Tawalla and tabarru'



The Arabic pair tawalla-tabarru' and the closely-related pair walaya-bara’a both refer to the following complementary concepts in Shia Islam: Tawalla and walaya denote the unconditional loyalty, alliance, devotion, love, and obedience of Shia Muslims toward their imams and the Islamic prophet Muhammad (d. 632), while tabarru’ (tabarra in Persian) and bara’a signify their dissociation and detachment from enemies of Muhammad, imams, and imams' followers.[1] Both pairs can be translated as affiliation-dissociation or avowal-disavowal.[2]