The Messenger (peace be upon him and his family): Shaddad ibn Aws said: I went in to Umm Salamah, [and she] said: ... "By Allah! I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) saying: 'There will be division and turning away for my Ummah. Whenever they gather, gather with them, and whenever they split apart, be with the middle group (my Ahl al-Bayt) and stay around them. If they wage war against anyone, you too wage war; if they make peace with anyone, make peace with him; and if they keep away from anything, you too keep away; for wherever they are, the truth is with them.' " I said: "Who are his Ahl al-Bayt?" She said: "His Ahl al-Bayt are those whom we have been commanded to hold fast to, and they are the Imams after him, just as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said. Ali (peace be upon him), his two sons (peace be upon them), and nine from the loins of Husayn (peace be upon him), matching the number of the chiefs of the Children of Israel, are his Ahl al-Bayt, and they are the purified ones." I said: "Indeed we belong to Allah (and I recited the verse of istirja') — the people are then destroyed." Then [Umm Salamah] said: کُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِما لَدَیْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ [each party rejoicing in that which is with them].