Allāh said in regard to the family of the Prophet ﷺ:
قُل لا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْراً إِلا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْبَى
Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives;
(ash-Shūrā 42:23)
This shows the two sides of love of the Prophet ﷺ―on the one hand love for his family, and on the other hand love for the Ummah, in particular the sincere, guided and perfected ones who hold fast to the Sunnah.
In respect of the first love, the the Prophet ﷺ said, “I have left among you two matters by holding fast to which, you shall never be misguided: Allāh’s Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet.” Another version adds: “And these two shall never part ways until they show up at the Pond.”
حدثنا ابن نمير حدثنا عبد الملك بن أبي سليمان عن عطية العوفي عن أبي سعيد الخدري قال
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إني قد تركت فيكم ما إن أخذتم به لن تضلوا بعدي الثقلين أحدهما أكبر من الآخر كتاب الله حبل ممدود من السماء إلى الأرض وعترتي أهل بيتي ألا وإنهما لن يفترقا حتى يردا علي الحوض
Other versions state:
I am leaving among you that which if you hold to it, you shall never go astray, one of them greater than the other: Allāh’s Book―a rope extended down from the heaven to the earth―and my mantle (‘itra), the People of my House. These two shall never part ways until they come to me at the Pond. Look well to how you act with them after me.
The five mentioned here are known as Ahl al-‘abā’a, for Jibrīl covered them with the cloak (‘abā’a) of the Prophet ﷺ, and they were given importance as Ahl al-Bayt in two incidents mentioned in the Qur’ān:
It is established that when the verse of mutual invocation of curses (mubāhala) was revealed:
فَمَنْ حَآجَّكَ فِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْاْ نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءنَا وَأَبْنَاءكُمْ وَنِسَاءنَا وَنِسَاءكُمْ وَأَنفُسَنَا وأَنفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَل لَّعْنَةَ اللّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ
And whoso disputeth with thee concerning him, after the knowledge which hath come unto thee, say (unto him): Come! We will summon our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves, then we will pray humbly (to our Lord) and (solemnly) invoke the curse of Allah upon those who lie. (Āl-‘Imrān 3:61),
the Prophet ﷺ summoned ‘Alī, Fātima, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn, and said: “O Allāh! These are my Family” (Allāhumā hā’ūlā’i Ahlī).
حدثنا قتيبة بن سعيد حدثنا حاتم بن إسماعيل عن بكير بن مسمار عن عامر بن سعد عن أبيه قال
سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول له وخلفه في بعض مغازيه فقال علي أتخلفني مع النساء والصبيان قال يا علي أما ترضى أن تكون مني بمنزلة هارون من موسى إلا أنه لا نبوة بعدي وسمعته يقول يوم خيبر لأعطين الراية رجلا يحب الله ورسوله ويحبه الله ورسوله فتطاولنا لها فقال ادعوا لي عليا فأتي به أرمد فبصق في عينه ودفع الراية إليه ففتح الله عليه ولما نزلت هذه الآية
نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءنَا وَأَبْنَاءكُمْ دعا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عليا وفاطمة وحسنا وحسينا فقال اللهم هؤلاء أهلي (مسند أحمد)
‘Amir bin Sa‘d bin Abī Waqqās reported on the authority of his father that Mu‘awīya bin Abī Sufyān appointed Sa‘d as the governor and said: “What prevents you from abusing Abū Turāb ( ‘Alī)?” At this he said: “It is because of three things which I remember Allah’s Messenger ﷺ having said about him that I would not abuse him and even if I find one of those three things for me, it would be more dear to me than the red camels. …(The third occasion is) when the (following) verse was revealed: Let us summon our children and your children. Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ called ‘Alī, Fātima, Hasan and Husain and said: ‘O Allāh, they are my family.'”
He repeated this act when the verse of the cleansing of the People of the House was revealed:
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيراً
Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying, (al-Ahzāb 33:33)
as mentioned in the following hadith:
قَالَ اِبْن جَرِير حَدَّثَنَا اِبْن الْمُثَنَّى حَدَّثَنَا بَكْر بْن يَحْيَى بْن أَبَانَ الْعَنَزِيّ حَدَّثَنَا مَنْدَل عَنْ الأعْمَش عَنْ عَطِيَّة عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيد رَضِيَ اللَّه عَنْهُ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُول اللَّه صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ نَزَلَتْ هَذِهِ الآيَة فِي خَمْسَة : فِيَّ وَفِي عَلِيّ وَحَسَن وَحُسَيْن وَفَاطِمَة “ إِنَّمَا يُرِيد اللَّه لِيُذْهِب عَنْكُمْ الرِّجْس أَهْل الْبَيْت وَيُطَهِّركُمْ تَطْهِيرًا قَدْ تَقَدَّمَ أَنَّ فُضَيْل بْن مَرْزُوق رَوَاهُ عَنْ عَطِيَّة عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيد عَنْ أُمّ سَلَمَة رَضِيَ اللَّه عَنْهَا كَمَا تَقَدَّمَ وَرَوَى اِبْن أَبِي حَاتِم مِنْ حَدِيث هَارُون بْن سَعْد الْعِجْلِيّ عَنْ عَطِيَّة عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيد رَضِيَ اللَّه عَنْهُ مَوْقُوفًا وَاَللَّه سُبْحَانه وَتَعَالَى أَعْلَم”
Abī Sa‘īd (ر) related that the Prophet ﷺ said:
This verse was revealed regarding five: regarding myself; regarding ‘Alī and Hassan and Husayn and Fātima, “Allāh only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying.”
Lexically, the term ‘itra was defined as “A man’s relatives such as his children, grandchildren, and paternal cousins” while in the context of the present hadiths it was explained to mean “Those of the Prophet’s Family who follow his Religion and cling to his commands.” What emerges from these meanings together with the two wordings of the hadith “I have left among you two matters” is firm evidence that there is an inseparable connection, until the Last Day, between the Qur’ān, the Sunnah, and the Family of the Prophet ﷺ.
Know that the light of the Prophet ﷺ is in you, for Allāh said:
وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ فِيكُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ
…And know that Allah’s Messenger is within you; (al-Hujurāt, 49:7)
Through this verse, and the preceding narrations, we must know that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was informing us that his light is within every believer; with a particular emphasis on the qualities of perfect character exemplified by Sayyidinā Abū Bakr ر and Sayyidinā ‘Umar ر, while those related to the Prophet ﷺ through blood, have the specialty of being from his family, whom Allāh favored in a tremendous way―particularly the descendants of Ahl al-abā’a, the children of Sayyidinā ‘Alī ر and Sayyida Fātima ر. And all will come together with the Prophet ﷺ on the Day of Judgment, meeting at his Pond.
