Importance of our "Mawla".
-
Peace be on all readers,
During one of my interchanges with one of the forum members I had indicated that Ar-Rahman was my Lord and my Mawla. Someone found this a little unusual and replied
Who is MOWLA?
Shia say Mowla ALI. Is same.Unfortunately this title has been misappropriated and abused by humans. To add to the problem, I think unknowingly translators, including RK and Free-Minds have not done the word justice in their translation
Khalifa
4711 This is because GOD is the Lord of those who believe, while the disbelievers have no lord.Free-Minds
4711. This is because God is the Master for those who believe, while the disbelievers have no master.These are both plainly wrong. I believe this should be like other translations such as Yusuf Ali which makes this
4711 That is because God is the Protector of those who believe, but those who reject God have no protector.
Thalika bi-anna Allaha mawla allatheena amanoo waanna alkafireena la mawla lahum
Allah tells us in sura Fatihah that He is the Lord of ALL CREATION. He is the "Rabb" of all creation whether they acknowledge this or not. So Allah is the Lord of all the unbelievers also. However, as can be seen from the Arabic transliteration of 4711, even though He is the Lord of all, Allah is the Mawla of only believers.
Mawla means Protector or Patron (Advocate, Defender, Encourager) and is quite different from God's role as Lord or Master. There is another important reference to Allah as our Mawla as distinct from Lord (which is also mentioned in the same verse) in 2286 (which Khalifa again mistranslates and Free-minds uses the correct but uncapitalised "patron" so I give Yusuf Ali's)
2286 On no soul doth God Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith."
La yukallifu Allahu nafsan illa wusAAaha laha ma kasabat waAAalayha ma iktasabat rabbana la tu-akhithna in naseena aw akhta/na rabbana wala tahmil AAalayna isran kama hamaltahu AAala allatheena min qablina rabbana wala tuhammilna ma la taqata lana bihi waoAAfu AAanna waighfir lana wairhamna anta mawlana faonsurna AAala alqawmi alkafireena
I hope everyone now understands what I mean by Ar-Rahman being our Mawla. It is a term that is used with flagrant disregard in traditional islam, especially as it is practiced in and around Pakistan and India where almost every religious scholar appropriates the term "mawlana".
We should reserve this term for Allah only; and I believe uses for humans of it ought to be avoided by sincere believers.
With peace and love,
Oben