A Review and Criticism of Literary and Content Structure of Ayah al-Tathir

This case study is intended to review and analyze the literary and content structure of Ayah al-Tathir (Purification Verse). Some scholars see the content of this ayah unconditioned and from the perspective of divine legislation will, they have considered Prophet Muhammad's (SAW) wives in particular and his household in general included as referent of this ayah while some other scholars believe that rijs means inner rijs and tathir refers to inner tathir. In the present study, we, from a literary perspective, first explicated the words 'rij's and 'tathir' with respect to philologist's and exegete's ideas as unconditioned. Then, using internal evidence and considering the pronoun shift from feminine to masculine, (from you NOT from them, [i.e. the women]; purify you NOT purify them, [i.e. the women]) and since all the pronouns used in the seven ayahs are not harmonious with each other, we excluded the Prophet's wives from Ayah al-Tathir. Furthermore, with regard to the content, because Prophet's wives are addressed with admonition while the address in Ayah al-Tathir is respectful, we deemed this as a sign of a lack of register unity and concluded that will means divine legislation will and Ahl al-Bayt refers to their luminous souls and tathir means saving them from any improper thing and against true human virtues.