What is meant by "al-Mawali" in Islam, are they considered free people, and must we attribute them to their tribes?

Al-wala' (loyalty/patronage) is an inheritance one deserves due to freeing someone from their possession, or through a contract of patronage (muwalat). What is meant here is al-wala' due to emancipation. Al-wala' is established for the one who frees a slave, and it is attributed to the lineage of the one who freed them. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Indeed, al-wala' belongs to the one who frees," and "The patron of a people is one of them," meaning their freed slave is attributed to their lineage and inherits from them.