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Ahl al-Bayt,Ahl ul-Bayt, Ahlul Bayt or Ahl-e-Bayth is an Arabic phrase meaning People of the House, or family. In the Islamic tradition it refers to the household of the prophet Muhammad and his progeny through his daughter Fatima Zahra's marriage with his cousin Ali; their sons Hasan and Hussein were Muhammad's grandsons.
Followers of Shi'a Islam believe that the Shi'a imamate descended through the Ahl al-Bayt.
Controversy
Sunni
The Sunni normally include Muhammad's wives and widows in the Ahl al-Bayt, interpreting Al-Ahzab:33 as supporting this view (cf., for example, Tafsir Ibn Kathir.) Some vacillation on this point is observable in the hadith collections generally accepted by Sunnis: thus Sahih Muslim Book 31, No. 5920 quotes Zaid ibn Arqam as saying that his wives are Ahl al-Bayt in general (though not in the context of Muhammad's speech at Khumm), while #5923 quotes him as saying that they are not.
Shia
The Shi'a believe "Ahl al-Bayt" can refer to two things, one in the general sense, the other as a Islamic term, in the same way as Zakat means in a general way "making pure" and the Islamic term means "giving alms".
Shia view general meaning of "Ahl al-Bayt" as "people of the house" or "my family". They view the Islamic term to mean "Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, Husain and thier progeny and none else".
This automatically excludes Muhammad's wives and cousins from the "Ahl al-Bayt" as a Islamic term, however, they are included in the general meaning of the word.
Shaias belive that main reason those individuals where singled out to be included in the Ahl al-Bayt is due to their superiority in purity from sin, high moral and faith. Shia belive that being confirmed in the Event of the Cloak.
Shias reason wives are not included simply since God did not guarantee their purity, exemplified in Aisha going to war with Ali, Shia argue that two moraly perfect personalities never oppose each other.
Further, Shia belive that the Event of Mubahela is another in a long series of event proving their exclusively high status, the most important one being the Event in Ghadire Khumm where Muhammad proclaimed The Two Weighty Things he leaves as his legacy to mankind.
Shia also belive that event was retold by Zaid ibn Arqam much later, in this event, but since he retold the event during the caliphat of Banu Umayyad, he was vague, fearing for his life.