Dictionary Definition of “Ahlel Bayt”: We encourage our readers to verify this defintion by picking up any Arabic dictionary. There are three words to look up: Ahl, Bayt, and Ahl-Al-Bayt. Let us reproduce what one such Arabic dictionary has to say, although the results will no doubt be virtually identical in any other dictionary.
Ahl: noun; relatives including wives, children, brothers, sisters, and other kinsmen, and sometimes used to refer to fellow tribesmen
Bayt: noun; house; place of residence
Ahl-Al-Bayt: noun; those people in relation to a man who live in his house, especially his wives and unmarried children that live under his roof and are provided for by him
In fact, the primary definition of Ahl Bayt is a man’s wives; in Arab culture, it is considered rude to call a man’s wives by their actual names, and hence people will refer to a man’s wives simply as his “Ahl Bayt”.
Common Usage of the Term “Ahl-Al-Bayt”: The Quran is an Arabic book that has been revealed to people whose language was Arabic. We will misinterpret the Quran if we attempt to understand its words in a way that was not (and could not be) understood by the primary addressees of the book. Today, if we ask an Arab friend to come to our house with his Ahl-Al-Bayt, the default is that he will come to our house with his wife and children who are staying in his house. He might bring his married children or he might not. He might even bring a friend if the friend is a permanent resident of his house. But primarily, an Arab will understand from this that he should bring his wives, since this is the central and primary definition of the phrase “Ahl-Al-Bayt”.
An Arab will be extremely shocked if he finds that by Ahl-Al-Bayt we meant his cousin, married children, and grandchildren, all of whom live in another house.He will be extremely shocked that we do not mean his wife who lives in his Bayt. This is because for any Arab, the word Ahl-Al-Bayt (which literally means those staying in the house) includes the wife (or wives) of a person. This was in no way any different at the time of the Prophet. It is the same in all Arab countries. It is interesting that even in Iran (being a Shia dominated country) people use the word Ahl-Al-Bayt to refer to the wife as well as children of a person. If we look at any popular book of Arabic words we will find that in the definition of Ahlel Bayt, wife is included. We would thus like to ask the Shia Ayatollahs why they proclaim a different definition of the word Ahlel Bayt? Why should it be that the Prophet’s wives are not part of Ahlel Bayt but rather the Infallible Imams are? In our opinion, this defies logic.
Logic and Common Sense: Ahlel Bayt means the family of a man living in his house. If we were to ask any Shia who is a part of his own family, he would most definitely include his mother (or his spouse) in his response. Mothers and wives are the basic foundation of a family. If we were to ask an unbiased third party as to who the family of Muhammad (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) was, the first names they would mention would be the Prophet’s wives.
The Quran Refers to the Prophet’s Wives as Ahlel Bayt:
وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَى وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآَتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُاللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا
[Quran 33:33]
“And stay in your houses and do not display your finery like the displaying of the ignorance of yore; and keep up prayer, and pay the poor-rate, and obey Allah and His Apostle. Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying.”
According to correct opinion of Ahlus Sunnah scholars, the above verse revealed regarding the wives of the Prophet [SAW] but “Ahlal Bayt” (People of the House) also includes other relatives of the Prophet [saw].
But according to shia view, the red part of the verse revealed specifically for five personalities only, viz., 1. Fatima [ra] 2. Ali [ra] 3. Hasan [ra] [4] Husain [ra] (because of hadith-e-kisa) 5. & some shia believe,, also for nine descendents of Husain [ra].
To support their claim they give many arguments:
Ahl: noun; relatives including wives, children, brothers, sisters, and other kinsmen, and sometimes used to refer to fellow tribesmen
Bayt: noun; house; place of residence
Ahl-Al-Bayt: noun; those people in relation to a man who live in his house, especially his wives and unmarried children that live under his roof and are provided for by him
In fact, the primary definition of Ahl Bayt is a man’s wives; in Arab culture, it is considered rude to call a man’s wives by their actual names, and hence people will refer to a man’s wives simply as his “Ahl Bayt”.
Common Usage of the Term “Ahl-Al-Bayt”: The Quran is an Arabic book that has been revealed to people whose language was Arabic. We will misinterpret the Quran if we attempt to understand its words in a way that was not (and could not be) understood by the primary addressees of the book. Today, if we ask an Arab friend to come to our house with his Ahl-Al-Bayt, the default is that he will come to our house with his wife and children who are staying in his house. He might bring his married children or he might not. He might even bring a friend if the friend is a permanent resident of his house. But primarily, an Arab will understand from this that he should bring his wives, since this is the central and primary definition of the phrase “Ahl-Al-Bayt”.
An Arab will be extremely shocked if he finds that by Ahl-Al-Bayt we meant his cousin, married children, and grandchildren, all of whom live in another house.He will be extremely shocked that we do not mean his wife who lives in his Bayt. This is because for any Arab, the word Ahl-Al-Bayt (which literally means those staying in the house) includes the wife (or wives) of a person. This was in no way any different at the time of the Prophet. It is the same in all Arab countries. It is interesting that even in Iran (being a Shia dominated country) people use the word Ahl-Al-Bayt to refer to the wife as well as children of a person. If we look at any popular book of Arabic words we will find that in the definition of Ahlel Bayt, wife is included. We would thus like to ask the Shia Ayatollahs why they proclaim a different definition of the word Ahlel Bayt? Why should it be that the Prophet’s wives are not part of Ahlel Bayt but rather the Infallible Imams are? In our opinion, this defies logic.
Logic and Common Sense: Ahlel Bayt means the family of a man living in his house. If we were to ask any Shia who is a part of his own family, he would most definitely include his mother (or his spouse) in his response. Mothers and wives are the basic foundation of a family. If we were to ask an unbiased third party as to who the family of Muhammad (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) was, the first names they would mention would be the Prophet’s wives.
The Quran Refers to the Prophet’s Wives as Ahlel Bayt:
وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَى وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآَتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُاللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا
[Quran 33:33]
“And stay in your houses and do not display your finery like the displaying of the ignorance of yore; and keep up prayer, and pay the poor-rate, and obey Allah and His Apostle. Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying.”
According to correct opinion of Ahlus Sunnah scholars, the above verse revealed regarding the wives of the Prophet [SAW] but “Ahlal Bayt” (People of the House) also includes other relatives of the Prophet [saw].
But according to shia view, the red part of the verse revealed specifically for five personalities only, viz., 1. Fatima [ra] 2. Ali [ra] 3. Hasan [ra] [4] Husain [ra] (because of hadith-e-kisa) 5. & some shia believe,, also for nine descendents of Husain [ra].
To support their claim they give many arguments:
Sunni’s do not have any sahih hadith which claims that rasool-allah considered his wives as ahul-bayt at the time of hadith-e-kisa.This is a lie. Because sunni do have sahih hadith on hadith-e-kisa which clearly says that wives are also ahul-bayt.
Ibn Asakir in his “Arbain fi ummahatil muminin” (p 137, hadis 28) narrated from Umm Salama:
“While the messenger of Allah (pbuh) was in my house one day, the servant came and said: “Ali and Fatima are at the door”. He said: “Withdraw”, and I withdrew to a corner of a house. Ali and Fatima enter with Hasan and Husayn who were young children. He took Hasan and Husayn and sat them in his lap, and embraced Ali and brought him to him, and took Fatima with his other arm and embraced them both and kissed them. He draped a black cloak over them and said: “O Allah to you, not to the fire, both myself an my family”. Umm Salama said: “And I messenger of Allah?”. He said: “And you”.
“While the messenger of Allah (pbuh) was in my house one day, the servant came and said: “Ali and Fatima are at the door”. He said: “Withdraw”, and I withdrew to a corner of a house. Ali and Fatima enter with Hasan and Husayn who were young children. He took Hasan and Husayn and sat them in his lap, and embraced Ali and brought him to him, and took Fatima with his other arm and embraced them both and kissed them. He draped a black cloak over them and said: “O Allah to you, not to the fire, both myself an my family”. Umm Salama said: “And I messenger of Allah?”. He said: “And you”.
Ibn Asakir said hadith sahih.
And at next page he said:“It is related by another route in which he said: “You are part of my family“.
And at next page he said:“It is related by another route in which he said: “You are part of my family“.
Other of their argument is that the red part of the verse uses masculine gender.However this is a weak argument because these type of gender change are not new for Quran. Quranic arabic is very rich and many times goes against the modern arabic grammer.
Firstly; Just take two simple example from Quran:
1. while talking to the wife of Ibrahim [as], angels also used the same masculine gender.
قَالُوا أَتَعْجَبِينَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ إِنَّهُ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
[Quran 11:73]
“They said: Do you wonder at Allah’s bidding? The mercy of Allah and His blessings are on you, O people of the house, surely He is Praised, Glorious.“
As we see here also, the Quran calls the wife of Ibrahim [as] Ahlal Bayt, and that while using the musculine gender in sentence.
The verse say “salamun ‘alaikum ahlal bayt“, and the “kum” is the same term which is used in 33:33, and is a masculine term.
2. Quran, Surah al-Kahf verse 107 says:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَاتِ كَانَتْ لَهُمْ جَنَّـتُ الْفِرْدَوْسِ نُزُلاً
Translation:”And those who believe and engage is righteous deeds, they have for their revelry the Gardens of Paradise.”
Here the Arabic phrase for “FOR THEM” is “LA-HUM”. This is masculine plural. Does this mean only men will go to Paradise? Of course not.
Secondly; ALLAH says in Quran 11:59-60.
إِلاَ ءَالَ لُوطٍ إِنَّا لَمُنَجُّوهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ – إِلاَّ امْرَأَتَهُ قَدَّرْنَآ إِنَّهَا لَمِنَ الْغَـبِرِينَ
“(All) except the family of Loot. Them all surely We are going to save (from destruction). Except his wife…”
The construction “except his wife” would be non-sensical unless the wife was included in the family of Loot (عليه السلم). Otherwise, why would Allah need to clarify that Loot’s wife was an exception to the rule that the family of Loot (عليه السلام) would be saved?
From above two simple examples we can see:: When there is a group of mixed men and women, even if its all women and just one man, that group is addressed with masculine articles as we see in the above verse addressing mankind in totality. This is the case of most languages which have grammatic distinctions between feminine and masculine nouns.
Extract:; in my opinion, I think this is a result of simple Arabic grammar rule, which is that construction ‘Nisaa Nabi’ (نِسَاء النَّبِيِّ) (wives of the prophet) is feminine while the construction ‘أَهْلَ الْبَيْت’ (people of the house) would be considered masculine in Arabic and hence the masculine gender.
This is evident from other verses of the Quran as well. For instance, in verses 11:71-72 the angels sent from Almighty give tidings of a son to Abraham and his wife in the old age. She remarks with the following,
قَالَتْ يَا وَيْلَتَى أَأَلِدُ وَأَنَاْ عَجُوزٌ وَهَـذَا بَعْلِي شَيْخًا إِنَّ هَـذَا لَشَيْءٌ عَجِيبٌ
She said, “O wonder! shall I bear a son when I am an extremely old woman and this my husband an extremely old man? Most surely this is a strange thing.” (Quran 11:72)
قَالُواْ أَتَعْجَبِينَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللّهِ رَحْمَتُ اللّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ إِنَّهُ حَمِيدٌ مَّجِيدٌ
They said, “Do you wonder at Allah’s bidding? The mercy of Allah and His blessings are on you, O people of the house, surely He is Praised, Glorious.” (Quran 11:73)
In the verse above, the angels are addressing the wife of prophet Abraham (pbuh), which is also evident by the phrase ‘أَتَعْجَبِينَ’ which is a singular feminine second person form. However, in the same sentence, when the next construction comes with ‘أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ’, the gender changes to masculine ‘عَلَيْكُمْ’ despite the fact that the addressee is a lady, i.e. prophet Abraham (pbuh)’s wife.
Similarly, in Surah Qasas, reading the story of prophet Moses (pbuh) as an infant, the following verse is encountered,
وَحَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِ الْمَرَاضِعَ مِن قَبْلُ فَقَالَتْ هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَيْتٍ يَكْفُلُونَهُ لَكُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُ نَاصِحُونَ
And We ordained that he refused to suck any foster mother before, so she said, “Shall I point out to you the people of a house who will take care of him for you, and will be good counselors to him?” (Quran28:12)
Similarly in this verse, the phrase ‘أَهْلَ الْبَيْت’ is used clearly in the context of a lady, while the gender is masculine again ‘يَكْفُلُونَهُ’ and ‘وَهُمْ’.
In both these verses, the addresses are the women which are addressed with the phrase ‘أَهْلَ الْبَيْت’. This also shows that really this phrase primarily includes one’s wives.
1. while talking to the wife of Ibrahim [as], angels also used the same masculine gender.
قَالُوا أَتَعْجَبِينَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ إِنَّهُ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
[Quran 11:73]
“They said: Do you wonder at Allah’s bidding? The mercy of Allah and His blessings are on you, O people of the house, surely He is Praised, Glorious.“
As we see here also, the Quran calls the wife of Ibrahim [as] Ahlal Bayt, and that while using the musculine gender in sentence.
The verse say “salamun ‘alaikum ahlal bayt“, and the “kum” is the same term which is used in 33:33, and is a masculine term.
2. Quran, Surah al-Kahf verse 107 says:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَاتِ كَانَتْ لَهُمْ جَنَّـتُ الْفِرْدَوْسِ نُزُلاً
Translation:”And those who believe and engage is righteous deeds, they have for their revelry the Gardens of Paradise.”
Here the Arabic phrase for “FOR THEM” is “LA-HUM”. This is masculine plural. Does this mean only men will go to Paradise? Of course not.
Secondly; ALLAH says in Quran 11:59-60.
إِلاَ ءَالَ لُوطٍ إِنَّا لَمُنَجُّوهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ – إِلاَّ امْرَأَتَهُ قَدَّرْنَآ إِنَّهَا لَمِنَ الْغَـبِرِينَ
“(All) except the family of Loot. Them all surely We are going to save (from destruction). Except his wife…”
The construction “except his wife” would be non-sensical unless the wife was included in the family of Loot (عليه السلم). Otherwise, why would Allah need to clarify that Loot’s wife was an exception to the rule that the family of Loot (عليه السلام) would be saved?
From above two simple examples we can see:: When there is a group of mixed men and women, even if its all women and just one man, that group is addressed with masculine articles as we see in the above verse addressing mankind in totality. This is the case of most languages which have grammatic distinctions between feminine and masculine nouns.
Extract:; in my opinion, I think this is a result of simple Arabic grammar rule, which is that construction ‘Nisaa Nabi’ (نِسَاء النَّبِيِّ) (wives of the prophet) is feminine while the construction ‘أَهْلَ الْبَيْت’ (people of the house) would be considered masculine in Arabic and hence the masculine gender.
This is evident from other verses of the Quran as well. For instance, in verses 11:71-72 the angels sent from Almighty give tidings of a son to Abraham and his wife in the old age. She remarks with the following,
قَالَتْ يَا وَيْلَتَى أَأَلِدُ وَأَنَاْ عَجُوزٌ وَهَـذَا بَعْلِي شَيْخًا إِنَّ هَـذَا لَشَيْءٌ عَجِيبٌ
She said, “O wonder! shall I bear a son when I am an extremely old woman and this my husband an extremely old man? Most surely this is a strange thing.” (Quran 11:72)
قَالُواْ أَتَعْجَبِينَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللّهِ رَحْمَتُ اللّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ إِنَّهُ حَمِيدٌ مَّجِيدٌ
They said, “Do you wonder at Allah’s bidding? The mercy of Allah and His blessings are on you, O people of the house, surely He is Praised, Glorious.” (Quran 11:73)
In the verse above, the angels are addressing the wife of prophet Abraham (pbuh), which is also evident by the phrase ‘أَتَعْجَبِينَ’ which is a singular feminine second person form. However, in the same sentence, when the next construction comes with ‘أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ’, the gender changes to masculine ‘عَلَيْكُمْ’ despite the fact that the addressee is a lady, i.e. prophet Abraham (pbuh)’s wife.
Similarly, in Surah Qasas, reading the story of prophet Moses (pbuh) as an infant, the following verse is encountered,
وَحَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِ الْمَرَاضِعَ مِن قَبْلُ فَقَالَتْ هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَيْتٍ يَكْفُلُونَهُ لَكُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُ نَاصِحُونَ
And We ordained that he refused to suck any foster mother before, so she said, “Shall I point out to you the people of a house who will take care of him for you, and will be good counselors to him?” (Quran28:12)
Similarly in this verse, the phrase ‘أَهْلَ الْبَيْت’ is used clearly in the context of a lady, while the gender is masculine again ‘يَكْفُلُونَهُ’ and ‘وَهُمْ’.
In both these verses, the addresses are the women which are addressed with the phrase ‘أَهْلَ الْبَيْت’. This also shows that really this phrase primarily includes one’s wives.
Another of their argument is that:
As coming to his other argument of “Ankum” being “Ankunna”, let’s see the following verse:If you look to verse 33:33
وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَى وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ
If you look at the wording and the arabic grammar you will see that this first section of the verse you will see the Qur’aan speaking in a “feminine” tense
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا
But look very very closed to this…
the word عَنكُمُ ‘ankum’ is a second person, masculine, plural form. Check arabic grammar you will see what I am saying is right.
If it was really talking about the wives the wording of the Qur’aanic verse would be ‘ankunna’
قَالُواْ أَتَعْجَبِينَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ رَحْمَتُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ إِنَّهُ حَمِيدٌ مَّجِيدٌ
[Quran 11:73]
We see that the verb ‘ta’djabîna’ is used in second person form, feminine, singular form this would then necessitate according to his “astonishing Arabic grammar” that ‘Alaykum” should be “Alayki”, even if you say this includes Sayyidunâ Ibrâhim (عليه السلام) then it would be “Alaykuma” (dual form) but instead it is used in plural form. The reason for this is because after the singular feminine verb she is addressed by the title “Ahl al-Bayt” which necessitates the pronouns referring to Ahl al-Bayt -the title that is used to address her- to be used in the plural form like ‘AlayKUM and as we can see again in 33:33 ‘AnKUM. There is no doubt that wives of the Prophet (صلى الله تعالى عليه واله وسلم) are included in Ahl al-Bayt since Allâh Most High addressed them by this title but this is hard to swallow for Twelver Shi`as since they produced a whole concept of infallibility upon it.
[Quran 11:73]
We see that the verb ‘ta’djabîna’ is used in second person form, feminine, singular form this would then necessitate according to his “astonishing Arabic grammar” that ‘Alaykum” should be “Alayki”, even if you say this includes Sayyidunâ Ibrâhim (عليه السلام) then it would be “Alaykuma” (dual form) but instead it is used in plural form. The reason for this is because after the singular feminine verb she is addressed by the title “Ahl al-Bayt” which necessitates the pronouns referring to Ahl al-Bayt -the title that is used to address her- to be used in the plural form like ‘AlayKUM and as we can see again in 33:33 ‘AnKUM. There is no doubt that wives of the Prophet (صلى الله تعالى عليه واله وسلم) are included in Ahl al-Bayt since Allâh Most High addressed them by this title but this is hard to swallow for Twelver Shi`as since they produced a whole concept of infallibility upon it.
& Another of their argument is that:
First let me quote the verse:Also. If you notice the beginning of the verse starts of by saying بُيُوتِكُنَّ The plural feminine form. Because the wives all had their own houses right? So that is why The Qur’aan is addressing all the wives for them not to leave their houses.
But look at the second part of the verse. It says الْبَيْتِ this is singular form, meaning only 1 house is “thoroughly purified”, if it was the other wives the wording would be Ahlul Bayoot, but it is not.
وَقَرْنَ فِى بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلاَ تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَـهِلِيَّةِ الاٍّولَى وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَوةَ وَءَاتِينَ الزَّكَـوةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُـمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِوَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيــراً
And stay in your houses, and do not Tabarruj yourselves like the Tabarruj of the times of ignorance, and perform the Salah, and give Zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah wishes only to remove the Ar-Rijs from you, Omembers of the family, and to purify you with a thorough purification
And stay in your houses, and do not Tabarruj yourselves like the Tabarruj of the times of ignorance, and perform the Salah, and give Zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah wishes only to remove the Ar-Rijs from you, Omembers of the family, and to purify you with a thorough purification
He mean first Allah said “bayoot-koon” (plural) & then “ahl-bayt” (singular)
This statement made me laugh.Means to include house of wives it should be “ahle-bayoot” instead of “ahl-bayt”! So only one house is thoroughly purified i.e. house of imam ali!
First let me tell you “ahl” is called ISME-JAMA in arabic grammar means “word used for both plural & singular” or we can say “word without restriction in quantity form”.
Allah said “bayoot-koon” in the beginning because Allah wants all wives of S.A.W. (pbuh) to stay in their ownhouses (remember bayoot is used for houses not for members & to include members “ahl” is used), then Allah said “ahl-bayt“ in the last because Allah wants to purify members of the house not one house itself.
If we analyse shia argument, we find: He said bayoot is plural & bayt is singular (without including “ahl” with “bayt”):
This mean, member of house (if we are considering it singular, as shia said), so this means Allah want to purify only one member not one house, because Allah said “ahl-bayt” not only “bayt”. As you can see how shia can skip word “ahl” from quranic verse only to support his evil & useless arguments. They will always try hard to exclude wives from this verse but always they fail when we compare the quranic verses with other verses.
May be after knowing this grammetic issues the fighting will took place between shia sects i.e. who will be the purified one from the holy four! & then more shia sects will form on this issue.
As we can see this shia argument goes against there own belief, to include more than one member “ahl-bayt” should be considered as plural not singular. & remember “ahl” is plural here because it includes more than one member, so automatically “ahl-bayt” will become plural.
Some other points: The terms ‘Ahlul Bayt’ (أَهْلَ الْبَيْت) and ‘Ahl-i-Bayt’ (أَهْلِ بَيْت) are both consruct states (also known as ‘اضافه’, i.e. genitive) according to basic Arabic grammar rules. The only difference between these two terms is ‘Al’ (ال) that comes with ‘bayt’ ‘بَيْت’ in the first phrase. ‘Al’ (ال) is a definite article translating to ‘the’ in English. So while ‘bayt’ (بَيْت) would mean ‘a house’, ‘alBayt’ (الْبَيْت) would mean ‘the house’. Given this information, basic Arabic rules dictate the meaning of the phrase ‘Ahlul Bayt’ (أَهْلَ الْبَيْت) as “people of the house”, while the phrase ‘Ahl-i-Bayt’ (أَهْلِ بَيْت) would mean ‘people of a house’.
In the Arabic language, this phrase, as apparent from its meaning, is used commonly to represent those who live in one’s house, i.e. people of the house. Now if we look at all the three verses that have been discussed so far (Hud 11:73, Al-Qasas 28:12 and Al-Ahzab 33:33) the context clearly shows that this phrase has been used for people who lived in the houses of each of the subjects under discussion. In my previous response, I quoted these verses in order to clarify the meaning of this phrase using the Quran, irrespective of why it was used for the ladies. As you shall see, this phrase in the other two verses really only means people living in the houses:
In Hud 11:73, the phrase “people of the house” (i.e. a house under discussion) is used for Abraham’s wife who lived in the house of Abraham, thus his ‘people of the house’.
In Al-Qasas 28:12, the phrase “people of a house” (i.e. people in some house) is used as an expression to indicate a lady who can nourish prophet Moses (pbuh).
As a result, when one looks at 33rd verse of Al-Ahzab, one sees that the phrase ‘people of the house’ is used in the context where the entire discussion is directed at prophet Muhammad (pbuh)’s wives. In this context when this phrase appears, there is no doubt that it refers to the ‘people of the house’ of prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
Whether the address in other verses to prophet Abraham (pbuh)’s wife or prophet Moses (pbuh)’s mother is made as wives or as mothers of prophets is not really relevant since the entire discussion is around understanding the meaning of the phrase ‘Ahlul Bayt’ (أَهْلَ الْبَيْت), which in any case refers to the ladies living in a house.
Now let me give an exact example from Hadith where Prophet [saw] used masculine gender while referring to his wives as “Ahlal Bayt”.
It is mention in Sahih Muslim, Book of Marriage..
قال أنس: وشهدت وليمة زينب. فأشبع الناس خبزا ولحما. وكان يبعثني فأدعوا الناس. فلما فرغ قام وتبعته. فتخلف رجلان استأنس بهما الحديث. لم يخرجا. فجعل يمر على نسائه. فيسلم على كل واحدة منهن “سلام عليكم. كيف أنتم يا أهل البيت؟” فيقولون: بخير. يا رسول الله ! كيف وجدت أهلك ؟ فيقول “بخير” فلما فرغ رجع ورجعت معه. فلما بلغ الباب إذا هو بالرجلين قد استأنس بهما الحديث. فلما رأياه قد رجع قاما فخرجا. فوالله ! ما أدري أنا أخبرته أم أنزل عليه الوحي بأنهما قد خرجا. فرجع ورجعت معه. فلما وضع رجله في أسكفة الباب أرخى الحجاب بيني وبينه. وأنزل الله تعالى هذه الآية: {لا تدخلوا بيوت النبي إلا أن يؤذن لكم} [33 /الأحزاب/ الآية 53] الآية
http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/D...Doc=1&Rec=3288
Translation of the relevant part is…
Anas said: I also saw the wedding feast of Zainab, and he (the Holy Prophet) served bread and meat to the people, and made them eat to their heart’s content, and he (the Holy Prophet) sent me to call people, and as he was free (from the ceremony) he stood up and I followed him. Two persons were left and they were busy in talking and did not get out (of the apartment). He (the Holy Prophet) then proceeded towards (the apartments of) his wives. He greeted with as-Salamu ‘alaikum to every one of them and said: Members of the household, how are you?? They said: Messenger of Allah, we are in good state ‘How do you find your family? He would say: In good state.
http://www.searchtruth.com/book_disp...mber=3328#3328
Here Prophet [saw] greeted his wives as “Assalamu’alaikum. Kaifa antum ya Ahlal Bayt“. The blue parts in the sentence represent masculine gender. Hence, we see Prophet [saw] used the masculine sentence while greeting to his wives. Use of masculine gender in the above hadith doesn’t change the fact that Prophet was referring to his wives not any other members of his family.
The point here is Quranic arabic is very rich and modern arabic grammer doesn’t cover all aspects of it. We can’t just distort the context of Quran, just because it uses the masculine gender while talking to feminine, whose usage is proven for feminine by the way in the arabic books.
Now the following are some narrations which prove without doubt that Wives of the Prophet [saw] were among Ahlal Bayt
1. Hazrat Aisha did consider herself among Ahlal Bayt
35 – (1995) وحدثنا زهير بن حرب وإسحاق بن إبراهيم. كلاهما عن جرير. قال زهير: حدثنا جرير عن منصور، عن إبراهيم. قال:
قلت للأسود: هل سألت أم المؤمنين عما يكره أن ينتبذ فيه؟ قال: نعم. قلت: يا أم المؤمنين! أخبريني عما نهى عنه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن ينتبذ فيه. قالت: نهانا، أهل البيت، أن ننتبذ في الدباء والمزفت
http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/D...Doc=1&Rec=4760
Ibrahim reported: I said to Aswad if he had asked the Mother of the Believers (in which utensils) he (the Holy Prophet) disapproved the preparation of Nabidh. He (Aswad) said: Yes. I said: Mother of the Believers, inform me about the utensils in which) Allah’s Apostle forbade to prepare Nabidh. She (Hadrat ‘A’isha) said: He forbade us, the members of his family [Ahlal Bayt], to prepare Nabidh in gourd, or varnished jar. I said to him: Do you remember green pitcher, and pitcher? He said: I narrated to you what I have heard; should I narrate to you which I did not hear?
http://www.searchtruth.com/book_disp...mber=4918#4918
Note- Ahlal Bayt in bracket is by me as a transliteration of what is present in arabic source.
2. Prophet (S.A.W.) called Aisha(ra) “Ahli Baytee” (my family) on pulpit, during the incident of Ifk:
وهو على المنبر: (يامعشر المسلمين، من يعذرني من رجل قد بلغني أذاه في أهل بيتي، فوالله ما علمت على أهلي إلا خيرا، ولقد ذكروا رجلا ما علمت عليه إلا خيرا، وما كان يدخل على أهلي إلا معي
http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/D...Doc=0&Rec=6951
“…So Allah’s Apostle got up (and addressed) the people an asked for somebody who would take revenge on ‘Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul then. Allah’s Apostle, while on the pulpit, said, “O Muslims! Who will help me against a man who has hurt me by slandering my family? By Allah, I know nothing except good about my family, and people have blamed a man of whom I know nothing except good, and he never used to visit my family except with me,”
Sahih Bukhari-
http://www.searchtruth.com/book_disp...number=274#274
Grand Ayatollah al-Kho’i Says Wife is Part of a Man’s “Ahl”:
Grand Ayatollah al-Kho’i, the former leader of the Hawzah of the holy city of Najaf, wrote in his book “Sirat al-Najat” that the wife is a part of a man’s “Ahl”. It should be noted that “Sirat al-Najat” is a very famous book which is referenced on Al-Islam.org many times. Is it not clear from this that the Prophet’s wives are a part of his “Ahl”?
Does this not expose the hypocrisy of the Shia leaders when they include their own wives in their Ahl, but they then rip the Prophet’s wives out of his Ahl? This is indeed indicative of the two-faced attitude of the Shia Ayatollahs, whereby they will never tolerate a man insulting their own wives, but they themselves will degrade the Prophet’s wives! Aisha and Hafsa are a part of the Ahlel Bayt, and the Shia leaders lie when they claim to be the lovers of Ahlel Bayt when in fact they are the enemies and revilers of the Prophet’s wives (i.e. his Ahlel Bayt). We kindly ask the Shia laypersons to disassociate themselves from their leaders and to instead embrace the true lovers of Ahlel Bayt, i.e. the Ahlus Sunnah.
Allah said “bayoot-koon” in the beginning because Allah wants all wives of S.A.W. (pbuh) to stay in their ownhouses (remember bayoot is used for houses not for members & to include members “ahl” is used), then Allah said “ahl-bayt“ in the last because Allah wants to purify members of the house not one house itself.
If we analyse shia argument, we find: He said bayoot is plural & bayt is singular (without including “ahl” with “bayt”):
This mean, member of house (if we are considering it singular, as shia said), so this means Allah want to purify only one member not one house, because Allah said “ahl-bayt” not only “bayt”. As you can see how shia can skip word “ahl” from quranic verse only to support his evil & useless arguments. They will always try hard to exclude wives from this verse but always they fail when we compare the quranic verses with other verses.
May be after knowing this grammetic issues the fighting will took place between shia sects i.e. who will be the purified one from the holy four! & then more shia sects will form on this issue.
As we can see this shia argument goes against there own belief, to include more than one member “ahl-bayt” should be considered as plural not singular. & remember “ahl” is plural here because it includes more than one member, so automatically “ahl-bayt” will become plural.
Some other points: The terms ‘Ahlul Bayt’ (أَهْلَ الْبَيْت) and ‘Ahl-i-Bayt’ (أَهْلِ بَيْت) are both consruct states (also known as ‘اضافه’, i.e. genitive) according to basic Arabic grammar rules. The only difference between these two terms is ‘Al’ (ال) that comes with ‘bayt’ ‘بَيْت’ in the first phrase. ‘Al’ (ال) is a definite article translating to ‘the’ in English. So while ‘bayt’ (بَيْت) would mean ‘a house’, ‘alBayt’ (الْبَيْت) would mean ‘the house’. Given this information, basic Arabic rules dictate the meaning of the phrase ‘Ahlul Bayt’ (أَهْلَ الْبَيْت) as “people of the house”, while the phrase ‘Ahl-i-Bayt’ (أَهْلِ بَيْت) would mean ‘people of a house’.
In the Arabic language, this phrase, as apparent from its meaning, is used commonly to represent those who live in one’s house, i.e. people of the house. Now if we look at all the three verses that have been discussed so far (Hud 11:73, Al-Qasas 28:12 and Al-Ahzab 33:33) the context clearly shows that this phrase has been used for people who lived in the houses of each of the subjects under discussion. In my previous response, I quoted these verses in order to clarify the meaning of this phrase using the Quran, irrespective of why it was used for the ladies. As you shall see, this phrase in the other two verses really only means people living in the houses:
In Hud 11:73, the phrase “people of the house” (i.e. a house under discussion) is used for Abraham’s wife who lived in the house of Abraham, thus his ‘people of the house’.
In Al-Qasas 28:12, the phrase “people of a house” (i.e. people in some house) is used as an expression to indicate a lady who can nourish prophet Moses (pbuh).
As a result, when one looks at 33rd verse of Al-Ahzab, one sees that the phrase ‘people of the house’ is used in the context where the entire discussion is directed at prophet Muhammad (pbuh)’s wives. In this context when this phrase appears, there is no doubt that it refers to the ‘people of the house’ of prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
Whether the address in other verses to prophet Abraham (pbuh)’s wife or prophet Moses (pbuh)’s mother is made as wives or as mothers of prophets is not really relevant since the entire discussion is around understanding the meaning of the phrase ‘Ahlul Bayt’ (أَهْلَ الْبَيْت), which in any case refers to the ladies living in a house.
Now let me give an exact example from Hadith where Prophet [saw] used masculine gender while referring to his wives as “Ahlal Bayt”.
It is mention in Sahih Muslim, Book of Marriage..
قال أنس: وشهدت وليمة زينب. فأشبع الناس خبزا ولحما. وكان يبعثني فأدعوا الناس. فلما فرغ قام وتبعته. فتخلف رجلان استأنس بهما الحديث. لم يخرجا. فجعل يمر على نسائه. فيسلم على كل واحدة منهن “سلام عليكم. كيف أنتم يا أهل البيت؟” فيقولون: بخير. يا رسول الله ! كيف وجدت أهلك ؟ فيقول “بخير” فلما فرغ رجع ورجعت معه. فلما بلغ الباب إذا هو بالرجلين قد استأنس بهما الحديث. فلما رأياه قد رجع قاما فخرجا. فوالله ! ما أدري أنا أخبرته أم أنزل عليه الوحي بأنهما قد خرجا. فرجع ورجعت معه. فلما وضع رجله في أسكفة الباب أرخى الحجاب بيني وبينه. وأنزل الله تعالى هذه الآية: {لا تدخلوا بيوت النبي إلا أن يؤذن لكم} [33 /الأحزاب/ الآية 53] الآية
http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/D...Doc=1&Rec=3288
Translation of the relevant part is…
Anas said: I also saw the wedding feast of Zainab, and he (the Holy Prophet) served bread and meat to the people, and made them eat to their heart’s content, and he (the Holy Prophet) sent me to call people, and as he was free (from the ceremony) he stood up and I followed him. Two persons were left and they were busy in talking and did not get out (of the apartment). He (the Holy Prophet) then proceeded towards (the apartments of) his wives. He greeted with as-Salamu ‘alaikum to every one of them and said: Members of the household, how are you?? They said: Messenger of Allah, we are in good state ‘How do you find your family? He would say: In good state.
http://www.searchtruth.com/book_disp...mber=3328#3328
Here Prophet [saw] greeted his wives as “Assalamu’alaikum. Kaifa antum ya Ahlal Bayt“. The blue parts in the sentence represent masculine gender. Hence, we see Prophet [saw] used the masculine sentence while greeting to his wives. Use of masculine gender in the above hadith doesn’t change the fact that Prophet was referring to his wives not any other members of his family.
The point here is Quranic arabic is very rich and modern arabic grammer doesn’t cover all aspects of it. We can’t just distort the context of Quran, just because it uses the masculine gender while talking to feminine, whose usage is proven for feminine by the way in the arabic books.
Now the following are some narrations which prove without doubt that Wives of the Prophet [saw] were among Ahlal Bayt
1. Hazrat Aisha did consider herself among Ahlal Bayt
35 – (1995) وحدثنا زهير بن حرب وإسحاق بن إبراهيم. كلاهما عن جرير. قال زهير: حدثنا جرير عن منصور، عن إبراهيم. قال:
قلت للأسود: هل سألت أم المؤمنين عما يكره أن ينتبذ فيه؟ قال: نعم. قلت: يا أم المؤمنين! أخبريني عما نهى عنه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن ينتبذ فيه. قالت: نهانا، أهل البيت، أن ننتبذ في الدباء والمزفت
http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/D...Doc=1&Rec=4760
Ibrahim reported: I said to Aswad if he had asked the Mother of the Believers (in which utensils) he (the Holy Prophet) disapproved the preparation of Nabidh. He (Aswad) said: Yes. I said: Mother of the Believers, inform me about the utensils in which) Allah’s Apostle forbade to prepare Nabidh. She (Hadrat ‘A’isha) said: He forbade us, the members of his family [Ahlal Bayt], to prepare Nabidh in gourd, or varnished jar. I said to him: Do you remember green pitcher, and pitcher? He said: I narrated to you what I have heard; should I narrate to you which I did not hear?
http://www.searchtruth.com/book_disp...mber=4918#4918
Note- Ahlal Bayt in bracket is by me as a transliteration of what is present in arabic source.
2. Prophet (S.A.W.) called Aisha(ra) “Ahli Baytee” (my family) on pulpit, during the incident of Ifk:
وهو على المنبر: (يامعشر المسلمين، من يعذرني من رجل قد بلغني أذاه في أهل بيتي، فوالله ما علمت على أهلي إلا خيرا، ولقد ذكروا رجلا ما علمت عليه إلا خيرا، وما كان يدخل على أهلي إلا معي
http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/D...Doc=0&Rec=6951
“…So Allah’s Apostle got up (and addressed) the people an asked for somebody who would take revenge on ‘Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul then. Allah’s Apostle, while on the pulpit, said, “O Muslims! Who will help me against a man who has hurt me by slandering my family? By Allah, I know nothing except good about my family, and people have blamed a man of whom I know nothing except good, and he never used to visit my family except with me,”
Sahih Bukhari-
http://www.searchtruth.com/book_disp...number=274#274
Grand Ayatollah al-Kho’i Says Wife is Part of a Man’s “Ahl”:
Grand Ayatollah al-Kho’i, the former leader of the Hawzah of the holy city of Najaf, wrote in his book “Sirat al-Najat” that the wife is a part of a man’s “Ahl”. It should be noted that “Sirat al-Najat” is a very famous book which is referenced on Al-Islam.org many times. Is it not clear from this that the Prophet’s wives are a part of his “Ahl”?
Does this not expose the hypocrisy of the Shia leaders when they include their own wives in their Ahl, but they then rip the Prophet’s wives out of his Ahl? This is indeed indicative of the two-faced attitude of the Shia Ayatollahs, whereby they will never tolerate a man insulting their own wives, but they themselves will degrade the Prophet’s wives! Aisha and Hafsa are a part of the Ahlel Bayt, and the Shia leaders lie when they claim to be the lovers of Ahlel Bayt when in fact they are the enemies and revilers of the Prophet’s wives (i.e. his Ahlel Bayt). We kindly ask the Shia laypersons to disassociate themselves from their leaders and to instead embrace the true lovers of Ahlel Bayt, i.e. the Ahlus Sunnah.
Q: There is a command to convey the Haqq (Truth) to one’s “Ahl” as well as to forbid them from the evil things, so in this command, who is “Ahl”? And is one’s wife included in this, and is this command (to convey the truth) applicable to one’s wife?
Reason: Perhaps the reason that the Shia Ayatollahs love the Ahlel Bayt of Ali (رضّى الله عنه) and not the Ahlel Bayt of the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) has to do with how the faith of Shi’ism came into being. Indeed, the early ancestors of the Shia are the Saba’ites, followers of Abdullah Ibn Saba. These Saba’ites excessively praised Ali (رضّى الله عنه) and eventually even declared that Ali (رضّى الله عنه) was superior to the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم). Today, the Shia adamantly deny this and they say that the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) is superior to Ali (رضّى الله عنه). However, we wonder why then they praise the Ahlel Bayt of Ali (رضّى الله عنه) and not the Ahlel Bayt of Muhammad (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم)? Is this not a remnant of the Saba’ite origin of Shi’ism?Answer by al-Ko’i: Yes, the wife is part of the “Ahl”, and this command is in regards to her too. And Allah knows best.
(source: Sirat al-Najat, by Grand Ayatollah al-Kho’i, p.426
Furthermore, there is absolutely no logic in calling the Infallible Imams of the Shia to be part of Ahlel Bayt and then deny that the Prophet’s wives are part of Ahlel Bayt. Surely, the Prophet’s wives have a much greater right to be part of Ahlel Bayt than people who did not even live in the Bayt of the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم).
Conclusion: The Prophet’s wives are the Ahlel Bayt. Many Shia Ayatollahs slander Aisha (رضّى الله عنها) and Hafsa (رضّى الله عنها) with many baseless accusations (we shall examine these accusations in later articles). We ask our Shia brothers to ponder over the true nature of this love. The Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah are lovers of Ahlel Bayt and certainly not Nasibis (haters of Ahlel Bayt). In fact the reality may be that the Ayatollahs are the ones who are Nasibis as they hate the Ahlel Bayt (i.e. Prophet’s wives) so much that they even deny that they are the Ahlel Bayt!
The fact that the Prophet’s wives are Ahlel Bayt is proven from the Quran, Hadith, scholarly opinion, dictionary, logic, common sense, and common usage of the word “Ahlel Bayt.” Those who care to argue so vehemently against the verses of the Quran can only be those who hate the Ahlel Bayt so much and so passionately that they must even reject the Word of Allah.
I think this is enough to refute shia claim regarding ahlul-bayt.
Conclusion: The Prophet’s wives are the Ahlel Bayt. Many Shia Ayatollahs slander Aisha (رضّى الله عنها) and Hafsa (رضّى الله عنها) with many baseless accusations (we shall examine these accusations in later articles). We ask our Shia brothers to ponder over the true nature of this love. The Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah are lovers of Ahlel Bayt and certainly not Nasibis (haters of Ahlel Bayt). In fact the reality may be that the Ayatollahs are the ones who are Nasibis as they hate the Ahlel Bayt (i.e. Prophet’s wives) so much that they even deny that they are the Ahlel Bayt!
The fact that the Prophet’s wives are Ahlel Bayt is proven from the Quran, Hadith, scholarly opinion, dictionary, logic, common sense, and common usage of the word “Ahlel Bayt.” Those who care to argue so vehemently against the verses of the Quran can only be those who hate the Ahlel Bayt so much and so passionately that they must even reject the Word of Allah.
I think this is enough to refute shia claim regarding ahlul-bayt.
