Hadith of the Ark ""perished whoever turned away from it"" also comes along." And in his another book, Al-Heithami indicates this hadith as authentic (sahih). According to Dahlan, the authenticity of this hadith is confirmed by different sources. The hadith implies the absolute priority of "Ahl al-Bayt" to all others, otherwise Muhammad would have forbidden to follow them. According to Shia scholars, the only path to salvation is by following the "Ahl al-Bayt", so they must be infallible ("Ma'sum"), otherwise they will mislead their followers. If they are infallible, they must be Imam definitely. According to this hadith, they are the criterion of distinguishing
Hadith of the Quran and Sunnah single manner. The hadith also refutes the shi'a tradition that the wives of the Prophet are not part of ahlul bayt. Because the truth of the matter is that Zaid clearly says, "His wives are the members of his family...". It is true that he mentions that the hadith is pertaining to Ali, Aqil, and Jafar, and all their offsprings; but, as is the well-known position in the sunni tradition, a companion or anyone other than the prophet can not make official any ruling or opinion. Zaid did not tell why he believes the hadith is pertaining only to Ali,