ennami: Studies in Ibadhism. 2008, pp. 290-303.
  13. ↑ See Rubinacci in Encyclopaedia of Islam Vol. I, p. 1028a.
  14. ↑ See Schwartz: The beginnings of the Ibadites. 1983, p. 57.
  15. ^ Francesca: From the Individualism to the Community's Power. 1999, p. 71.
  16. ↑ See Josef van Ess : Theology and Society in the 2nd and 3rd Century of the Hijra. A History of Religious Thought in Early Islam . 6 vols. Berlin: De Gruyter 1991-97. Vol. II, p. 225.
  17. ↑ See Schwartz: The beginnings of the Ibadites. 1983, p. 58.
  18. ↑ See Schwartz: The beginnings of the Ibadites. 1983, p. 62.
  19. ^ Francesca: From the Individualism to the Community's Power . 1999, p. 70.
  20. ↑ See Schwartz: The beginnings of the Ibadites. 1983. pp. 60f.
  21. ↑ See Ennami: Studies in Ibadhism. 2008, p. 331.
  22. ↑ See Schwartz: The beginnings of the Ibadites. 1983, p. 66.
  23. ↑ Cf. Kohlberg: "Barā'a in Shīʿī Doctrine". 1986, p. 145.
  24. ↑ Quoted from Kohlberg: “Barā'a in Shīʿī Doctrine”. 1986, p. 146.
  25. ↑ Cf. Kohlberg: "Barā'a in Shīʿī Doctrine". 1986, p. 148.
  26. ↑ Cf. Kohlberg: "Barā'a in Shīʿī Doctrine". 1986, p. 150.
  27. ↑ Cf. Kohlberg: "Barā'a in Shīʿī Doctrine". 1986, p. 150.
  28. ↑ Cf. Kohlberg: "Barā'a in Shīʿī Doctrine". 1986, p. 158.
  29. ↑ Cf. Kohlberg: "Barā'a in Shīʿī Doctrine". 1986, p. 156f.
  30. ↑ Cf. Ibn Abī Yaʿlā: Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābila. Ed. Muḥammad Ḥāmid al-Fiqī. Cairo 1952. p. 35. Online version
  31. ↑ See Joas Wagemakers: “The Transformation of a Radical Concept: al-wala 'wa-l-bara' in the Ideology of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi” in Roel Meijer (ed.): Global Salafism. Islam's New Religious Movement . Hurst & Company, London, 2009. pp. 81-106. Here p. 85.