Your refuge is the Fire. It is most worthy of you, and wretched is the destination. [Surah Hadeed 57:15]

فَالْيَوْمَ لَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنكُمْ فِدْيَةٌ وَلَا مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ۚ مَأْوَاكُمُ النَّارُ ۖ هِيَ مَوْلَاكُمْ ۖ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ

So today no ransom will be taken from you or from those who disbelieved. Your Mawla is the Fire. It is most worthy of you, and wretched is the destination. [Surah Hadeed 57:15]

As we know; ‘That is because certainly Allah is the Mawlaa of those who believe, and indeed the disbelievers have no Mawlaa.’ [Surah Muhammad 47:11]

The meaning of Mawlaa is one who is willing to protect you, and does protect you.

Your Mawlaa is An-Naar [the fire] – which can not protect anyone, so in reality its not a “mawlaa” [protector]. By what we understand from the word is like “the only thing that you could take for a mawlaa is an-naar [the fire]” “that is your only refuge”, when that is not even really a protector. Infact, it’s your own enemy.

This is similar to when Allah says;

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَكَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ


But those who disbelieve and deny Our signs – those are the companions (As-haab) of Hellfire. [Ma’idah 5:10]




Because the hellfire is not a good companion, rather it is your enemy. And a Sahabi [companion] is someone who is always with you.

Wali vs Mawlaa. [Baqarah 2:257]

Asalaam alaikum warahmatulah wabarakatuh 

Wali vs Mawlaa.

Point #1: 

Allah ta’ala says in suratul Baqarah ayah [2:257]:

اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يُخْرِجُهُمْ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ
‘Allah is the Wali of those who believe, He brings take them from the darknesses into the light.’

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَوْلِيَاؤُهُمُ الطَّاغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُمْ مِنَ النُّورِ إِلَى الظُّلُمَاتِ
‘and those who disblieve their Awliyaa’ are taghoot, they bring them out of the light to darknesses.’

Wali is a special type of friend, who expresses the will to help to you and support you. A wali is a friend that you turn to for help, protection and support. The wali is the primary in the relationship, they are the dominant party.

Take for example, if a father is the wali to his son, then the father is the primary in the relationship.
Allah ta’ala says in the beginning of the ayah that He is the Wali for the believers. Those who disbelieve have Taghoot (anything and everything that is worshipped besides Allah) as their Awliyaa (plural of wali).

There are two comparisons taking place in this verse: 

1) The believers and those who disbelieve, and  

2) Allah (azza wa jal) and taghoot [those worshipped besides Him].

Looking at the verse again, we see that there is a different arrangement for each comparison: when Allah ta’ala says He is the Wali of the believers, He comes first.

But for those who disbelieve, their wali [those who are worshipped along with Allah] is mentioned last (as a sign of humiliation to them).

Why is the arrangment different?

Allah ta’ala is being ‘compared’ to taghoot [i.e. the disbelievers attempt to take their taghoot as equals to Allah], yet: there is NOTHING like Him, NOTHING can be compared to Him. These taghoot do not deserve to be mentioned in the same place as Allah (azza wa jal) was mentioned. They do not deserve to be mentioned in even the same sentence. So the Taghoot are placed the furthest away from Allah’s Name.
 

Point #2: 

Allah ta’ala says in Surat Muhammad ayah 11,

ذَ*ٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ مَوْلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَأَنَّ الْكَافِرِينَ لَا مَوْلَىٰ لَهُمْ

‘That is because certainly Allah is the Mawlaa of those who believe, and indeed the disbelievers have no Mawlaa.’

Mawlaa is more than a Wali; a Mawlaa is someone who can protect you and actually does so–they are protecting you, while a Wali is someone who is willing to protect you.

When it came to Wali, both the believers and disbelievers had one, but when it comes to Mawlaa – someone who CAN protect you – only the believers have One, and the disbelievers have no Mawlaa [Protector].

SubhanAllah.

Allahumma faqihnaa fid deen, O Allah grant us understanding of the deen [religion], Ameen.