There is a hadith known as Hadith al-Thaqalayn in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded: "I am leaving among you two things; as long as you hold fast to them, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and my Ahl al-Bayt (my family)."
The Shia present this as evidence for the truth of their religion. Their claim is that the Prophet ﷺ commanded the Ummah to follow the Ahl al-Bayt, and they are the ones who act upon this command.
First Point
Hadith al-Thaqalayn (Thaqalayn means two heavy things) has been narrated from many companions of the Prophet, may Allah be pleased with them all, including Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab, Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib, Hazrat Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, Hazrat Abu Hurairah, Hazrat Jabir ibn Abdullah, Hazrat Anas ibn Malik, Hazrat Abdullah ibn Umar, Hazrat Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them all, and it has been transmitted in the books of hadith with different wordings.
In these hadiths, in some places, the love for Ahl al-Bayt has been commanded, and in some places, following the Ahl al-Bayt has been instructed, while in some narrations, following the Sunnah along with the Quran has been commanded.
And none of these hadiths are found in the Sahihayn (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim) except for one hadith narrated from Hazrat Zaid bin Arqam رضي الله عنه, and its words are: I am leaving among you two great things. First is the Book of Allah, in which there is guidance and light. So hold fast to the Book of Allah and hold it firmly. In short, the Prophet ﷺ encouraged attachment to the Book of Allah. Then he said: The second thing is my Ahl al-Bayt. I remind you of Allah concerning my Ahl al-Bayt.
Reference: (Sahih Muslim: 2408)
Further details are coming ahead.
Second Point
The hadiths of this topic have been narrated with three different words or styles of expression:
➊ In which it is commanded to hold on to the Book of Allah (the Holy Quran) and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ said: I am leaving among you two things, so as long as you hold fast to these two, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ.
Reference: (Muwatta Imam Malik: 2 / 899, Al-Mustadrak Al-Hakim: 322, Al-Mishkat: 186, Silsilah Sahihah by Allama Albani: 1761)
➋ Those words in which holding on to the Book of Allah and the Prophet ﷺ's Ahl al-Bayt (family) is commanded.
Hazrat Zaid bin Arqam رضي الله عنه narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: I am leaving among you something that if you hold fast to it, you will never go astray: one of them is greater than the other, and it is the Book of Allah, as if it is a rope hanging from the sky to the earth, and the other is my »Atrat«, that is, my Ahl al-Bayt. These two will never separate until both of them come to me at the Pond of Kawthar, so you see how you succeed me in relation to these two.
Reference: (Jami` at-Tirmidhi:3788)
In the chain of narration of this hadith, Habib bin Abi Thabit is present who, although reliable himself, does not have an established hearing from Hazrat Zaid bin Arqam رضي الله عنه. For this reason, this hadith is disconnected and weak.
A narration from Hazrat Zaid bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) is present in Sahih Muslim, in which there is no weakness in the chain of narration (a detailed discussion will come later). However, the wording of this narration does not command holding onto or following the Ahl al-Bayt.
The hadith commanding "holding onto the Ahl al-Bayt" has also been narrated by Imam Tirmidhi from Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah and Abu Saeed Khudri, who said: (this hadith is Hasan Gharib).
But in the chain of narration of Hazrat Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), a narrator named Atiyah al-Aufi is included, whom the Muhaddithin have declared weak. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, Ibn Ma'in, and other Muhaddithin have said that "Atiyah is weak." Therefore, this narration with this chain is not authoritative.
Imam Ibn al-Jawzi said in "Al-‘Ilal al-Mutanahiya
Reference: (1/268)
": "This hadith is not authentic."Similarly, in the narration of Hazrat Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), Zaid bin Hasan Al-Anmati is the narrator, about whom Imam Abu Hatim Al-Razi said: "Munkir al-Hadith," meaning this narrator is unreliable and his narrations contradict those of trustworthy narrators. Therefore, this narration is also weak and not acceptable as evidence.
➌ The words in which holding onto the Book of Allah is commanded and the Prophet ﷺ's advice regarding his Ahl al-Bayt.
It is narrated from Hazrat Zaid bin Arqam رضي الله عنه: The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم once stood to deliver a sermon at the place called "Khum," located between Makkah and Madinah, near a water source. He صلى الله عليه وسلم praised Allah and described His attributes, then gave admonition and advice. Then he said: After this! O people! I am a human being, and it is near that the Messenger of my Lord (the Angel of Death) will come with the message of my appointed time, and I will accept it. I leave among you two great things. The first is the Book of Allah, in which there is guidance and light. So hold firmly to the Book of Allah and cling to it strongly. In short, the Prophet ﷺ encouraged attachment to the Book of Allah. Then he said: The second thing is my Ahl al-Bayt. I remind you of Allah regarding my Ahl al-Bayt. He repeated this three times.
Reference: (Sahih Muslim:2408)
These are the most authentic words from "Sahih Muslim," narrated from Hazrat Zaid bin Arqam رضي الله عنه, in which the Prophet ﷺ commanded to hold firmly to the Book of Allah and made a will regarding his Ahl al-Bayt, reminding the Ummah to observe their rights and not to violate them.
Therefore, in the correct narration of Hadith al-Thaqalayn, there is no command to follow the Ahl al-Bayt as the Shia claim. Rather, the Prophet ﷺ emphasized good treatment of the Ahl al-Bayt, fulfilling their rights, and avoiding oppression against them.
Third Point
Even if these hadiths are accepted as authentic, they do not provide any evidence in favor of the Shia belief, because the Ahl al-Bayt did not have a separate religion. They themselves followed the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.
Therefore, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ's statement in the Hadith of Thaqalayn: "Hold firmly to the Quran and the Ahl al-Bayt" is in the same sense as when he ﷺ said: I am leaving among you two things: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger; as long as you hold onto them, you will never go astray.
Or as he ﷺ said: Hold firmly to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
Reference: (Sunan Abi Dawood: 4607)
Thus, following the Ahl al-Bayt is in fact following the Prophetic Sunnah, not a separate path opposed to it.
Fourth Point
Even if the command to follow the Ahl al-Bayt is established, it will be regarding those matters on which the Ahl al-Bayt are unanimous, not those matters that have been arbitrarily attributed to them today.
Whereas the noble Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, such as Hazrat Ali, Hazrat Hasan, Hazrat Husayn, Hazrat Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهم, all have expressed disassociation from the Shia and their beliefs.
In this way, all these beings have considered Hazrat Abu Bakr and Hazrat Umar رضي الله عنهم as foremost in Imamat and virtue, and this belief has also been held by Banu Hashim, Alawi, and Abbasid.
Therefore, if the consensus of Ahl al-Bayt is taken as evidence, then the most rightful are the Ahl al-Sunnah, not the Shia, who themselves have deviated from the agreed beliefs of Ahl al-Bayt.
Fifth Point
The Shia limiting the interpretation of Ahl al-Bayt and Atrat only to Hazrat Ali, Hazrat Fatimah, Hazrat Hasan, and Hazrat Husayn رضي الله عنهم, while excluding the pure wives of the Prophet ﷺ from this, is in fact a distortion of the verses of Allah تعالى.
The meaning of "Atrat" linguistically is limited to the biological offspring and lineage, whereas the meaning of "Ahl al-Bayt" is broader than this. Ahl al-Bayt includes not only blood relatives but also those who are included through marriage (relationship of wedlock), that is, the pure wives of the Prophet ﷺ رضي الله عنھن are also included in Ahl al-Bayt according to the clear text of the Holy Quran.
Final Point
If the argument for imamate and following is based on holding onto the Ahl al-Bayt, then the imamate of all members of the Ahl al-Bayt becomes necessary! Especially when we see that this includes Abdullah ibn Abbas, Muhammad ibn Hanfiyyah, Zayd ibn Ali ibn Husayn, Ishaq ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq, and many other members of the Ahl al-Bayt, whom even the Shia themselves do not consider as Imams.
Similarly, all members of Banu Hashim are included in the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet ﷺ, which includes: the family of Abbas, the family of Ali, the family of Ja'far, the family of Aqil, the family of Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib, and both Banu al-Muttalib and Banu Abi Talib are included in the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet ﷺ because they are close relatives by lineage and charity is forbidden upon them.
When Hazrat Zaid bin Arqam رضي الله عنه was asked, "O Zaid! Are the pure wives of the Prophet not part of the Ahl al-Bayt?" Sayyidna Zaid رضي الله عنه said that the pure wives are also included in the Ahl al-Bayt, but the Ahl al-Bayt are those upon whom zakat is forbidden. The narrator of the hadith (Husain bin Sabrah) asked, "Who are those people?" Sayyidna Zaid رضي الله عنه said, "They are the descendants of Ali, Aqil, Jafar, and Abbas." Husain asked, "Is charity forbidden upon all of them?" Sayyidna Zaid رضي الله عنه said, "Yes."
Reference: (Sahih Muslim: 2408)
Therefore, the meaning of Ahl al-Bayt is not limited to just a few individuals but includes all members of Banu Hashim. Similarly, the pure wives of the Prophet ﷺ, i.e., the Mothers of the Believers, are also included in the Ahl al-Bayt by the explicit text of Surah Al-Ahzab (verse 33).
So, if this hadith is accepted as authentic, then following all these noble ladies and gentlemen and walking in their footsteps is necessary, because you cannot exclude these members of the Ahl al-Bayt from the word "Itrah."
