In this part of the article titled “The Status of Ahl al-Bayt”, we shall examine other sayings of the Prophet on the esteemed position of the pure Household (i.e., Ahl al-Bayt).
He (PBUHH) has said: “If a man stands in prayer between the Rukn and Maqam, hating Muhammad’s progeny, he shall still enter Hellfire” (1). He (PBUHH) has also said: “Whoever dies because of his love for the progeny of Muhammad dies a martyr. Whoever dies because of loving the progeny of Muhammad dies as a believer of perfect faith. Whoever dies for loving Muhammad’s children will be given the glad tiding of entering Paradise by the angel of death, then by Munkar and Nakir. Whoever dies for loving Muhammad’s descendants will be taken to Paradise like a bride taken to her groom’s house.
Whoever dies loving Muhammad’s progeny will have two doors in his grave overlooking Paradise. Allah will make the grave of whoever dies for loving Muhammad’s children a visiting place for the angels of mercy. Whoever dies for loving Muhammad’s progeny dies adhering to the Sunnah and consensus. Whoever dies hating Muhammad’s progeny will come on the Day of Judgment with this inscribed between his eyes: `He should despair of Allah’s mercy,'” up to the end of his unmatchable sermon (2) the sermon whereby he, (PBUHH), intended to divert the inclinations and whims.
The implication is that all these traditions are unanimously agreed upon, especially those narrated through the authority of the purified ones. Their status would not have been confirmed had they not been the obvious proofs of Allah and the fountainhead of His Jurisprudence. It is stated in clear terms that whoever loves them is therefore a lover of Allah and His Messenger, and whoever hates them is an enemy of Allah and His Messenger. He, (PBUHH), has said: “None loves us except a God-fearing and sincere believer, and none hates us except a hypocritical wretch” (3). It is for these reasons that al-Farazdaq, the poet, has said these verses in their praise:
You are the ones loving of whom is belief, hatred is an abomination;
Nearness to you is indeed a rescue and salvation.
If the pious ones are counted, you will be their Imams; it is true.
If one asks: “Who are the best of man?” the answer will be you.
The Commander of the faithful, (PBUH), used to say: “I and the virtuous among my descendants are the best in manners when young, and the most learned when old. Through us does Allah obliterate lies, and through us does He turn the wild fox’s teeth ineffective. Through us does Allah cure your barrenness, and through us does He emancipate you. Through us does Allah begin and conclude” (4).
Suffices us a reason for preferring them over others the fact that Allah, the Sublime, the Almighty, has preferred them over all others, making sending prayers unto them part of the obligatory prayers, albeit if the one saying his prayer was a Siddiq or Faruq, with one light, or two, or with numerous lights. Nay! Everyone who worships Allah by performing His obligations also worships Him while doing so by sending blessings unto them, just as he worships Him when testifying through the two parts of the Shahadah. This, indeed, is a status before which the nation’s heads were lowered, and in front of which the eyes of whomever you mentioned of the Imams have submitted. Al-Shafi`i has said. (5)
O Household of Allah’s Messenger! Loving you is an obligation
Which Allah has enforced in His Honored Revelation.
Suffices you a great honour if one sends no prayer unto you all,
It will be as though he did not say his prayers at all.
Let us now be satisfied with this much of the sacred Sunnah in testimony to the fact that following their Sunnah is compulsory; so is emulating them. In the Book of Allah Almighty, the Sublime and the Omnipotent, there are clear verses which make that, too, compulsory. It is to such verses that we would like to attract your aware conscience and sensitive reason. You can be satisfied with an indicative hint, and a signal suffices to attract your attention; all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the entire world.
NOTES:
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1. This is quoted by al-Tabrani and al-Hakim, and it also exists in Nabhani’s Al-Arba`in, in Suyyuti’s Ihya’ul Mayyit and in others. This hadith is akin to his saying, (PBUHH), as in one hadith which you have already heard, “By the One in Whose Hands my life is, nobody’s good deeds will be of any avail without recognizing our right.” If hating them is not hating Allah and His Messenger, the good deeds of those who hate them would not have been rendered vain even if they spend their life between the Rukn and the Maqam [of Ibrahim, as] praying and supplicating; even then, they would not have enjoyed such a status. Al-Hakim and Ibn Hayyan, in his sahih, as stated in Nabhani’s Al-Arba`in Arba`in and Sayyuti’s Ihya’ul Mayyit, from Imam al-Hasan, the Prophet’s grandson, who said to Mu`awiyah ibn Khadij once: “Beware of hating us, we Ahl al-Bayt (as), for the Messenger of Allah has said: `Whoever hates or envies us would be pushed away from the Pond of Kawthar with whips of fire.” The Messenger of Allah, (PBUHH), delivered a sermon once and said: “O People! Anyone who hates us, we Ahl al-Bayt (as), will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment as a Jew.” This hadith is quoted by al-Tabrani in his Al-Awsat as stated in al-Sayyuti’s Ihya’ul Mayyit and Nabhani’s Al-Arba`in Arba`in and in other books.
2. This is quoted by Imam al-Tha`labi in his explanation of the verse enjoining the love of Ahl al-Bayt (as) in Al-Tafsir al-Kabir from Jarir ibn `Abdullah al-Bijli from the Messenger of Allah, (PBUHH). Al-Zamakhshari takes its authenticity for granted in his own exegesis of the same verse in his book Al-Kashshaf; so, refer to it.
3. Al-Malla has recorded it in the second maqsad of Chapter 14 of the Holy Qur’an in his own Chapter 11 of Al-Sawa`iq al-Muhriqa.
4. This is quoted by `Abdul-Ghani ibn Sa`d in his Eizah al-Ishkal. It is hadith 6050 of the ones included in Kanz al-`Ummal at the end of page 396, Vol. 6.
5. These two couplets of al-Shafi`i are very well known and in wide circulation. Many trustworthy authorities have taken this fact for granted, indicating that he is the one who has composed them. Among them are Ibn Hajar, who quotes them while explaining the verse “Allah and His angels send prayers unto the Prophet (PBUH),” on page 88 of his Al-Sawa`iq al-Muhriqa; al-Nabhani on page 99 of his Al-Sharaf al-Mu’abbad, Imam Abu Bakr ibn Shihabud-Din in his Rashfatul Sadi, and by many others.
