The Prophetic Wisdom Behind 'The People of the Mantle'

The Prophetic Wisdom Behind 'The People of the Mantle'

My brother, of the many wisdoms behind your question concerning the āl-i abā, which until now has remained unanswered, only a single wisdom will be mentioned. It is as follows:

The Noble Messenger (saw) covered Ali (ra), Fātima (ra), Hasan (ra), and Husayn (ra) with the blessed mantle he was wearing, and prayed over them with the supplication expressed in the verse:

لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ اَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا

This act and this supplication contain many mysteries and wisdoms. We shall not go into those mysteries. Only one wisdom related to prophethood will be mentioned here:

The Noble Messenger (saw), with his prophetic vision that perceived the unseen and looked upon the future, saw that thirty or forty years later great trials and bloodshed would occur among the Sahābah and the Tābiīn. He saw that the most prominent persons in those events would be precisely the three individuals who were beneath his mantle.

In order to purify and acquit Ali (ra) in the eyes of the ummah; to console Husayn (ra) and offer him condolence; to congratulate Hasan (ra) and proclaim both his honour and the great benefit he brought to the ummah through reconciliation and the ending of a severe trial; and to make known that the descendants of Fātima (ra) would be pure and honoured, and would prove worthy of the exalted title of ahl al-bayt, he covered these four persons with his mantle and, together with himself, bestowed upon them the title khamsa-i āl-i abā, “the Five People of the Mantle.”

Indeed, although Ali (ra) was rightfully the caliph, the streams of blood that were shed were so grave that his acquittal and purification in the eyes of the ummah were, from the perspective of the prophetic mission, of great importance. The Noble Messenger (saw) therefore purified him in this way. By doing so, he silenced both the Khārijites, who criticized Ali (ra) and accused him of misguidance, and the extreme partisans of the Umayyads.

Indeed, the indifference and misleading accusations of the Khārijites and the extremist supporters of the Umayyads concerning Ali (ra), together with the exaggerations and bidah-like practices of the Shīa — which arose in connection with the profoundly tragic and heart-rending event surrounding Husayn (ra) — as well as their rejection of the first two caliphs, have caused great harm to the Islamic community.

Through this mantle and this supplication, the Noble Messenger (saw) acquitted Ali (ra) and Husayn (ra) of accusation and responsibility, and saved the ummah from unworthy thoughts and mistrust concerning them. At the same time, from the perspective of his prophetic mission, he congratulated Hasan (ra) for the great blessing he had bestowed upon the ummah through reconciliation. He also made known that the blessed descendants of Fātima (ra) would bear the title of ahl al-bayt in the Islamic world and thereby gain an exalted honour, and that Fātima (ra) herself would be greatly honoured through her descendants, just as the mother of Maryam was honoured through hers by virtue of her supplication:

وَاِنِّى اُعِيذُهَا بِكَ وَذُرِّيَّتَهَا مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

اَللّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلٰى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلٰى اٰلِهِ الطَّيِّبِينَ الطَّاهِرِينَ اْلاَبْرَارِ وَعَلٰى اَصْحَابِهِ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ الْمُكْرَمِينَ اْلاَخْيَارِ اٰمِينَ