Who are Ahl-al-Bait? Without doubt, understanding the terms contained in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah is key to comprehending the aims and of these texts
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1 Ahl – al – B ait between the two theories Identifying the truth of Ahl – al – B ait in the midst of the moderates and the extremists Written by Mu¯ammad S«lim Al – Kha±r Translated by Abu Youssef Alaoui Edited by Zakariyya King Introduction All praise be to Allah Alone, Who has made Isl«m as a shelter for the creation in their religion, guided individuals to the true religion and warned them away from destruction. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah Alone with no partner. I am f ull y satisfied that He is . And I bear witness that Mu¯ammad is indeed His servant and Messenger, the most magnificent creation to Allah in terms of superiority and importance. May Allah bestow His numerous blessing s and peace upon him and upon his family and companions. S inc e puberty I have carried love for Ahl – al – Bait and the companions, acknowle dging their virtues and statuses. As a child I was too young to kno w the dimensions of these qualities and the essence of the intimate relationship t hat joined them all together . Since Allah , t he Most High prescribed that I would grow up enjoying His favo u rs – being gu ided to this religion, and finding employment that allowed me to research the history of Ahl – al – Bait and the compan ions and once I looked attentively at the differences in sources, understanding s and perspective s my aspiration became to write a report that clarifies the methodology of moderate Islam in its standpo int towards the family of the Prophet ( ma y ). The knowledge that Allah , the Most High has uncovered for me contains the proof of the exaggerated praise of Ahl – al – Bait from classical to recent times , giving me the p re requisite insight t o be able to discuss the conflic ts between sects and creeds in the best way possible. However, I tried to a void criticizing a spec ific group , thus I sought with this book, after striving for the pleasure of Allah the Mo st High, to demonstrate the true picture of Ahl – al –
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2 Bait and their way which wa s based on the Sunnah, free from in n ovations, superstitions, polytheism, illusion s and hypothetical statements. Ahl – al – Bait bayna madrasatayn ( Ahl – al – Bait between two theories/ schoo ls). This is because the current conflict about those related to the religion of Mu¯ammad (peace and blessings be upon him ) has become between no more than two schools, namely the schools of ( moderation) and that of al – ghuluww ( immoderation; exceed ing of proper bounds). On the other hand, An – N«·ibah, the third school that existed, h as , since hundred s of years ago , found its way towards extinction and nothing o f its cultural heritage remains but a small number of individuals who talk nonsense here an d there. Hence, the dispute between the two schools has snowballed and become inflamed t o the point that the exaggerator ‘s voice , which we are suppo sed in our religion to muzzle, has been amplified . Consequently, it has beco me incumbant upon every student of knowledge to dem onstrate his education and furthermore to take vengeance and remain loyal to Ahl – al – Bait (may Allah reward them) in a time and location where men who can play such a role are hard to find. Nevertheless, I am not here to praise my defective self as all of us commit sins and have shortcomings. Likewise, I am not freeing myself from errors, for indeed the (inerrancy) cannot be except in the statements of Allah and His Messenger. Moreover, all human statements can be accepted or rejected except those of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) . For this reason, if there is good in my words then it is only due to Allah , the Most High who has showed the right way and bestowed blessing upon me. I ask Al – Mawl«, the Great and Almighty to increase understand ing in our religion and to inspire us forever with correct ness in words and actions. I request anyone who reads this book to single me out with a supplication that Allah benefit s me o n the Day I meet Him. And our l ast supplica tion is that all the praise be to Allah Alone, the Lord of the Worlds. Mu¯ammad S«lim Al – Kha±r 27 th Jum«d« Al – Chapter One: Who are Ahl – al – Bait ? Without doubt, understanding the terms contained in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah is key to comprehend ing the aim s and of these text s along with their Islamic meaning. Likewise, redacting these terms and look ing closely at their real meaning is considered to be the first and most important step to setting up useful and fruitful discussions . Indeed, most doctrinal debates these days are lacking in the a cademic fundamentals . Hence, when these debate s usually start to a certain extent they appear to be calm and peaceful, but not for long. Debaters soon turn to s hout ing and accusing one another and o nce the debate is over, if you were to ask either party about the issue they are tackling each of them will give a different answer . People should limit their long discussions and arguments wh e defined key term s and foundation s . T he great scholar Ibn Hazm, with his usual insightfulness, once went out of his way to point out the danger of confusing terminology . He said: The source of every affliction and
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3 allegation is jumbling and corruption. Namely, the mixing up of names and that certain word s have numerous meaning s . One might mention a particular name carrying one of the meanings that he is after but, unfortunately , the audient understanding of the word will be different dep ending on the speaker. Consequently, ad versity and ambiguity are the result. In Sharia this is the most ha rmful, severe destruction leading to a belief in falshood, except for those that Allah has granted success . 1 Therefore, it is necessary for whoever participate s in any research to record first the definition of the terms involved, seeking to find the truth, to avoid conflict and dissension between the Muslims and not to be decieved . The meaning of Ahl – al – Bait Ahl in the language of the Arabs Te rms with connection s to Ahl – al – Bait such as Ahl – al – Bait Mu¯ammad , Ahl – al – Bait Al – Nabiyy and – Nabiyy are frequently used, but is there any difference between these name s or do they all share the same meaning? T he answer is found when researching the derivations of these names as well as their Islamic and linguistic meanings. start with the phrase Al – Ahl – al – Bait , Ahl – al – Bait . Indeed, linguists assign different meanings to the word Ahl – al – Bait in terms of b oth derivation and meaning. When we study the views of the lin guists in regards the source of the word Ahl – al – Bait we find no more than two opinions; The first op inion: That the origin of the phrase Ahl – al – Bait is Ahl : Th at th e origi n of the word Aal is Ahl is the view of Ibn Manz ur in his Lisa aan Al – ‘Arab . He said: Its origin is Ahl, then the letter haa was changed to hamza so that it became . Hence, when the two hamzah s followed each other the let ter change s to an a lif as with and Aakhar . 2 Al – Fairz Ab«d» holds the same view. 3 As stated in Mufrad«t ghar»b al – Q ur’«n : Al – Ahl – al – Bait is inverted from Al – A hl . 4 On the other hand, Ibn Qayyim Al – Jawziyyah disa gre ed with this view due to the following: 1 – There is no evidence for it. 2 – This requires irregular change without a need for it, and beside that, it contradicts the origin. 3 – The word al – can be under the categories of rational and irrational , where as al – Ahl – al – Bait can only be defined as the rational. 5 1 Al – I¯kaam f» U·l Al – A¯k« m , vol 8, p. 1129. 2 Lis«n Al – , vol: 11, p. 28. 3 Al – Q«as al – Mu¯i³ , vol: 3, p. 331. 4 Mufrad «t Alfaµ al – n , p. 30. 5 This – irrational , and an example is from the statement of – Mu³³alib about Abrahah, the Christian grant victory today to Your over cross eloquence should be taken into – Mu³³alib is known for it. Furthermore, I have read a statement by Ibn ®ajar in Fat¯ a l – B«r» the irrational , nor to the
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4 4 – The Ahl can be attached to both definite and indefinite words , whereas the Ahl – al – Bait cannot be joined except to a valued person. 5 – The Ahl can be added to the substantive and to the pronoun. Some grammarians have prevented adding the Ahl – al – Bait to the pronoun and there is hardly any one who allowed it. 6 – If a man is added to the phrase Ahl – al – Bait he will be included therein as in the Most High saying: people to enter the severest torment! 6 And the Most High saying: Allâh chose , Noah, the family of Abraham and the family of ‘Imrân above the ‘Alamîn (mankind and jinn) (of their times). 7 And His saying: Verily, We sent against them a violent storm of stones (which destroyed them all), except the family of Lot , them We saved in the last hour of the night 8 And the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) : May Allah send His blessing upon the Ahl – al – Bait of Ab» Awf« . We could make this linguistic claim if no one is mentioned with him [A Awf«] when the Ahl – al – Bait were added to h im; but he was , we then can say that h e is mentioned as a singular and included in the Ahl – al – Bait . We also can say that f or him to be mentioned as singular made it unnecessary for him to be mentioned as , if you say: The Ahl of Zaid came, he [Zaid] will not 9 The second o pinion which is the predominant : That Ahl – al – Bait means those who are closest or foremost . Al – Khal»l ibn A¯mad Al – Far «hd» holds this view. He said: Ahl – al – Bait , if t he y return to him. 10 in the poetry – Mu³³alib, where he said, during the incident of the people of the elephant in a line of poetry : And grant victory over cross 6 Gh«fir 40: 46. 7 8 Al – Qamar 54: 34. 9 – , p. 34. 10 Kit«b al – , vol: 8, p. 359.
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5 Ibn F« ris agreed with Al – Khal»l, he said: Ahl – al – Bait , means: he returns. One says: – , meaning that he gave back to them. 11 As well al – ®«fiµ ibn al – Jawz » had the same view. He state d: The principle is our saying: Ahl – al – Bait a, wi th the meaning of ( he returned). 12 Ibn Taymiyyah has chosen this view too. 13 As for the intention behind attributing the Ahl – al – Bait to al – rajul (the man), it includes two meanings: 1 – Ahl – al – Bait ihi ( the family members of his property). 2 – His followers. This is what the masters of language had in the past decid ed. I n his work – lughah , Ibn F«ris (d. 395 A.H . ) said: And Ahl – al – Bait al – rajul are the Ahl – al – Bait ih i , as he returns to them and to him they return. This is where the derives from . 14 And in his As – ¶ i¯«¯ , Al – Jawhar» (d. 393 A.H . / 1002 C.E . ) said: And the ª a l of the man are h is Ahl and his dependents. Also, his Ahl – al – Bait are h is followers. 15 Furth ermore, in his Nuzhat al – , al – ®«fiµ ibn al – Jawz» (d. 597A.H/ 1200 C.E. ) revealed: Our Shay Allah 16 said: Ahl – al – Bait is a name for whosoever goes back to [something] dependable which he is tra ced back to. Hence, some times it can be due to lineage and at times a nother reason. 17 And I say: Indeed in his mentioning lineage there is a reference to the family and kinship; and from that we should also note the saying of Allah , B lessed and Exalted inrah al – Then We had alrea dy given the family of Abraham the Book and Al – ® ikmah ( The Sunnah – Divine Revelation to those Prophets not written in the form of a book). 18 Thus the Ahl mentioned in the verse whom Allah has chosen for the Prophecy, reve aled the Book to them and taugh t offspring; and of their most f amous significant kings are D«wu d (Dav id) and Suleiman (Solomon) . 19 11 – lughah , p. 121. 12 al – al – , p. 121. 13 – fat«w« , Vol 22, p. 463. 14 – lughah , Vol. 1, p. 160. 15 As – ¶i¯«¯ , Vol. 4, p. 1627. 16 The I m «m al – – ®asan ibn al – Z«ghn», the Shaykh of the ®anbalees in Baghdad. In – (Vol. 19, p. 606), al – ®«fiµ al – knowledge, he had so many great attributes, a man with religion, taqw« (fear of All«h), zuhd ( asceticism – eard [knowledge from him], annotate d from him the fiqh ( jurisprudence ) and al – qa ( preaching ). He died on the 17 th of Mu¯arram 527 A.H. where an uncountable gathering participated in his funeral ceremony al – W«f» bil wafay«t (Vol. 21, p. 196) al – ¶afad prominent person s of the ®anbalees. He heard, sought, attained and wrote personally so much knowledge. He was known as a man of religion and righteousness . He collected works on the madhhab, al – – e compiled a history work covering the time of al – Mustarshid until he died. Furthermore, ibn al – Z«ghn» was trustworthy [scholarly]. 17 Nuzhat al – , pp. 121 122. 18 A l –
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6 And from that there is the saying of Allah , the Exalted: Verily, We sent against them a violent storm of stones (which destroyed them all), except the family of Lût ( Lot), them We saved in last hour of the night. 20 N one was saved wit³ peace be upon him except his two daughters as Allah the Most High stated: Then We saved him and his family, except his wife; she was of those who remained behind (in the torment). 21 He says of the story about Lot peace be upon him: My Lord! Save me and my family from what they do. So We saved him and his family, all, Except an old woman (his wife) among those who remained behind. 22 And from that, there is the saying of Allah , the Exalted irah Y»suf nar rating the statement of Ysuf : Thus will your Lord choose you and teach you the interpretation of dreams (and other things) and perfect His Favour on you and on the of fspring of Ya’qûb , as He perfected it on your fathers, Ibrâhîm and Ishâq aforetime! Verily, your Lord is All – Knowing, All – Wise. 23 T he Ahl – al – Bait here are the kin and not the followers. And from that there is also the saying of Allah : 19 Tafs»r al – Baghaw» , Vol. 2, p. 236; Tafs»r al – Ta¯r»r wa al – Tanw»r , Vol. 4, p. 21 and Tafs»r al – , Vol. 1, 182. 20 A l – Qamar 54: 34. 21 A l – 22 A l – Sh u 171. 23 suf 12: 6.
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8 Then travel in a part o f the night with your Ahl . 29 And He said: Except the family of Lût (Lot), them We saved in the last hour of the night Thus he called the Ahl – al – Bait Ahl (family). 30 Linguists agree that the people of the man includes his wife especially . In his Kit«b al – , al – Khal»l ibn A¯mad (d.175A.H. / 791 C.E. ) are his wife and people who are most special to him . 31 As a confirmation of this to al – Khal»l , Ibn F«ris (d. 395 A.H./ 1004 C.E.) quoted his statement in his – Lughah . 32 Al – Azhar» (d. 370A.H. ) transmitted from al – Lai th ibn al – Muµaffar his saying: The Ahl of the man is his wife, and others . 33 In his Mufrad«t Ghar»b al – , al – R«ghib al – A·bah«n» (d. 502 A.H. ) said: The Ahl of the man are those who are connected with him in lineage, or religion or those who are connected to him in terms of industry, home and country. Hence, original ly the Ahl of the man we re those w ho share d with him the same home, then they moved on to saying that it was those connected with him in lineage; and [this term] was generally known within the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) . 34 Ibn Manµr 35 (d. 711A.H. ), a l – Fairz Ab«d» 36 ( d. 817 A.H. ), al – Zubaid» 37 (d. 1205 A.H. ) and oth ers took the same position . I say: As for the case presented that the origin includes his wife, the evidences are so numerous in the Book and the Sunnah . The generalization that the term exceed s that and include s those who are connected with the man in lineage, M s« ( peace be upon him ): And appoint for me a helper from my family, 38 He meant his brother H«rn . There are many other evidences: For the phrase to encompass those with the link of faith, its evidence is the saying of Allah about N¯ (p eace be upon him ) and his son. 29 Al – Hijr 15: 65 30 Kam«l al – D»n wa Tam«m al – , p. 241 242. 31 Kit«b al – 32 – Lughah , Vol. 1, p. 150. 33 Tahdh»b al – Lughah , Vol. 6, p. 150. 34 Mufrad«t Ghar»b al – , p. 29. 35 Lis«n al – , under ( Ahl ). 36 Al – Q«s al – Mu¯»³ (the Lam section the Hamzah chapter), p. 1245. 37 Taj al – , Vol. 14, p. 36. 38 ²«h« 20: 29.
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9 And Nûh (Noah) called upon his Lord and said, O my Lord! Verily, my son is of my family! And certainly, Your Promise is true, and You are the Most Just of the judges. Then: He said: O Nûh (Noah)! Surely, he is not of your family; verily, his work is unrighteous, so ask not of Me that of which you have no knowledge! I admonish you, lest you be one of the ignorant. 39 And that which was reported by Ibn ®ibb«n in his ¶a¯»¯ from W«thilah ibn al – sa id: I asked for and I was told: He went to bring the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and all of a su dden he came thus the Messenger ent ered and I went inside. The Messenger sat o n the bed and made F«³imah to si his left and ®asan and ®ussain before him and recited: Allâh wishes only to remove Ar – Rijs (evil deeds and sins) from you, Ahl – al – Bait and to purify yo u with a thorough purification. 40 (the narration continues:) O Allah ! These are my Ahl . W«thilah said: O Messenger of Allah ! Am I from your Ahl ? He sai d: You are from my Ahl . W«thilah said: Indeed th is is the most I could wish for . 41 Al – Im«m Ab al – – m» al – ®amaw (d. 770 A.H./ 1368 C.E. ) came to the Ahl – al – Bait originally means the kinship and was used to describe the followers . 42 This confirms that Ahl – al – Bait al – Bai t , Ahl – al – Bait and Ahl – al – Bait Mu¯ammad these are all words expressing the same meaning. However, one only can define what is meant with these generali zations by knowing the intention of the speake r or the context of the connected text. 39 d 11: 45 46. 40 Al – A¯z«b 33:33 41 ¶a¯»¯ Ibn ®ibb«n He refer r ed to the report where it is clear that these four who were p reviously mentioned are the Ahl – al – Bai t of the Prophet ( peace be upon him) – ¯ad»th No. 6976 . 42 Al – Mi·b«¯ al – Mun»r, Vol. 1, p. 28.
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10 Ab al – – K afw» (d. 1094A.H./ 1683 C.E.) in his al – Kulliy«t wrote : T he Ahl – al – Bait o f the Prophet from the parental al – from the religious side e very pious believer, as this was how the Messenger of Allah answered 43 – Ahl – al – Bait . 44 This confirms what we have stated that both the two phrase s Ahl – al – Bait al – Bai t and Ahl – al – Bait can be used to have general and particular meaning: Gener al use: What is meant are the followers of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) , the earlie s t and the latest, namely the companions and those who follow them with sincerity until the Day of Resurrection. And in this regard, the I m«m al – Jawhar» reported in his Musnad al – Muwa³ – Juzar», he said: – Malik ibn ¶«li¯ 45 asked me: Who are the Ahl – al – Bait Mu¯ammad ? I replie d: The people who follow him. He said: You have spoken the truth. This is what M«lik ibn had Anas told me. 46 In – ®um«n», he said: I asked al – Thawr» who are the Ahl – al – Bait of Mu¯ammad? He replied: Every one who is God – fearing. 47 Similarly in ®ilyat al – from al – ®amm«n», he said: I asked al – Thawr»: Who are the Ahl – al – Bait of Mu¯ammad? He answere d: The Ummah of Mu¯ammad (peace and blessings be upon him) . 48 Here are some of the clear evidences from the Noble Prophetic Sunnah: 1 – R Allah ibn al – ®«rith ibn Nawfal, that – – – Mu³³alib and al – F a±l ibn (peace and blessings be upon him) asking him to invest 43 He refers with that to the ¯ad»th of An a s The question was addressed: O e replied: Every pious believer . The Im«m Ibn Taymiyyah said about th is ¯ad»th in – Fat«w« , Vol. 22, p. 462): (fabricated) w ith no origin. See also Silsilah al – A¯«d»th al – – by al – Alb«n», V ol. 3, p. 468, ¯ad»th No. 1304 . 44 Kit«b al – Kulliy«t , Vol. 1, p. 243. 45 – – – Ra¯m«n al – Am»r ( chief ). Al – Rash»d appointed him govern or for al – Mad»nah and al – he was the governor for al – Sh«m and al – Jaz»rah for al – Am»n. He died the year 196A.H.. He reported from his father and M«lik ibn Anas, and used to be, among people, th e more eloquent and the best in deliver ing a sermon . As a matter of fact, there was no one similar to him in fluency and loftiness . The following question was addressed to Ya¯y« ibn Kh«lid al – Burmuk» at the time when al – Rash»d – Malik as go vernor for al – Mad»nah: How did it happen that he [al – Rash»d] – Malik] among all his governors? He said: He [al – Rash»d] liked to be proud of – Malik] to Quraish, and bring to their notice that there is in Ban» al – ody – Malik] call ed on al – Rash»d who had lost one son, but at the same time – Malik] said: O commander of the believers! All«h has made you happy in that which has grieve d you, and displease d no t in that which made you happy, and He has made this to replace that, as reward for the grateful , and as recompense for the patient . 46 Musnad al – , p. 82. 47 T«r»kh A·bah«n , Vol. 2, p. 120. 48 ®ilyat al – , Vol. 7, p. 19.
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11 them with authority over the As – Sadaqât (here it means Zakât) . H e said to them: Verily, these As – Sadaqât are but people s filth, for indeed it is not allowed for Mu¯ammad nor for the Ahl – al – Bait of Mu¯ammad . 49 2 – R the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) , he said: Indeed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a man from B an» Makm for the Zak«h, he said [to me]: If you give me company then you will earn [something]. He said: I respon d ed [to him]: Let me mention that to the Messenger of Allah , so I did and he, consequently, said: Verily, we, Ahl – al – Bait Mu¯ammad , the Zak«h is not allowed for us, and the mawl« of a people is part of them . 50 3 – R – Razz«q in al – Mu·annaf , from al – Thawr», from Yaz»d ibn ®iyy«n al – Taim», he said: I heard Zaid ibn Arqam saying: He was asked the following question: Who are the Ahl – al – Bait of Mu¯ammad? He replie d: Those who are not allowed the Zak«h. This question was addressed: Who are they? He replied: The Ahl – al – Bait Ahl – al – Bait Ahl – al – Bait 51 4 – Record ed by al – – I not give a present I heard from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ? I said: Yes! O ffer it to me. Thus he said: We asked the Messenger of Allah : O Messenger of Allah ? How do we perform the prayer upon you r Ahl – al – Bait ? I ndeed Allah thought us how to greet you. He said: Say : O Allah ! Bestow Your blessing upon Mu¯ammad and upon the Ahl – al – Bait of Mu¯ammad as You with Your prayers upon Ibr«him and upon the Ahl – al – Bait of Ibr«h»m for indeed You a re the All – Praised, Al – Maj»d ( Glorious ), and bestow Your blessing upon Mu¯ammad and upo n the Ahl – al – Bait of Mu¯ammad as with Your blessing upon Ibr«h»m and upon the Ahl – al – Bait of Ibr«h»m, for indeed You a re the All – Praised, Al – Maj»d ( Glorious ). 52 Moreover, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught his companions numerous way s to perform the prayer upon his Ahl – al – Bait from which I am going to mention the following: From Ibn Sulaim al – Zurq», he said: A ®umaid al – reported to me, that they said: O Messenger of Allah ! How do we perform the prayer upon you? Hence, the Me ssenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Say: O Allah ! Bestow Your prayer upon Mu¯ammad, his wives and his dhurriyyah ( offspring ) as You had bestow ed You r prayer upon the Ahl – al – Bait of Ibr«h»m, and bestow Your blessing upon Mu¯ammad, his w ives and his 49 It was reported by Muslim in his ¶a¯»¯ – The book of Al – Zak«h chapter : a bandoning the use of the – ¯ad»th No. 1072. 50 Musnad A¯mad – ¯ad»th ¯ad»th No. 27226. 51 – Razz«q , Vol. 4, p. 52. 52 It was reported by al – Bukh«r» in his ¶a¯»¯ – the book of: The ¯ad»ths of the Prophets ¯ad»th No. 3370.
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