Hadith Al Kisa

Ahl al-Kis, or the People of the Cloak, refers to Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Lady Fatima, his cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali, and his grandsons Hasan and Husayn. Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari, this hadith is widely accepted by Shi‘a Muslims. It is one of the foundations of the Shi‘i conception of Imamate, which states that the patrilineal descendants of Muhammad have a special divine spiritual leadership over the Muslim community. The Ahl al-Kis, along with their descendant Imams, form the Shi‘i definition of Ahlul Bayt or the People of the House, a term used to designate the family of Muhammad. This paper presents a line-by-line commentary of the tradition.