What is the virtue of Ahl al-Bayt? Will they intercede for the people on the Day of Resurrection?

What is the virtue of Ahl al-Bayt and their superiority over other
people? Will they intercede for the people on the Day of
Resurrection?.
Praise be to Allaah.
In the answer to question no. 10055 we explained who Ahl al-Bayt are:
they are the members of the household of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him). At the end of that answer we said:
So the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) are: his wives,his children, and Banu Haashim, Banu 'Abd
al-Muttalib and their freed slaves. End quote.
Secondly:
Allaah has bestowed upon the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) numerous virtues. Ahl al-Sunnah
wa'l-Jamaa'ah are unanimously agreed that it is obligatory to love
them and respect their rights.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Similarly the family of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) have rights which must be paid attention to.
Allaah has allocated to them a share of the khums and fay', and He has
enjoined that blessings be sent upon them along with the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who said to us:
"Say: 'Allaahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala aali Muhammadin kamaa
salayta 'ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka Hameedun Majeed, wa baarik 'ala
Muhammadinwa 'ala aali Muhammadin kamaa baarakta 'ala aali Ibraaheem
innaka Hameedun Majeed (O Allaah, send prayer uponMuhammad and upon
the family of Muhammad, as You sent prayers upon the family of
Ibraaheem; You are indeed Worthy of Praise,Full of Glory. And send
blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent
blessings upon the family of Ibraaheem; Youare indeed Worthy of
Praise, Full of Glory)'".
Majmoo' al-Fataawa (3/407).
And he also said:
Similarly, with regard to the family of the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) (Ahl al-Bayt), it is obligatory
to love them, be loyal to them and respect their rights.
Majmoo' al-Fataawa (28/491).
Thirdly:
The virtues of the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him):
1.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women. If you keep
your duty (to Allaah), then be not soft in speech, lest he in whose
heart is a disease (of hypocrisy, or evil desire for adultery) should
be moved with desire, but speak in an honourable manner.
33. And stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like that
of the times of ignorance, And perform As-Salaah (Iqaamat-as-Salaah),
and give Zakaahand obey Allaah and His Messenger. Allaah wishesonly to
remove Ar-Rijs (evil deeds and sins) from you, O members of the family
(of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم), and to purify you with a thorough
purification"
[al-Ahzaab 33:32, 33]
This does not apply only to the Prophet's wives (may Allaah be pleased
with them); rather it is narrated in the saheeh Sunnah that it also
includes others. It was narrated that 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased
with her) said:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went out one
morning wearing a striped cloak of black camel hair. Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali
came and he enfolded him in the cloak, then al-Husayn came and he
enfolded him in it, then Faatimah came and he enfolded her in it, then
'Ali came and he enfolded him in it, then he said: "Allaah wishes only
to remove Ar-Rijs (evil deeds and sins) from you, O members of the
family (of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم), and to purify you with a
thorough purification" [al-Ahzaab 33:33].
Narrated by Muslim (2424).
2.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"The Prophet is closer to the believers than their ownselves, and his
wivesare their (believers') mothers (as regards respect and marriage)"
[al-Ahzaab 33:6]
3.
It was narrated that Waathilah ibn al-Asqa' said: I heard the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say:
"Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, chose Kinaanah from among
the children of Ismaa'eel (peace be upon him), and He choseQuraysh
from among Kinaanah, and He chose Banu Haashim from among Quraysh, and
He chose me from among Banu Haashim."
Narrated by Muslim (2276).
4.
It was narrated that Zayd ibn Arqam said: TheMessenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood and addressed us at
a watering place called Khumm, between Makkah and Madeenah. He praised
and glorified Allaah, and he exhorted and reminded us, then he said:
"O people, I am only human, and soon the messenger of my Lord will
come to me and I will respond. I am leaving among you two weighty
things, the first of which is the Book of Allaah in which is guidance
and light. Follow the Book of Allaah and hold fast to it." And he
encouraged us to adhere to the Bookof Allaah, then he said: "And the
people of my household, I remind you of Allaah with regard to the
people of my household, I remind you of Allaah with regard to the
people of my household, I remind you of Allaah with regard to the
people of my household."
Narrated by Muslim (2408).
The companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) paid attention to this commandment; foremost among them were Abu
Bakr al-Siddeeq and 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with
them).
Al-Bukhaari (3508) and Muslim (1759) narrated that Abu Bakr (may
Allaah be pleased with him) said to 'Ali (may Allaah be pleased with
him): "By the One in Whose hand is my soul, kinship with the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is dearer to me
than kinship with my own people."
Al-Bukhaari also narrated in his Saheeh (3509) that Abu Bakr (may
Allaah be pleased with him) said: "Pay attention to the rights ofthe
household of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)."
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The words "Pay attention to the rights ofthe household of Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)" are addressed to the
people,enjoining them to fulfil the rights of Ahl al-Bayt.
Fath al-Baari (7/79).
With regard to the respect of 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab for the relatives
of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), that is
apparent from many things, such as his preferring to put the ahead of
himself or any other people with regard to allocating shares from bayt
al-maal.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Moreover, when 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him)
set up the registry of stipends, he wrote down people's names
according to their lineage, so he started with those who were closest
in lineage to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), When he had finished listing the Arabs, he listed the
non-Arabs. Thisis how the registry was at the time of the
Rightly-Guided Caliphs, and all the caliphs of the Umayyad and
'Abbaasid dynasties, until things changed after that.
Iqtida' al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem, p. 159, 160
Fourthly:
There is no intercession specifically for the familyof the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), rather that is something
that may be granted to all those among the righteous, the martyrs and
the scholars with whose intercession Allaah is pleased, whether they
are amongAhl al-Bayt or are from among the ordinary people.
In the answer to question no. 21672 we said: Intercession for those
who committed sin will not be granted only to the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), rather the Prophets, the martyrs,
the scholars, therighteous and the angelswill also join in that. A
man's righteous deeds may also intercede for him. But the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) will have the greatest
share of intercession. End quote.
Thus we may know the response to the extremists among the Raafidis who
claim that intercession is only for the family of the Prophet(peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Rather it is stated in their
books that Ahl al-Bayt are the ones whowill admit people to Paradise
and to Hell! Thisis just part of a lengthy list of the different
typesof exaggeration that they have, the source of which is their
ignorance of the religion of Allaah, may He be exalted, and their
keeping away fromthe texts of Revelation inthe Qur'aan and Sunnah.
We advise you to read an essay entitled Fadl Ahlal-Bayt wa 'Uluw
Makaanatihim 'inda Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah, written by Shaykh 'Abd
al-Muhsin ibn Hamad al-'Abbaad al-Badr, which we have benefited from
in composing this answer, and which contains additional research on
this topic. It is short but very useful, and may be seen here [in
Arabic]