Al-walāʾ wa-l-barāʾ (Arabic: {{large|ٱلْوَلَاءُ وَٱلْبَرَاءُ) is a concept associated with Islam. It literally means "loyalty and disavowal", which signifies loving and hating for the sake of God.[1] [2] [3]
The concept is derived from the Qur'an, and according to Wagemakers the earliest groups to have derived it in particular were the early Ibadi and Khawarij movements. Later on it also became associated with the Shi'a. Sunnis were less enthusiastic about a concept that they associated with heterodox groups, and the founder of the Hanbali school, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 H/ 855 CE) in particular was reported to have dismissed loyalty and disavowal to specific individuals as Bidʻah. However within a few hundred years, the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 H/ 1328 CE) adopted the idea in order to ensure Muslims were sticking on the straight path in disavowing the religious practices of the local non-Muslims. Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792 CE) being influenced by his teachings, taught this doctrine which subsequently has a central place in Wahhabism and modern Salafism.[2] [3]
Al-wala' wa-l-bara' is referred to as holding fast to all that is pleasing to God, and withdrawing from and opposing all that is displeasing to God, for the sake of God. This is for their calling towards something other than submission to God, whether on purpose or by nature of disbelief. Loving for the sake of God means to love God and to show loyalty to him by following his Shariah. It means to love all that is good and permissible in the Quran and Sunnah. This type of love requires one to defend God deen and to preserve it. It is to love those who are obedient to God and to defend and assist them. Hating for the sake of God signifies showing anger towards those who oppose God, His messenger, His deen, and the believers.[4]