Then he continued, “And, my (my Household).

Then he continued, “And, my (my Household). With regard to , I remind you of Allah.” He repeated this sentence three times’.” In his book, Sunan , Tirmidhi, on the authority of Zayd ibn Arqam, has quoted the Prophet (S) as having said, “I leave behind two worthy things among you. If you take hold of them, you will not be misguided after me. One of them is greater than the other; the Book of Allah, which is a rope extending from the heavens to the earth, and my my Household [ ‘itrah ].

The two will never separate until they return to me beside the pond of kawthar . So, heed how you deal with them.” A large number of the contemporary men of knowledge and orators are curiously unaware or pretend to be so though Muslim and Tirmidhi have narrated this report as has Hakim Nayshabūri in his Mustadrak and so has Ahmad in his Musnad !

These ‘ulama’ have replaced the phrase wa ahl-i bayti [ my ‘itrah ] with wa sunnati [my Sunnah ] although Malik’s report in his Muwatta’ is weak and disrupted in its chain of transmitters. These scholars should quote the two narrations simultaneously if they ever desire to cite something; it is improper to quote one and hide the other one, for it will be an example of “hiding the knowledge”. God and His Messenger have threatened (with punishment) the one who denies it.

‘Allamah Muhammad Nasir Albani has quoted the ‘itrah tradition in his Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah in this way: ‘O People!

I am leaving behind among you two trusts; if you take hold of them, you will never be misguided: the Book of Allah and my .” Albani then said, “This is a sound narration for which Zayd ibn Arqam’s report can be cited as evidence.” “The following scholars have reported the same hadith : Muslim in his Sahih ,[^1] Tahawi in Mushkil al-Athar ,[^2] Ahmad[^3] and Ibn-e Abi ‘Asim in Kitab al-Sunnah ,[^4] and Tabarani[^5] on the authority of Yazid ibn Hayyan Tamimi.

Besides, these reports Ahmad,[^6] Tabarani,[^7] and Tahawi have narrated it on the authority of ‘Ali ibn Rabi‘ah, who said ‘I saw Zayd ibn Arqam and asked him ‘Did you yourself hear the Prophet (S) saying ‘I leave two precious things, thaqalayn , among you: the Book of Allah and my Household [ ‘itrat ]?’ He answered, “Yes”. The chain of the transmission of this report is authentic.