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Series | Ahl-ol-Bait

Series: Noah ark 3

Contributed by bineshan on 18 Mar 2007 - 09:40 PM

Noah Ark 3

When the Prophet Noah’s (PBUH) son was about to drown, Noah implored Allah to save his son but Allah responded that Noah’s son was not his Ahl, and the son was drowned (Qur’an, Surah Hoode, Verses 45&46) . The word Ahl in Arabic, sometimes means family but the more general meaning of this word is, the adherents of something or somebody; for instance, the Ahl-Ol-Haq means the adherents of the Truth. While Noah’s son was a member of Noah’s family, but he was not an adherent of Noah as the Prophet of Allah; therefore Noah’s son, just like the rest of the people who had done wrong, was not saved from the Flood and was drowned. In another words, if a member of a Prophet’s family disobeys the Prophet of Allah and does wrong, he/she is not considered the Ahl of that Prophet, even though he/she is a member of that Prophet’s family.

Just being a Prophet’s family, does not guarantee salvation and also, being a member of a disbeliever’s family, does not guarantee perdition. In Qur’an, we read about the wives of the Prophets Noah and Loot who disobeyed their husbands and the wrath of Allah destroyed them; therefore, being the wives of the Prophets did not do them any good (Qur’an, Surah Tahrim, Verse 10); on the other hand in Qur’an, we read about the wife of the Pharaoh -Aasiah- who believed in the Prophet Moses (PBUH) and thus Allah admires her and she has achieved everlasting salvation (Qur’an, Surah Tahrim, Verse 11).

The Sunni claim that the wives of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) were members of the Ahl-Ol-Bait; but for various and obvious reasons, this claim is not valid. They claim that because Aayeshah and Hafzah were the Prophet’s wives, then they were the Ahl-Ol-Bait also. As we mentioned earlier, there are many cases in the history of Divine Prophets (PBUT) that members of the families of the Prophets were not actually the followers of the Prophets and therefore, Allah did not accept them.

In Qur’an, Surah Tahrim, verse 4, Allah talks about certain wives of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) who disobeyed the Prophet and Allah says that they needed to repent of their sins and Allah even warned them that Allah could -instead of them and in their places- bestow on his Prophet, wives who were Believers and… ! Both Shi’ah and Sunni documents clearly verify that the wives whom this verse is about, were Aayeshah and Hafzah (Shi’ah documents: Tafsir Jaama’,…; Sunni documents: Tafsir Baizaawi,…). Obviously, the members of the Prophet’s family who disobeyed the Prophet, can not be considered as his Ahl, let alone the chosen Ahl-Ol-Bait!

But the most important matter here is that Allah has chosen the Ahl-Ol-Bait Himself; in another words, the Ahl-Ol-Bait of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) are not even the good family and Ahl of theProphet, rather the Ahl-Ol-Bait are specifically those whom Allah has chosen. Ome-Salamah -an obedient wife of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP)- asked the Prophet if she was one of the Ahl-Ol-Bait and the Prophet responded that she was in the good path to heaven but she was not one of the Ahl-Ol-Bait (Shi’ah documents: Behaar-Ol-Anwaar, Tafsir Borhaan,… ; Sunni documents: Sahih Moslem, Sahih Termadhi, Tafsir Tabari,… ).

When the very famous Tathir Verse (Qur’an, Surah Ahzaab, verse 33) -the verse in which Allah clearly indicates that the Ahl-Ol-Bait are pure and purified by Allah Himself- was revealed to the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP), the Prophet repeatedly announced that the Ahl-Ol-Bait were himself, Ali, Fatima, Hassan and Hossain (PBUT) (Sunni documents: Tafsir Tabari,… ); it has been narrated that the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) -for months and some have even said until the end of his blessed life- at times of daily prayers, used to go by Ali’s and Fatima’s house and address the people of that house as the Ahl-Ol-Bait, call them to pray and recite the Tathir Verse ( Shi’ah documents: Behaar-Ol-Anwaar, Osool Kaafi, Tafsir Borhaan,… ;Sunni documents: Sahih Moslem, Sahih Termadhi, Tafsir Dorr-Ol-Mansoor,… ). Also in many Hadithes, both in Shi’ah and Sunni documents, such as in the Sunni Faraa’ed-O-Ssemtain, it has been narrated from the renowned Ebne-Abbaas, that 9 descendants of Imam Hossain (PBUH) are the purified and infallible; i..e. the 4th Imam to the 12th (PBUT).

The issue of recognizing the true Ahl-Ol-Bait, is very significant because the Ahl-Ol-Bait are infallible and Allah has bestowed upon their hearts, the Divine Knowledge (Qur’an, Surah Ankaboot, verse 49) ; therefore the Ahl-Ol-Baitt are those who stand next to Qur’an and protect both the words and the interpretations of Qur’an from distortions; they are the chosen means through whom Qur’an has been protected. So, whether we get our religion from the Ahl-Ol-Bait -who possess Divine Knowledge- or from those who claim that they are narrating and interpreting Divine words, without heavenly Knowledge and infallibility and purity (Qur’an makes the example of a sighted person and a person without eyesight for such cases, Surah An’aam, verse 50,… ), makes tremendous difference. This is the main difference between the Shi’ah and the Sunni; the Shi’ah have remained faithful to Allah and the Prophet and have gotten the religion from Mohammad and his infallible progeny (PBUT), as commanded by Allah and the Prophet of Allah (the Walaayat Verse, the Tathir Verse, the Olol-Amr Verse,… and the Hadith Thaqalain, the Sermon of Ghadir,… ).

May Allah hasten the Appearance of Mahdi (PBUH), the last beloved Reminder of the infallible progeny of Mohammad (PBUT); Appearance shall be when all differences will be resolved and Mahdi shall bring with him the original Torah, the original Gospel,… and he shall teach humankind the true religion of Allah, the best and most complete way of life,… .