The Honoured Houses of the Ahl al-bayt (a)

Ibn Taymiyyah, and following him, the wahabbis have claimed that in consensus with the Muslim scholars, the word "houses" in the verse "honouring the houses" implies only mosques and that placing the virtue of worship at the houses and tombs of the Prophet (a) and the Ahl al-bayt (a) at par with that of the mosques is an innovation and amounts to polytheism. However, firstly, the claim of consensus in not true, and secondly, on the basis of research, the primarily intended meaning for the word "houses" are the houses and tombs of the Prophets (a), especially those of the Prophet Muhammad (s) and the Ahl al-bayt (a), and including mosques and houses of the believers with the noted charateristics in the verse is per one of the principles of jurisprudence called tanqihe manat. This is because in dictionaries, the meaning of houses is different from that of mosques and this difference in meaning is reflected in many verses of the Quran. The existence of traditons that clearly describe the verse to mean "houses" is another strong proof. Verse 73 from chapter Hud and verse 33 from chapter Ahzab are clear indications of the same.