Hadith of the Event of the Cloak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)

Part of a series on Shi'a Islam Ahl al-Kisa People of the Cloak Ali · Fatimah · Hasan · Husayn The verse of purification Hadith of the Event of the Cloak Hadith of Mubahala Hadith of the two weighty things v • d • e

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 under his cloak. This is mentioned in several hadiths, including Sahih Muslim, where Muhammad is quoted as saying the phrase Ahl al-Bayt (meaning Muhammad'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'ite and Sunni Muslims (along with few more hadiths 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 Sunni Muslims 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.

1 The Event in Sunni narrations (Sahih Muslim)
2 Sunni view
3 Shia view
4 Summary of the arguments
- 4.1 Context
- 4.2 Gender
5 See also
6 External links
- 6.1 Shia
- 6.2 Sunni

[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)

[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 Some un-authentic Sunni hadiths nonetheless relate the legacy of Muhammad to the definition of Ahl al-Bayt. But its not for the physical succession.

[edit] Shia view

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.

[edit] Summary of the arguments

[edit] Context

Sunni Scholars hold that the wives of Muhammad 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]