The author of this book, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If someone asks about the statement of the Prophet ﷺ: "Indeed, I am leaving among you that which, if you hold fast to it, you will never go astray after me: the Book of Allah and my ‘Itrah. Verily, they will never separate until they return to me at the Pond." He said: What prevents Abu Bakr from being part of the ‘Itrah? And all of Banu Umayyah as well? Why should the ‘Itrah only be limited to the children of Hasan and Husayn? Does this mean that Ali ibn Abi Talib is not part of the ‘Itrah? It was said to him: This is rejected based on the language and the Prophet’s ﷺ own words, as he said: "My ‘Itrah is my Ahl al-Bayt."

The term "Ahl" (family) is derived from "Ahala al-Bayt", meaning those who inhabit and maintain the house. It is said of those who dwell in a house: they are its "Ahl". Likewise, Quraysh were called the "family of Allah" because they were caretakers of His House. The word "Al" means "Ahl" (family); Allah the Almighty said regarding the story of Lot: "Take your family during a part of the night," and He also said: "Except the family of Lot, We saved them at dawn." So the "Al" was named as "Ahl", and linguistically, "Al" is equivalent to "Ahl". Originally, the Arabs, when wanting to minimize "Ahl", would say "Uhayl", but due to heaviness in pronunciation, the "h" was dropped, and it became "Al", thus referring to everyone related to a man by lineage.

Then this term was borrowed to describe followers of a religion. Hence, those who follow the Prophet ﷺ in his religion are called his "Al". Allah said: "Enter the people of Pharaoh into the severest punishment." And it is only correct to understand the "Al" in the story of Pharaoh as his followers, for Allah punished them for disbelief, not for lineage. So it would not be permissible to understand the phrase "Enter the people of Pharaoh" as referring to his household. Therefore, whenever someone says "the Al of a man", he refers to his family unless metaphor is intended, just as Allah used it metaphorically in "Enter the people of Pharaoh." It is also narrated from Imam al-Sadiq : "He only meant his two sons."

As for "Ahl", it refers to the progeny of a man—his children, the children of his father and grandfather, and his close relatives as commonly understood. It does not include distant ancestors. For example, Arabs do not refer to non-Arabs as "our family," even though Ibrahim is their common ancestor. Mudar does not call Iyad or Rabi'ah "our family", and Quraysh does not call the rest of Mudar "our family". If it were valid to consider all of Quraysh the Prophet’s ﷺ family due to lineage, then all of Mudar and the Arabs would be included. But the "Ahl" refers specifically to the household and close kin. Hence, the Ahl of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ are the Banu Hashim, not the other clans.

Once it is established that the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: "I am leaving among you that which, if you hold fast to it, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and my ‘Itrah, my Ahl al-Bayt," was followed by a question—what is the ‘Itrah? He ﷺ himself explained it as his Ahl al-Bayt. Linguistically, "‘Itrah" refers to a shrub that grows at the mouth of a lizard's hole. The poet al-Hudhali said: "I never thought I’d stand opposed to them Six households like the growing of the ‘Itr." Abu Ubayd in his Book of Proverbs, citing Abu Ubaydah, says that "‘Itr" and "‘Itrah" refer to the root of a person. From this comes the saying: "She returned to her ‘Itrah"—meaning to her old character.

Thus, in its original usage, the ‘Itrah means the people of a man. And likewise, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "My ‘Itrah is my Ahl al-Bayt." This shows that the ‘Itrah is the same as the Ahl, and the Ahl includes children and others. If the ‘Itrah referred only to children and excluded others from the household, then the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: "Indeed, I am leaving among you that which, if you hold fast to it, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and my ‘Itrah, my Ahl al-Bayt. They will never separate until they return to me at the Pond," would not include Ali ibn Abi Talib . Then he would not be among those who are inseparable from the Qur’an, nor among those who guide rightly when followed, nor included in this promise—making the Prophet’s ﷺ statement limited, not general.

If it were permitted for the statement to be limited to certain descendants, then it could be even more limited to only some among them, since there is no wording that restricts the meaning to one category over another. What proves that Ali is included in the ‘Itrah is the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: "They will never separate until they return to me at the Pond." The entire Muslim community—except for those whose disagreement is not considered valid—agreed that Ali never departed from the rulings of the Book of Allah, and that no one after the Prophet ﷺ was more knowledgeable of the Qur’an than he. Even though Hasan and Husayn were appointed successors, can anyone say they were more learned than their father? They only learned and followed through him.

Therefore, the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: "I am leaving among you that which, if you hold fast to it, you will never go astray," must either apply to every era or be limited to one. If it applies to all eras, then in the time when Ali was present, who else was left among the ‘Itrah? If someone says: Hasan and Husayn, they would be implying they were more learned than their father—which contradicts consensus. If he claims the statement applies only to a specific time, then he permits partial application of the Hadith, choosing some from the ‘Itrah and excluding others—though no wording specifies such restriction. Therefore, either the Prophet’s ﷺ statement applies to all times and all of the ‘Itrah, or not at all. And if it applies to all times, then Ali must be included. Otherwise, it would mean that someone more learned than him was overlooked, which no Muslim accepts or attributes to the Prophet ﷺ.

Our purpose in citing the Prophet’s ﷺ words: "They will never separate until they return to me at the Pond" is to affirm the unbroken presence of Allah’s proofs (Hujjah) until the Day of Judgment. The Qur’an will always be accompanied by a divinely appointed Imam from the ‘Itrah who understands its rulings until the end of time, as the Prophet ﷺ said: "They will never separate until they return to me at the Pond."

Likewise, his saying ﷺ: "Their example is like the stars: whenever one sets, another rises, until the Day of Judgment," confirms our belief that the earth is never devoid of a divine proof, either well-known and public or hidden and obscure, so that Allah’s arguments and clear signs are never invalidated. The Prophet ﷺ identified the members of the ‘Itrah who are forever paired with the Book of Allah in this noble narration.