In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.
"And hold fast all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out to you) 1. Which is the rope Almighty is talking about ? When we search in the hadith books, we will find the famous hadith of Thaqalayn. That is "Verily, I am leaving behind two precious things (thaqalayn) among you: the Book of God (Holy Qur'an) and my kindred (`itrah), my household (Ahlul Bayt), for indeed, the two will never separate until they come back to me by the Pond (of alKawthar on the Judgement's Day)." Hence we know that the two ends of the rope, the first is Holy Qur'an & the second is Ahlul - Bayt. ...Allah desires only to keep away uncleanness from you people of the House
Next question is, who are these Ahlul - Bayt, to whom Qur'an is refering to ?. "...Say (O' Muhammad unto mankind): I do not ask of you any reward for it "Say, "Whatever reward I ask you (for my preaching) will be for your own good. No one can reward me except God. He is the Witness over all things." [Qur'an 34:47]
and be not divided among yourselves.." [Holy Qur'an 3:103]
Let me begin with a famous hadith which has been accepted by all sects of Islam: "My ummah (followers) will shortly break up into seventy-three sects, all of which shall be condemned except one." (Mishkatu 'l-masabih)
After reading this hadith, it becomes compulsory for every one in Islam to search for the right sect - the path to salvation. And indeed it is necessary for every man to take reason as his guide, try his best in this matter and never despair of attaining the truth & always praying to Allah to lead him in the right path.
It is incumbent upon us to base our opinion not on emotion but on reason and to be guided in formulating the opinion by the Holy Qur'an and the traditions of the Holy Ma'sumeens.
Now, let us examine the above said verse from the Holy Qur'an, which says "And hold fast, all together, by the rope(cable) which Allah (stretches out for you),.." Here Almighty Allah is asking us to hold fast His rope. The following questions will arise in our mind.
2. For holding any rope we need two ends. Has our Holy Prophet(S.A.W) said anything about it ?
Then, the question is, what does Qur'an says about the Ahlul - Bayt ? At one place Qur'an says:
(Ahlul - Bayt) and make you as pure as can be." [Qur'an 33:33][Tathir]
All exegists of the Holy Qur'an and narrators of the Prophet's traditions, unanimously agree that the word Ahlul - Bayt, or the Household of the Prophet(S.A.W) as used by Almighty Allah in the Qur'an, refers only to the following persons: The Prophet's daughter Fatima, her husband Ali and their two children Hasan and Hussain (Peace be upon them all). The famous exegist Suyuti in his renowned commentary 'Dur al-Manthur' cites Tabarani's narration from Umm Salama that the Messenger of Allah(S.A.W) once told his beloved daughter, Fatima, to call her husband Ali and two of their sons; Hasan and Hussain (Peace be upon them all). When they came, the Messenger of Allah(S.A.W) covered them with a Fadak (a place near Madina) cloak and put his hand on them, and said:
"O Allah! these are the Ahl Muhammad {another version says aal (family)} so, shower your blessings and favours on aal Muhammad as you showered them on aal Abraham; You are the Praiseworthy, the Glorious."
Umm Salma said that she raised the cloak to join them, but the Prophet pulled it out of her hand and said:"You are (also) on the right."
On many occasions Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) explained the meaning of this verse (of purity) to the Muslims and drew their attention to its significance in order to be enlightened with them (Ahlul - Bayt) by following their straight path. Once, it happened that the Prophet(S.A.W) while passing his daughter Fatima's(S.A) house on his way to the mosque for the dawn prayers, used to call:
"To prayer, O Ahlul - Bayt, to prayer; Allah desires to keep away uncleanness from you, people of the House and make you pure as pure as can be."
One more place Qur'an says:
(preaching the message), but love for my relatives (Ahlul - Bayt)..." [Qur'an 42:23][Mawadah]
The Messenger of Allah(S.A.W) explicitly told the Muslims that this blessed verse refers to his Ahlul - Bayt, that is; Ali, Fathima, Hasan & Hussain (Peace be upon them all) and urged them to obey and follow these illustrious personalities after him.
All commentators, traditionists and biographers said that the word 'near relatives of the Prophet' as used, here, refers exclusively to his Ahlul - Bayt that is Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Hussain (Peace be upon them all).
Fakhruddin Razi, while explaining this verse, says: "...and without doubt no one was so near to the Prophet than Fatima, Ali, Hasan and Hussain (Peace be upon them all). This is a well-known fact of all chains of narrations, and these are they who are his 'aal'".
Thus, it is an undisputed fact that the words Ahlul - Bayt or aal Muhammed (S.A.W) refer only to the immediate family of the Prophet; his daughter Fatima, son-in-law Ali and his two sons Hasan & Hussain (Peace be upon them all) and no one else.
First: We have already cited some instances of the Prophet's love for his family.
Second: No doubt being his only surviving child, Fatima was intensely loved by her father. The Propher's famous words are a testimony to this fact.
"Fatima is a part of me and whoever makes her angry, makes me angry."
The traditions also confirm this and also his natural inclination towards Ali and his grandchildren, Hasan and Hussain (Peace be upon them all). Therefore, it becomes a duty for the Prophet's nation to follow the Prophet's traditions in respect to his Ahlul - Bayt. The Almighty says:
"...Say (O' Muhammad unto mankind): if you love Allah, then follow me,
Allah will love you..." [Qur'an 3:31]
Hence it is very clear that the Almighty Allah made compulsory to love the Ahlul - Bayt of Holy Prophet(S.A.W), that is Ali, Fatima, Hasan & Hussain (Peace be upon them all).
In another hadith, The Messenger of Allah - may Allah bestow peace and benedictions upon him and his Progeny - said: "The parable of my ahlul bayt is that of the boat of Noah, whoever gets aboard is saved and whoever stays away from it is drowned.
Hence, it means that whoever follows Ahlul - Bayt will attain salvation and whoever stays away from Ahlul - Bayt does not attain salvation.
When we search in the hadith books, we will find the following hadiths(Traditions):
1. Narrated by : Jabir bin Samura, I heard the Prophet (S.A.W) saying, "There will be twelve commanders (Amir)." He then said a sentence which I did not hear. My father said, the Prophet added, "All of them will be from Quraish." [Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith: 9.329(Arabic-English version)]
2. Narrated by : Jabir bin Samura, The Prophet (S.A.W) said: "The matter (life) will not end, until it is passed by twelve Caliphs." He then whispered a sentence. I asked my father what the Prophet said. He said, the Prophet added: "All of them will be from Quraish."[Sahih Muslim, Arabic version, Kitab al-Imaarah, 1980 Edition Pub. In Saudi Arabia, v3, p1452, Tradition #5: Sahih Muslim, Eng ver.]
3.The Prophet (S.A.W) said: "The Islamic religion will continue until the Hour (day of resurrection), having twelve Caliphs for you, all of them will be from Quraish." [Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v4, p501; Sunan Abu Dawud, v2, p421 (three traditions); al-Tiyalasi; Ibn al-Athir; etc.,]
4. Also in another wording, the Messenger of Allah uses the word "Imam" instead of "Caliph". It is widely narrated that: The Prophet (S.A.W) said: "The Imams are from Quraish" [al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p149; Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal; Sahih al-Nisa'i, from Anas Ibn Malik]
We can also find the same thing in the Old Testament, that is:"And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and I will multiply him exceedingly, TWELVE PRINCES shall he beget and I will make him a great nation." Gen. 18:20
Obviously, the above traditions are not fit to the first four Caliphs all together, as they were less than twelve. And they can not be applied to the Umayad Caliphs, because
(a) they were more than twelve;
(b) all of them were tyrants and unjust (except Umar Ibn Abd al- Aziz);
(c) they were not from the Hashimites and the Holy Prophet had said in another tradition that: "All of them will be from the Bani Hashim..."
Also they cannot be applied to the Abbasid Caliphs, because:
(a) they were more than twelve;
(b) they persecuted the descendants of the Prophet every where which means they did not comply with the Quranic verse: "...Say (O' Muhammad unto mankind): I do not ask of you any reward for it (preaching the message), but love for my relatives (Ahlul - Bayt)..." [Qur'an 42:23]
I would like to remind you that "Caliph" means successor/deputy. The successor of the Prophet (or the preceding Caliph) should come immediately after the demise of the Prophet (or the preceding Caliph). If there is any gap between the successors, the word "successor" does not make any sense. So successors should come right after the other without any gap. Also as the Prophet (S.A.W) suggested in the above traditions, those twelve Caliphs will cover till the day of resurrection.
As you may know, the Followers of the Members of the House of the Prophet(S.A.W) refer to these 12 Caliphs as of their 12 Imams starting with Imam Ali (AS) and ending with Imam Mahdi (AS) the leader of our time. They are Caliphs because Allah made them Caliphs (They are vice-regents of Allah on the earth).
Hence, I conclude this by saying that, it is your duty to find out more about the true sect by keeping the above brief guidance. And God bless you with your search.
"Surely Allah and His angels bless the Prophet; O you who believe! Call for (divine) blessings on him and salute him with a (becoming) salutation." [Qur'an 33:56]
