(a.), pl. mawālī , a term of theological, historical and legal usage which had varying meanings in different periods and in different social contexts. Linguistically, it is the noun of place of the verb waliya , with the basic meaning of “to be close to, to be connected with someone or something” (see LA, xx, 287ff.; TA, x, 398-401), whence acquiring the sense “to be close to power, authority” > “to hold power, govern, be in charge of some office” (see Lane, s.v.) and yielding such administrative terms as wāl…