(2) Bayt – House
The following passage is found in the Qur’an:
“The first House [of worship] to be established for people was the one at Bakka. It is a blessed place; source of guidance for all people" (Q 3:96).
The translation of the Qur’an (that of M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, Oxford University Press 2010, which will be used in these posts) adds the words “of worship” and explains that Bakka is an old name for Mecca.
In the next verse the following prescription is laid down:
Pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to God by people who are able to undertake it.
(Q 3:97)
The reference is to the Ka’ba, a cube-shaped building in Mecca, often referred to as bayt Allâh, the House of God (AM 13). When Muslims perform their prayer, wherever they are in the world, they always face in the direction of the Ka’ba (AM 9). It is also the focal point of the Pilgrimage (ḥajj).
The word bayt (house) is found in another important expression, ahl al-bayt – the People of the House. This refers to the family of Muhammad and his descendants. Five persons are identified as belonging to the core family: Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali (who was a cousin of Muhammad) and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn. The Qur’an says of them:
God wishes to keep uncleanness away from you, people of the [Prophet’s] House, and to purify you thoroughly (Q 33:33).
All Muslims have a great respect and devotion to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. Shi’ite Muslims extend this devotion to the Imams, spiritual leaders, who were descendants of Muhammad through Fatima (on Sunni Muslims and Shi’a see AM 18).
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