Ahl al-Bayt
Encyclopedia : A : AH : AHL : Ahl al-Bayt
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| Arabic |
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| أهل البيت |
| Transliteration |
| Ahl al-Bayt |
| Translation |
| "People of the House" |
Ahl al-Bayt (Arabic:أهل البيت) is a phrase meaning People of the House, or family. In the Islamic tradition it refers to the household of Muhammad. The Shi'a believe that Ahl al-Bayt refers to five members of Muhammad's household, whereas Sunnis believe that Ahl al-Bayt refers to all pious Muslims.
Difference in interpretation of the scope of Ahl al-Bayt
Shi'a
The Shi'a interpret the Ahl al-Bayt as "people of the house" and believe that it refers to five people: Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan ibn Ali, and Husayn ibn Ali. The Shi'a believe that Ali and Fatima and their children were singled out because they were free from sin and showed perfect faith in Islam. They cite the hadith of the Event of the Cloak as proof that Muhammad claimed his daughter's family as his own and excluded his wives. Followers of Shi'a believe that the Shi'a Imamate descended through the progeny of Ali and Fatima, who are also part of Ahl al-Bayt. Included in the Ahl al-Bayt of the Shia are the 12 Infallible Imams, the first three of which are Ali, Hasan, and Husayn.The Shi'a belief in the supremacy of the Ahl al-Bayt is one of the basic reasons why they believe that Ali, and not Abu Bakr, was the rightful successor to Muhammad and should have been Caliph. According to this belief, Abu Bakr was unsuitable to lead the Muslims as he was not a member of the Ahl al-Bayt. This distinction marks the primary difference between Sunni and Shi'a belief. The Shi'a believe that the leadership of the Muslims was kept within the Prophet's biological bloodline, since it is they who were purified from sin, and only somebody infallible can be the leader, whereas the Sunnis believe that piety and selection by the community was correctly applied as the main factors in determining who was to lead Muslims. See also Succession to Muhammad.
The Shia's disagree with the Sunni claim that wives can also be part of Ahl al-Bayt. This, they say, is due to the Event of the Cloak, which they claim clearly shows that the wives of Muhammad are not part of the Ahl al-Bayt. In this event, Muhammad made the clear distinction that Ahl al-Bayt included, in addition to him, Ali, Fatima, Hassan, and Hussein, when he invited them to sit with him under a cloak, and when one of his wives attempted to join him he specifically told her not to. Although there is many contradictory narrations where when she asked if she too was Ahl al-Bayt, he replied "Yes", but Shias don't beleive such narrations.
To the Shi’as, the Ahl al-Bayt of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed consist of the following individuals ONLY:
- Fatima Al-Zahra (the daughter of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed)
- Ali ibn Abu Talib (first Shi’a Imam)
- Hassan ibn Ali (second Shi’a Imam)
- Hussain ibn Ali (third Shi’a Imam)
- Ali ibn Hussain (fourth Shi’a Imam)
- Muhammad al-Baqir (fifth Shi’a Imam)
- Jafar as-Sadiq (sixth Shi’a Imam)
- Musa al-Kazim (seventh Shi’a Imam)
- Ali Ar-Reza (eighth Shi’a Imam)
- Muhammad At-Taqi (ninth Shi’a Imam)
- Ali An-Naqi (tenth Shi’a Imam)
- Hassan Al-Askari (eleventh Shi’a Imam)
- Muhammad Al-Mehdi (twelfth Shi’a Imam)
"And stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former Times of Ignorance; and establish regular Prayer, and give regular Charity; and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, you People of the House, and to make you pure and spotless." (Qur'an, 33:33)
Shia point to the gender used in the verse when refering to the Ahl al-Bayt and therefore it could not be the wives of the prophet.
Sunni
The Sunnis believe that the Shi'a opinion of who is Ahl al-Bayt is biased and ethically wrong. The Sunnis hold that the Ahl al-Bayt does indeed refer to just Ali's family, but that the Prophet's family includes all pious Muslims, since relations are based on Taqwa (Piety) in the Islamic belief, not on blood. The Sunnis believe that anyone who is pious is part of the Ahl al-Bayt, and that some people were specifically mentioned to be part of this group. Of these, are the wives of Muhammad who are mentioned in the Qur'an to be part of Ahl al-Bayt....
- "O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other of the women; If you will be on your guard, then be not soft in your speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease yearn; and speak a good word. And stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former Times of Ignorance; and establish regular Prayer, and give regular Charity; and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, you People of the House, and to make you pure and spotless." (Qur'an, 33:32-33)
- "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 wonderful thing. They said: "Do you wonder at Allah's decree? The grace of Allah and His blessings on you, o you Ahl al-Bayt! for He is indeed worthy of all praise, full of all glory!" (Qur'an, 11:72-73)
Sunnis further maintain that hadiths like Hadith of the ship which state that "My household is like the ship of Noah; whoever embarks upon it will be saved and whoever turns away from it will be drowned" prove that the Ahl al-Bayt is not a rigid group of only Ali, Fatima and their family, but that it is a more loose concept. They justify this by the fact that the hadith says "...whoever embarks upon it...", a son of Ali wouldn't be embarking upon this group, he would be born on "Noah's ship". But a wife, like Aisha for example, isn't on the boat to begin with, but rather, she embarked on it.
Most Sunnis are in the opinion that the Ahl al-Bayt of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed are:
- Fatima Al-Zahra (the daughter of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed)
- Ali ibn Abu Talib (first Shi’a Imam)
- Hassan ibn Ali (second Shi’a Imam)
- Hussain ibn Ali (third Shi’a Imam)
- Wives of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed
See also
External links
Shi'a Links:- [Shia Viewpoint]
- [Ahl-al-Bayt (`A.S.): Its Meaning and Origin]
- [ShiaCode.com Guide (Stories, Lessons, Beliefs) + Learn How to Pray the Shia Way: Shia Viewpoint]
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