The Love of Ahlul-Bayt is incumbent upon us

The Messengers of God propagate Allah's Word in order to please the Almighty, and the motto of the final Messenger of God, Muhammad (p.b.u.h.), was commanded by the Qur'an in Surah Al-Shoora, Surah 42, Ayah 23:

" Declare [O' Muhammad]: "I ask you of no recompense for my toil except the love for my kin (family)." Whose earns good, We shall expand it for him. Verily Allah is oft-forgiving, appreciates good works".

Thus, Allah commands the Prophet of Islam to demand from the Ummah the love of his progeny. In the Arabic language the term "Qur'ba" means kinship, and "Mawad'dat fil Our'ba" means love of Dhul Qur'ba (kin) that we see throughout the Holy Qur'an. As mentioned before, this word has been used with prefixes such as Dhi and Ulu.

In addition, numerous narrations clarify the brevity in this Ayah and show that by love and affection toward relatives, the Qur'an means those closely related to the Prophet. Here we bring to your attention some narrations by believers of the Sunni School of Thought.

Ahmad Bin Hanbal quotes the Prophet in his book "Fadha'il of the Sahaaba" and writes when the above quoted verse, (Surah Al-Shoora, Surah 42, Ayah 23) was revealed, Companions of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) asked "O' Prophet of God, who are those close to you and who are those people whose fondness and admiration is incumbent upon us." The Prophet replied, "They are Ali, Fatima and their two children" and he repeated this three times.

In his interpretation of the Holy Qur'an, Sayooti quotes Ibn Abbas that the Ayah means that the right of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) must be honored by honoring this family, and that we should love them for his sake.

Kumayt Assadi, the poet of the Umawi era has mentioned this Ayah in a poem and writes:

"In a Surah that begins with letters Ha-meem, we found an Ayah whose meaning was altered by the dissimulators among us, Yet others (Imams) proclaimed the Ayah in its Rightful Worth. "

Imam Shafi'i himself being a descendant of the Prophet, in his famous works of poetry, calls the love of Ahlul-Bayt an entitlement of the family of the Prophet and writes:

"O' Pilgrims! On your way to the House of Allah, pause shortly in the sands of Muzdalifah. At dawn, when the caravans of pilgrims move toward Mina, like a roaring river, call upon them and say: "If love of the Prophet's family means to Refuse, "Rafidhi" then let Mankind know, that surely I am a "Rafidhi."

Of course, it must be kept in mind that the love of this family benefits the Ummah more than it does good for Ahlul Bayt, since he who loves one from the heart will follow the path of his beloved and will take steps in such direction in life.

When the head of such a great family stresses this issue and declares: (Who dies with the love of Ahlul-Bayt, he will have died as a martyr), he is referring to true love that is inseparable from action. Of course, this does not mean that he who loves Ahlul Bayt must be absolving Islamic integrity or vindicating Islamic commands. What it means is that a person should attempt tofollow their examples and should not be negligent in religious duties or freely engage in what is prohibited.