Ahlul-Baith
in Sahih Muslim
The word Ahlul-Baith literally
means ‘People of the House’, but in Islamic world it means the people of the house of Prophet Muhammad (saw).But if you refer to
Quran it means those special people in Prophet Muhammad’s family who were made
pure by God and were protected from every kind of blemish and sin whether big
or small. The following verses of the
Holy Quran is an evidence to the fact,
“ And stay you (wives of Prophet Muhammad) in your houses and display not your beauty like the display of the ignorance of old times,
and establish you prayer and give away the poor-rate, and obey God and His
Apostle; Verily, verily God intends to
keep away from uncleanness O’ you Ahlul-Baith, and purify you a thorough
purification.”
Quran:33:33
In this verses God,in the first
part, is addressing the wives of Prophet Muhammad and warning them not to go
out of their houses and not to behave as any ordinary women and is also asking
them to obey Allah and His Prophet. After this verses if any wife of Prophet
Muhammad leaves her house for any reason, she will be disobeying God and His Prophet.
If you go to history , you will find Bibi Ayesha, the beloved wife of Prophet
Muhammad (saw) fighting a fierce battle with
Imam Ali (AS) in the War of Jamal, of course , the battle was not fought in her
house,it was fought in a battle field near Basra in Iraq in which some seven
hundred Muslims from Ali’s side and two thousand five hundred Muslims from Bibi
Ayesha’s side were killed. Ultimately Bibi Ayesha lost the battle and was send
back to Madina by Imam Ali with due respect. If any other man was there in
place of Imam Ali, God only knows the fate which Bibi Ayesha would have suffered.
Thanks to Ali that he spared the Life of
the Mother of the faithful and saved the Muslims from another battle which
would have developed in the name of the sanctity
of the Wives of the Holy Prophet (saw).Coming out of the house, fighting a
battle etc come definitely under ignorance and uncleanliness and that is the
reason why the wives of the Holy Prophet were not included in ‘Ahlul-Baith’.Furthermore
Quran commands us to be humble before the belivers, the Holy Quran says,
“O you who believe! Whoever of
you turns away from his religion, soon will God bring a people, them He loves
and they love Him, lowly before the believers, mighty against the infidels,
striving hard in God’s way, and they fear not the censurer of any censurer;
This is the grace of God,He gives it to whomsoever He desires, Verily, God is
Ample-Giving, All knowing.”
Quran:5:54
Ali (as) was the chief of
believers and the first Muslim as well, still these qualities did not prevent
Bibi Ayesha from fighting Imam Ali.
The following hadith of the Sahih
Muslim is an evidence that the wives of the Holy Prophet are not included in
Ahlul-Baith,
“Yazid Bin Yahya reported from
Zaid Bin Arqam that the Holy Prophet (saw) said:”Behold for I am leaving among
you two weighty things, one of which is the book of Allah, the exalted and
glorious, and that is the rope of Allah. He who holds it fast would be on right
guidance and he who abandons it would be in error. And the other is my
Ahlul-Baith.” The companions (Sahaabas)
asked: Who are among the Ahlul-Baith?Aren’t your wives included among Ahlul-Baith?
Thereupon He (saw) said: No, by Allah, a woman lives with a man (as his wife)
for certain period ; he then divorces her and she goes back to her parents and
to her people; the Ahlul-Baith include his ownself and his kith and kin (who
are related to him by blood) and for them the acceptance of Zakath is prohibited.”
Sahih-Muslim:Volume-4: Chapter
–Kitab-us-Sahaaba;Hadith.no.5923
At this point we should be
thankful to the Mother of the faithful, Bibi Ayesha, for coming out of her
house, fighting a battle and disobeying God and His Prophet and hence showing
us that wives are not included in Ahlul-Baith because they are prone to
ignorance which according to Quran is a kind of impurity.
“ And they shall say: Had we but
listened or used intelligence we would not have been among the fellows in the
flaming fire.” Quran:67:10
And We all should be thankful to
Bibi Ayesha for the following hadith of
Sahih-Musalim,
“Ayesha reported that Allah’s Apostle (may pace be upon him)
went out one morning wearing a striped cloak of the camel’s hair that there came Hasan Bin Ali,
He Wrapped him under it, then came Husain and He wrapped him under it along
with Hasan. Then came Fatima and He took her under it, then came Ali and He
took him under it and then said: “Verily, verily God intends to keep away from
uncleanness O’ you Ahlul-Baith, and purify you a thorough purification.”
Quran:33:33
Sahih-Musalim:Volume-4:chapter-Kitab-us-Sahaba:Hadith.no.5955
Prophet Muhammad (saw) recited
only the last part of the veres in which Ahlul-Baith are mentioned and He (saw)
did not recite the other part of the verses in which his wives are mentioned
showing that this verses is an independent one and is revealed for Ali,Fatima,Hassan
and Hussain.
“ And those who believed later
and migrated and strove with you, they are of you; and the blood relations are
nearer to each other in the book of God; Verily God, knows every things.
Quran:8:75
Truth has come, falsehood has
vanished, falsehood is ought to vanish.
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