Maryam • EN-TAFSIR-MAARIF-UL-QURAN
﴿ وَإِنِّى خِفْتُ ٱلْمَوَٰلِىَ مِن وَرَآءِى وَكَانَتِ ٱمْرَأَتِى عَاقِرًۭا فَهَبْ لِى مِن لَّدُنكَ وَلِيًّۭا ﴾
“"Now, behold, I am afraid of [what] my kinsfolk [will do] after I am gone, for my wife has always been barren. Bestow, then, upon me, out of Thy grace, the gift of a successor”
مَوَالِيَ is the plural of مَولٰی . This word has many meanings in the Arabic language, one of them being a cousin, or other relations on the father's side. Here the word has been used in this sense.