It would certainly not cause the Prophet peace and blessings...

It would certainly not cause the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family to engage in the unprecedented act of gathering together the members of his House behind closed doors and casting a piece of cloth or a cloak (kisa') over them.

The revelation of the "purification verse" aroused a great deal of attention in the time of the Prophet among his and the select group to whom the verse was addressed and whose sanctity and purity now became a matter of common acceptance were known as the of the Cloak (ahl al-kisa'). Whenever the People of the Prophet's House found it necessary to draw attention to their unique spiritual rank they would proudly refer to this verse.

At the gathering that was convened after the death of 'Umar to select a caliph the Commander of the Faithful 'Ali peace be upon him made the following argument: "Is there any among us apart from myself concerning whom the 'purification verse' was revealed?" When they answered "no " he proceeded: "The People of the House are overflowing with abundant virtue for the Qur'an says 'God wishes to remove all filth and impurity from you O House of the Prophet and to render you utterly free of pollution.' (33:33) God has therefore removed from us all evil outer and inner and placed us firmly on the path of truth and ( 177 ) righteousness." ( 1 ) Ibn 'Abbas reports the following important tradition from the Prophet: "God Almighty has divided all men into two groups and placed me among the best of all men.

For He said. 'The of the Right Hand-how pleasant will be their state!' (56:27) and 'The of the Left Hand how evil will be their state!' (56:41) "I am among the of the Right Hand and I am in fact the best of them. "Then God divided men into three groups and again placed me in the purest of them. For He said 'The of the Right Hand - how pleasant will be their state! The of the Left Hand the wretched how miserable will be their state!

The third group are those foremost in faith those who are in truth nigh unto Me.' (56:8-11). And I am the best of the foremost. "Then He divided men into peoples and tribes and placed me among the best of them. For He said 'O mankind We have created you from a single man and woman and made of you different peoples and tribes in order that you might recognize one another and the greatest of you in the sight of God is the most pious.' (49:13).

And I am the most pious and the greatest of mankind and yet I take no pride in this.