What is the meaning of Allah Almighty's saying: "Allah only wishes to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the household, and to purify you with [complete] purification," and who are those intended by it, and does it include the Mothers [of the Believers], and how is that reconciled with Zayd ibn Arqam’s Hadith in Sahih Muslim concerning the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?

Mothers are included in the general category of Ahl al-Bayt, and Ahl al-Bayt (the household) are also included with them, according to the preponderant opinion, because the verse was revealed concerning them. Al-Subki said: "It is impermissible to exclude the context in which the cause (of revelation) occurred, by consensus." Similarly, Ibn Kathir explicitly stated the inclusion of the Prophet's wives, peace be upon him, among Ahl al-Bayt. As for Muslim's narrations from Zayd ibn Arqam, his saying: "His wives are from his household" affirms their status as being from Ahl al-Bayt. And his saying: "No, by Allah, a woman may be with a man for a period of time, then he divorces her, and she returns to her father and her people. His household are his origin and his close relatives upon whom charity is forbidden after him," is understood to mean that they are not among the Ahl al-Bayt upon whom charity is forbidden. The intended meaning of Ahl al-Bayt in this hadith (definition) is the Ahl al-Bayt whom the Messenger made the second of the two weighty things, not in the broader sense. Both Al-Nawawi, Al-Alusi, Ibn Kathir, and Al-Qurtubi affirmed that the Prophet's wives, peace be upon him, are included in "Ahl al-Bayt," because the context of the verse and its address to them indicate this.