Evolution of the concept of Ahl al-Bayt in religious texts From the first to the seventh century AH

The additional composition of “Ahl al-Bayt” in the early days of Islam was considered by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Therefore, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) tried to elaborate this Qur’anic term in various events such as the hadith of Kisa and the verse of Mubahila. The importance of this article is due to the lack of a conceptual framework of this word in religious texts. Hence, the conceptual stability of this word from the seventh century onwards depicts the geography of this research from the first to the seventh century. Also in this historical section, the meaning of the word “Ahl al-Bayt” in religious texts has been studied as a fundamental-developmental research with a descriptive-analytical method and a historical approach. In this article, first, the concept of “Ahl al-Bayt” in cultures and historical sources has been studied in an introductory way, and then religious texts have been explored. Vocabulary dictionaries show the evolution of this word in the form of changes in the three meanings of living in a geographical area, similarity in belief and the meaning of honor. Also, according to historical sources, the evolution of the meaning of the word “Ahl al-Bayt” until the end of the seventh century, indicates the conceptual evolution of this word from general to limited.

On the other hand, Shiite interpretive texts consider the meaning of the word “Ahl al-Bayt” as an obvious and necessary concept, which has been explained by the Holy Shari’a as a Qur’anic and ideological explanation; But in Sunni interpretive texts, the phrase “Ahl al-Bayt” has shown its meaning from the lexical range in the first centuries, the so-called Qur’an in the centuries leading up to the seventh century. Shiite narrative texts have also paid more attention to the examples of this word; But Sunni narrative books have emphasized the transformation of the lexical meaning of this word and in some cases, its conceptual evolution has reached the prophetic data.