Question
What do the terms aal-i Muhammad and aal-i Ibrahim occurring in the durood (prayer for blessing) refer to?
Answer
In my response to a similar question I wrote:
“As for the word Aal, it takes both the family and the followers. In the Holy Qur’an the Almighty variously says that the Almighty punished Aal-e-Frihon (Pharaoh). It is evident that the punishment was not meted out only to the family and progeny of Pharaoh. He did not have any offspring and the punishment struck his followers as well. In certain connotations the word excludes the member of the family. When we say that the Almighty blessed the family of Abraham we exclude the transgressors among them since the Almighty made it clear that his favors would not be bestowed upon the transgressors among his family.
Thus we can say that the word encompasses the family and the followers both. It cannot be confined to the family in all cases. It can even exclude the family members from its application in some other instances.
We believe that the term in the durood-e ibrahimi should be explained in the light of the Holy Qur’an. How was the family of Abraham blessed? According to the Holy Qur’an the progeny of Abraham was blessed by being raised over other nations and made guides for mankind. They were given special status of Shahdah-al-annas (being witness of the truth against other nations of the world). The same status was transferred to the Bani Ismael (Ismalites) who were replaced with the Israelites. Therefore the prayer is not confined to the progeny of the Holy Prophet (sws). Rather it takes the family to whom the Prophet belonged and his followers as well.”
I hope this covers your question. If however you have any further questions please feel free to write back.
Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi
Date: 2015-03-03
