What is the virtue of Ahl al-Bayt? Will they intercede for the people on the Day of Resurrection?

 

What is the virtue of Ahl al-Bayt and their superiority over other people? Will they intercede for the people on the Day of Resurrection?.

Praise be to Allaah.

In the answer
to question no. 10055 we explained who Ahl al-Bayt are: they are the members
of the household of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him). At the end of that answer we said: 

So the family
of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) are: his wives,
his children, and Banu Haashim, Banu ‘Abd al-Muttalib and their freed
slaves. End quote. 

Secondly: 

Allaah has
bestowed upon the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) numerous virtues. Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah are
unanimously agreed that it is obligatory to love them and respect their
rights.  

Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

Similarly the
family of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) have rights which must be paid attention to. Allaah has allocated
to them a share of the khums and fay’, and He has enjoined that blessings be
sent upon them along with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him), who said to us: “Say: ‘Allaahumma salli ‘ala
Muhammadin wa ‘ala aali Muhammadin kamaa salayta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka
Hameedun Majeed, wa baarik ‘ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala aali Muhammadin kamaa
baarakta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem innaka Hameedun Majeed (O Allaah, send
prayer upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent prayers
upon the family of Ibraaheem; You are indeed Worthy of Praise, Full of
Glory. And send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as
You sent blessings upon the family of Ibraaheem; You are indeed Worthy of
Praise, Full of Glory)’”. 

Majmoo’
al-Fataawa
(3/407). 

And he also
said: 

Similarly,
with regard to the family of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) (Ahl al-Bayt), it is obligatory to love
them, be loyal to them and respect their rights. 

Majmoo’
al-Fataawa
(28/491). 

Thirdly: 

The virtues of
the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): 

1.

Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“O wives of
the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you keep your duty (to
Allaah), then be not soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease (of
hypocrisy, or evil desire for adultery) should be moved with desire, but
speak in an honourable manner.

33. And stay
in your houses, and do not display yourselves like that of the times of
ignorance, And perform As‑Salaah (Iqaamat‑as-Salaah), and give Zakaah and
obey Allaah and His Messenger. Allaah wishes only to remove Ar‑Rijs (evil
deeds and sins) from you, O members of the family (of the Prophet
صلى الله عليه وسلم), and to purify you
with a thorough purification”

[al-Ahzaab
33:32, 33] 

This does not
apply only to the Prophet’s wives (may Allaah be pleased with them); rather
it is narrated in the saheeh Sunnah that it also includes others. It was
narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said:

The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went out one morning
wearing a striped cloak of black camel hair. Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali came and he
enfolded him in the cloak, then al-Husayn came and he enfolded him in it,
then Faatimah came and he enfolded her in it, then ‘Ali came and he enfolded
him in it, then he said: “Allaah wishes only to remove Ar‑Rijs (evil
deeds and sins) from you, O members of the family (of the Prophet
صلى الله عليه وسلم), and to purify you
with a thorough purification” [al-Ahzaab 33:33].   

Narrated by
Muslim (2424). 

2.

Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“The Prophet
is closer to the believers than their ownselves, and his wives are their
(believers’) mothers (as regards respect and marriage)”

[al-Ahzaab
33:6] 

3.

It was
narrated that Waathilah ibn al-Asqa’ said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say:

“Allaah, may
He be glorified and exalted, chose Kinaanah from among the children of
Ismaa’eel (peace be upon him), and He chose Quraysh from among Kinaanah, and
He chose Banu Haashim from among Quraysh, and He chose me from among Banu
Haashim.”

Narrated by
Muslim (2276). 

4.

It was
narrated that Zayd ibn Arqam said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood and addressed us at a watering place
called Khumm, between Makkah and Madeenah. He praised and glorified Allaah,
and he exhorted and reminded us, then he said: “O people, I am only human,
and soon the messenger of my Lord will come to me and I will respond. I am
leaving among you two weighty things, the first of which is the Book of
Allaah in which is guidance and light. Follow the Book of Allaah and hold
fast to it.” And he encouraged us to adhere to the Book of Allaah, then he
said: “And the people of my household, I remind you of Allaah with regard to
the people of my household, I remind you of Allaah with regard to the people
of my household, I remind you of Allaah with regard to the people of my
household.”

Narrated by
Muslim (2408). 

The companions
of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) paid
attention to this commandment; foremost among them were Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq
and ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with them). 

Al-Bukhaari
(3508) and Muslim (1759) narrated that Abu Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with
him) said to ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him): “By the One in Whose
hand is my soul, kinship with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) is dearer to me than kinship with my own
people.” 

Al-Bukhaari
also narrated in his Saheeh (3509) that Abu Bakr (may Allaah be
pleased with him) said: “Pay attention to the rights of the household of
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).” 

Al-Haafiz Ibn
Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

The words “Pay
attention to the rights of the household of Muhammad (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him)” are addressed to the people, enjoining
them to fulfil the rights of Ahl al-Bayt.  

Fath al-Baari
(7/79). 

With regard to
the respect of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab for the relatives of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), that is apparent from many
things, such as his preferring to put the ahead of himself or any other
people with regard to allocating shares from bayt al-maal. 

Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

Moreover, when
‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) set up the registry
of stipends, he wrote  down people’s names according to their lineage, so he
started with those who were closest in lineage to the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), When he had finished
listing the Arabs, he listed the non-Arabs. This is how the registry was at
the time of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, and all the caliphs of the Umayyad
and ‘Abbaasid dynasties, until things changed after that. 

Iqtida’
al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem,
p. 159, 160 

Fourthly: 

There is no
intercession specifically for the family of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), rather that is something that may be
granted to all those among the righteous, the martyrs and the scholars with
whose intercession Allaah is pleased, whether they are among Ahl al-Bayt or
are from among the ordinary people. 

In the answer
to question no. 21672 we said: Intercession for those who committed sin will
not be granted only to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him), rather the Prophets, the martyrs, the scholars, the righteous and the
angels will also join in that. A man’s righteous deeds may also intercede
for him. But the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) will
have the greatest share of intercession. End quote. 

Thus we may
know the response to the extremists among the Raafidis who claim that
intercession is only for the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him). Rather it is stated in their books that Ahl al-Bayt
are the ones who will admit people to Paradise and to Hell! This is just
part of a lengthy list of the different types of exaggeration that they
have, the source of which is their ignorance of the religion of Allaah, may
He be exalted, and their keeping away from the texts of Revelation in the
Qur’aan and Sunnah. 

We advise you
to read an essay entitled Fadl Ahl al-Bayt wa ‘Uluw Makaanatihim ‘inda
Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah, written by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Muhsin ibn Hamad
al-‘Abbaad al-Badr, which we have benefited from in composing this answer,
and which contains additional research on this topic. It is short but very
useful, and may be seen here [in Arabic]:

 

http://www.saaid.net/open.php?cat=1&book-1135 

And Allaah knows best.