Are Ahl al-Bayt sinless?

 

 

As you know well, I have written about many issues that concern the Ahl al-Bayt over the years. Allah (the Exalted) has blessed me to write about the events of Karbala, Ahl al-Bayt in general and translated two books about the Ahl al-Bayt.

Recently it has come to my attention that individuals on antisocial media are spreading Shia ideas. Now there is a difference between the Shia and Sunni belief and that has been present for many years. The Shia are going through something of a resurgence and people who are not scholars but sit in places that they are not qualified to sit.

 

Belief

Belief is something that should be proved by one ayah and many hadith. It cannot be based on one hadith to be taken in isolation.

The Shia believe the following: they say that the following hadith that the blessed Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings be upon him) family are sinless.

Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah show him mercy) reports that he (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said,

فاطمة بضعة مني يغضبني ما يغضبها

"Fatimah is part of me: whatever angers me, angers her.” They say that Fatimah is part of the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings be upon him) and thus sinless and so are her offspring. No book of Sunni Islamic belief has ever said this but there are plenty of Shia books that confirm this.

First of all, the hadith is specific for our Lady Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her). Therefore, it does not apply to the Ahl al-Bayt and if the Shia say that she is infallible/sinless then she is at the same degree of the prophets! Which is an incorrect opinion, to say the least! Logically the Shia claim that the Ahl al-Bayt are prophets and this is rejected by all Sunni groups because it is an act of disbelief. There can never be a prophet after the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings be upon him).

The Sunni belief are that Sayyids can sin, if they choose and repent if they chose. Their faith will remain intact and their connection to the blessed lineage will mean they die believers. This is a type of hifiz / protection and it is not masum because only prophets have that. This hifiz is similar to the awliyah, in so much they die upon faith. The awliyah have the ability to sin but they do not do it, and if a misdeed occurs then they repent straight away. A false wali will not repent even from major sins.

Our Lady Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) is not masom and that is not commented in any book of Sunni belief. If it was then it should be mentioned in the Quran, which it is not. She has a hifiz of her faith like the Awliyah but it was very special and unique. She never committed a sin but she is not like the prophets. In this way she was unique.

I do not think a short piece of writing like this can express the respect and honour we owe our Lady Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her).

From Sharaf al-Mubad/ continuous esteem of the family of the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him):

It was reported by Ibn ‘Abdulbarr (may Allah show him mercy) that he (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said,

يا بنية ألا ترضين أنك سيدة نساء العالمين قالت يا أبت فأين مريم؟ قال تلك سيدة نساء عالمها

“O daughter, are you not happy that you are the master of women of the universe?” She replied, “Dear father, what about Maryam?”  He replied, “She is the master of the women of her era.”

It is clear that her superiority is over all women, even our Lady Maryam, by the scholarly verification of Taqiuddin al-Subki, Jalaluddin al-Suyuti, al-Badr al-Zarkshi and Taqiuddin al-Maqrizi (may Allah show them mercy)."

Maryam (upon her peace) was a waliyah and not a prophet but some Christian sects do consider her a prophet. Similarly Maryam is a waliyah and so is Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) but with the addition that Fatimah was the daughter of our blessed Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) which made her rank greater that Maryam (upon her peace).

We also have no reports that our Lady Fatimah did any sin ever and I would refute those who say such a thing.

 

Purification

إِنّمَا يُرِيدُ اللهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا

"Allah only desires to remove filth away from you, Family of the House, and purify you completely.” (Quran 33:33.)

Is the ayah in question, some say rijs is purification from sin. Other say the word رجس is filth and in another ayah rijs is shirk.

فَٱجْتَنِبُواْ ٱلرِّجْسَ مِنَ ٱلأَوْثَانِ وَٱجْتَنِبُواْ قَوْلَ ٱلزُّورِ

"Avoid filth from idols and avoid false speech." (Quran 22:30.)

 

كَذٰلِكَ يَجْعَلُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلرِّجْسَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ

"Therefore Allah made filth on those who do believe." (Quran 6:125)

Filth in the first ayah is that effect from the worship of idols and in the second ayah, rijs is what disbelievers have that is a punishment for their disbelief. So the protection of Ahl al-Bayt is from belief and not sins. If you look at many sayyids and you will find them committing sins and this is because of the environment we are in. Yet know that they will have pure faith and it will come out before their die, so they die disbelievers. If the Shia think that the Ahl al-Bayt are sinless then how can they explain their sins?

One of the other meanings of purification is that they repent from their sins before they die or Allah (the Exalted) sends them tribulations until they are clean of all sins.

 

Saying peace be upon her

This is other pressing Shia issue that has presented itself as Sunni Islam over the last few years. This stems from personalities who use rare instances and apply them to every matter. In Usul al-fiqh you have khass and amm. Khass is specific to a matter and amm is a matter applied to every matter. Now I heard a famous personality say that one book had Fatimah (upon her peace), this was a rare event and it was applied globally.

In terms of Sunnah, it was never said by the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) or any of the early community. It was something innovated by the Shia mostly but some, not all, Sunni used this term of saying 'upon her be peace'.  

The Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) only ever used it for prophets and angel Jibril and rest of the events were rare. The Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) never said about his wonderful daughter Fatimah.

But now people use and gravely accuse others of disrespect when they do not use it. This is a wrong that people are doing. Respect is only when there is a deliberate term of disrespect or a direct implication. Not using 'upon her peace' does not mean disrespect and nor does it mean respect.

Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) is a companion and directly from the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) and she has many virtues that can be read in Sheikh Yusuf's book. If you chose, to do it then that is up to you but you cannot say that you are respecting her more than others! This is another way in which the Shia consider her as a prophet by using the same term.

You can also read commentary on the 40 hadith of the companions by Sheikh Yusuf al-Nabhani in which I show the respect of the companions with Ahl al-Bayt.

Eid al-Ghadir is a Shia fabrication and not a celebration that the Sunnis should involve themselves. Beware of being tricked by the Shia because they are unaware of Ahl al-Bayt and have no rights with them.

I hope that this is clear for you all.

I am now preparing myself for the hate mail! Oh and I am a Sayyid too!