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In the verse of guardianship (wilāyah), Sūrat al-Māʾidah 5:55, God declares that the guardian of the faithful is only God, His Messenger, and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give the zakāt while bowing down. This page gathers the questions readers most often ask about it, in the order of al-Tasnim’s commentary, each with a short answer drawn from what Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī says. Each answer links to the passage in al-Tasnim, so you can read more.
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The words of the verse
What does “innamā” (only) do in this verse?
It is a particle of restriction. Unless something in the text modifies it, it restricts in the full sense: here, it restricts guardianship to God, His Messenger and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give the zakāt while bowing down. Al-Fakhr al-Rāzī argued that it does not always restrict, but Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī replies that where it does not, a clue in the text has changed its default function.
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · Exegesis · Verse 5:55 · Exegesis
How does the verse relate to the verses before it?
The verses before it warn against taking the Jews and Christians as allies. This verse turns to a different matter: guardianship over the faithful and the management of the Islamic community. It shows that true guardianship belongs to God, the Messenger and believers such as Imam ʿAlī.
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · Concordance of the Verses
What kind of guardianship?
Is God’s guardianship the same as the Prophet’s and the Imam’s?
God has authority over both creation and legislation, and the verse combines the two. The Messenger and the select believers also have such authority, but theirs is derivative, given by God, while God’s is essential and His own. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī notes the Qur’an’s monotheistic pattern: a perfection given to people, like might or guardianship, is elsewhere restricted to God, to show that in them it is His manifestation.
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · Authority over Creation and Legislation · Verse 5:55 · The Evidence of Fakhr al-Rāzī
Who is meant by “the faithful”?
About whom was the verse revealed?
Both Shīʿī and Sunni narrators transmit Abū Dharr’s account: a beggar asked for alms in the Prophet’s mosque and no one gave, so ʿAlī, while bowing in prayer, gestured to him to take the ring from his finger. The Prophet then prayed that God give him a helper from his family as He had given Moses, and Jibrīl brought this verse.
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · Fakhr al-Rāzī on ʿAlī being the referent of the verse: his arguments and counterarguments · Verse 5:55 · Fakhr al-Rāzī on ʿAlī being the referent of the verse: his arguments and counterarguments
Why does the verse use plural words if it means one person?
Al-Rāzī objected that the verse uses the plural seven times. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī answers that a plural word keeps its plural meaning even when it happens to have only one instance. The verse of mubāhalah says our women and our souls, yet each had one instance, Fāṭimah and ʿAlī; and Sunni exegetes themselves apply plural verses to single individuals.
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · The Evidence of Fakhr al-Rāzī · Verse 5:55 · The Evidence of Fakhr al-Rāzī
Should the verse not be read like the verses around it?
Al-Rāzī argued for a unity of context with 5:51 and 5:57, which speak of allies. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī replies that consecutive verses were not necessarily revealed together, that this verse has its own occasion of revelation, and that the surrounding verses use the plural awliyāʾ (allies) while this one uses the singular walī (guardian).
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · The Evidence of Fakhr al-Rāzī · Verse 5:55 · The Evidence of Fakhr al-Rāzī
Is giving alms during prayer allowed?
Al-Rāzī argued that it would be an excessive action that invalidates prayer. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī replies that a small gesture is a minor action that does not invalidate prayer, as al-Rāzī himself cites from others. Above all, God would not praise an act that invalidates prayer, yet the verse praises giving alms while bowing.
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · Fakhr al-Rāzī on ʿAlī being the referent of the verse: his arguments and counterarguments
Was the zakāt in the verse obligatory?
Al-Rāzī argued that ʿAlī was poor and owed no obligatory zakāh. The answer is that zakāh in the Qur’an covers both obligatory and recommended giving; in the Meccan verses it meant purifying the soul and giving voluntary alms. So the zakāh in this verse can be a recommended charity.
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · Fakhr al-Rāzī on ʿAlī being the referent of the verse: his arguments and counterarguments
Would giving alms not break ʿAlī’s presence of heart in prayer?
No. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī says that hearing the call of a poor person and helping him is itself worship. Feeling physical pain would distract from presence of heart, but responding to the poor does not.
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · Fakhr al-Rāzī on ʿAlī being the referent of the verse: his arguments and counterarguments
Why did Imam ʿAlī not cite this verse to prove his right?
Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī gives three answers: ʿAlī is not named in the verse; even the Ghadīr, witnessed by thousands, did not make people follow him; and Shīʿī narrations report that he did cite it on the Day of the Council (shūrā), asking whether anyone else had given alms while bowing, and they said no.
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · Fakhr al-Rāzī on ʿAlī being the referent of the verse: his arguments and counterarguments · Verse 5:55 · Fakhr al-Rāzī on ʿAlī being the referent of the verse: his arguments and counterarguments
How could ʿAlī be called “guardian” while the Prophet was alive?
Al-Rāzī argued that ʿAlī did not yet hold authority when the verse came down. The answer is that ʿAlī was guardian during the Prophet’s life but exercised it only after him, much as Zechariah asked for an heir (walī) who would inherit from him in the future. Since the Prophet was the sole authority in his lifetime, the verse points to his successor.
Read more in al-Tasnim: Verse 5:55 · Use of Derivatives for Future Instantiation of the Underlying State · Verse 5:55 · Use of Derivatives for Future Instantiation of the Underlying State