Salam Teo,

Initially, I started with the intention of writing a simple short reply to your question.
However, as often happens, the info needing mentioning were numerous and I felt they all
needed mentioning.
Perhaps this should be made into an article for our site?
-----------------------
As we all know, the Shia, the Sunnis and all other sects, they all have a habit of manipulating
Quranic words in order to justify the shirk they commit.
The Shia as we know have idolised the family of Ali and have turned them into divine-like
figures who are infallible and who must be revered. They call them "ahl al-bayt", a phrase
that is found in the Quran.
With regards to the family of Ali, his first wife was Fatima, who was the youngest daughter
of prophet Muhammad. From Fatima, Ali had 4 children, they were: Al-Hasan, Al-
Husayn, Zaynab and Umm Kulthum.
..............................
Now let us look at the 2 verses you quoted and the claims that the Shia derive from these
verses for imamat, and also how the foundation of their idolising of the family of Ali is based
upon their own interpretation of the Quranic phrase "ahl al-bayt".

With regards to the 2 verses you quoted, here is the analysis:

FIRST: Timing discrepancy

In 2:124, God appointed Abraham as a leader. Abraham lived many hundreds of years before
the family of Muhammad, and specifically Ali and his children. And so this verse has
absolutely nothing to do with "ahl al-bayt" who are the family of Muhammad.
In addition, the words in 2:124 speak of only one leader (Abraham) and not a string of
leaders through descendents (imamat).
Similarly, the words in 32:24 speak about the leaders among the people of Moses (see
32:23). Moses and his people also lived many hundreds of years before the "ahl al-bayt" of
prophet Muhammad. As a result, the words in 32:24 also have nothing to do with the family
of Muhammad.

SECOND: Appointment by God

The words in 2:124 and 32:24 speak of leaders appointed by God and not men who inherit
leadership through lines of descendents.
In fact, in all the Quran, we do not have any authorization that religious leadership should be
inherited through lines of descendents.

THIRD: Religious leadership should never be inherited

Not only is there no authorization in the Quran for religious leadership to be passed down
through lines of descendents, but the Quran also confirms that this should never happen.
Let us look at the following verse:
[57:26] We sent Noah and Abraham, and We placed among their progeny the
prophethood and the Scripture. Some of them were guided, while many were wicked.
The assumption that being the descendents of the prophet is justification of inheriting
leadership is invalidated by the words in 57:26 which state that the majority of the
descendents of Abraham and Noah were in fact wicked!
These words totally invalidate the claim of religious leadership connected to lines of
descendents.

So that answers the claim that Imamat (religious leaders) should be based on lines of
descendents.

------------------------------------------------
Now let us look at the Quranic input regarding the phrase "ahl al-bayt" as opposed to what
the Shia have made of the same phrase. So let us then look at the Quranic use of the phrase
"ahl al-bayt".

As we know, the phrase "ahl al-bayt" is used by the Shia to claim that the family of the
prophet, and in particular Ali and his children, were the most noble humans God created, and
thus they must be revered, honoured, followed and praised.
In short, the Shia have had a field day with the Quranic phrase "ahl al-bayt", and made of it a
licence to idolise the family of Ali.
So how is this phrase used in the Quran?

The phrase "ahl al-bayt" literally means "the people of the house".
Any occupants of any house can be called the "people of the house". This phrase has been
used in 2 Quranic verses:

[33:33] Keep yourselves to your homes and do not display yourselves as the displays of
the old days of ignorance. Observe the Salat and give the Zakat, and obey God and His
messenger. God wishes but to remove from you the un-cleanliness, O people of the
house, and to purify you thoroughly.

The words in 33:33 were addressed to the wives of prophet Muhammad (see 33:32).
So initially, the words have nothing to do with Ali and his sons and daughters, and certainly,
nothing to do with the 12 revered imams of the Shia.

Basically, God was addressing the wives of the prophet and telling them to avoid
unnecessary mingling with the people outside their home so as to avoid idle talk and all other
trivialities and rumours that may arise from unnecessary mingling. The wives of prophet
Muhammad were the inhabitants of the house of the prophet, thus the phrase "ahl al-bayt"
was a factual description of them rather than an honorary description of nobility. The words
continue to say that these rules set by God for the wives of the prophet (people of the house)
were intended to remove from them any un-cleanliness.
-----------------------------------
The same phrase "ahl al-bayt" is used in the following verse:
[11:73] They said, "Are you astonished at God's command? God's mercy and blessings be
upon you O people of the house. He is Praiseworthy, Glorious."

This time, the phrase "ahl al-bayt" addresses the household of Abraham.
If we start reading from 11:69 we find that in verse 73 the angel messengers of God (who
were sent to destroy the people of Lot) were asking the wife of Abraham why should she be
astonished at having a child (at her old age) when God only needs to say to anything "be"
and it is. Then they addressed Abraham and his wife as the "people of the house", once again
for no reason other than they were the people living in that house. The angels told Abraham
and his wife that God is granting them mercy and blessings (by granting them a son).

1- It is clear from the Quranic use of the phrase "ahl al-bayt" that it does not exclusively
speak about the family of prophet Muhammad, but it addresses the inhabitants of a house.

2- If the Shia used the phrase "ahl al-bayt" in 33:33 to justify their claim that the family of
the house (of Ali) were the most noble, and totally infallible human beings, and that we
should revere them, obey them, copy them, bless them etc etc ..... then why do they not make
the same claims for the family of Abraham as well? They too were addressed with the phrase
"ahl al-bayt", so why cherry pick only one of the 2 Quranic verses?
-----------------------------------
The Shia, just like all other sects, are guilty of corrupting the meanings of whatever Quranic
verses they choose in order to justify their idolising of mortals who have no claim to divinity,
infallibility, or glory.
All praise and glory remain to God alone, the One, the Almighty.
-----------------------------------
Mo