he would have praised Allah for its occurrence and thanked Him for it; he would not have confined himself merely to supplicating for it (1).

The second is that this proves (2) that Allah is able to remove impurity from them and purify them, which in turn proves (3) that He is the Creator of people’s actions.

Further evidence that the verse contains commands and prohibitions is Allah’s statement in the surrounding passage:

“O wives of the Prophet, whoever among you commits a manifest indecency will have her punishment doubled; and that is easy for Allah. But whoever among you is devoutly obedient to Allah and His Messenger and does righteous deeds, We shall give her reward twice over, and We have prepared for her an honorable provision. O wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women, if you are mindful of Allah. So do not be soft in speech, lest one with sickness in his heart should be moved with desire; rather, speak in an honorable manner. Remain in your homes, and do not display yourselves as people did in the former Age of Ignorance. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah only intends to remove impurity from you, O People of the House, and to purify you completely. Remember what is recited in your homes of Allah’s verses and wisdom. Surely Allah is Most Subtle, All-Aware.”

[Surat al-Ahzāb: 30–34]

This context proves that this (4) concerns commands and prohibitions. It also proves that the wives of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—are among the People of his House, for the passage is addressed specifically to them (5). It further proves that His statement, “to remove impurity from you, O People of the House,” encompasses persons besides his wives, such as Alī, Fātima, Hasan, and Husayn—may Allah be pleased with them—for He (6) expressed it using the grammatical form of