The Rights and Attributes of Ahlul-Bayt, in the Qur'an and Sunnah

The following is a discourse on the rights and attributes of Ahlul-Bayt sccording to our Holy Book (Qurm) and the Sunnah (way of life) of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.).

By Ahlul-Bayt, we meam the progeny of our beloved prophet (p.b.u.h.) since this is how Ayah 33 of Surah Al-Ahzaab, is intributes.

Discourse can only be logical when first we explore the justification of Ahlul-Bayt and then we introduce their attributes.

The Identity of Ahlul-Bayt: Umm Salama, the wife of our beloved Prophet says, "Ayah 33 of surah 33 (Al-Ahzaab) was revealed to the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) when he was at my house. After this revelation, the Messenger of Allah called upon Ali, Fatima, Al-Hasan and Al-Husain to come to him and be under the mantle with him; then he proclaimed "O' Lord, these are my Ahlul-Bayt, I implore thee to cleanse them of all stigmas, and to purify them."

Thus, the Prophet made known the identity of Ahlul-Bayt so as to prevent any exploitation of this verse in the future.

Umm Salama then remarked, "I asked if I could join them, but the Prophet said "halt" and declared that "I am in goodness", meaning she was not of Ahlul-Bayt as mentioned in the Ayah.

No statement could have more clearly identified Ahlul-Bayt than this one. The Messenger of Allah did not even permit his wife Umm Salama to join the ranks of Ahlul-Bayt, thus by so doing he hindered any claims by his other wives in the future to that honor.

Tibari, the great historian, writes in his interpretation of the Holy Qur'an that Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) said, "This Ayah was a revelation about me, Ali, Fatima, Al-Hasan and Al-Husain. It is true that this Ayah is revealed amidst verses referring to the wives of the Prophet, however, references to the masculine gender (words like An'kum and Yu'tahirukum) prevents one from assuming that these verses were referring to the wives of Allah's Messenger, too. On the contrary, according to oft-repeated narrations and testimonials, no one but the daughter of the Prophet and her husband and their two beloved boys, meaning the progeny of the Messenger of God, are intended when references are made to Ahlul-Bayt.

Fundamentally, this verse cannot be referring to the wives of the Prophet because the language of the Qur'an in revelations about the spouses of the Prophet is harsh and assertive whereas the references in the aforementioned Ayah are affectionate and benevolent.

To clarify these two languages, we point to the following judgments rendered by the Qur'an regarding the wives of the Holy Prophet.

1. At times the Revelation threatens them with distress and declares:

2. At times, the Holy Book forbids them from treading the same course as the women of Jahiliya. When such references are seen in the Qur'an (regarding the spouses of the Prophet), is it fair to attribute the Ayah (which declares God's affection towards Ahlul-Bayt) to no one but the Prophet's Pure Family?

3. In the 3rd Ayah, two spouses of the Prophet (who revealed his secret) are reprimanded. They are told to repent and that repentance is to their benefit since their hearts have veered from righteousness and that if they conspire against the Prophet they will not triumph since Allah and Gabriel, and the righteous and the angels are the protectors and supporters of the Prophet.

The nature of the secret that was about to be revealed is not pertinent at this point but the important fact is that such people who are at the verge of openly opposing the Prophet and are asked to repent are not in position to be pronounced immaculate and cleansed. of sin as such.

There is no doubt that all the spouses of the Prophet deserve special respect due to the fact that they are related to the Messenger of God. However, such respect does not mean the Qur'an's judgment about them can be ignored or that if anyone would speak unkindly about them should be condemned.

Now that we familiarized ourselves with the meaning and the usage of the term "Ahlul-Bayt" the time has come for recounting some of their attributes.