Shi'a writers claim that the narrative shows that Muhammad, Fatima, Ali, Hasan and Husayn are the sole members of "Ahl al-Bayt" (lit. people of the house). Shias view this as an illustration of God's confirmation of the purity and sinlessness of those five, "Ahl al-Bayt". This, and other events, leading to the doctrine of the sinlessness of the Ahl al-Bayt. i.e., that Ahl al-Bayt are given the exclusive guardianship of Islam by Allah, since they alone are sinless.

This is a very important hadith for Shia Muslims, along many more ahadith and verses in the Qur'an, as the foundation for the Shia claim that governorship of the Muslim community should be only in the posterity of Muhammad as the base for claims that some descendants of Muhammad are infallible (ismah).