And the example of my household for you is like the example...

And the example of my household for you is like the example of the gate of Hittah (repentance) for the Israelites that whoever entered through it would be forgiven.’[^2] Imam Sharafuddeen al-Aamily said when talking about this tradition, ‘You know that the purpose behind comparing them (the Ahlul Bayt) to the “Ark of Noah” is that whoever resorts to them in religion and takes its bases and branches from them shall be safe from the torment of Fire, and whoever turns his back to them is like one who betook himself (on the day of the great flood) to some mountain which might save him from the command of Allah, but he drowned in water and would be in the Hell.

The purpose behind comparing them to the “gate of Hittah” is that Allah the Almighty has made that gate as a matter of humbleness to Allah and submission to His commands, and therefore it was a cause for forgiveness. This is the point of comparison.

Ibn Hajar said, after he mentioned these traditions and others like them, about the cause of comparing them (the Ahlul Bayt) to the “Ark of Noah” that whoever loved and glorified them out of gratefulness to the blessing of their honor, and followed the guidance of their ‘Ulama’ would be safe from the darkness of disagreements, and whoever lagged behind that would drown in the sea of ungratefulness to blessings and would perish in the wilderness of oppression…until he said, ‘and comparing them to the “gate of Hittah” is that Allah has made the entrance through this gate, which was the Gate of Ariha or Jerusalem, with humbleness, and with asking for forgiveness, as a cause for forgiveness, and He has made the love to the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) as a cause for this nation to be forgiven…’[^3] Second, the Shi’a believed and followed the imams of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) because they represented honor and dignity, and there will be none like them throughout the history of humanity.

No one in the whole Muslim world was like them in their guidance, conducts, devotedness, and adherence to Islam. The faith of the Shi’a in the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) was not out of emotion or fancy, but it was due to the reality and situations of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.). Third, the Shi’a did not believe in the Imamate of the Umayyad and the Abbasid kings because they were naked of moral and humane values. During their reigns, the nation suffered terrible kinds of oppression and cruelty.

They extorted the wealth of the nation and spent it on their pleasures and amusement.