This shows that the Ahlul-Bayt could understand the Qur'an...
This shows that the Ahlul-Bayt could understand the Qur'an better than any other Muslim. It is for this very reason that Allah (SWT) commanded His Messenger to ask the people to love his Ahlul-Bayt: “Say (0 Muhammad), 'I do not ask from you any reward (for teachinf Islam to you) except to love my near ones.'” (Surah ash-Shura, 42:23)[^2] This love was made obligatory because it would automatically entail obedience of those whom one loves.
If the Ahlul-Bayt were not truthful, reliable, and worthy of following, would Allah(SWT) command us to love them? These few verses are enough to show that the best commentators of the Qur' an and the most authentic source for the Prophet's sunnah are the Imams of Ahlul-Bayt. The Prophet (PBUH) himself said, "I am leaving among you two worthy things. As long as you hold fast on to them both, you will never go astray after me.
One is greater than the other: the Book of Allah (which is a rope suspended from the heaven to the earth) and my descendants, my Ahlul-Bayt. They will not separate from each other until they come to me at the (fountain of) Kawthar (in the hereafter). Therefore, see how you recompense me by the way you deal with them." This is not the place to discuss the authenticity of this hadith, but it will suffice to quote Ibn Hajar al-Makki, a famous Sunni polemicist.
After recording this hadith from various companions who had heard it from the Prophet at various places and times, Ibn Hajar says, "And there is no contradiction in these [numerous reports] since there was nothing to prevent the Prophet from repeating [this statement] at those various places because of the importance of the holy Book and the pure Family.”[^3] We can conclude from these verses and the hadith mentioned above that the Ahlul-Bayt are the divinely appointed commentators of the Qur' an, and the most authentic and the best source for the sunnah.
It is for this reason that we prefer them to all other sources. Even when we quote a hadith from the Imams of Ahlul-Bayt, it is actually the hadith of the Prophet which they have preserved as the true successors of the last Messenger of God.