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""Only God is your Wali (guardian) and His Apostle and those who believe, who perform prayer and pay alms while they bow" (5:55)

Both Shi'ite and Sunni scholars admit that the above verse refers to Ali bin Abu Talib when he responded to a beggar who approached him while he was performing his prayer. The tradition goes that Ali while praying threw his ring to the beggar (tarha khatamahu rama bi-khatamihi), vide Tabari's Tafsir (pp. 425-6), Dhur-e-Manthur (2:293), Masnad (5:38), Tafsir-i Kashshaf (5:505), etc. According to Tafsir-i Qummi (1:170), the above verse (5:55) revealed at the time when the Prophet was with a group of Jews, amongst whom Abdullah bin al-Salam was present. The Prophet at once got up and walked towards the mosque where he met a beggar. Inquiring if anyone had given him anything, the beggar pointed to Ali who was still praying.

One may raise a question that even though Ali paid alms while he was bowing in prayer, a plural form has been used in the above verse (and those who believe, who perform prayer and pay alms while they bow), thus it might encompass some other people as well. The using plural form, but actually referring to just one person is a common style in the Koran. For instance, the Koran says, “They say: If we return to Medina the mightier (element) will soon drive out the weaker” (63:8). Here the phrase “they say” was not any more than one person, but he was Abdullah bin Ubay, the famous hypocrite in Medina. Using plural while referring to single has another application too. Another example in this context indicates: “Such are the persons, when people said to them: ‘Fear your enemies who have united against you and gathered in large number to attack you,’ their faith increased and they said, ‘For us God is sufficient and He is the Most Dependable’” (3:173). It was Na’im bin Masud al-Ashja’i alone who asked them to fear their enemies. But God has used the plural noun nas (people) for an individual. Abu Sufian had given Na’im bin Masud ten camels for threatening the Muslims against the polytheists. Most of the Muslims were reluctant to go out for war, but the Prophet moved forward with seventy horsemen, all of whom returned safe. The verse revealed in praise of the seventy Muslims who accompanied the Prophet. In addition, the Koran says: “O you faithful! Remember the blessings of God upon you. When a group of persons became so bold as to stretch their hands to you and God stopped their hands from (causing an injury) you” (5:11). It was a single man who stretched forth his hands. Some say it was Ghawrath from the tribe of Maharib, while others say that it was Umar bin Jahash of Banu Nadir, who on a certain occasion drew out his sword and intended to strike the Prophet, but God prevented him from this. Ibn Hisham writes that it happened in the battle of Dhat al-Riqa, and God used here the word qaum (group or nation) for a single person. Sometimes the act of a single person is worthier than the deeds of a whole nation. This was the case for Prophet Abraham. The Koran mentions that Abraham was a nation (ummah), meaning that his deeds were more valuable than all other people: “Lo! Abraham was a nation (ummah) who was obedient to God, by nature upright, and he was not of the idolaters” (16:120). Suyuti quotes Ibn Abbas as saying in Tarikh-i Khulafa (p. 171), “The Koranic term “Believers” refers to Ali bin Abu Talib.” (al-Kafi, 1:88-9). Zamakshari in his Tafsir al-Kashshaf writes that, “If you inquire how this plural word is applicable to Ali, who is an individual, I shall say that though this verse (5:55) is about Ali, an individual, the plural form is used in order to persuade to act similarly and to give alms as readily as Ali did.” Kulaini however comments that “the believers who perform the prayer and pay alms while they bow” is meant Ali and his descendants, the Imams ”

In sum, the verse (5:55) is saying that only God is your Wali, and then the Prophet and Ali bin Abu Talib. Ibn Abbas narrates that the Prophet said, “Whoever wishes to live and die like me, and to abide in the garden of Eden after death, should acknowledge Ali as Wali after me, and should follow the Imams after me for they are my Ahl al-Bayt and are created from my clay and are gifted with the same knowledge and understanding as myself” (Hidayat al-Awliya, p. 84, al-Mustadrak, 3:128, etc.)

The word wali (pl. awliya) means he who is in charge of you, your affairs, your own selves and your belongings. As it is said, wali amru’l raiyya (guardian of the subject) or wali ahad (one who succeeds to the office). The various forms of the roots of Wali and its derivatives are the oft-recurring words in the Koran. It occurs 124 times in the form of a verb and 112 times as a noun in the Koran. The lexicons give a minimum of 20 meanings of wali, depending on context, most have to do with the position of leadership and guardianship. When the word wali is used in relation to the Prophet, it is designated as al-wilayat al-i’tibariyya. The Koran says, “God is the Guardian (Wali) of those who believe. He brings them out of darkness into the light” (2:257), “Thou are my guardian (Wali) in this world and the hereafter" (12:101), "God is the guardian (Wali); and He gives life to the dead, and He has power over all things" (42:9) and "And God is the guardian (wali) of the believers" (3:67).

In a speech to the Umayyad troops who had come to intercept him on the way to Kufa, Imam Hussain said: "We the family of the Prophet (ahl al-bayt) are more entitled (awla) to (exercise) authority (wilaya) over you than those (the Umayyad)” (Tabari’s Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, 5:402).