THE FAMILY OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam

                    THE FAMILY OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam

                                                        By Syed Yasin Ali

The family of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) is known as the Ahl al-Bayt. The members of the Ahl al-Bayt are Bibi Fatima, Hadrat Ali, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (peace be upon them). Allah Ta`ala says about the Ahl al-Bayt in the Holy Qur’an,

“Allah only desires to remove abomination from you, members of the family, and purify you.” (33:33)



There is a hadith where the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) embraces Hadrat Ali, Bibi Fatima, Imam Hasan and Husain and says, “This is my family”. While he was hugging his family, Hadrat Jibreel (Alayhissalam) was looking and wished to be a part of the Prophet’s family. Thereupon, the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) embraced Hadrat Jibreel and told him that he was also a part of his family.

The following are some of the other hadith about the Ahl al-Bayt:

Zaid bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him) as saying, “I am leaving among you something of such a nature that if you lay hold of it you will not go astray after I am gone, one part of it being more important than the other: Allah’s Book, a rope stretched from heaven to earth, and my close relatives who belong to my household. These two will not separate from one another till they come down to the Pond, so consider how you would act regarding them after my departure.” (Tirmidhi)

Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) while holding the door of the Ka’ba, said that he had heard the Prophet (may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him) say, “My family among you are like Noah’s ark. He who sails on it will be safe, but he who holds back from it will perish.” (Ahmad)

Zaid bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) said that Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him) said of Sayyidina Ali , Sayyidah Fatima , Sayyidina Hasan and Sayyidina al-Husain.”I am war to him who makes war on them and peace to him whom makes peace with them.” (Tirmidhi)

Hadrat Ali

Hadrat Ali (Rady Allahu Anhu) was the fourth Khalifah after Hadrat Uthman. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). He accepted Islam at the age of 8. His birth took place inside the Ka’ba and the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes, was the beautiful face of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) has said that he is the city of knowledge and Hadrat Ali is the gate of knowledge.

Hadrat Ali and Bibi Fatima (Rady Allahu Anha’s) sons were Iman Hasan and Imam Husain. Hadrat Ali was very brave and he was ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of Allah Ta`ala. Therefore he received the title of ‘Asadullah’ meaning ‘The Lion of Allah.”
Hadrat Ali helped the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) by sleeping in his bed when the Kafirs were after the Holy Prophet.

Hadrat Ali was a Hafiz al-Qur’an. He was very pious. Hadrat Ali took part in many battles. He was praying in a mosque when a member of the Kharjite sect killed him. The man put poison on the sword before stabbing Hadrat Ali. The sword was taken out while Hadrat Ali was praying salah. He was buried in Najaf, Iraq.
Bibi Fatima (Rady Allahu Anha)

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) has said: “Fatima is the leader of the women in Paradise.”
(Sahih Bukhari)

Sayyidatina Fatima (Rady Allahu Anha) was the youngest daughter of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). She was a pious and a charitable lady. She was the wife of Hadrat Ali (Rady Allahu Anhu). She is known as Fatima az-Zahra. She was so pious that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) used to stand up and greet her.

Bibi Fatima (Rady Allahu Anha) was the first person to pass away after the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). One day, the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) whispered something into Bibi Fatima’s ear upon which she started crying. Later he whispered something else, upon which Bibi Fatima turned happy. When the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) passed away, Bibi Aisha asked her about the secret that the Holy Prophet had whispered into her ear. Bibi Fatima said that the Holy Prophet had told her that he will soon pass away upon which she started crying. Later, he told her that she was going to join him soon, upon which she turned happy. Bibi Fatima passed away in Madinah. She was buried in Jannat ul-Baqi.

Imam Hasan and Imam Husain

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) has said that Imam Hasan and Husain are my two basils in this world (Sahih Bukhari). He used to carry Imam Hasan on his shoulder and he prayed to Allah, “I love him, so please love him.” Sayyidina Abu Bakr Siddiq Rady Allahu Anhu used to say that Imam Hasan resembled very closely to the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam).

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) knew that his grandsons were going to become martyrs. One day, Hadrat Jibreel (Alayhissalam) brought two dresses from Jannah for the Prophet’s grandsons. Imam Hasan chose the green dress and Imam Husain chose the red one. The green colour stood for poison while the red colour was for blood.

Imam Husain has been given the title of “Sayyid ash-Shuhada” meaning the Leader of Martyrs for the courage he displayed against Yazid’s army in the battle of Karbala.

The Ahl al-Bayt were very generous and charitable. There was an incident where Imam Hasan and Imam Husain fell seriously ill. Hadrat Ali and Bibi Fatima vowed that they would fast for three days after the recovery of their sons. Soon, Imam Hasan and Husain recovered and the family started observing fasts. When the first day’s fast was completed and they were about to break their fast, a beggar reached their house and asked them for some food. They gave away all the food they had to the beggar. When the time came for the second day’s fast to be broken, an orphan begged them for food and they gave away all the food. When the time came for the third day’s fast to be broken, a prisoner came to them and asked them for food and they gave away everything.

The fourth day they were not fasting but they had nothing to eat. Hadrat Ali took Imam Hasan and Imam Husain, who had become weak and were starving to see the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). After looking at his grandsons, the Holy Prophet then visited Bibi Fatima (Rady Allahu Anha). Her eyes were sunk and she had become weak as a result of starvation. The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) took her and invoked Allah’s mercy on her.

Then, Jibreel Alayhissalam came with this verse of the Holy Qur’an:

“And they give food out of love for Him, to the poor and the orphan and the captive”. (Surah Ad-Dahr: Verse 8).

Jibreel Alayhissalam said that Allah Ta’ala was pleased with them.

It is the duty of Muslims to love and respect the Family of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) because the Holy Prophet has said in a hadith, “When I am loved, then my family members, whom I love should also be loved.” (Tirmidhi)