Village Journals
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Who are the Ahlul-Bayt from the QURAN
"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. And Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the Family, and to make you pure and spotless."
1. If one examines the CONTEXT of the statement, O AHL-BAYT, and to make you pure and spotless, it is abundantly clear that the people who are being addressed are the WIVES of the Prophet (S). To argue that it refers to somebody else would make the verse of the Quran a jumbled discourse, lacking any smooth flow. God is free of lack of eloquence and poor speech. For a more detailed view on the context of the Quran itself, please refer to the following article I had written and posted in this journal, entitled "The Prophet's Wives".
2. Shia argue that the shift from an INDIRECT to a DIRECT address shows that the Almighty has changes the subject of the discourse. Though this may seem valid, it is actually baseless and reveals an ignorance in the Quran's style of approach. THERE ARE COUNTLESS VERSUS IN THE QURAN WHICH CHANGE THE STYLE OF ADDRESS, without changing whom the SUBJECT of the discoure is.
For example, in Surah Baqarah, the verse of DIRECT address, "Call upon me, and I will answer YOU."
The style actually reveals a change in the STYLE of address, as opposed to the subject of address. It is a direct appeal to the audience, with the intent to emphasize a certain point. In this case, the Almighty is emphasizing in a very beautiful way to the Prophet's wives the PURPOSE of these injunctions laid down regarding them. AS I SHOW IN THE ABOVE REFERENCED ARTICLE, the directives regarding the Prophet's wives (AS) go above and beyond the directives regarding other women. They were extremely difficult, and it is precisely the reason why the Almighty turns towards a direct address, teaching them that it is for a specific purpose in mind that they are being given these revelation.
3. Another argument of the shia is that the word ahl-bayt is masculine, and thus, it refers to a family that includes a male. Because of this, according to the logic, it cannot in any way refer to the Wives of the Prophet (AS). The argument of the 'gender' of a noun often times has NOTHING to do with why ahl-bayt is in masculine form. It is purely a LINGUISTICAL feature. Assigning gender to such words is common in every language, including urdu, english, and Arabic. For example, the Quran refers to the earth as 'she' in surah Zilzal.
"and Man cries out: What is the matter with her?! On that Day, she will narrate her story at the intimation of your Lord."
It is obvious that the earth is not a female. The reason ahl-bayt is masculine form, is because it is a characteristic of the Arabic. Whether the ahl-bayt is composed of the wives as well as the male children, or just wives is irrelevant to the form.
4. Whenever the Quran refers to the ahl-, it is in the context of a WIFE of a Prophet. For example, one can look at the verse:
"They said: "Dost thou wonder at Allah's decree? The grace of Allah and His blessings on you, o ye people of the house! for He is indeed worthy of all praise, full of all glory!"
Here the address is to Hadhrat Sara (AS). Notice that the child Isaac (AS) had not been born at the time.
5. Every single Arabic dictionary includes wives of a person among ahl-bayt. In FACT, this is the PRIMARY MEANING according to them. In fact, even the history and hadeeth accord this meaning. When the issue of zakaat being forbidden for the Prophet's family was reported by Zayd bin Arqam, Zaid replied that it did not extend to the wives of the Prophet (S). Zayd actually stated that they were part of the family, but this forbiddance of zakaat was stipulated for the families of Jafar, Ali, and Abbass.
As Moiz Amjad states:
"The phrase (Ahl al-Bayet) or (Ahlak), in the classical Arabic language, as well as in the Qur'an, just like the general usage of the phrase (Ahl e Khaana) in the Urdu language, is used as a polite and respectful reference to the wife/wives of a person. As an expansion of this connotation, sometimes the phrase is also used to refer to the members of one's household.
However, it is clear that the Qur'an has used this phrase to refer to one's wife/wives. The Qur'an has used this phrase at two instances. In Surah Hu'd 11: 73, the phrase has been used for Sarah (ra), the wife of Abraham (pbuh). While in Surah Al-Hujraat 33: 33, it has been used to address the wives of the Prophet (pbuh). At both these instances, the context of the related verses clearly points to the fact that the reference of this phrase is toward the wife/wives of the two prophets of God.
The phrase Ahl al-Bayet is not used in the Arabic language for the Ummah or the following of a person. Nevertheless, the word (Aal) as in (Aali Firwan) has also been used to imply the followers of a person, besides the obvious connotation of one's children, as is clear from the phrase "Aal-e-Fir`aun" itself (Al-Baqarah 2: 49, 50, Aal Imraan 3: 11, Al-Aa`raaf 7: 130, 141, Al-Anfaal 8: 52, 54 etc.), as the Pharaoh referred to in this verse did not have any biological children."
Thus, we see that there is nothing in these verses to regard some special KNOWLEDGE for the ahl-bayt, nor does this verse give them extraordinary abilities. It word ahl-bayt is used in this particular verse in its purely literary sense.
1. If one examines the CONTEXT of the statement, O AHL-BAYT, and to make you pure and spotless, it is abundantly clear that the people who are being addressed are the WIVES of the Prophet (S). To argue that it refers to somebody else would make the verse of the Quran a jumbled discourse, lacking any smooth flow. God is free of lack of eloquence and poor speech. For a more detailed view on the context of the Quran itself, please refer to the following article I had written and posted in this journal, entitled "The Prophet's Wives".
2. Shia argue that the shift from an INDIRECT to a DIRECT address shows that the Almighty has changes the subject of the discourse. Though this may seem valid, it is actually baseless and reveals an ignorance in the Quran's style of approach. THERE ARE COUNTLESS VERSUS IN THE QURAN WHICH CHANGE THE STYLE OF ADDRESS, without changing whom the SUBJECT of the discoure is.
For example, in Surah Baqarah, the verse of DIRECT address, "Call upon me, and I will answer YOU."
The style actually reveals a change in the STYLE of address, as opposed to the subject of address. It is a direct appeal to the audience, with the intent to emphasize a certain point. In this case, the Almighty is emphasizing in a very beautiful way to the Prophet's wives the PURPOSE of these injunctions laid down regarding them. AS I SHOW IN THE ABOVE REFERENCED ARTICLE, the directives regarding the Prophet's wives (AS) go above and beyond the directives regarding other women. They were extremely difficult, and it is precisely the reason why the Almighty turns towards a direct address, teaching them that it is for a specific purpose in mind that they are being given these revelation.
3. Another argument of the shia is that the word ahl-bayt is masculine, and thus, it refers to a family that includes a male. Because of this, according to the logic, it cannot in any way refer to the Wives of the Prophet (AS). The argument of the 'gender' of a noun often times has NOTHING to do with why ahl-bayt is in masculine form. It is purely a LINGUISTICAL feature. Assigning gender to such words is common in every language, including urdu, english, and Arabic. For example, the Quran refers to the earth as 'she' in surah Zilzal.
"and Man cries out: What is the matter with her?! On that Day, she will narrate her story at the intimation of your Lord."
It is obvious that the earth is not a female. The reason ahl-bayt is masculine form, is because it is a characteristic of the Arabic. Whether the ahl-bayt is composed of the wives as well as the male children, or just wives is irrelevant to the form.
4. Whenever the Quran refers to the ahl-, it is in the context of a WIFE of a Prophet. For example, one can look at the verse:
"They said: "Dost thou wonder at Allah's decree? The grace of Allah and His blessings on you, o ye people of the house! for He is indeed worthy of all praise, full of all glory!"
Here the address is to Hadhrat Sara (AS). Notice that the child Isaac (AS) had not been born at the time.
5. Every single Arabic dictionary includes wives of a person among ahl-bayt. In FACT, this is the PRIMARY MEANING according to them. In fact, even the history and hadeeth accord this meaning. When the issue of zakaat being forbidden for the Prophet's family was reported by Zayd bin Arqam, Zaid replied that it did not extend to the wives of the Prophet (S). Zayd actually stated that they were part of the family, but this forbiddance of zakaat was stipulated for the families of Jafar, Ali, and Abbass.
As Moiz Amjad states:
"The phrase (Ahl al-Bayet) or (Ahlak), in the classical Arabic language, as well as in the Qur'an, just like the general usage of the phrase (Ahl e Khaana) in the Urdu language, is used as a polite and respectful reference to the wife/wives of a person. As an expansion of this connotation, sometimes the phrase is also used to refer to the members of one's household.
However, it is clear that the Qur'an has used this phrase to refer to one's wife/wives. The Qur'an has used this phrase at two instances. In Surah Hu'd 11: 73, the phrase has been used for Sarah (ra), the wife of Abraham (pbuh). While in Surah Al-Hujraat 33: 33, it has been used to address the wives of the Prophet (pbuh). At both these instances, the context of the related verses clearly points to the fact that the reference of this phrase is toward the wife/wives of the two prophets of God.
The phrase Ahl al-Bayet is not used in the Arabic language for the Ummah or the following of a person. Nevertheless, the word (Aal) as in (Aali Firwan) has also been used to imply the followers of a person, besides the obvious connotation of one's children, as is clear from the phrase "Aal-e-Fir`aun" itself (Al-Baqarah 2: 49, 50, Aal Imraan 3: 11, Al-Aa`raaf 7: 130, 141, Al-Anfaal 8: 52, 54 etc.), as the Pharaoh referred to in this verse did not have any biological children."
Thus, we see that there is nothing in these verses to regard some special KNOWLEDGE for the ahl-bayt, nor does this verse give them extraordinary abilities. It word ahl-bayt is used in this particular verse in its purely literary sense.
Comments on this journal