The Prophet’s Household [ ] There is plentiful emphasis in...

The Prophet’s Household [ ] There is plentiful emphasis in the Qur’an and in Islamic traditions of both Sunnis and Shi‘ahs that believers must show their love and affection towards the people of the Prophet’s Household, not just because they are the Prophet’s offspring but because they posses the same lofty moral virtues, spiritual attainments and moral perfections as the Prophet. In other words, they possess all the attributes of perfection and beauty in a comprehensive manner.

Putting it more accurately, they are the very manifestation of Allah’s attributes of perfection and beauty. Therefore, showing heartfelt love and affection towards these lofty personalities in fact means loving the excellence that has manifested itself in them in a complete and perfect manner. The source of this good and excellence is Allah, the Exalted. Therefore, expressing affection and devotion to the Prophet’s (as) is tantamount to loving and being devoted to Allah, the Exalted.

Loving good and virtuous people compels and drives man towards noble virtues because love is a force that drives man to his Beloved, and therefore he strives to conduct himself in the way that his Beloved approves. Loving exemplary models, especially Allah’s awliya’ , is extremely beneficial from the aspect of personal training and self-purification. Who are the (as)?

When we study scholars’ books of etymology and terminology, we come to know that what is meant by term of the Holy Prophet (S) are certain special and distinguished people. When we refer to books of tradition [ hadith ], we understand that the (as) do not comprise all the genealogical and causal relatives of the Holy Prophet (S). In other words, the term does not include all the ancestral relatives nor those related to the Prophet through marriage.

a) The term in etymology and common parlance In his book entitled, “ Lisan al-‘Arab ”, Ibn Manzur Ifriqi says, “The of a person are those people who are nearest to him. The are people who are gathered together by genealogy and religion.”[^3] b) The term in the Qur’an and the Sunnah has been employed for certain special people in the Holy Qur’an and the traditions.

The term has been used for the Holy Prophet (S), Imam ‘Ali (as), Fatimah al-Zahra (as), al-Hasan (as), al-Husayn (as) and the remaining pure offspring, the nine Infallibles from the progeny of Imam al-Husayn (as).