Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

No one besides Allah and then you has grown hair on our heads (taken us
to glory). 1
And when he married Umm Kulthūm, the daughter of ʿAlī I, 2 he gave her
forty thousand out of respect and appreciation. 3
However, it is crucial to note that although this merit is true for all of the Ahl
al-Bayt, it does not imply that they are equal; for surely those who accompanied
Nabī H are the most meritorious among them due to combining two great
qualities, viz. the companionship of Rasūl Allāh H and being his relative;
each of which has its own virtues. Hence there is no dispute amongst the Ahl al-
Sunnah regarding the fact that ʿAlī I is the most virtuous member of the Ahl
al-Bayt after Rasūl Allāh H. 4
Furthermore, association with the Ahl al-Bayt and veneration for them expands
and contracts based upon their obedience to Allah E and His Rasūl H. 5
Hence the more complete the adherence of any of them will be the more would
association with him and veneration for him be complete. Thereafter if he deviates
from the path, commits sins or gets involved in innovations they might decrease
gradually; because pedigrees in themselves are not worth consideration, and
at times the inconsistency of a prominent person is considered to be a greater
crime. 6
1 Maʿrifah al-Thiqāt 1/301; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 3/285. Al-Dhahabī has deemed the report to be authentic.
2 Umm Kulthūm bint ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib al-Hāshimiyyah. Her mother is Fāṭimah
the daughter of Nabī H. She was born around the year 6 A.H. She saw Nabī H but did not
narrate anything from him. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb I married her when she was young and she bore
his son Zayd for him. She passed away in the beginning of the reign of Muʿāwiyah I. See: Siyar
Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 3/500; Ruwāt al-Āthār p. 211.
3 Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAdhīm 3/257; al-Kāmil fī Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Rijāl 4/186; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 8/116; Siyar
Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 3/501.
4 Minhāj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah 7/241-242
5 Ibn Kathīr: Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAdhīm 4/114.
6 Majmūʿ Fatāwā Shaikh al-Islām 16/602.
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