Mawla

Mawlā (Arabic: مولى‎‎), plural mawālī (Arabic: موالي‎‎) is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts. In the Quran and hadith it is used in two senses: Lord; and guardian, trustee, helper. In the pre-Islamic era the term originally applied to any form of tribal association. During the early Islamic era, this institution was adapted to incorporate new converts to Islam into the Arab-Muslim society and the word mawali gained currency as an appellation for non-Arab Muslims.

The word mawla is derived from the root w-l-y, meaning "to be close to", "to be friends with", or "to have power over". Mawla can have reciprocal meanings, depending on whether it is used in the active or passive voice: "master" or "slave/freedman", "patron" or "client", "uncle" or "nephew", or simply friend. Originally, mawāli were clients of an Arab tribe, but with the advent of Islam, the term came to refer to non-Arab Muslims and other client allies of the Muslim community.

The term gained prominence during the Umayyad Caliphate (c. 661-750 CE/41–132 AH), as many non-Arabs such as Persians, Africans, Azeris, Turks and Kurds converted to Islam. The influx of non-Arab converts to Islam created a new difficulty in incorporating them into tribal Arab society. The solution appeared to be the contract of wala', through which the non-Arab Muslims acquired an Arab patron (mawla). They continued to pay a similar tax that was required from the people of the book and were generally excluded from government and the military until the end of the Umayyad Caliphate. In Khorasan and Persia, the Arabs held most of the higher positions in the armed forces and in the upper echelons of government.

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