(2) I add: In some transmitted formulas the word aal (family) is mentioned instead, but the sense remains the same, for the original form of aal is ahl (household). The h was replaced by a hamza, producing a'al; this was then softened, as is usual in such cases, to aal. The term is generally reserved for people of rank, so one does not say aal al-iskaf (the cobbler’s family) the way one may say ahluhu (his family). Al-Qamus gives the same remark. Ibn al-Qayyim, in al-Jala (pp. 133–35), cites two opinions on the etymology of aal. The first is the one just mentioned, which he weakens for several reasons. The second is that its root is awl. Al-Jawhari records this in al-Sihah under the consonantal group hamza–waw–lam, writing: ‘Aal al-rajul (a man’s aal) are his household and dependants, and his aal can also mean his followers. According to this view the word is derived from ala ya'ulu, “to return.” Thus a man’s aal are those who return to him, are attached to him, and whom he manages (ya'uluhum, i.e., governs them), so that their final outcome (ma'al) is bound up with him. From the same root comes iyala, meaning governance. Hence a man’s aal are those he directs and manages; he himself has a stronger claim than anyone else to be counted among his aal, yet the term is not restricted to them—rather, he is included among them.’ A similar passage appears in Ibn Taymiyyah’s Fatawa (1/163). Scholars hold four views concerning who is meant by the aal of Muhammad. The soundest opinion is that it designates those for whom it is unlawful to receive charity, though they differ over exactly who these are. Ibn al-Qayyim discusses the matter in detail in al-Jala (pp. 138–50). (1) The plural of zawj (spouse); some also use it as the plural of zawja (wife), but the former is more eloquent and is the form employed in the Quran, as in the divine address to Adam: “Dwell, you and your spouse, in the Garden” (2:35). The Prophet’s wives with whom he consummated marriage numbered eleven: 1. Khadija bint Khuwaylid – died three years before the Hijra. 2. Zaynab bint Khuzayma al-Hilaliyya – died in the fourth year after the Hijra.