Hadith of the Event of the Cloak
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The Hadith Of The Cloak (Arabic: حديث الكساء; transliterated: Hadiyth al-Kisa'), is an account of an incident where the Islamic prophet Muhammad gathered Hassan ibn Ali, Husayn ibn Ali, Ali and Fatimah (various members of his immediate family) under his cloak. This is mentioned in several hadith, including Sahih Muslim, where Muhammad is quoted as saying the phrase Ahl al-Bayt (meaning The Prophet's Household or, literally, people of the house) from the second part of verse 33:33 of the Qur'an, the verse called "Ayat al-Tathir" or "the verse of purification":
And stay in your houses and do not display your finery like the displaying of the ignorance of yore; and keep up prayer, and pay the poor-rate, and obey Allah and His Apostle.
Allah only desires to take away any uncleanliness from you, O people of the household, and purify you (a thorough purifying) ([1]).
This is a central hadith in terms of the differences between Shi'i and Sunni Muslims (along with few more hadith and Verses in the Qur'an) as it is the foundation for the Shi'i claim that Governorship of Muslims should reside only with the direct line of Muhammad through Fatimah and Ali, as well as being the basis for their further claims that certain of the descendants of Muhammad are infallible: points on which Sunnis strongly disagree. They claim that the term has a broader meaning that does not invest any such authority in Muhammad's family exclusively and that it is possible for any right-living person of faith to attain such spiritual purity or authority.
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[edit] The Event in Sunni narrations (Sahih Muslim)
Sahih Muslim Book 031, Number 5955:
- 'A'isha reported that Muhammad went out one morning wearing a striped cloak of the black camel's hair that there came Hasan b. 'Ali. He wrapped him under it, then came Husain and he wrapped him under it along with the other one (Hasan). Then came Fatima and he took her under it, then came 'Ali and he also took him under it and then said: Allah only desires to take away any uncleanliness from you, O people of the household, and purify you (thorough purifying) (http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/031.smt.html)
[edit] Sunni view
Regarding the verse, Sunnis dispute that this verse was about the spiritual importance or authority of Muhammad's wives and their children or servants (members of their Household - 'Bayt' means house), for in the verse God also reprimands Muhammad's wives for not following more conservative customs (not bringing unknown people into the household, covering themselves more appropriately or not talking with strangers in loud voices, for example). God continues in this verse to say that he wants them (the wives of Muhammad) to be more conservative (than regular Muslim women) in such ways so that God may purify them and clean (tahir) them from uncleanliness (Rijs). The verse does not explicitly make any statement as to the spiritual inheritance of Muhammad (or even of the wives), yet some un-authentic Sunni hadiths nonetheless relate the legacy of Muhammad to the definition of Ahl al-Bayt. One argument suggests that, for example, Fatima (Muhammad's daughter) and her sons were not actually living in Muhammad's house (Bayt) at the time but in Ali's house in the outskirts of the city, and that the definition of the household is therefore less than literal. Sunnis also tend to argue that Qur'anic verse can not be split down the middle in such a way that the parts are taken as referring to different incidents or interpretations, and that God's criticism of the wives' behaviour therefore doesn't allow us to read this verse as a conveyal of authority.
In hadith al-Thiqalyn, Sahih Muslim 31:5920, Muhammad's companion Zayd states that "Ali and the offspring of 'Ali, 'Aqil and the offspring of 'Aqil and the offspring of Ja'far and the offspring of 'Abbas." are what makes up the Ahl al-bayt. Sunnis argue that near the beginning of this hadith, Zayd warns that:
- I have grown old and have almost spent my age and I have forgotten some of the things which I remembered in connection with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him), so accept whatever I narrate to you, and which I do not narrate do not compel me to do that.
So although Sunnis don't doubt that this transaction occurred between Zayd and Husain, they do doubt the idea that Zayd's memory is perfect, and Zayd himself in this hadith casts doubt on the validity of his memory.
Sunnis also point to the following hadith (Al-Nisa'ei - Work of the day and night - 271 and Sahih Bukhari 6:60:316) :
- "A banquet of bread and meat was held on the occasion of the marriage of the Prophet to Zainab bint Jahsh. I was sent to invite the people (to the banquet)...The Prophet left and went towards the dwelling place of Aa'ishah and said, "Peace and Allah's Mercy be on you, O the people of the house!" She replied, "Peace and the mercy of Allah be on you too. How did you find your wife? May Allah bless you." Then he went to the dwelling places of all his other wives and said to them the same as he said to Aa'ishah and they said to him the same as Aa'ishah had said to him.
Numerous other hadith are also found in Sunni collections supporting the Sunni view of Ahl al-Bayt.
[edit] Shia view
On the other hand, the Shi'a claim that this single, authentic hadith proves beyond doubt who are the Ahl al-Bayt.
Shias hold this as an example of an event illustrating God's confirmation of the purity and sinlessness of those five, referred to with the term "Ahl al-Bayt" (lit. people of the house). Shias further argue that what God desires, happens, in contrast to his commanding, when humans have free will to decide whether to follow his commandments or not. 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.
Shia hadith books contain much more detailed accounts of the Event of the Cloak, and some of these narrations purport to tell us explicitly that the wives of the prophet are not part of the Ahl al-Bayt. The following extract is from the Sunni book Shawaahed ut Tanzeel, vol.2, pg.39, Ayat al -Tatheer, vol.1, pg.237, but is used by Shias to show that the wives of the Prophet, including Ayesha, are not part of the Ahl al-Bayt.
Ayesha was asked by a gathering about Ali . Ayesha answered. "You have asked about a person who was loved the most by Muhammad. He was the husband of the most dearest of the Prophet. Once I saw Ali, Fatema, Hasan, and Husain gathered under a cloak along with Muhammad. He said : "Allah ! These are my Ahl al-Bayt, my helpers and my supporters, keep away all kinds of dirt (and sins) from them and purify them in the best form of purification." I said: "0 Messenger of Allah! Even I am from your Ahl al-Bayt". He said : "Keep away..."'This last part I said: "0 Messenger of Allah! Even I am from your Ahl al-Bayt". He said : "Keep away..." is not part of the hadith and has been added. There is a link on this page to this hadith where it can be read in full.
[edit] Summary of the arguments
[edit] Context
Many Sunnis hold that the wives of the prophet were included in the second part of the verse 33:33, since they are addressed in the beginning of verse 33:33. Sunnis reject the notion that the end of this verse would be a stand-alone blessing, meant exclusively for Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain, as they have in mind the context of the verse as a whole and the one preceding it.
The Shia counter-argument claims that the verse itself says "only", implying that the blessing of this merit is exclusive to a single group and one other than the wives. I.e., Allah desires to keep away the uncleanness from "only" you, "O people of the House", and not from anyone else, and this is why the six stern commandments of the other verses are given to the wives, because they are not protected and must act accordingly; the "people of the house", on the other hand, need no such instructions.
[edit] Gender
Shias also argue that the first part of the verse addresses a person or group in the feminine gender, while the second part addresses in the masculine gender, meaning that at least one person in the group is a male.
Wilfred Madelung makes the following observation on the verse of purification: "Who are the 'people of the house' here? The pronoun referring to them is in the masculine plural, while the preceding part of the verse is in the feminine plural. This change of gender has evidently contributed to the birth of various accounts of a legendary character, attaching the latter part of the verse to the five People of the Mantle (ahl al-kisā'): Muhammad, 'Ali, Fātima, Hasan and Husayn. In spite of the obvious Shí'ite significance, the great majority of the reports quoted by al-Tabari in his commentary on this verse support this interpretation." Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad, p. 14-15.[1] --Striver 06:44, 12 November 2005 (UTC)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Event_of_the_Cloak"
[edit] See also
List of notable Muslim reports
[edit] External links
[edit] Shia
- http://youtube.com/watch?v=1yVHBfhewoI (Video of entire hadith with English subtitles)
- http://www.answering-ansar.org/
- al-islam.org
- playandlearn.org
- http://www.jafariyanews.com/hadis.htm
- http://www.balagh.net/english/ahl_bayt/fatima_the_gracious/13.htm
