It is obvious that this is inconsistent with the Muslim...

It is obvious that this is inconsistent with the Muslim belief in the Qur`an’s miraculousness and Allah’s (awj) Knowledge and Wisdom, and is thus unacceptable. Thus, the two pronouns must refer to a group that would permit masculine pronouns to be used. And this is only the case if we take the pronouns in the verse to refer to the Prophet’s household in the house of Fatimah, that is, the Prophet, Fatimah, ‘Ali, Hasan, and Husayn (ع). b.

The word ahl (family) in Arabic must always be part of a possessive phrase in meaning. That is, it must be related or attributed to something else for its own meaning to become clear, as in ahl al-kitab (people of the book), ahl al-iman (people of faith, or believers), and ahl al-nifaq (people of hypocrisy, or hypocrites). Thus part of the meaning of the word ahl is denoted by the word to which it is attributed.

So, if we wish to know what ahl means in the Verse of Purification we must first determine the meaning of the word bayt (house). The word bayt means “house” or “abode” and denotes a place. Now what is meant by this word in different usages is something that is explained by contextual clues, both internal (verbal) and external (nonverbal).

The same holds true for the topic under discussion, that is, the expression “Ahlul Bayt.” So if there are no contextual clues to limit, expand, or clarify what Allah intended with this expression, if we were to ignore the literary objection that would result, it would be possible to take “Ahlul Bayt” to refer to everyone related to the Prophet (ص) in his houses. In this case, the word bayt would mean “home” or “residence”.

But with a little attention to some external contextual clues, such as the situation in which the verse was revealed, we will realize that such a meaning is untrue, because although the verse was revealed in the very house of Umm Salamah, the Prophet (ص) clearly said she was not one of the Ahlul Bayt (ع). If bayt were to refer to a residence, Umm Salamah—in whose home the verse was revealed—should be its first addressee and more worthy of this title than anyone else.

But it has already been shown that this is contrary to reality. In this regard, it would be good to refer to a tradition that Wahidi Nishapuri has narrated: “Umm Salamah relates that the Prophet (ص) was in [my] house and food was before him when Fatimah (ع) entered. The Prophet (ص) said, ‘[Fatimah,] call your husband and sons to come to me.’ ‘Ali, Hasan, and Husayn (ع) came and sat down.