Ayat ut Tatheer: To Whom Does the Purification Verse Refer To?

What Does the Holy Prophet (SA) Say About This?

There is yet another issue which we should address. We have reached the conclusion a little earlier that the verse of purification is of vital importance to us since it will reveal the pure and chaste source from which we as Muslims should use as our light, guidance, and leadership. Is it then logical considering all that importance for the fate and future of the Ummah, that Rasulullah (SA) abandon this great verse without making it clear to us whom it refers to?

He is the one who explains and interprets to us most of the verses in the Qur’an. Will he then stop here without guiding us and clarifying the interpretation of this very important verse? Would he leave this verse with an air of confusion and vagueness surrounding his Ummah, when he knows very well that it is as important as life is for them?

Is that possible or even imaginable?! It is absolutely unthinkable and illogical for that to happen!

Rather, what is and should be expected is for Rasulullah (SA) to explain, interpret, and clarify the meaning of this verse, and to identify and specify for us the purified individuals so that we don’t become confused or mistaken about it.

Therefore, it is incumbent on us to search the narrations of Rasulullah (SA) to find if there are any authentic traditions existing that indicates without any doubt that the wives of the Prophet (SA) are indeed the ones referred to by the purification verse. If we do not find (and we will not find) any, then that is a clear proof that the wives are not the intended ones.

Moreover, what if we found numerous and successive hadeeths narrated by Rasulullah (SA) that indicates and specifies the purified individuals who are not the wives? This would indeed be even a stronger proof that the wives of the Prophet (SA) are not those purified individuals referred to by the purification verse, and are rather, totally eliminated from this reference1