He called them thaqalayn to highlight their significance and to extol them both.
He called them thaqalayn to highlight their significance and to extol them both. Tha’lab said: “He named them thaqalayn because holding fast to them both and following them both are weighty (responsibilities).”[^4] Yet another leading Sunni linguist, Abu Mansur al-Azhari (d.
It is narrated from the Prophet, peace be upon him, that he said in his fatal illness: (I am leaving behind over you the Two Weighty Things: the Book of Allah and my offspring. Both shall never separate from each other until they meet me at the Lake-Fount). The Prophet, peace be upon him, explained the Two Weighty Things and identified them both as the Book of Allah the Almighty and his offspring, peace be upon him.
The word “itrah (offspring)” has already been explained, and they are his closest blood relatives. Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad b. Yahya said: “They are named thaqalayn because holding fast to them both is a weighty (responsibility), and following them both is also a weighty (responsibility).”[^5] Imam al-Nawawi (d.
676 H), the well-known hadith scientist, tables the view of the classical Sunni scholars as well: قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم) وانا تارك فيكم ثقلين (فذكر كتاب الله وأهل بيته قال العلماء سميا ثقلين لعظمهما وكبير شأنهما وقيل العمل بهما His statement, peace be upon him (I am leaving behind over you Two Weighty Things) and he mentioned the Book of Allah and his . The ‘ulama said: He named them thaqalayn due to their magnificence and the greatness of their significance.
It is also said: (they are named thaqalayn due to the fact that) both are to be followed.[^6] And Shaykh ‘Abd al-Baqi, in his annotation of Sahih Muslim, writes these words under Hadith al-Thaqalayn: (ثقلين) قال العلماء سميا ثقلين لعظمهما وكبير شأنهما وقيل لثقل العمل بها (Two Weighty Things [thaqalayn]): The ‘ulama said: He named them thaqalayn due to their magnificence and the greatness of their significance.
It is also said: (they are named thaqalayn due to the fact that) both are to be followed.[^7] So, our Prophet indicated that he was leaving behind the Qur’an and his offspring as his replacements over us after him.