the meaning of "Maula"

"Maula" means supervisor, leader and guardian

During the farewell Hajj on the day of “Ghadir Khum”, the Prophet (PBUH) gave a detailed sermon about Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) and introduced her as the master of the people. And he said: “for whomsoever, I am his guardian, so Ali is his guardian”.

The meaning of “Maula” and its reference to the caliphate and guardian of Amirul Momineen (AS) are controversial issues in Shia history. Those who deny the immediate caliphate of that Imam Ali (AS), or the incident of Ghadeer, or do not accept the Hadith of Ghadeer, furthermore, they say the meaning of Maula is "friend". And even if they cannot deny the meaning of Maula as a guardian, they claim that the people of authority in Islamic legal matters in "Saqifa" saw the expediency of having someone else become the successor as the caliph of the Prophet except Ali (AS).

Allameh Amini has an extensive, well-argued and scholarly discussion about the meaning of “Maula” in "Al-Ghadir".[1] he has collected 27 different meanings, such as: lord, uncle, cousin, child, slave, freed, owner, follower, ally, neighbor, A relative, a guardian, deserving of one thing, a helper, a possessor in work, etc., and with an argumentative discussion, he rejects all the meanings in Ghadir Kham, except for the two meanings "deserving of possession" and "Amir/ guardian". He says: firstly, what was stated before and after it in Ghadeer's sermon, secondly, the concept that those present had in that event, thirdly, the meaning that people like Seyyed Hamiri, Komit bin Zayd, Abdi Kofi, Abu Tamam, and other writers and poets understood it and expressed it in the form of poetry. Fourthly, congratulating Abu Bakr, Umar and others to the Amirul Momineen (AS) on the day of Ghadir and swearing allegiance to him and saluting Ali (AS) as Amirul Momineen (AS), fifthly, the protests and arguments for the Hadith of Ghadeer regarding the proof of Imamate and Wilayat, Sixthly, The Qur'anic verses that were revealed before and after the Ghadeer sermon, in which explained the importance of that day and the Ghadir event, and dozens of other internal and external circumstances, all indicate that the Wilayat/guardian that was given to Amirul Momineen on the day of Ghadir. It was defined and forged with the word "maula", meaning "the guardian of the people and the successor of the Prophet of God". This truth is sometimes expressed with the word "guardian": Ali is the guardian of every believer after me.

Many other scholars have also discussed the meaning of “Maula” and the way to argue about it and the documentation of this hadith in the books of Shia and Sunni. For example: Risalat fi Manna al-Mola, Sheikh Mufid, Fadael al-Khams fi Sihah al-Sittah, vol. 1, p. 392, Abakat al-Anwar, vol. 1, al-Ravidar, letters 54 to 60, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 21 and 27, and...

[1] . vol 1, p 340 – 400 (in new version p 609 – 677)