Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: ‘Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn 

Tabataba’i,  Shi’ite Islam. Translated by Seyyed Hossein 

Nasr (Albany: State University of New York Press, 

1975); Said Amir Arjomand, The Shadow of God and the 

Hidden Imam (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 

1984); Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina, The Just 

Ruler (al-sultan al-’adil) in Shi’ite Islam: The Comprehen-

sive Authority of the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence (New 

York: Oxford University Press, 1988).

wali

In Arabic, wali (plural awliya) means someone 

who is near, a supporter, a guardian, or a friend, 

but most often refers to a 

saint

 in the Islamic 

world. In this sense, the word is often used in the 

expression  wali  a

llah

—“Friend of God.” Saints 

are found in almost all Islamic countries, but their 

status as saints is usually not official, since i

slam

has no official process of canonization. Islamic 

saints are those who are recognized as such by 

the people, usually because they are considered 

holy and/or able to perform 

miracles

. They inspire 

feelings of reverence in people, and their help is 

sought in times of need. This is true for both liv-

ing and dead saints.

While there have been examples of 

Women

saints in Islam, the majority have been men. They 

can be of a number of different types of histori-

cal figures: mystics, ascetics, founders of dervish 

orders, poets, martyrs, warriors, or descendants of 

the Prophet. Most saints are, however, associated 

in some way with s

UFism

. While their appeal is 

mostly to common people, Muslim scholars such 

as al-Tirmidhi, Hujwiri, and i

bn

 

al

-a

rabi

  have 

made them the subject of much study, devising 

elaborate hierarchies of saints. Saints are thought 

to be endowed with the blessing (

baraka

) of God, 

which they can transmit to ordinary humans 

through contact and which is often thought to be 

manifested in miraculous acts (karamat), such as 

flying, changing form, multiplying food, healing 

the sick, and foretelling future events. Legendary 

accounts of the lives of many saints have been col-

lected in hagiographies (manakib). While many 

people believe in the literal truth of such miracles, 

Sufis often focus on their esoteric meanings. 

Saints are thought to maintain their power after 

their 

deaths

, inspiring believers to make pilgrim-

ages (ziyarat) to their graves, where they may ven-

erate the saint by praying, circumambulating the