| 1. The Meaning of
Ahlul Bayt "Ahlul Bayt" literally means people
of the house and it refers to the family or children of
a person. In Islamic terminology, it refers to the
family of the Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.).
What is the basis of the importance given to the
Ahlul Bayt of the Prophet? Is there anything about it in
the Qur'ãn and the sayings of the Prophet? Or is this an
old Arab tribal concept with no basis in Islamic
sources? The Qur'ãn and the hãdíth have a lot to say
about the Ahlul Bayt. However, before we even go to the
Qur'ãn, a clarification on the concept of Ahlul Bayt is
necessary.
The term "family of the prophet" can be applied on
three kinds of relationships:
- Those who are related to the prophet by blood or
marriage ties only.
- Those who are related to the prophet by soul and
spirit only.
- Those who are related to the prophet by blood or
marriage ties as well as by soul and spirit.
When the Qur'ãn or the Prophet uses the term "Ahlul
Bayt", it could not be the first or the second group.
The first group is only physically related to the
Prophet but not spiritually, like the son of Prophet Nûh
or the wife of Prophet Lût or Abu Lahab, the Prophet's
uncle. Allãh clearly says to Prophet Nûh about his son:
"Innahu laysa min ahlik - He is not of your
family." (11:45-46) That is, he is not one of your
spiritual family; he is only physically related to you.
Lût's wife and the Prophet's uncle, Abu Lahab, both are
counted as people of the Hell-Fire.
The second category is considered "Ahlul Bayt" only
in a metaphorical sense, not in the real meaning; for
example, Salmãn al-Fãrsi about whom the Prophet said, "Salmãn
is from us, the Ahlul Bayt." This leaves us with the
third group.
2. Who Are the "Ahlul Bayt"?
Many people were related to the Prophet both by blood
and marriage as well as by soul and spirit. But the term
"Ahlul Bayt" as used by the Qur'ãn and the Prophet does
not apply to all of them. We see that Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.)
clearly applied the Qur'ãnic term "Ahlul Bayt" to four
people: Fãtima, 'Ali, Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon
them all).
The first verse (33:33) is of purification (tathír):
"Verily Allãh intends to keep away the abomination
from you, O the Ahlul Bayt, and purify you a thorough
purification."
No Muslim would question the inclusion of Fãtima,
'Ali, Hasan and Husayn in the "Ahlul Bayt". The
disagreement arises in the inclusion of the wives and
other Hashimite relatives of the Prophet among the "Ahlul
Bayt". For example, during our time, a book has been
published in Saudi Arabia entitled as 'Allimu
Awlãdakum Hubb Ãl-i Bayti 'n-Nabi (Teach Your
Children the Love of the Family of the Prophet) by Dr.
Mohammad 'Abduh Yamãni in 1991.[77]
The order in which Yamãni talks about the Prophet's
family is very interesting: he first talks about Khadija,
then Fatima, 'Ali, Hasan, Husayn, Zaynu 'l-'Ãbidyn, and
then ends with the other wives of the Prophet.
Wilfred Madelung makes the following observation on
the verse of purification: "Who are the 'people of the
house' here? The pronoun referring to them is in the
masculine plural, while the preceding part of the verse
is in the feminine plural. This change of gender has
evidently contributed to the birth of various accounts
of a legendary character, attaching the latter part of
the verse to the five People of the Mantle (ahl al-kisã'):
Mohammad, 'Ali, Fãtima, Hasan and Husayn. In spite of
the obvious Shí'ite significance, the great majority of
the reports quoted by al-Tabari in his commentary on
this verse support this interpretation."[78]
From the many reports that the Sunni sources
narrated, here I am just quoting one as an example. Abu
Sa'íd al-Khudari quotes Umm Salama, the wife of the
Prophet in whose house the incident of Kisã' took place.
She says: Jibra'íl came with the verse of purification;
the Prophet called Hasan, Husayn, Fãtima and 'Ali, and
he gathered them together and covered them with the
mantle. Then he said, "O Allãh, these are my Ahlul Bayt,
so 'keep away the abomination from the Ahlul Bayt, and
purify them thoroughly.'" Umm Salama (may Allãh be
pleased with her) said, "Am I with them, O Apostle of
Allãh?" The Prophet said, "You stay in your place, and
you are virtuous."[79]
Since this verse is situated right in the midst of
the verses addressed to the wives of the Prophet, some
Sunnis use its position to include the wives in the "Ahlul
Bayt". But the problem with their interpretation is the
difference in the pronouns: the sentences before and
after the verse of purification have feminine plural
pronouns whereas the statement itself has the masculine
plural pronouns. This is internal evidence that the
statement of purification was an independent verse that
was revealed on its own in a different event unrelated
to the wives.
In spite of the great majority of reports by Sunnis
supporting the view that this part of the verse was a
separate revelation that was later attached to the rest,
Madelung has difficulty in accepting it as such. In his
interpretation, he has tried to apply the term 'Ahlul
Bayt' primarily to the Bani Hãshim and then, in the
second place, to the wives. But he has failed to explain
the gender difference in the pronouns used in the whole
passage.
The Shí'ite and Sunni reports clearly apply the term
"Ahlul Bayt" in the statement of purification to the
Ahlul Kisã', excluding the wives of the Prophet. And the
gender difference in the pronouns was to show the
contrast between the "Ahlul Bayt" and the wives. In
words of Mirza Mahdi Puya, "While the address in the
beginning of the verse is in the feminine gender - there
is the transition here in the address from the feminine
to the masculine gender. While referring to the consorts
of the Holy Prophet, the pronouns also are consistently
feminine. For a mixed assembly of men and women,
generally the masculine gender is used. This transition
in the grammatical use of the language, makes it quite
obvious that this clause is quite a different matter
used for a different group other than the previous one,
and has been suitably placed here to show a comparative
position of the Ahlu 'l-bayt in contrast to the wives of
the Holy Prophet."[80]
Another important verse of the Qur'ãn that
talks about the Ahlul Bayt is 42:23 in which Allãh,
subhãnahu wa ta'ãla, says:
"(O Mohammad) Say, 'I do not ask for any reward for
this (bringing of Allãh's message) except the love for
the near kinship.'"
The fact that this verse was revealed concerning the
Ahlul Bayt, the family of the Prophet, is beyond any
doubt. Imam Shãfí'i, the founder of the Sunni Shãfí'í
school of law, has explained the meaning of this verse
in a poem:
O Ahlul Bayt of the Messenger of Allãh,
your love,
Is a duty from Allãh, mentioned in the
Qur'ãn.
In your honour, it is sufficient that
one's prayer,
Is incomplete without praying for
blessings on you.[81]
The Sunni polemicists have tried to reject the Shí'a
point of view by the following arguments: (1) This verse
was revealed in Mecca when Hasan and Husayn were not yet
born, so how could it be applied on the Ahlul Bayt in
the sense of Ahlul Kisã'? (2) Since it was revealed in
Mecca, it is addressing the Quraysh by asking them 'to
love Mohammad because he is from their kinship.' (3)
Some say that it refers to all the Hashimites, and not
just the Ahlul Bayt in the Shí'i definition.
First of all, the commentators of the Qur'ãn
overwhelmingly state that even though chaper 42 is a
Meccan surah, its verses 23-25, 27 were revealed in
Medina. This makes the first and second arguments
mentioned above baseless.
Secondly, the commandment asking for "love of the
kinship of the Prophet" cannot apply to all of his kin
because there were good as well as evil people among
them; and so one has to restrict the import of this
verse to those who were physically as well as
spiritually connected to the Prophet. And no one can
argue that 'Ali, Fãtimah, Hasan, and Husayn were not
among those who were physically as well as spiritually
related to the Prophet, even though he might extend this
title to other members of Hashimite.
Finally, there are many reports in Sunni sources in
which the Prophet applies this verse to the Ahlu 'l-Kisã'.
For example, when this verse was revealed, the people
asked the Prophet: "Who are these near kin of yours
whose love is obligatory upon us?" He replied, "'Ali,
Fãtima, and their two sons." He repeated this three
times.[82]
3. "Ahlul Bayt Not A Tribal Concept
What I have stated above is not a new interpretation;
I have just summarized the arguments of the Shí'a faith
supported by reports from the Sunnis that have existed
for centuries. And so I was surprised to see what the
learned scholar had written about the concept of Ahlul
Bayt:
"The shi'a took advantage of the intimate
historical relationship of 'Ali with Mohammad and of
the old Arab tribal concept of ahl al-bayt
(people of the household)-the family from whom chiefs
were chosen-and zealously supported the candidacy of
the 'Alids..."[83]
It does not behove a person from Shí'ite background
to say that the Shí'a took advantage "of the old Arab
tribal concept of ahl al-bayt"! So now the concept of
Ahlul Bayt becomes a concept of the pre-Islamic/jãhiliyya
era that was used by the Shí'as to forward their claim
about the imãmate of 'Ali and his descendants!
It is indeed sad that a scholar, from a Shí'í
background, could not discuss the concept of Ahlul Bayt
from the Qur'ãnic perspective but a non-Muslim scholar,
Wilfred Madelung, has been able to discuss at length the
importance that was given to the families of prophets
before Islam and then deals with the Qur'ãnic verses
specific to the Ahlul Bayt.[84]
Although we disagree with Madelung's broad definition of
Ahlul Bayt we totally agree with his conclusion to that
section in which he says, "The Qur'ãn advises the
faithful to settle some matters by consultation, but not
the succession to prophets. That, according to the
Qur'ãn, is settled by divine election, and God usually
chooses their successors, whether they become prophets
or not, from their own kin."[85]
It seems the learned Shí'a scholar is echoing the
views of Marshall Hodgson and Fazlur Rahman. Marshall
Hodgson writes, "The Alids-especially those descending
from Fãtimah-came to be called Ahl al-Bayt, 'people of
the house' (an old tribal term referring to the family
from whom chiefs were chosen..."[86]
While commenting on the claim made by the Shí'as of
Kufa that caliphate be restored in the family of 'Ali,
Fazlur Rahman writes: "The motives that led to this
curious legitimist claim on part of the Kufan Arabs are
not very clear, except...the fact that the Prophet had
been from the Banu Hashim came to be easily exploited."[87]
Fazlur Rahman implies that the concept of Ahlul Bayt
(that is, 'Ali and the Prophet were from the Banu Hãshim)
was "exploited" by the Kufan Shí'as to promote their
claim for the imamate of 'Ali's descendants.
Who took advantage of the pre-Islamic traditions
in the dispute on caliphate? 'Ali was denied his
rightful caliphate by the Quraysh on pretext of the
supposed old Arab tradition that leadership goes to the
older people and not to those who were relatively young.
'Ali, in comparison to Abu Bakr, was younger in age and
therefore, on the basis of the old Arab tradition, was
not suitable for leadership.[88]
So it was the Quraysh who relied on the "old Arab
tribal" tradition to usurp the caliphate from 'Ali bin
Abi Tãlib.
Who "exploited" and "took advantage" of their
relationship to the Prophet? It was the Qurayshi
group in Saqifa that exploited the fact that the Prophet
was from their tribe, and, therefore, they had more
right to the caliphate than their opponents from the
Ansãr (the inhabitants of Medina).[89]
When Imam 'Ali was informed about the debate between
the Quraysh and the Ansãr at Saqifa, he asked, "What did
the Quraysh plead?"
People said, "They argued that they belong to the
lineal tree of the Prophet."
'Ali commented by saying, "They argued by the tree
but they destroyed its fruits."[90]
The tree refers to "the tribe of Quraysh" and the fruits
refer to "the family of the Prophet".
* * *
[77] Published by Dãru
'l-Qiblah li 'th-Thaqãfati 'l-Islãmiyya in Jeddah.
[78] Madelung, The
Succession to Mohammad, p. 14-15.
[79] As-Suyûti, ad-Durru
'l-Manthûr, vol. 5, p. 197. Also see at-Tabari, Jãmi'u
'l-Bayãn, vol. 7, p. 22; Muhibbu 'd-Dín at-Tabari al-Makki,
Dhakhã'iru 'l-'Uqba, p. 55-60.
[80] See note no. 1857
(p. 1261) in the Holy Qur'ãn, translated by S.V. Mir
Ahmad Ali. For other quotation from Sunni sources on
this verse and its application to the Prophet, Fãtima,
'Ali, Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them all), see SSA
Rizvi, Imamate: the Vicegerency of the Prophet (Tehran:
WOFIS, 1985) p. 49-54; Sayyid Murtaza al-'Askari, Verse
of Purification (Bombay: World Islamic Network, 1998)
which is an incomplete translation of his Hadíthu 'l-Kisã'
fi Masãdiri 'l-Madrasatayn (Tehran: Nashr Tawhid, 1997).
For a comprehensive discussion on this verse and its
relation to the Ahlul Bayt, see Syed Ja'far Murtaza al-'Ãmili,
Ahlu 'l-Bayt fi Ãyati 't-Tathír (Beirut: Dãru 'l-Amír li
'th-Thaqãfah, 1993).
[81] Mohammad bin Idrís
ash-Shãfi'í, Diwãnu 'sh-Shãfi'í, ed. Mohammad al-Khafãji
(Jeddah: Maktabah Dar Hirã', n.d.) p. 106.
[82] For an exhausting
discussion on this verse of "love the kinship", see
Ja'far as-Subhãni, Mafãhímu 'l-Qur'ãn, vol. 4 (Beirut:
Daru 'l-Azwã', 1986) pp. 17-72.
[83] Abdulaziz
Sachedina, Islamic Messianism, p. 6.
[84] See Madelung, The
Succession to Mohammad, p. 6-17.
[85] Ibid, p. 17.
[86] Marshall GS
Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, vol. 1 (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1974) p. 260.
[87] Fazlur Rahman,
Islam, p. 171.
[88] See, for example,
Ibn Qutayba ad-Daynwari, al-Imãmah wa 's-Siyãsah, p. 18;
M. A. Shaban, Islamic History AD 600-750, p. 16.
Sachedina himself says the following about wilaya: "The
new thing about it was this that in the Arab culture,
the Arabs were never used to see a young person assuming
the leadership. In Arab culture it was impossible for a
thirty year old young man to become a leader because the
Arabs believed that an older person has to become a
leader..." From his 6th speech in Muharram (1419) 1998
in Toronto.
[89] There were two
contesting groups in Saqifa: the Quraysh who had
migrated from Mecca (known as Muhajirin) and the
inhabitants of Medina (known as Ansãr). For the
arguments employed by the Muhãjirin in Saqifa see the
following English titles: SSA Rizvi, Imamate, pp.
113-126; Murtaza al-'Askari, 'Abdullãh bin Sabã and
Other Myths (Tehran: WOFIS, 1984) pp. 69-95; Mohammad R.
al-Muzaffar, Saqifa (Qum: Ansariyan, 1998).
[90] Sayyid Razi, Nahju
'l-Balagha, sermon 67. For Sunni sources, see at-Tabari,
Ta'ríkh, vol. 6, p. 263 and Ibn 'Abdi 'l-Barr, al-Isti'ãb
under biography of 'Awf bin Athãthah. |