jazakAllah khayr sidi for the references. i looked in the maktubat shareef and imam rabbani does indeed state that sayyiduna Ali karram Allahu wajhah gives wilaya, but i couldn't find anything regarding the previous nations...if i missed something, please do correct me..
some time ago, there were questions raised about pir sayyid 'abdul qadir jilani who claimed that sayyiduna 'ali radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu is the one who chose the awliya even for previous nations. i have just heard pir sahib's talk on DM Islam and he quoted the following for his stance: shaykh aHmad sirhindi - maktubat, v.3, letter 133, pg. 1626 qaDi thanaullah pani patti - tafsir mazhari, v.2, p.120 he also quoted khwaja moinuddin chishti ajmeri raHimahullah who said some poetry about ghawth al-a'dham being the one who chooses the awliya. others may have heard the talk - if you can correct the references i have quoted or add any if i have forgotten - please do so.
