The term ahl signifies the members of a household of a man, including his fellow tribesmen, kin, relatives, wife (or wives), children, and all those who share a family background, religion, housing, city, and country with him. Ahl and al are both the same term with the exception that al is exclusively used for human beings and should come before the family name, but such a condition is not existent in the case of ahl. . Bayt refers to habitation and dwelling, including tents and buildings both. The ahl-al-bayt of any person refers to his family members and all those who live in his house (c.f. Mufradat al- Quran by Raghib Isfahani; Qamus by Firoozabadi; Majm`a al-Bahrayn. The term ahl-al-bayt (people of the house) has been repeated twice in the Holy Quran: 1. ... the mercy of Allah and his blessing are on you, O people of the house, ... (11:73) This verse refers to the people of the House of Ibrahim (s) (c.f. Kashf al-Asrar wa `Uddat al- Abrar, 416/4 and other interpretations). 2. ... Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! And to purify you a (thorough) purifying (33:33). This verse, known as the Tathir verse, refers to the Members of the Household of the Holy Prophet (s). The Imamiyyah scholars of hadith and fiqh, as well as some Sunni `Ulama, consider the ahl-al-bayt cited in the tathir verse to include exclusively Muhammad, `Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn (peace be upon them all). They do not consider the Holy Prophets other offspring, wives, sons of paternal uncles, and dwellers of his house as the Messengers ahl-al-bayt. They base their argument on the genuine and authentic traditions narrated by the companions of the Prophet (s) recorded in the Sunni and Shi`i sources. Under the following headings, this article will delve into some of the said traditions and refer to some features of the ahl-al-bayt as narrated by the Sunnis: 1. Kisa tradition; 2. Mubahalah tradition; 3. Mawaddat al-Qurba tradition; 4. Safinah tradition; 5. Other traditions. 1. Kisa Tradition A. Jalaluddin `Abdul-Rahman bin Abi Bakr Suyuti (d 911 A.H.) in his commentary Al-Dur al-Manthur, 198/5-199, Muhammad ibn `Isa Tirmidhi (3 279 A.H.) the author of Jami Sahih, Hakim Nishaburi (d 405 A.H.) in Al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn, Ahmad ibn Husayn Bayhaqi (d 458 A.H.) in Sunan (all three of whom have considered the Kisa tradition as authentic), Muhammad ibn Jarir Tabari (d 315 A.H.), Ibn Munzir Muhammad ibn Ibrahim (d 319 A.H.), Ibn Mardawayh Isfahani, and Ahmad ibn Musa (d 410 A.H.) have quoted Ummu Salamah, the wife of the Holy Prophet (s) as saying that the verse ... Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! And to purify you a thorough purifying (33:33) was revealed in her house. At that time, `Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn (peace be upon them all) were in her house. The Holy Prophet (s) spread his cloak over them and stated: These are the members of my Household, and Allah has purified them of all (sins and faults and uncleanness). B. Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal, the Hanbali Imam, (d 241 A.H.), in Musnad 229/2 quotes Ummu Salamah as saying: The Holy Prophet (s) was in my house. Fatimah (`a) came to her father holding a stone bowl filled with harirah (type of food made up of flour, milk, and vegetable oil). The Holy Prophet (s) stated: Invite your husband and two sons to come as well. `Ali, Hasan, and Husayn also came there and all sat down to eat harirah. Then, the Holy Prophet (s) was sitting on a cloak in his resting place and I was reciting the prayer in the chamber. At this time, Almighty Allah revealed the verse Allah only desires to .... The Holy Prophet (s) covered `Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn (peace be upon them all) with the cloak and then stretched his hand toward the sky and said: Allah! These are the Members of my Household, so purify them of all uncleanness. Ummu Salamah said: I asked him: Am I also with you? He stated: You are on good and virtue (but did not say that you are a member of my Household).
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 21:47:42 +0000
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