Al-Wali
Al-Wali is the Governor — the One who owns and manages every affair of creation.
Name 77 of 99
الْوَالِي
Al-Wali
The Governor
- In Arabic
- الْوَالِي
- Transliteration
- Al-Wali
- Position in the list
- Name 77 of 99
Al-Wali — The Governor
What the name means
Where Al-Waliyy stresses nearness and support, al-Wali stresses charge and administration: the one who runs the affair, not merely the one who is close to you.
The Quran uses it where protection is denied to the wrongdoers: they will have no wali besides Him — no one to take charge of their case.
Al-Wali in the Quran
The verse below contains this name. Each reference is checked against the Arabic text of the Quran before it is published, so Al-Wali really is in the verse it is cited from.
لَهُۥ مُعَقِّبَٰتٌۭ مِّنۢ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِۦ يَحْفَظُونَهُۥ مِنْ أَمْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا۟ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ ۗ وَإِذَآ أَرَادَ ٱللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍۢ سُوٓءًۭا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُۥ ۚ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِۦ مِن وَالٍ
For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah. Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron.
Surah Ar-Rad 13:11Read the full surah →
How reliable is the list of ninety-nine?
That Allah has ninety-nine names is established in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, and both are agreed upon. The specific enumeration — this list of ninety-nine — comes from a narration in Jami' at-Tirmidhi that at-Tirmidhi himself called gharib, and which many hadith scholars grade weak; several held that a narrator compiled the names by searching the Quran and Sunnah. Classical scholars including al-Khattabi, Ibn Hazm, al-Qurtubi and al-Ghazali compiled lists of their own that differ from it. None of this touches the names themselves, every one of which is established elsewhere; it means the count of exactly these ninety-nine is a scholarly arrangement rather than a revealed roster, and Allah's names are not limited to them.
Questions about Al-Wali
Al-Wali (الْوَالِي) means "The Governor". Like every one of the ninety-nine names, it describes an attribute of Allah rather than serving as a label — the names are how the Quran teaches who Allah is.
Yes. This page cites 1 verse containing Al-Wali, each checked against the Arabic text before publishing.
Address Allah with "Ya" before the name — "Ya Wali" — and ask for what that attribute gives. The Quran instructs it directly: "To Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call upon Him by them" (7:180).
It is number 77 in the well-known list. The order comes from the narration of at-Tirmidhi and is a scholarly arrangement, so numbering can differ slightly between printed lists — the names themselves do not.