The word · History
أَهْلُ البَيْت
Ahl al-Bayt
The Prophet's household, honoured by all Muslims, though the schools draw its boundary differently.
Also written · Ahlul Bayt · Ahl ul Bayt · Ahle Bait · Ahlul Bait · Ahl al-Bait · People of the House · Ahlulbayt · Ehl-i Beyt · Aal al-Bayt · Al al-Bayt · Prophet's family · Ahle Bayt
The meaning
What Ahl al-Bayt means in Islam
The verse of purification in Surah al-Ahzab sits in a passage addressing his wives, and a hadith records him gathering Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn under a cloak and praying for them. Most Sunni scholars therefore include both the wives and that close family, and many add the wider clan of Banu Hashim who are forbidden to take zakat. Twelver Shia restrict the term to the five of the cloak and the Imams descended from them. Loving them is agreed; the boundary is not.
Evidence · Scholars differ · The scholars read this one differently
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- Ummahat al-Mu'mininThe Prophet's wives, whom the Qur'an names as mothers to every believer.أُمَّهَاتُ المُؤْمِنِين
- FatimahThe Prophet's youngest daughter, wife of Ali and mother of Hasan and Husayn.فَاطِمَة الزَّهْرَاء
- Ali ibn Abi TalibThe Prophet's cousin and son in law, raised by him, and the fourth caliph.عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِب
- Husayn ibn AliThe Prophet's younger grandson, killed at Karbala in the sixty first year of the Hijrah.الحُسَيْنُ بْنُ عَلِيّ
- KhumsA fifth of certain wealth; in Sunni law on spoils and treasure, in Shia practice a yearly payment.خُمْس
More from History
- Abu BakrThe Prophet's closest friend, his companion in the cave, and the first caliph.أَبُو بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيق
- Bay'at al-AqabahTwo secret pledges by men of Madinah that opened the way for the Hijrah.بَيْعَةُ العَقَبَة
- Hijrah to AbyssiniaThe first migration, when persecuted Muslims fled Makkah to a Christian king in Abyssinia.الهِجْرَةُ إِلَى الحَبَشَة
- Isra and Mi'rajThe night the Prophet was taken to Jerusalem and then raised through the heavens.الإِسْرَاءُ وَالمِعْرَاج
- Khutbat al-WadaThe sermon given at Arafah during the Farewell Pilgrimage, months before the Prophet died.خُطْبَةُ الوَدَاع
- SahabahThe Companions: anyone who met the Prophet as a believer and died still believing.الصَّحَابَة