The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought

friendship

Friendship is an informal, voluntarily entered, and noncontingent social relationship. It is distinguished from kinship and servitude in that it is acquired by choice, not ascribed or inherited. According to the Qur’an, friendship—overwhelmingly but not exclusively rendered by words deriving from the root w-l-y—is to be sought with God, prophets, and other believers, in that order. Those who reject God—for example, Satan and his supporters, and unbelievers who actively oppose the believers—are not to be befriended. God is, because of the succor He provides, the best and most trustworthy friend. Cognizant of this, when Abraham experiences adversity, he rejects Gabriel’s assistance in the expectation of God’s help, which is in fact provided; this earns Abraham the title khalīl Allāh, “the bosom-friend” of God. As might be expected, only the elect attain this level of friendship. The very pious and the saintly do, however, benefit from a special relationship with God and are consequently called awliyā’ Allāh, or “friends of God.” The close relationships—ranging from discipleship to veneration—developed with such saintly figures, notably Sufi shaykhs, have been criticized by many reformist groups (e.g., the Salafi movement).

Friendship with the Prophet Muhammad is described by the term ṣuḥba, or companionship; thus both intimate friends of Muhammad, such as Abu Bakr, and those who had limited contact with him, are called ṣaḥāba, or “Companions,” perhaps because this relationship implies discipleship. Later, in the scholarly context, a disciple, or an advanced student, would, along the same lines, come to be known as a ṣāḥib (literally, companion).

Companionship was the dominant form of friendship enjoined in manuals of guidance and counsel for rulers, so-called Mirrors for Princes, and was actively pursued by Muslim leaders. From Umayyad times, caliphs and rulers sought courtiers and boon companions (nadīm), some becoming favorites or lifelong friends. One courtier, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. 1023), after decades of mixed fortunes at court, wrote a treatise on the subject, titled Kitab al-Sadaqa wa-l-Sadiq (On friendship and friends). The Kitab Fadl al-Kilab ‘ala Kathir min man Labisa al-Thiyab (The superiority of dogs over many who wear clothes) of Ibn al-Marzuban (tenth century) also treats friendship, but, as the title suggests, using humor and satire.

By virtue of the inevitable asymmetry, friendship with God, the Prophet, saintly figures, caliphs, and other high officials, even teachers, resembles patronage; indeed, the term frequently used to describe God, Muhammad, a religious leader, or a ruler, is mawlā (Lord, master, protector). Additionally, mawlā is the term used to describe non-Arabs who were affiliated to Arabs. This clientage (walāya) was an important feature of early Islam, socially and politically.

Walāya is also the term used to describe political alliance; its antithesis, barā’a, means dissociation or disavowal. These are both variously discussed in historical, religiopolitical and juridical Sunni texts, even latter-day tracts produced by the likes of Mulla ‘Umar, the spiritual leader of the Taliban and, from 1996 to 2001, de facto head of state in Afghanistan. For Shi‘is, these concepts appear as two of their fundamental principles of belief, tawallā and tabarru’ (also tabarrī and Persian tabarrā). These doctrines developed in connection with early theological discussions about dissociation (barā’a) from the first two caliphs, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar b. al-Khattab, regarded as usurpers of ‘Ali b. Abi Talib’s rightful succession to Muhammad, and about the consequently implied allegiance (walāya) to ‘Ali. Paradoxically, it appears to have been the Kharijis who first developed theories of dissociation in connection with their unhappiness with this same ‘Ali. Dissociation (barā’a) formed the basis for the elaboration of theories of excommunication, either of the historical individuals to be denigrated or of contemporaries to be shunned.

Muslims are bound together as friends by the ultimate communal norm—namely, the adherence to Islam. This makes the Muslims an umma, or a community, one that transcends tribal or kinship relations, though Muhammad also frequently described Muslims as brothers (ikhwa), suggesting that kinship, even metaphorically, remains the most potent and valorized social relation. Clientage, by obligating shared sympathies and antipathies, in many respects resembled (and was meant to resemble) kinship, and even Muhammad cemented his ties to his closest Companions through marriage (and the ensuing kinship).