An Investigation into the Verses on the Virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) in Ibn Kathir Commentary

The verses including the virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) are those that indirectly indicate the merit of the Imams for caliphate and Imamate over others; therefore, throughout the history of Islam, Sunni commentators have taken different positions against it. Using analytical-library method, the present paper has tried to study these verses in the commentary of “Ibn Kathir Dameshqi”, the commentator and historian of the eighth century and an important figure among the Sunnis, who in terms of beliefs was a follower of Ibn Taymiyyah and in terms of history and commentary was a follower of Tabari. The paper has compared his commentary with other earlier interpretations of the Sunnis, especially Tabari, and clarified how he dealt with these verses. Examination of this interpretation shows that Ibn Kathir acknowledged some of the virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt in these verses and at the same time considered others as sharing some of the virtues. However, he has either denied or attributed to other people those virtues of the Ahl al- Bayt that emphasize the merit of the Infallibles (AS) to gain the position of guardianship over the Ummah. The result of the research is that contrary to his commitment to state the truths of the Qur’an, Ibn Kathir engaged in personal inferences and in interpreting these verses, acted on the basis of his religious prejudices and did not even mention the story of Laylat al-Mubayt and Ghadir Khumm which he discussed in detail in his history book.