Bismillāh
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا
…Indeed, Allah only desires to remove from you all impurity, O Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify you with a thorough purification.
Sūrat al-Ahzāb, No. 33, Āyat 33
At first glance, this verse presents a puzzle. The term Ahl al-Bayt linguistically means “people of the household,” and in Arab custom, it can include a man’s wives, children, and even extended family living under his roof. Moreover, when we read this verse in its immediate context, the verses before it and after it are unmistakably addressing the Prophet’s wives directly, using feminine plural pronouns, giving them specific commands, and promising them double reward for obedience. So how can we Shī‘ah claim that Ahl al-Bayt here refers exclusively to the Prophet Muhammad, Imam Ali, Fatimah al-Zahra, Hasan, and Husayn ‘alayhim al-salam, excluding the wives?
One proof for this opinion of ours lies in an overwhelming body of narrations about the circumstance of the revelation of this verse. Approximately seventy distinct narrations with varying chains, mostly recorded in Sunnī sources, report that the verse was revealed about the Noble Messenger, Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn (a). Consider this narration from the book Sahīh al-Tirmidhī, narrated by the Prophet’s wife ‘Umar ibn Abi Salamah, and deemed authentic by Sunnī scholars:
When this verse was revealed to the Prophet – “Indeed Allah only desires to remove from you all impurity, O People of the House, and purify you thoroughly” – he was in the house of Umm Salamah. He called Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn, covered them with a cloak, and Ali was behind him, so he covered him with the cloak as well. Then he said: “O Allah, these are my Ahl al-Bayt. So remove impurity from them and purify them thoroughly.” Umm Salamah said: “Am I with them, O Prophet of Allah?” He replied: “You are in your place, and you are upon goodness.”
This narration, and dozens like it from different sources leaves no room for ambiguity. With this many narrations from multiple chains and from both Shia and Sunni sources, we attain complete certainty that the verse intends only these five pure souls. More analysis of the Qur’an’s own internal evidence will follow in an upcoming reflection.
We pray to Allah that we can attach ourselves to the Ahl al-Bayt (a) and be amongst those who love and follow them. In these final days of the year 1447 AH, we ask Allah by the sake of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) to accept all of our actions in this past year, to forgive our shortcomings, to relive all the believers who are suffering throughout the world, and to hasten the appearance of our Imam (aj).
Source: Allāmah Muhammad Husayn Tabātabā’ī, Tafsīr al-Mīzān.