المعنى الاصطلاحي :

Anyone who worships a created being and possesses no divine book.

الشرح المختصر :

“Wathani” (idolater): Originally, the non-Muslims are divided into the People of the Book – namely the Christians and the Jews, and also the Zoroastrians in some rulings – and people who have no divine book, like the Torah or the Gospel, and they include all other polytheists, such as the worshipers of the sun, the cows, and so on. Those are the “wathanis”. The scholars differentiate between the People of the Book and the “wathanis” with regard to some rulings. For example, they say that it is permissible to marry women from the People of the Book but not others. “Wathanis” do not attach divine attributes to their idols, even though they call them gods. Rather, they regarded them as statues of prophets, angels or stars; then they engaged in worshipping them as a means leading them to the true God, Who is Allah, the Almighty.

التعريف اللغوي المختصر :

“Wathani”: idolater, idol worshiper, pagan. “Wathaniyyah”: worship of idols and stones. Derived from “wathan”, which means an idol or stone that is worshiped. “Wathan” is derived from “wathn”, which means steadiness. “Wathn” also means power and plenty.