Virtues of the Ahlul Bayt

Yazid ibn Hayyan says:
Hussain ibn Sabrah, ‘Amr ibn Muslim, and I all went to visit Zaid ibn Arqam (RA). As we sat at his side Hussain (ibn Sabrah) said to him, “O Zaid! You saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, prayed behind him in salaah, heard his speech, participated in military campaigns with him. You witnessed much good O Zaid! Relate to us some of what you had heard from and witnessed by the Prophet ﷺ.”

He responded, “O my nephew! By Allah, I have become very old and a long time has passed (since the Prophet’s passing) and I have forgotten some of what I used to remember from the Prophet ﷺ. Accept from me what I relate and do not impose upon me (to narrate) what I no longer remember.”

He went on to say, “One day the Messenger ﷺ stood up to deliver a sermon at a watering stop known as Khumm. He praised and glorified Allah, admonished and reminded us and said, ‘Listen, O people, I am merely a human being. A Messenger from my Lord will soon approach me and I will respond to his call. I am leaving behind two weighty things; the First is the Book of Allah which contains guidance and illumination. Whoever hold firmly to it, will be guided and whoever leaves it will be misguided.”

Then he said, ‘(And the second is) My family (Ahlul Bayt). I remind you of Allah with regards to fulfilling the rights of my family. He said this three times’” [Sahih ibn Khuzaimah, Hadith: 2357]

The Honour of the Ahlul Bayt
Allah, the Almighty has preferred some of the Ahlul Bayt over some with degrees. Hence, there is among them who was mentioned with special virtues and was pointed out with exceptional honour. On the other hand, there is of them he who is as the rest of Ahlul Bayt in general virtues and not favoured any of them with excellence.

Ahlul Bayt in this context are of two parts:

One part has accomplished the general honour, and these are the believers among Banu Hashim and the wives of the Prophet ﷺ. Furthermore, those stated have in terms of position, honour and respect that which make them distinguished from the rest of the Muslims. One should love these individuals on the grounds of the level of their faith, thus whosoever adds to his kinship to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ knowledge in the religion and fear of Allah he has to be more beloved to us than those who are less than him therein; and whosoever among them is closer to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is more beloved to our hearts than one who is distant in lineage.

The evidence for this honouring is what was reported that ‘Abbas (RA), the uncle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, complained to him of Quraish frowning and ending their talks when he met with them, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ got very angry to the point that his blessed face became red and perspired and said: “By Whose Hand my soul is in, faith enters not the heart of a man unless he loves you for Allah and His Messenger.”

As for the second part of Ahlul Bayt they are the Ashab al-kisa (the people of the garment), ‘Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Hussain, some wives of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ such as Khadeeja, Aisha, Hafsa, and Maimoona (RA), including to every Hashimi whom in their favours was stated a special virtue that make them distinguished from the rest, such as ‘Abbas, Hamzah and Ja‘far (RA) for example. Consequently, those mentioned have a characteristic that the common ones of Banû Hashim do not.
We have by this proved the virtue of the Ahlul Bayt and also that some of them hold higher rank than others from amongst the Ahlul Bayt. But what happens if any of them have to violate a command of Allah? Mufti Moosagie will take us through that discussion later this afternoon.