Kindly explain concerning the usage of the term ‘awliya’ in verse 102 of Surah Kahf.

In verse 102 Allah says:

“Do those then who disbelieve think they can take my servants as protectors?”

The term awliyah here means protectors whereas elsewhere in the Qur'an Allah says

“Don’t take the Jews and Christians as awliya min dunillah.” [1]

In this verse awliyah is translated as ‘friends instead of Allah’ while elsewhere it is translated as ‘believers’.

As obvious, the term awliyah has different implications; that is the nature of language and the context may vary the shade of meaning that is intended. So in verse 102 it is not the issue of friendship or close friendship here but it is more the issue of dependence on close friends. When you have a close friend, you depend on that person for their help when you are in need, when you have problems, etc. That’s the person you turn to so it’s that element of dependency which now leads to disbelief which Allah is condemning here. This is why we use the term protectors here as opposed to friends. The word awliya is used in Arabic to mean ‘saints’. We know that the person who is considered to be the guardian for the woman is also called ‘wali’, plural awliyah.

Now, a guardian in what sense? Not a friend! The Father is the wali of his daughter, and this is not an issue of friendship here. It is the issue of protector. He is her guardian. This is the element of the meaning of word wali, plural awliyah.

In the verse concerning Jews and Christians, it doesn’t mean friend, it means close friends whom you depend on instead of Allah. So it is not that you cannot have friendships with Christians and Jews, but you cannot take a Christian and Jew as your dear friend or as the person who is your best friend. That is dangerous.

Narrated by Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

‘A man follows the religion of his ‘khaleel’ (closest or choicest friend); so each one should consider whom he makes his ‘khaleel’.’ [2]

So it does not mean the friend in the general sense rather it means those whom you take as your close friends, who you will turn to. When you have a problem, you turn to this person for their advice. So if you are going to be turning to a Christian or a Jew for advice, of course you are going to be misguided. It is going to hurt you in the end. The person who you should take as your close friend should be a Muslim who will give you advice, in shaa' Allah, from an Islamic perspective. So that is the protector of faith. Note that we are not talking about friendship in general, because having friends among them, acquaintances with them , is perfectly legitimate. Islam does not say we cannot any non-Muslim friends.

References:

[1] [Qur'an 5:51]

[2] [Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadeeth 4815]