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1. To be of Mohammad's ltrah. Man's Itrah is his
close relatives (by birth) and his progeny. By this definition the wives of the Prophet and his companions from
the non-Hashimites are excluded.
2. Righteousness of the Highest Degree. The members
of the House of the Prophet have been described in these
hadiths as true allies of the Qur'an who will never part from
it. Thus unpious men and women would be disqualified
for the membership whether they are Hashimites or non-Hashimites.
3. To Possess the Highest Degree of Knowledge in
the Contents of the Holy Qur'an and the Teachings of the
Messenger. Those who have limited knowledge in religion
are excluded
even if they are closely related to Mohammad.
They are bound by their very lack of knowledge to fall
intentionally or unintentionally into disagreement with all
Qur'an. The members of the blessed House
according
to the hadiths
are secured against disagreement with the
Book of God. Such a security cannot exist without a profound knowledge in the Qur'an and all the Islamic
teachings.
4. To Be in Agreement with Each Other. When there
are persons or groups contradicting one another
some of
them will be wrong and in disagreement with the Qur'an.
Since all members of the House are in agreement with the
Holy Qur'an
they must be in full agreement with each
other.
5. To Possess Certitude in all Religious Knowledge.
By this
the Islamic scholars whom we call "Mujtahids"
who are capable of conducting religious research and
forming their own opinions are excluded
even if they are
Hashimites (related to the Prophet). To understand this
clearly
a few points ought to be mentioned:
When we try to know the Islamic rules of our devotional
or non-devotional actions
our main evidences come from
the Qur'an or from the hadiths of the Prophet.
When we find clear and specific instructions in the
Qur'an about a certain matter our knowledge reaches the
degree of certitude whether we are Islamic scholars or lay-
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