Re: Who are the Ahlel Bayt?
True that the reports and traditions ascribed to Prophets and Imams for all the Abrahamic faiths have come from ‘human’ sources BUT as per our beliefs Quran, the book of Allah, is the benchmark that seperates Haq from Batil. For us Shias, a clear benchmark to judge a hadith from our Prophet or an Imam is whether it is in line with the Quran or not. If its not then it goes in the garbage.
[16:89]…and We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything, and a guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit.
Now either the Quran is CLEAR about everything or it is not. This is upto the level of your belief on the book.
About the verses like 56:79, the purity Quran is talking about is beyond the apparent nijasaat. If you read the verse in Arabic and understand Arabic grammar then you will find that the Quran is saying that a person CAN NOT (under no condition) touch the book. So if we just take the apparent meaning then it means that a Hindu or an Ahtiest can not touch the Quran whereas in reality they can easily do that. We all know Mahatamma Gandhi used to read Quran. Quran is also readily available in the public libraries around the world. Anyway, this is a very long discussion and warrants a lot of time. I would like to share a useful link about the topic of Taweel from Quran for anybody interested in reading more: Tafsir Al-Mizan