The Connection Between the Prophet ﷺ and His Family:
مسألة غريبة وعجيبة لا يستطيع حلها كبار العلماء، وقد حلها النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وهي أن الله تبارك وتعالى أنزل عليه الأمر بالصلاة عليه وحده صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم في قوله تعالى: ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا﴾ [الأحزاب: 56].
This is a extraordinary and remarkable issue which even great scholars cannot fully resolve, yet the Prophet ﷺ himself explained it. Allah Most High commanded the believers to invoke blessings upon him alone in His saying:
“Indeed Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send blessings upon him and greet him with complete peace.” (Qur’an 33:56)
فظاهر الآية أن المأمور بالصلاة عليه هو النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وحده، فكيف فسر الضمير الواحد في قوله تعالى: (عليه) به صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وبأهل بيته رضي الله عنهم؟
The apparent meaning of the verse is that the command concerns blessing the Prophet ﷺ alone. So how was the singular pronoun in the phrase “upon him” understood to include both the Prophet ﷺ and his Family?
وذلك حينما سأله الصحابي: يا رسول الله أما السلام عليك فقد عرفناه فكيف نصلي عليك؟ فقال صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: (قولوا: اللهم صل على محمد وعلى آل محمد) رواه أحمد والدارمي والنسائي.
This was clarified when a Companion asked: “O Messenger of Allah, we know how to greet you with peace, but how should we invoke blessings upon you?” He ﷺ replied:
“Say: O Allah, send blessings upon Muḥammad and upon the Family of Muḥammad.”
(Reported by Aḥmad, al-Dārimī, and al-Nasāʾī.)
فكيف أدخل في الأمر الوارد بالصلاة عليه وحده أهل بيته معه رضي الله عنهم؟ وذلك لأمور لا يعلمها كثير من الناس.
How then did he include his Family in a command that, outwardly, mentioned only himself? This is due to matters that many people do not know.
أولها: أنه صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وأهل بيته كالشيء الواحد.
The first of these is that the Prophet ﷺ and his Family are like a single entity.
قال عليه الصلاة والسلام: (حسين مني وأنا من حسين).
He ﷺ said:
“Ḥusayn is from me, and I am from Ḥusayn.”
رأيت هذا الحديث في كتاب مخطوط للشيخ الزرقاني شارح موطأ الإمام مالك يقول فيه: حديث صحيح.
I saw this hadith in a manuscript of Shaykh al-Zurqānī, the commentator on the Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imam Mālik, where he stated: “It is an authentic hadith.”
وقال صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: (فاطمة بضعة مني فمن أغضبها فقد أغضبني) رواه البخاري.
The Prophet ﷺ also said:
“Fāṭimah is a part of me; whoever angers her has angered me.”
(Reported by al-Bukhārī.)
وقال صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: (من كنت مولاه فعلي مولاه).
And he ﷺ said:
“Whoever has me as his mawlā, then ʿAlī is his mawlā.”
رواه الترمذي وأحمد، فهو صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم متصل بجميع آل بيته، وهم متصلون به.
This was narrated by al-Tirmidhī and Aḥmad. Thus, the Prophet ﷺ is connected to all the members of his Household, and they are connected to him.
والدال على تمام الاتصال قوله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: (من أغضبها فقد أغضبني).
The proof of the completeness of this connection is his saying ﷺ:
“Whoever angers her has angered me.”
فمن أغضب أهل البيت رضي الله عنهم فقد أغضب جدهم صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم، ومن زارهم في رضاهم فكأنما زار جدهم صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم، فيهنأ للمحبين الزائرين.
Whoever angers the People of the House, may Allah be pleased with them, has angered their grandfather, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And whoever visits them while they are pleased with him, it is as though he has visited their grandfather ﷺ. Glad tidings, therefore, to the loving visitors.
وهم رضي الله عنهم إدراكهم بعد مماتهم يزيد على إدراكهم في حياتهم في الدنيا.
Their spiritual perception and awareness after their passing, may Allah be pleased with them, is greater than it was during their worldly lives.
وقد ورد أن أم المؤمنين السيدة عائشة رضي الله عنها كانت تزور قبر النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وقبر أبيها أمير المؤمنين الصديق رضي الله عنه من غير أن تسدل خمارها، فلما دفن أمير المؤمنين سيدنا عمر رضي الله عنه أسدلت خمارها عند الزيارة.
It is reported that the Mother of the Believers, Lady ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, used to visit the grave of the Prophet ﷺ and the grave of her father, the Commander of the Faithful Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, without drawing her veil fully over herself. But when the Commander of the Faithful, our master ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, was buried there, she drew her veil when visiting.
فيا أيتها المؤمنات الزائرات لأهل بيت النبوة رضي الله عنهم أسدلن خمركن عند زيارة الرجال من أهل البيت رضي الله عنهم كما كانت تفعل أم المؤمنين عائشة رضي الله عنها.
Therefore, O believing women who visit the Family of the Prophetic Household, may Allah be pleased with them, draw your veils when visiting the male members of the Household, just as the Mother of the Believers, ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, used to do.
الأمر الثاني: أنه صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم نور، وأهل بيته نور منه.
The second matter is that the Prophet ﷺ is light, and his Household are lights derived from him.
ومعنى الحديث (حسين مني وأنا من حسين) يعني أنا الشمس وحسين نور يبرز مني كما يبرز شعاع الشمس من الشمس.
The meaning of the hadith, “Ḥusayn is from me and I am from Ḥusayn,” is: I am like the sun, and Ḥusayn is a light proceeding from me, just as a ray proceeds from the sun.
ومعنى (أنا من حسين) يعني أنا متصل بالحسين كما تتصل الشمس بشعاعها.
And the meaning of “I am from Ḥusayn” is that I am connected to Ḥusayn just as the sun is connected to its rays.
excerpt from: fath wa fayd wa fadl min Allah
