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Ahl Al-Bayt

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Ahl al-Bayt Summary

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The Qur‘an: an Encyclopedia

AHL AL-BAYT

References to the Family of the House occur in the in interesting contexts. When Sara was told that she is going to give birth to two prophets, she laughed and remarked on how strange it was at her advanced age for such a thing to occur. ‘But the angels said: “Do You wonder at Allah’s decree? The grace of Allah and His blessings be upon you, O People of the House! He is indeed worthy of all praise full of all glory!”’ (11.73). At 33.33 there is a reference to the purity and the excellence of the ahl al-bayt of Prophet Muhammad, and this has led some commentators to extend the term to the wives of the Prophet. But Sara was only addressed as a member of the ahl al-bayt after she was told of her imminent motherhood of a prophet, so perhaps the title is dependent not on marriage but on offspring. ‘And We ordained that he refuse to seek any foster mother before so she said: “Shall I point out to you a household who will take care of him for you, and will be kind to him?” So We restored him to his mother that she might be comforted and not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of Allah is true. But most of them know not’ (28.12–13). The mother of Moses is classed as a member of the ahl al-bayt, not for being the wife of but for being the mother of Moses. Marriage cannot confer the title since the wives of Noah and Lot were not considered ahl al-bayt despite the significance of their spouses. They shared the fate of the rest of community at that time.

Noah actually tried to get God to class his son as a member of the Family of the House but to no avail: ‘And Noah cried unto his Lord and said: “My Lord! Verily my son is of my family; and verily Your promise is true, and You are the most just of the judges.” He [God] said: “O Noah! Verily he is not of your family. In fact, he does not behave as a righteous person; therefore do not ask what you have no knowledge about; I truly advise you not to behave like an ignorant person’” (11.45–46). Noah argued for his son, and the reply was that he was not worthy to be his son.

Noah had three other sons who were believers and who with their wives entered the Ark and were saved and Kanan was Noah’s son by his other wife, who was a disbeliever and who perished along with her son. Merit is a criterion of membership. Ahl al-bayt are only the individuals among the Prophet’s descendants who also had close affinity in character and spiritual attainment with Prophet.

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. Bayt refers to habitation and dwelling, including tents and buildings. The ahl al-bayt of any person refers to his family members and all those who live in his house. The term ahl al-bayt (People of the House) is used twice in the ‘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. ‘Allah only desires to keep away uncleanness from you, O people of the House! And to purify you [with] a [thorough] purifying’ (33.33). This verse may refer to the members of the household of the Prophet. The consider the ahl al-bayt to include exclusively Muhammad, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn. They do not consider the Prophet’s other offspring, wives, sons of paternal uncles and dwellers in his house as the Messenger’s ahl al-bayt. They base their argument on the genuine and authentic traditions narrated by the companions of the Prophet recorded in the Sunni and sources. However, there are, as is often the case, a wide variety of different rulings on this issue. Different religious groups in the Islamic world tend to value different personalities as they appear in the and so membership of the ahl al-bayt varies from one group to another.