Al-walā’ w’ al-barā’ (loyalty and disavowal): Reconstructing a ‘creed’ in the Muslim view of ‘otherness’

The notion of al-walā’ w’ al-barā’ is entrenched in some classical and modern
Muslim discourses as a creed that ordains a Muslim’s view and attitude
toward ‘disbelievers’. The proponents of a doctrinal position of this notion in
Islam utilize a certain reading of scriptural sources to justify the coherence
of this ‘creed’. A thorough investigation could reconstruct the applicability
of this claim. Almost all these texts relate to situations of interreligious
conflicts, competing coalitions, and menacing amities with enemies where
belongings and loyalties cannot be negotiable. In this respect, the liaison
between apostasy and disloyalty lies in the fact that ridda, in premodern
contexts, included disengagement from the community, change of allegiance,
and therefore enmity with the former socio-political context.