What Does the Folk or Family (Āl) of Muhammad Refer To?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
What does the folk or family (Āl) of Muhammad refer to?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
The scholars mention that the meaning of “Āl” when used in supplication refers to every God-fearing believer. [Din; Jala al-Afham Sharh ‘Aqida al-‘Awwam]
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) was asked, “Who are the ‘Āl’ of Muhammad?” He (may Allah bless him and give him peace) replied, “The ‘Āl’ of Muhammad are every God-fearing Believer.” [Tabarani]
As for the word “Āl” in regards to legal rulings like Zakat, it has a more specific meaning.
According to the Hanafi school, it applies to the families of:
- J‘afar bin Abi Talib.
- ‘Aqil bin Abi Talib.
- Al-Hartih Ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib.
- ‘Ali bin Abi Talib.
- ‘Abbas bin ‘Abd al-Muttalib. [Maydani, al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab]
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.
He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.
In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
