thantheAhlu’l-bayt,thefamilyoftheProphet:Fātimah,‘Aliandtheir
sons.Afterall,itistheQur’ānwhichtestifiestotheirspiritualpurityof
the highest formbysaying:“VerilyAllah intendsto purify you,Othe
Ahlu’l-bayt,athoroughpurification.”(33:33)Combinethisverseabout
theAhlu’l-bayt’spuritywiththefollowing:“ItistheholyQur’ānin a
preservedtablet,noneshall touch itbutthe purified ones.”(56:79)The
realsenseofthisverseisthattheQur’ānwhichis“inapreservedtablet”
isnotaccessibletoanyoneexceptthosewhoarepurifiedbyAllāh.This
showsthattheAhlu’l-baytcouldunderstandtheQur’ānbetterthanany
other Muslim.
ItisforthisveryreasonthatAllāhcommandedHisMessengertoask
the peopleto love his Ahlu’l-bayt:Say (O Muhammad),‘I donot ask
fromyouanyreward(forteachingIslamtoyou)excepttolovemynear
ones.’(42:23)Thislovewasmadeobligatorybecauseitwouldautomatic-
allyentailobedience ofthosewhomoneloves.Ifthe Ahlu’l-baytwere
nottruthful,reliable,andworthyoffollowing,wouldAllāhcommandus
to love them?
ThesefewversesoftheholyQur’ānareenoughtoshowthatthebest
commentators of the Qur’ān and the most authentic source for the
Prophet’s sunna are the Imams of Ahlu ’l-bayt. The Prophet himself said,
“Iamleavingamongyoutwoworthythings.Aslongasyouholdfast
onto themboth,youwillnevergoastrayafterme.Oneisgreaterthan
theother:theBookofAllāh(whichisaropesuspendedfromtheheaven
totheearth)andmydescendants,myAhlu’l-bayt.Theywillnotsepar-
atefromeachotheruntiltheycometomeatthe(fountainof)Kawthar
(in the hereafter).Therefore, see how you recompense me by the way
you deal with them.”
Thisis notthe place to discussthe authenticity of thishadīth, butit
will suffice to quote Ibn Hajar al-Makki, a famous Sunni polemicist.
Afterrecordingthishadīthfrom variouscompanionswhohadheardit
fromtheProphetatvariousplacesandtimes,IbnHajarsays,“Andthere
isnocontradiction inthese[numerousreports]sincetherewasnothing
topreventthe Prophet fromrepeating[this statement]atthosevarious
places becauseof the importanceof the holy Bookand the pure Fam-
ily.”[20]