The two shall never separate from each other until they come...

The two shall never separate from each other until they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise)." We all know what the Holy Qur’an is, however, we need to ascertain who exactly are the “AhlulBayt” mentioned in this this authentic narration whose importance are obvious by virtue of their association to the divine Book. There are two major opinions regarding the identity of the Prophet’s “AhlulBayt”.

The mainstream opinion is that the AhlulBayt includes the Prophets daughter (Fatima), grandsons (Hasan and Husain), his cousin Ali and his wives. However, the Shi’a school of thought is of the opinion that the household of the Prophets refers only to Fatima, Ali, Hasan, and Husain, and the nine descendants of Imam Husain (not including the wives of the Prophet). Of course, at the time of the Holy Prophet only five of them (including the Prophet) were alive and the rest were not born yet.

And the word حامتي is related to the Arabic word يحمي which means to protect. Hence, when the Prophet (SA) says the AhlulBayt are my حامتي , it means they are my “protectors” or those who care very much for him such that they would do anything to defend him. This behavior is typical with family members and that is certainly the case with the Household of the Prophet (SA) but to a much higher degree.

With the Prophet’s testimony that those under the cloak are his special and unique ones and they are his kin, this description gives assurance and elaboration to his first statement that they are his true household (AhlulBayt). Thereafter, the Prophet (SA) continues to describe the status of the Members of the Cloak whom he has defined to be his AhlulBayt, his kin, and his special ones.

“ Their flesh ( لحم ) is my flesh and their blood ( دمّ ) is my blood .” This is a very profound statement which exceeds the literal meaning.