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qālū ʾa-taʿjabīna min ʾamri llāhi raḥmatu llāhi wa-barakātuhū ʿalaykum ʾahla l-bayti ʾinnahū ḥamīdun majīdun
They said, ‘Are you amazed at Allah’s dispensation? [That is] Allah’s mercy and His blessings upon you, members of the household. Indeed He is all-laudable, all-glorious.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Hud – Verse 73
73. “They said: “Do you wonder at Allah’s decree? The grace of Allah and His blessings on you, O people of the House! Verily He is Praise worthy, Glorious. ”
One day, Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Ali (as) gave greetings to a group of people which returned his greetings, saying: “Our greetings to you and may Allah’s favor and blessings be with you, the Ahl-ul-Bayt, and may His forgiveness and His paradise also be upon you as well.” Ali (as) said: “Do not add anything to what the angels said to Abraham (as), therefore, the phrase ‘And may Allah’s favour and blessings be with you’ would suffice.” The verse says:
“They said: “Do you wonder at Allah’s decree? The grace of Allah and His blessings on you, O people of the House! Verily He is Praise worthy, Glorious. ”
Question: Considering the fact that in the above verse, the angels addressed Abraham’s wife using the phrase Ahl-ul-Bayt, and since, naturally, everyone’s wife is considered as part of one’s household, why is it then that in the verse of Tathir in the Surah Al Ahzab, No. 33, verse 33,1 the wives of the Prophet Muhammad (S) are not included in his household? Answer: Regarding only the literal meaning of the word, it would be natural for the word Ahl-ul-Bayt to include reference to one’s wife.
However, we have firm grounds regarding the fact that someone can be excluded from this denotation even when normally they would be included in its purview, like in the verse saying: “Verily he is not of your household”2 where Noah’s son is not counted as a member in Noah’s household. Sometimes it also happens that there could be a reason to include someone who would normally not be considered as a member of the household, as has been said of Salman:
“Salman belongs to our household (Ahl-ul-Bayt)”
There are numerous narrations concerning the verse of Tathir which say that the blessed Prophet (S) had taken certain people under his cloak calling them his Ahl-ul-Bayt, while he did not allow his wife, the pious Umm-us-Salamah, to enter. This Divine favor and blessings were not confined to that time and place. It has continued in this family, too. What Divine blessing can be superior to that bestowed upon the Prophet (S) and the Immaculate Imams (as) who have emerged from this household?
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