The Ahl al-Bayt, also referred to as the Āl al-Bayt, and the
ʿItrah
, are the noble members of the holy prophet’s
household and his progeny, who were purified by Allāh (J.J.) , according to Āyah 33 of Sūrah al-Aḥzāb (33):
…
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ
لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا (٣٣)
“…Verily, Allāh’s option is the removal
of any impurity from you, the Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify all of you,
perfect purification.”
For the best example of the authority
and power of the Unity of Allāh we
have to refer to the Ahl al-Bayt
who are the Masters of the House of Ka
ʿbah
(the physical manifestation of Unity). In Āyah
34 of the Sūrah al-Anfāl (8),
Allāh (J.J.) says:
…
وَمَا كَانُوا أَوْلِيَاءَهُ إِنْ أَوْلِيَاؤُهُ إِلا
الْمُتَّقُونَ
…
(٣٤)
“…And they
[disbelievers] are not its [Makkah’s] Guardians. Verily, Its Guardians are
not but those who guard themselves [against sin]…”
And who can guard himself against sin better than a sinless and
infallible obedient who is purified -a perfect purification- by Allāh (J.J.) Himself?
According to this Āyah, Ahl al-Bayt are the Authority of
the Base of Monotheism (The Sacred Ka
ʿbah
). It is also expected that
ʼImām
Mahdiy (ʿf), the last infallible ʼImām, will begin to amend the world from this very Base.
For more information about Ahl al-Bayt, please refer to the
Chronological Chart, the Genealogy, and the Résumé of the 14 Infallibles.
According to the unithetical
linguistics, the Arabic word Ahl is related to Āl, by changing
the glottal sound /h/ to /a/. And the
glottal stop /a/ is the archiphoneme of all vowel letters in all
languages. The /a/ sound is the means by
which all other sounds can be pronounced.
There would not be any sound if /a/ did not exist, as there would not be
a number if one did not exist.
Therefore, Ahl al-bayt is the
first and the last authority that are selected by Allāh to be the
household of the centre of Monotheism. It
is the very
ʿItrah
of
the prophet according to the ḥadith of al-thaqalayn:
“Verily, I leave among you two precious things: The Book of Allāh,
and my household; my Ahl al-Bayt.”
For more detail please refer to
ʿItrah
.