The household of Muhammad, often referred to as the
Ahl al-Bayt, appear in verse 33:33 of the Quran, also known as the
verse of purification. The last passage of the verse of purification reads: "God only desires to remove defilement from you, O , and to purify you completely." Muslims disagree as to who belongs to Muhammad's and what privileges or responsibilities they have.
Inclusion of the Ahl al-Kisa The majority of the traditions quoted by the Sunni exegete
al-Tabari () identify the Ahl al-Bayt with the
Ahl al-Kisa, namely, Muhammad, his daughter
Fatima, her husband
Ali, and their two sons,
Hasan and
Husayn. Such reports are also cited in , , , all canonical Sunni collections of
hadith, and by some other Sunni authorities, including
al-Suyuti (), al-Hafiz al-Kabir,
al-Hakim al-Nishapuri (), and
Ibn Kathir (). In possibly the earliest version of the
hadith of the, Muhammad's wife
Umm Salama relates that he gathered Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn under his cloak and prayed, "O God, these are my and my closest family members; remove defilement from them and purify them completely." Some accounts continue that Umm Salama then asked Muhammad, "Am I with thee, O Messenger of God?" but received the negative response, "Thou shalt obtain good. Thou shalt obtain good." Among others, such reports are given in , , and by Ibn Kathir, al-Suyuti, and the Shia exegete
Muhammad H. Tabatabai (). Yet another Sunni version of this
hadith appends Umm Salama to the Ahl al-Bayt. In another Sunni version, Muhammad's servant Wathila bint al-Asqa' is also counted in the Ahl al-Bayt. Elsewhere in , Muhammad is said to have recited the last passage in the verse of purification every morning when he passed by Fatima's house to remind her household of the morning prayer. In his () with a delegation of
Najrani
Christians, Muhammad is also believed to have gathered the above four under his cloak and referred to them as his , according to Shia and some Sunni sources, including and . This makeup of the Ahl al-Bayt is echoed by the Islamicist
Laura Veccia Vaglieri (), and also reported unanimously in Shia sources. In Shia theology works, the Ahl al-Bayt often also includes the remaining
Shia imams. The term is sometimes loosely applied in Shia writings to all descendants of Ali and Fatima.
Inclusion of Muhammad's wives Perhaps because the earlier injunctions in the verse of purification are addressed at Muhammad's wives, some Sunni authors, such as al-Wahidi (), have interpreted the Ahl al-Bayt exclusively as Muhammad's wives. Others have noted that the last passage of this verse is grammatically inconsistent with the previous injunctions (masculine plural versus feminine plural pronouns). Thus, the Ahl al-Bayt is not or is not limited to Muhammad's wives. Ibn Kathir, for instance, includes Ali, Fatima, and their two sons in the Ahl al-Bayt, in addition to Muhammad's wives. Indeed, certain Sunni
hadiths support the inclusion of Muhammad's wives in the Ahl al-Bayt, including some reports on the authority of
Ibn Abbas and
Ikrima, two early
Muslim figures., located in
Karbala,
Iraq|left Alternatively, the Islamicist
Oliver Leaman proposes that marriage to a prophet does not guarantee inclusion in his . He argues that, in verse 11:73,
Sara is included in
Abraham's only after receiving the news of her imminent motherhood to two prophets,
Isaac and
Jacob. Likewise, Leaman suggests that
Moses' mother is counted as a member of in verse 28:12 not for being married to
Imran but for being the mother of Moses. Similarly, in their bid for inclusion in the Ahl al-Bayt, the
Abbasids argued that women, noble and holy as they may be, could not be considered a source of pedigree (). As the descendants of Muhammad's paternal uncle
Abbas, they claimed that he was equal to Muhammad's father after the latter died.
Broader interpretations periodAs hinted above, some Sunni authors have broadened its application to include in the Ahl al-Bayt the clan of Muhammad (
Banu Hashim), the Banu Muttalib, the Abbasids, and even the
Umayyads, who had descended from
Hashim's nephew
Umayya. Indeed, another Sunni version of the
hadith al-kisa is evidently intended to append the Abbasids to the Ahl al-Bayt. This Abbasid claim was in turn the cornerstone of their bid for legitimacy. Similarly, a Sunni version of the
hadith al- defines the Ahl al-Bayt as the descendants of Ali and his brothers (
Aqil and
Jafar), and Muhammad's uncle Abbas. The first two
Rashidun caliphs,
Abu Bakr and
Umar, have also been included in the Ahl al-Bayt in some Sunni reports, as they were both fathers-in-law of Muhammad. Nevertheless, those and the accounts about the inclusion of the Umayyads in the Ahl al-Bayt might have been later reactions to the Abbasid claims to inclusion in the Ahl al-Bayt and their own bid for legitimacy. The term has also been interpreted as the
Meccan tribe of
Quraysh, or the whole Muslim community. For instance, the Islamicist
Rudi Paret () identifies () in the verse of purification with the
Kaaba, located in the holiest site in Islam. However, his theory has only found few supporters, notably
Moshe Sharon, another expert.
Conclusion A typical Sunni compromise is to define the Ahl al-Bayt as the Ahl al-Kisa (Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn) together with Muhammad's wives, which might also reflect the majority opinion of medieval Sunni exegetes. Among modern Islamicists, this view is shared by
Ignác Goldziher () and his coauthors, and mentioned by Sharon, while
Wilferd Madelung () also includes the Banu Hashim in the Ahl al-Bayt in view of their blood relation to Muhammad. In contrast, Shia limits the Ahl al-Bayt to Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn, pointing to authentic traditions in Sunni and Shia sources. Their view is supported by Veccia Vaglieri and
Husain M. Jafri (), another expert. == Place in Islam ==