And abide in your houses and do not display yourselves as [was] the display of the former times of ignorance. And establish prayer and give zakāh and obey Allāh and His Messenger. Allāh intends only to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the [Prophet's] household, and to purify you with [extensive] purification.
With the revelation of this verse, known as Ayat Tathir, Allah (SWT) promised to purify the Ahlul Bayt, or the Prophet's (ﷺ) family, from all kinds of impurity. In this article, we will look at the meaning of impurity in this context, who the household of the Prophet (ﷺ) are for whom this purification applies, and the theological implications that result.
The word used in the Qur'an for the impurity that is being kept away from the Ahlul Bayt is 'rijs' (رجس). The word with this spelling appears nine times in the Qur'an, and its usage can give us an indication as to its meaning. One of the nine has been quoted above as 33:33, the other eight are as follows:
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allāh], and divining arrows are but defilement (rijs) from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
So whoever Allāh wants to guide - He expands his breast to [contain] Islām; and whoever He wants to send astray - He makes his breast tight and constricted as though he were climbing into the sky. Thus does Allāh place defilement (rijs) upon those who do not believe.
Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine - for indeed, it is impure (rijs) - or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allāh. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful."
[Hūd] said, "Already have defilement (rijs) and anger fallen upon you from your Lord. Do you dispute with me concerning [mere] names you have named them, you and your fathers, for which Allāh has not sent down any authority? Then wait; indeed, I am with you among those who wait."
They will swear by Allāh to you when you return to them that you would leave them alone. So leave them alone; indeed they are evil (rijs); and their refuge is Hell as recompense for what they had been earning.
But as for those in whose hearts is disease, it has [only] increased them in evil (rijs) [in addition] to their evil (rijs). And they will have died while they are disbelievers.
And it is not for a soul [i.e., anyone] to believe except by permission of Allāh, and He will place defilement (rijs) upon those who will not use reason.
That [has been commanded], and whoever honors the sacred ordinances of Allāh - it is best for him in the sight of his Lord. And permitted to you are the grazing livestock, except what is recited to you. So avoid the uncleanliness (rijs) of idols and avoid false statement.
From these verses, we can get a general sense of the meaning as: sin, impurity, punishment, and evil. But, let's not take my interpretation. Let us look at what the scholars and exegetes have stated regarding the meaning of rijs:
الرجس هاهنا: الشيطان، وسوى ذلك من الرجس: الشرك.
al-Rijs here means: Shaytan (Satan), and worse than that of rijs is shirk (polytheism).
- .... قوله تعالى : { إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا ( الأحزاب : 33 ) } قيل هو الشك ، وقيل العذاب ، وقيل الاثم.
- .... قال الأزهري : ( الرجس ) اسم لكل مستقذر من عمل.
And His saying, the Exalted, “Allāh intends only to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the [Prophet's] household, and to purify you with [extensive] purification,” it is said that [rijs] means doubt, and it is said punishment, and it is said sin.
al-Azhari (author of Tahdhib al-Lughat) said: ar-Rijs is a noun referring to every filthy deed.
- .... وقيل : ( الرجس ) : النجس ، ويجيء ( الرجس ) بمعنى الاثم ، وبمعنى الكفر ، كقوله : { لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمُ الرِّجْسَ ( الأحزاب : 33 ) } ، { فَزَادَتْهُمْ رِجْسًا إِلَى رِجْسِهِمْ ( التوبة : 125 ) } وقد يجيء بمعنى العذاب.
And it is said: Rijs [refers to] impurity, and it came in the meaning of sin, and the meaning of disbelief…and it came in the meaning of punishment.
Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Fath al-Bari
- .... { لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ ( الأحزاب : 33 ) } والمراد بـ ( الرجس ) الاثم والذنب المدنسان للأعراض الحاصلان بسبب ترك ما أمر الله به ، وفعل ما نهى عنها.
“To remove from you impurity O people of the house…” and what is intended by Rijs is sin and iniquity that defiles and arises from leaving what Allah has commanded and doing what He has forbidden.
al-Shawkani, Tafsir Fath al-Qadeer
Clearly, if it is sin, iniquity, disbelief, and punishment that is being repelled from a group of people by Allah (SWT), this must mean they are free from these things.
Now that we have established the meaning of rijs, we must now establish the meaning of Ahlul Bayt. Who are the members of the Prophetic Household encompassed by the meaning of this verse? We can determine this through the context of revelation of this part of the verse:
'A'isha reported that Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) went out one norning wearing a striped cloak of the black camel's hair that there came Hasan b. 'Ali. He wrapped hitn under it, then came Husain and he wrapped him under it along with the other one (Hasan). Then came Fatima and he took her under it, then came 'Ali and he also took him under it and then said:
Allah only desires to take away any uncleanliness from you, O people of the household, and purify you (thorough purifying)
From this hadith, we can see that the Prophet (ﷺ) understood this verse to refer to four people besides himself: 'Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn (؏). What of the claim that since the verse begins with an address to the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ), this must mean that the wives are included in the purification as well? We can see this notion explicitly refuted in authentic hadith:
Narrated 'Umar bin Abi Salamah - the step-son of the Prophet (ﷺ):
"When these Ayat were revealed to the Prophet (ﷺ): 'Allah only wishes to remove the Rijs from you, O members of the family, and to purify you with a thorough purification...' (33:33) in the home of Umm Salamah, he called for Fatimah, Hasan, Husain, and wrapped them in a cloak, and 'Ali was behind him, so he wrapped him in the cloak, then he said: 'O Allah! These are the people of my house, so remove the Rijs from them, and purify them with a thorough purification.' So Umm Salamah said: 'And am I with them O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'You are in your place, and you are good to me.'"
(Note the deception on the part of the sunnah.com translators here - they translate وَأَنْتِ إِلَيَّ خَيْرٍ as "you are more virtuous to me" while it means "and you are good to me").
Narrated Umm Salamah:
"The Prophet (ﷺ) put a garment over Al-Hasan, Al-Hussain, 'Ali and Fatimah, then he said: 'O Allah, these are the people of my house and the close ones, so remove the Rijs from them and purify them thoroughly." So Umm Salamah said: 'And am I with them, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: "You are upon good."'
In these hadith, we find that the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ), Umm Salamah (؏), asks if she is included among his Ahlul Bayt who are purified. His response excludes her from this group while affirming that she is also upon goodness.
There are also other hadith in which the Prophet (ﷺ) tells us who his Ahlul Bayt consists of:
Amir b. Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas reported on the authority of his father that Muawiya b. Abi Sufyan appointed Sa'd as the Governor and said:
What prevents you from abusing Abu Turab (Hadrat 'Ali), whereupon be said: It is because of three things which I remember Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) having said about him that I would not abuse him and even if I find one of those three things for me, it would be more dear to me than the red camels. I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) say about 'Ali as he left him behind in one of his campaigns (that was Tabuk). 'Ali said to him: Allah's Messenger, you leave me behind along with women and children. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to him: Aren't you satisfied with being unto me what Aaron was unto Moses but with this exception that there is no prophethood after me. And I (also) heard him say on the Day of Khaibar: I would certainly give this standard to a person who loves Allah and his Messenger, and Allah and his Messenger love him too. He (the narrator) said: We had been anxiously waiting for it, when he (the Holy Prophet) said: Call 'Ali. He was called and his eyes were inflamed. He applied saliva to his eyes and handed over the standard to him, and Allah gave him victory. (The third occasion is this) when the (following) verse was revealed: "Let us summon our children and your children." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) called 'Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain and said: O Allah, they are my family.
Here, the Prophet (ﷺ) brings 'Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn (؏) during the incident of Mubahila against the Christians of Najran. This is in response to the revelation of the verse:
So if anyone disputes with you about it after you have received knowledge then say: Come, let us call our children and your children, and our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves, then we shall pray for the curse of Allah to be brought upon the liars.
He then says, "These are my family (ahli)," clearly excluding the wives from being included. The verse also presents the perfect opportunity for them to be included, as it says, "our women and your women" separate from "our children and your children," and Fatima (؏) could be included under the latter, yet he does not do so.
That the wives were not included in the meaning of "Ahlul Bayt" was also explicitly stated by members of the sahaba, such as the companion Zayd b. Arqam:
Yazid b. Hayyan reported:
We went to him (Zaid b. Arqam) and said to him. You have found goodness (for you had the honour) to live in the company of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and offered prayer behind him, and the rest of the hadith is the same but with this variation of wording that lie said: Behold, for I am leaving amongst you two weighty things, one of which is the Book of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, and that is the rope of Allah. He who holds it fast would be on right guidance and he who abandons it would be in error, and in this (hadith) these words are also found: We said: Who are amongst the members of the household? Aren't the wives (of the Holy Prophet) included amongst the members of his house hold? Thereupon he said: No, by Allah, a woman lives with a man (as his wife) for a certain period; he then divorces her and she goes back to her parents and to her people; the members of his household include his ownself and his kith and kin (who are related to him by blood) and for him the acceptance of Zakat is prohibited.
Furthermore, we can determine that the wives are excluded from the purification entailed by the verse from the grammar of the verse itself. For a detailed analysis on this subject, as well as an explanation as to why an address to the Ahlul Bayt occurs in the middle of a verse addressed to the wives, see the following article: An In-Depth Analysis of the Verse of Tathir.
An argument that is made by some regarding the verse of Tathir, 33:33, is that the intention of Allah in purifying the Ahlul Bayt is iradah tashri'iyyah (legislative intent), rather than iradah takwiniyyah (generative intent). What this would mean is that rather than Allah actually acting to purify the Ahlul Bayt, as would be implied by iradah takwiniyyah, Allah only wishes for the Ahlul Bayt to be purified but does not actually take any action to cause this outcome, similar to how He intends for us to pray the five obligatory prayers but leaves the choice of implementation to us. So, how do we know whether the intention in this verse is legislative or generative?
An important indicator from the verse which helps us to understand its meaning is the use of the word انما (innama). The word انما is an intensifier, used to make something exclusive. We can see it translated by Sahih International in 33:33 as "only to remove from you..." Elsewhere in the Qur'an, the word is used to similar effect:
Your guardian can be only (انما) Allah; and His messenger and those who believe, who establish worship and pay the poordue, and bow down (in prayer).
Say, "I am only (انما) a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God. So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone."
We can see in the first case that the word انما (innama) is used to exclude anyone other than those mentioned from being in the category of one's wali/guardian. In the second verse, the same word is used to negate that the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) was anything more than a human man.
In the context of 33:33, it is used on the intention of Allah (SWT) - انما يريد الله, "Allah intends only to remove from you..." (Sahih International). If this was read as legislative intent, this would mean that Allah wants only for the Ahlul Bayt to keep themselves pure by refraining from sins. Obviously, we know that this is not the case, as there is a general prescription on all the believers to avoid sins and to do the obligatory acts.
If, however, this were read to refer to a generative intent, it would mean that Allah has only acted to purify the Ahlul Bayt in this ummah, but the general prescription to keep oneself pure is not limited to them. This is a far more reasonable position.
Sometimes, the question arises: if the verse states that Allah wants to remove impurity from the Ahlul Bayt, doesn't this mean that the Ahlul Bayt had impurity attached to them in the first place? Does this mean that they were not infallible prior to the revelation of the verse? This, however, is based on a misunderstanding of the terminology of the verse as it appears in Arabic. See the following excerpt from the article An In-Depth Analysis of the Verse of Tathir:
It should be noted that عنكم comes before the object الرجس here, which is opposite to the default order. Normally in Arabic, the object الرجس should precede the preposition عنكم. This indicates a special degree of Divine attention, exclusivity, and prioritization of the party from whom all filth is being negated. The particle عن instead of من is used, which is also significant: the former is used for transcendence (al-mujāwazah) while the latter is used to indicate origination (ibtidā’ li al-ghāyah). In other words, if من was used here, the meaning would be that filth was initially attached to the Ahl al-Bayt and was then being driven away (al-raf’). However, the use of عن suggests the possibility filth was never attached to the Ahl al-Bayt to begin with, rather it has the meaning of deflection (al-daf’).
This is extremely significant because it points towards the fact that filth has never been attached to those being addressed in this verse. This is an important syntactic clue that serves to indicate infallibility.
In summary, the verse of Tathir tells us that Allah (SWT) has purified the Ahlul Bayt from 'rijs,' or any kind of sin or wrongdoing. In other words, they are infallible. What relevance does this have, however, to the matter of Imamate and leadership over the ummah?
Verse 124 of Surah Baqarah tells us:
And [mention, O Muḥammad], when Abraham was tried by his Lord with words [i.e., commands] and he fulfilled them. [Allāh] said, "Indeed, I will make you a leader (Imam) for the people." [Abraham] said, "And of my descendants?" [Allāh] said, "My covenant does not include the wrongdoers."
From this verse, we understand that an Imam (i.e. a leader of the Muslims) cannot be a dhalim, or a wrongdoer. Therefore, who is better suited to the role of Imam than one who is purified and protected from wrongdoing?
This understanding is further supported by verse 59 of Surah Nisa:
O you who have believed, obey Allāh and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allāh and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allāh and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.
Here, we are told by Allah (SWT) to obey Allah, His Messenger, and the 'ulil amr,' or 'those in authority among you.' Notice that no conditions are mentioned to this obedience either in this verse or in the verses before or after it. Unconditional obedience can only be rendered unto an infallible, or else it would be possible for them to order you to do something wrong. For this reason, when Allah mentions obedience to parents in the Qur'an (see 29:8), He conditions it by saying, "But if they exert pressure on you to associate with Me in My Divinity any that you do not know (to be My associate), do not obey them." However, when He mentions obedience to Himself or to the Messenger, there is no need for any conditions as neither Allah nor His Messenger can misguide you.
However, the obedience to the Ulil Amr is clearly linked to the obedience of the Messenger in verse 4:59. The word "obey" is repeated between Allah and His Messenger, but not between the Messenger and the Ulil Amr. This means that the same obedience that we owe to the Messenger is the same obedience we owe to the Ulil Amr. Otherwise, this would mean the word "obey" in the phrase, "Obey the Messenger and those in authority among you," actually has two different meanings referring to different kinds of obedience, although no indication of this is given in the verse. The discussion regarding this verse and its meaning is vast and beyond the scope of this article. For more on this verse, see the following article: Proofs of Imamah: Part 1.
Even without looking at any other verses, it is logically obvious that the one best suited for leadership would be the one who is incapable of leading the people into error, rather than a fallible human who himself admits to being afflicted by a devil.
-Dhun Nun