قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَی:

﴿إِنَّمَا یُرِیدُ اللَّهُ لِیُذْهِبَ عَنْکُمْ 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.

(Sūrat al-Ahzāb 33:33)

Prophetic traditions, mentioned in most reliable Sunnī and Shī‘ite reference books of hadīth and tafsīr (Qur’anic exegesis), confirm that this holy verse was revealed to exclusively involve the five People of the Cloak; namely, Muhammad, ‘Alī, Fātimah, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn, peace be upon them, to whom the term ‘Ahl al-Bayt (People of the House)’ is solely dedicated.

For instance, refer to the following references:

A. Sunnī Reference Books:

(1) Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH), Al-Musnad, 1:331; 4:107; 6:292, 304. (2) Sahīh Muslim (d. 261 AH), 7:130. (3) Al-Tirmidhī (d. 279 AH), Sunan, 5:361 et al. (4) Al-Dūlābī (d. 310 AH), Al-Dhurriyyah al-Tāhirah al-Nabawiyyah, p. 108. (5) Al-Nassā’ī (d. 303 AH), Al-Sunan al-Kubrā’, 5: p. 108, 113. (6) Al-Hākim al-Naysābūrī (d. 405 AH), Al-Mustadrak ‘alā al-Sahīhayn, 2:416, 3:133, 146, 147. (7) Al-Zarkāshī (d. 794 AH), Al-Burhān, p. 197. (8) Ibn Hājar al-Asqalānī (d. 852), Fath al-Barī Sharh Sahīh al-Bukhārī, 7:104.

B. Shī‘ite Reference Books:

(1) Al-Kulaynī (d. 328 AH), Usūl al-Kāfī, 1:287. (2) Ibn Bābawayh (d. 329 AH), Al-Imāmah wa al-Tabsirah, p. 47, H. 29. (3) Al-Maghribī (d. 363 AH), Da‘ā’im al-Islām, pp. 35, 37. (4) Al-Sadūq (d. 381 AH), Al-Khisāl, pp. 403, 550. (5) Al-Tūsī (d. 460 AH), Al-Amālī, H. 438, 482, 783.

For more details, refer to the exegesis of the holy verse involved in the following reference books of tafsīr: (1) Al-Tabarī (d. 310 AH), Book of Tafsīr. (2) Al-Jassāss (d. 370 AH), Ahkām al-Qur’ān. (3) Al-Wahīdī (d. 468 AH), Asbāb al-Nuzūl. (4) Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH), Zād al-Masīr. (5) Al-Qurtubī (d. 671 AH), Al-Jāmi‘ li-Ahkām al-Qur’ān. (6) Ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH), Book of Tafsīr. (7) Al-Tha’ālibī (d. 825 AH), Book of Tafsīr. (8) Al-Suyūtī (d. 911 AH), Al-Durr al-Manthūr. (9) Al-Shawkanī (d. 1250 AH), Fath al-Qadīr. (10) Al-‘Ayyāshī (d. 320 AH), Book of Tafsīr. (11) Al-Qummī (d. 329 AH), Book of Tafsīr. (12) Furt al-Kūfī (d. 352 AH), Book of Tafsīr; in the margin of the exegesis of verse 4:59. (13) Al-Tabrisī (d. 560 AH), Majma‘ al-Bayān, as well as many other reference books of hadīth and tafsīr.

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