قال الله تعالی:

إِنَّمَا یُرِیدُ اللَّهُ لِیُذْهِبَ عَنْکُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَیْتِ وَیُطَهِّرَکُمْ تَطْهِیرًا

“Indeed Allah desires to repel all impurity from you, O People of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification.”

(S£rah al-A¦z¡b 33:33)

Prophetic traditions recorded in both Sunn¢ and Sh¢‛ah most reliable books of traditions [a¦¡d¢th] and exegesis of the Qur’¡n [tafs¢r] have confirmed that this part of the holy verse is exclusively referring to the People of the Mantle [ahl al-kis¡'] who were the Ahl al-Bayt (‛a) during the time of revelation of the verse.

For instance, refer to the following references:

Sunn¢:

(1) A¦mad ibn °anbal (d. 241 AH), Al-Musnad, 1:231; 4:107; 6:292, 304 (2) Muslim (d. 261 AH), Al-¯a¦¢¦, 7:130 (3) Al-Tirmidh¢ (d. 279 AH), Sunan, 5:361, etc. (4) Al-D£l¡b¢ (d. 310 AH), Al-Dhurriyyah al-±¡hirah al-Nabawiyyah, p. 108 (5) Al-Nas¡'¢ (d. 303 AH), Al-Sunan al-Kubr¡, 5:108, 113 (6) Al-°ak¢m al-Naysh¡b£r¢ (d. 405 AH), Al-Mustadrak al-¯a¦¢¦ayn, 2:416, 3:133, 146-147 (7) Al-Zarkash¢ (d. 794 AH), Al-Bur¦¡n, p. 197 (8) Ibn H¡jar al-Asqal¡n¢ (d. 852 AH), Fat¦ al-Bar¢ Shar¦ ¯a¦¢¦ al-Bukh¡r¢, 7:104.

Sh¢‛ah:

(1) Al-Kulayn¢ (d. 328 AH), U¥£l al-K¡f¢, 1:287 (2) Ibn B¡bawayh (d. 329 AH), Al-Im¡mah wa’l-Tab¥¢rah, p. 47, ¦ad¢th 29 (3) Al-Maghrib¢ (d. 363 AH), Da‛¡'im al-Isl¡m, pp. 35, 37 (4) Al-¯ad£q (d. 381 AH), Al-Khi¥¡l, pp. 403, 550 (5) Al-±£s¢ (d. 460 AH), Al-Am¡l¢, a¦¡d¢th 438, 482, 783.

For further information, refer to the exegesis of the holy verse recorded in the following references: (1) Al-Ja¥¥¡¥ (d. 370 AH), A¦k¡m al-Qur’¡n (2) Al-W¡¦id¢ (d. 468 AH), Asb¡b al-Nuz£l (3) Ibn al-Jawz¢ (d. 597 AH), Z¡d al-Mas¢r (4) Al-Qur(1)¢ (d. 911 AH), Al-Durr al-Manth£r (9) Al-Shawk¡n¢ (d. 1250 AH), Fat¦ al-Qad¢r (10) Al-‛Ayy¡sh¢ (d. 320 AH), Tafs¢r (11) Al-Qumm¢ (d. 329 AH), Tafs¢r (12) Fur¡t al-K£f¢ (d. 352 AH), Tafs¢r, at the margin of the exegesis of Qur’¡n 4:59 (13) Al-±abars¢ (d. 560 AH), Majma‛ al-Bay¡n, as well as many other reference books on ¦ad¢th and tafs¢r.

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