ভূমিকা

Who are those under the cloak?" The Almighty and All-majestic Lord answered, "They are the household of Prophethood and the core of the Message. They are namely Fatima, her father, her husband, and her sons." As we mentioned before, the dialogue between Allah (SWT) and Angel Jibrael (AS) is for the purpose of conveying the information which Allah (SWT) wants us to hear.

Jibrael (AS) asks Allah (SWT) about the identity of those who are under the cloak and He (SWT) responds back with one brief phrase informing us the identity of the individuals whom He is referring to. This way, no one after this event will ever have doubt of who was under the cloak and who was not. No one can dare to fabricate the facts or add / subtract to the individuals under the cloak.

When Jibrael (AS) asks Allah (SWT) who are under the cloak, Allah (SWT) answers with an interesting expression which further sheds some light on an interesting angle that we should pay attention to. Instead of providing the names of the members of the cloak (as in Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husain), Allah (SWT) chooses a different concise and unique method to identify them. He (SWT) says: “ They are the household of Prophethood and the core of the Message.

They are namely Fatima, her father, her husband, and her sons." First, Allah (SWT) identifies them as a whole – one identity – that is, they are أهل بيت النبوة (the Prophetic household) and معدن الرسالة (the core of the Message). Why is there the need to identify them as “AhlulBayt”? As history proves later, there has indeed been a controversy as to who are included among the “members of the Prophet’s household”. Who exactly are the AhlulBayt?

The mainstream Muslim population includes the wives of the Prophet among the AhlulBayt and some even include any blood relation of the Prophet to be from the “AhlulBayt”. However that is false and incorrect and here Allah (SWT) is taking the opportunity to clarify any misunderstanding or misinterpretation until the end of time.