AHL AL-BAYT - ÂL AL-BAYT - ÂL AL-‘ABÂ

آل العباء - آل البيت - أهل البيت

 

Literally: Ahl is a man's family. A household. A kindred. Friends. People. A nation. A man's family and descendants.  A wife. The people of a place, condition, profession, religion or quality. A person or thing closely related to some particular thing mentioned.

Literally: Bayt is a house.

Literally: Âl are the followers of a man of importance, consisting of his family, relatives, friends and followers, and of his posterity.

Literally:  Ahl al-bayt and âl al-bayt are People of the House or Family of the House.

As an Islamic term: The terms Ahl al-bayt, âl al-bayt, âl an-nabî and âl al-Muhammad are used among the ummah to describe the people, who grew up in the Prophet Muhammad’s (asm) house and family and are the source, protector and follower of his Sunnah as-Saniyyah minutely and are his posterity.

Literally: ‘Abâ is a very stout kind of woollen homespun cloth. A cloak or jacket made of that material. Âl al-‘abâ literally is the people of the cloak and refers to the five people, Muhammad ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm, Imam ‘Ali al-Murtadhâ (ra), Hazrat Fatimah az-Zahra (ra) and their two sons, Imam Hasan (ra) and Imam Husayn (ra), for whom Muhammad ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm offered his du'â and covered them with his own ‘abâ.

 

According to one opinion, the meaning of the âyah اِلاَّ الْمَوَدَّةَ فِى الْقُرْبَى : "Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm wants no reward for carrying out the duty of risalah; he only wants love for his âl al-bayt."

If it is said that, according to this meaning, it seems that a benefit arising from kinship is sought, whereas, according to the mystery of 1 اِنَّ اَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ اَتْقَيكُمْ , the duty of risalah does not continue through kinship but through proximity to Allah (Qurbîyyah2). 

The Answer: Through his vision that was informed about the ghayb, Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm saw that his âl al-bayt would be a luminous tree within the world of Islam. In every class of the Islamic world, the absolute majority of those personages who will fulfil the duty of being murshid and guide instructing the perfection of man will emerge from âl al-bayt. He saw through kashf that the du'â of his ummah for his family (âl) in tashahhud

اَللّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى اِبْرَاهِيمَ وَ عَلَى آلِ اِبْرَاهِيمَ اِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ3

would be accepted; that is, just as, in the people of Ibrâhîm (as), the absolute majority of luminous guides were the prophets from among the family (âl) of Hazrat Ibrâhîm (as) and his descendants, so he saw that, in the ummah of Muhammad (asm), the Aqtâb of âl al-bayt of Muhammad (asm) would perform the great duties of Islam and would be leaders in most of the paths and tarîqah, similar to the prophets of the son of Israel. Therefore, he was commanded to say,

لاَ اَسْئَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ اَجْرًا اِلاَّ الْمَوَدَّةَ فِى الْقُرْبَى4

and sought the love of ummah for âl al-bayt. In other riwâyât confirming this haqiqah, he decreed, "I leave you two things. If you adhere to them, you will find salvation. One is the Book of Allah; the other is my âl al-bayt." For, it is âl al-bayt who are the source and guardians of the Sunnah as-Saniyyah and are responsible for maintaining iltizâm with it in every aspect.

Thus, because of this mystery, this haqiqah of hadith was described with the title “Following the Book and the Sunnah”. It means that what he intended with âl al-bayt regarding the duty of risalah was his Sunnah as-Saniyyah. Just as someone who abandons the Sunnah as-Saniyyah cannot be a true member of âl al-bayt, such a person cannot even be a real friend of âl al-bayt.

Furthermore, the mystery of his desire to gather his ummah around âl al-bayt: with Allah's permission, he knew that âl al-bayt would become very numerous over time and understood that Muslims would fall into weakness; therefore, a powerful and numerous mutually supportive jamâ’ah is necessary so that it can be the means to and centre for the ma’nawî progress of the world of Islam. He thought of this with Allah's permission and desired to gather his ummah around his âl al-bayt. Indeed, even though the members of âl al-bayt are not greatly ahead of others in matters of îmân and faith, they are still greatly ahead of others regarding submission, iltizâm and support because they are supporters of Islam by fitrah, lineage and innate disposition. People do not give up their innate partisanship, even if it is weak, lacking honour, or even unjustifiable. Supporting a haqiqah to which all his extremely powerful, truthful and glorious forefathers bound, through which they won glory, and for which they sacrificed their lives, is so firm and fitrî. So would the one who felt it clearly give this support up? Due to this intense iltizâm and fitrî Islam, ahl al-bayt accepts the least proof in favour of the religion of Islam as though it were a powerful proof because they are supporters by fitrah, but others gain iltizâm after some powerful proof.

The Fourth Flash