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Verse of purification
The verse of purification (Arabic:آية التطهير) refers to verse 33:33 of the Quran, the central religious text in Islam. The verse concerns the status of purity of the Ahl al-Bayt (lit. 'people of the house'), the last passage of which reads,
God only desires (innama yuridu llahu) to remove defilement (rijs) from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify you completely.
Muslims disagree as to who belongs to the Ahl al-Bayt and what political privileges or responsibilities they have. Shia Islam limits the Ahl al-Bayt to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn. There are various views in Sunni Islam, though a typical compromise is to include also Muhammad's wives in the Ahl al-Bayt. The verse of purification is regarded by the Shia as evidence of the infallibility of the Ahl al-Bayt.
The Islamic philosopher Hossein Nasr and his coauthors define spiritual defilement (rijs) as all evil deeds and false beliefs that arise from the 'sickness of the heart', another Quranic expression that appears for instance in verse 9:125. In their view, the verse of purification can thus be interpreted as God’s wanting to remove any incorrect action or belief from the Ahl al-Bayt (lit. 'people of the house') and to bestow upon them infallibility (isma), that is, the innate protection against all false beliefs or evil deeds. They define isma as a God-given consciousness that overrides all other human faculties, so that a person endowed with isma is completely protected from going astray and committing sins.
The Twelver exegete Shaykh Tusi (d. 1067) notes that the article innama in the verse of purification grammatically limits the verse to the Ahl al-Bayt. He then argues that rijs here cannot be limited to disobedience because God expects obedience from every responsible person (Arabic: مكلف, romanized: mukallaf) and not just the Ahl al-Bayt. The verse must therefore refer to the infallibility of the Ahl al-Bayt, he concludes. The argument of the Shia theologian Sharif al-Murtaza (d. 1044) is similar. He contends that God's desire in the verse of purification cannot be a mere desire because God desires the spiritual purification of every responsible person. Therefore, God's desire in this verse must have been followed by action, that is, the action of purifying the Ahl al-Bayt and ensuring their infallibility. Another argument in this vein is presented by the contemporary Twelver jurist Ja'far Sobhani.
The majority of the traditions quoted by the Sunni exegete al-Tabari (d. 923) identify the Ahl al-Bayt with the Ahl al-Kisa, namely, Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn. Such reports are also cited in Sahih Muslim, Sunnan al-Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, all canonical Sunni collections of hadith, and by some other Sunni authorities, including al-Suyuti (d. 1505), al-Hafiz al-Kabir, al-Hakim al-Nishapuri (d. 1014), and Ibn Kathir (d. 1373).
In possibly the earliest version of the hadith of the kisa, Muhammad's wife Umm Salama relates that he gathered Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn under his cloak and prayed, "O God, these are my ahl al-bayt and my closest family members; remove defilement from them and purify them completely." Some accounts continue that Umm Salama then asked Muhammad, "Am I with thee, O Messenger of God?" but received the negative response, "Thou shalt obtain good. Thou shalt obtain good." Among others, such reports are given in Sunnan al-Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and by Ibn Kathir, al-Suyuti, and the Shia exegete Muhammad H. Tabatabai (d. 1981). Yet another Sunni version of this hadith appends Umm Salama to the Ahl al-Bayt. In another Sunni version, Muhammad's servant Wathila bint al-Asqa' is also counted in the Ahl al-Bayt.
Elsewhere in Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muhammad is said to have recited the last passage in the verse of purification every morning when he passed by Fatima's house to remind her household of the morning prayer. In his mubahala (lit. 'mutual cursing') with a delegation of Najrani Christians, Muhammad is also believed to have gathered the above four under his cloak and referred to them as his ahl al-bayt, according to Shia and some Sunni sources, including Sahih Muslim and Sunan al-Tirmidhi. This makeup of the Ahl al-Bayt is echoed by the Islamicist Laura Veccia Vaglieri (d. 1989), and also reported unanimously in Shia sources. In Shia theology works, the Ahl al-Bayt often also includes the remaining Shia imams. The term is sometimes loosely applied in Shia writings to all descendants of Ali and Fatima.
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Verse of purification
The verse of purification (Arabic:آية التطهير) refers to verse 33:33 of the Quran, the central religious text in Islam. The verse concerns the status of purity of the Ahl al-Bayt (lit. 'people of the house'), the last passage of which reads,
God only desires (innama yuridu llahu) to remove defilement (rijs) from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify you completely.
Muslims disagree as to who belongs to the Ahl al-Bayt and what political privileges or responsibilities they have. Shia Islam limits the Ahl al-Bayt to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn. There are various views in Sunni Islam, though a typical compromise is to include also Muhammad's wives in the Ahl al-Bayt. The verse of purification is regarded by the Shia as evidence of the infallibility of the Ahl al-Bayt.
The Islamic philosopher Hossein Nasr and his coauthors define spiritual defilement (rijs) as all evil deeds and false beliefs that arise from the 'sickness of the heart', another Quranic expression that appears for instance in verse 9:125. In their view, the verse of purification can thus be interpreted as God’s wanting to remove any incorrect action or belief from the Ahl al-Bayt (lit. 'people of the house') and to bestow upon them infallibility (isma), that is, the innate protection against all false beliefs or evil deeds. They define isma as a God-given consciousness that overrides all other human faculties, so that a person endowed with isma is completely protected from going astray and committing sins.
The Twelver exegete Shaykh Tusi (d. 1067) notes that the article innama in the verse of purification grammatically limits the verse to the Ahl al-Bayt. He then argues that rijs here cannot be limited to disobedience because God expects obedience from every responsible person (Arabic: مكلف, romanized: mukallaf) and not just the Ahl al-Bayt. The verse must therefore refer to the infallibility of the Ahl al-Bayt, he concludes. The argument of the Shia theologian Sharif al-Murtaza (d. 1044) is similar. He contends that God's desire in the verse of purification cannot be a mere desire because God desires the spiritual purification of every responsible person. Therefore, God's desire in this verse must have been followed by action, that is, the action of purifying the Ahl al-Bayt and ensuring their infallibility. Another argument in this vein is presented by the contemporary Twelver jurist Ja'far Sobhani.
The majority of the traditions quoted by the Sunni exegete al-Tabari (d. 923) identify the Ahl al-Bayt with the Ahl al-Kisa, namely, Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn. Such reports are also cited in Sahih Muslim, Sunnan al-Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, all canonical Sunni collections of hadith, and by some other Sunni authorities, including al-Suyuti (d. 1505), al-Hafiz al-Kabir, al-Hakim al-Nishapuri (d. 1014), and Ibn Kathir (d. 1373).
In possibly the earliest version of the hadith of the kisa, Muhammad's wife Umm Salama relates that he gathered Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn under his cloak and prayed, "O God, these are my ahl al-bayt and my closest family members; remove defilement from them and purify them completely." Some accounts continue that Umm Salama then asked Muhammad, "Am I with thee, O Messenger of God?" but received the negative response, "Thou shalt obtain good. Thou shalt obtain good." Among others, such reports are given in Sunnan al-Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and by Ibn Kathir, al-Suyuti, and the Shia exegete Muhammad H. Tabatabai (d. 1981). Yet another Sunni version of this hadith appends Umm Salama to the Ahl al-Bayt. In another Sunni version, Muhammad's servant Wathila bint al-Asqa' is also counted in the Ahl al-Bayt.
Elsewhere in Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muhammad is said to have recited the last passage in the verse of purification every morning when he passed by Fatima's house to remind her household of the morning prayer. In his mubahala (lit. 'mutual cursing') with a delegation of Najrani Christians, Muhammad is also believed to have gathered the above four under his cloak and referred to them as his ahl al-bayt, according to Shia and some Sunni sources, including Sahih Muslim and Sunan al-Tirmidhi. This makeup of the Ahl al-Bayt is echoed by the Islamicist Laura Veccia Vaglieri (d. 1989), and also reported unanimously in Shia sources. In Shia theology works, the Ahl al-Bayt often also includes the remaining Shia imams. The term is sometimes loosely applied in Shia writings to all descendants of Ali and Fatima.