The verse does not include the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) since the wife – based on Arabic custom – is not included in the term “household” usually. This term refers to the genealogy of the man and his relatives by blood. It was narrated in the book “Lisan ul-Arab” that Ibn Sayyidah – an expert in Arabic linguistics – stated that the term “ahl” refers to the tribe of the man and his blood relatives. Apparently, this meaning was clear during the first era of Islam, since history did not mention that the aforementioned term is given to the wives by the companions of the Prophet. It was not used by the wives of the Prophet themselves. Aisha – for example – led an army to fight Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and her supporters were trying to gain the support of Muslims by any possible mean. Yet they did not mention that she is a member of the Ahlulbait. It appears from numerous traditions narrated by Muslims in general that the Messenger of Allah used this phrase to refer to Ali, Hasan, Husain and Fatima (peace be upon them). Ahmed bin Hanbal narrated in his book (Al-Musnad) from Umm Salama that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) told Fatima (peace be upon her), “Call for me your husband and your two sons”. She did so, and he then placed a blanket over them and then he placed his hand over them and said: ”O Lord, these are the Aal of Mohammad, so place your blessings on Mohammad and the Aal of Mohammad. All praise and glory belong to you.” Umm Salama raised the blanket to join with them. The Messenger of Allah prevented her and said: “Your future is good”. Many other traditions narrated by Sunni scholars mentioned clearly that the noble verse (33:33) was revealed while they were under the blanket. In addition to that, what some of the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) did clearly indicates that they were not purified from committing sins; some verses of chapter 66 (al-Tahreem) were revealed condemning Aisha and Hafsa since they aided one another against the Messenger of Allah. It was also narrated that one of the Prophet’s wife, Qutaila bint Qais left the religion of Islam after the death of the Prophet and got married to Ikrama bin Abi Jahl.
