Encyclopedia of Islam

agriculture

---

Further reading: Richard C. Foltz, Frederick M. Denny, 

and Azizan Baharudding, eds., Islam and Ecology (Cam-

bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003); Andrew 

Watson,  Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic 

World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983); 

World Resources Institute, World Resources (Oxford, 

U.K.: Elsevier Science, 2000–01).

ahl al-bayt

 

(Arabic: people of the house)

The ahl al-bayt in Islam is a holy family consisting 

primarily of five members: the prophet m

Uhammad

(d. 632), a

li

 

ibn

  a

bi

  t

alib

 (Muhammad’s cousin 

and son-in-law, d. 661), F

atima

 (Muhammad’s 

daughter, d. 633), and the two sons of Ali and 

Fatima, Hasan (d. 669) and h

Usayn

 (d. 680). It 

can also include all descendants of Muhammad’s 

clan, the Banu Hashim, and even all Muslims.

Muhammad’s family is highly respected by 

all Muslims, but it is the Shia, followers of the 

minority branch of Islam, who hold them in high-

est esteem. They regard the family of Muhammad 

as pure, sinless, and divinely inspired exem-

plars of the best worldly and spiritual qualities. 

Miraculous powers are assigned to members of 

this family, and it is believed that they will help 

their devotees enter 

paradise

 on J

Udgement

 d

ay

.

The Shia also believe that Muhammad’s family 

produces, with God’s guidance, the most quali-

fied leaders of the Muslim community, called 

imams.  t

Welve

-i

mam

  s

hiism

 venerates 12 such 

leaders, all but one of whom suffered martyrdom 

at the hands of wayward members of the Mus-

lim community. Like Christians who believe in 

J

esUs

 as a redeemer, they believe that the suffer-

ing and death of these heroic figures, especially 

of Husayn, the third imam, redeem the sins of 

the faithful and that the 12th imam, known as 

m

Uhammad

 

al

-m

ahdi

, will arise in the future to 

combat the forces of evil and inaugurate a golden 

age at the end of time.

The tombs of ahl al-bayt are popular Muslim 

pilgrimage sites, including those of Ali (Najaf, 

Iraq), Husayn (Karbala, Iraq, and Cairo, Egypt), 

Ali al-Rida (the eighth imam; Mashhad, Iran), 

and of women saints such as Zaynab bint Ali 

(Damascus, Syria, and Cairo, Egypt). Sufi 

tariqa

s

include members of the holy family, especially 

Ali, in their lists of spiritual teachers. Rulers of a 

number of Muslim empires and states have also 

claimed descent from ahl al-bayt, including the 

F

atmid

 

dynasty

 in Egypt (909–1171), the a

laWid

dynasty

 of Morocco (1631–present), the h

ash

-

emite

 

dynasty

 of Iraq (1921–1958) and of Jordan 

(1923–present), and many of the clerics holding 

power in Iran since the revolution of 1978–79.

See also a

ga

 k

han

; a

laWi

; 

imam

; s

hiism

; 

ziyara

.