The Hadith Al-Kisaa, or the Narration of the Cloak, recounts a profound incident in which the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH and His Family) gathered beneath his cloak Ali, Al-Hassan, Al-Hussein, and Fatimah (may peace be upon them all). In this momentous gathering, he pronounced them as his Ahlul-Bayt, the People of the House. It was during this sacred assembly that the divine revelation of the second part of verse 33:33 from the Holy Quran, known as "Ayat Al-Tathir" or the Verse of Purification, was bestowed upon humanity by Allah. Through this revelation, Allah declared His divine purification upon the Family of the Prophet, comprising Ali, Al-Hassan, Al-Hussein, and Fatimah (From Them Is Peace), thus illuminating their profound status of infallibility. This cherished narration not only highlights the sanctity of familial ties within Islam but also underscores the elevated spiritual station of these revered individuals in the eyes of Allah.
In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.
Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari narrates from Lady Fatimah Al-Zahra (PBUH), the daughter of the Prophet, peace be on her:He said that I heard Fatimah (PBUH) narrated that My father, the Prophet of Allah, came to my house one day and said to me : "Peace be on you, Fatimah". I replied : "And upon you be peace"
Then he said : "I feel weakness in my body". I said : "Allah protects you from weakness, father"
He said : "Fatimah, please bring Yemeni cloak and cover me with it". So, I brought the Yemeni cloak and covered him with it. Then, I looked at him and saw that his face was shining like a full moon with its glory and splendor.
After a while, my son Al-Hassan came in and said : "Peace be on you, mother"
I replied : "And upon you peace, O light of my eyes, and the delight of my heart"
He then said : "Mother! I smell a fragrance so sweet and so pure as that of my grandfather, the Prophet of Allah"
I replied : "Yes. Your grandfather is lying underneath the cloak"
Al-Hassan went near the cloak and said : "Peace be on you, my grandfather, the Prophet of Allah; May I enter the cloak with you?"
He replied : "And upon you peace, my son and the master of my fountain (Kawthar), you are given the permission to enter." After a while, my Al-Hussein came in and said : "Peace be on you, mother"
I replied : "And upon you peace, O light of my eyes, and the delight of my heart"
He then said : "Mother! I smell a fragrance so sweet and so pure as that of my grandfather, the Prophet of Allah"
I replied : "Yes. Your grandfather and your brother are lying underneath the cloak"
Al-Hussein stepped towards the cloak and said : "Peace be on you, my grandfather, the Chosen of Allah; May I enter the cloak with you?"
He replied : "And upon you peace, my son and interceder of my followers, you are given the permission to enter". So, Al-Hussein entered the cloak with them.
After a while, Aba Al-Hassan, 'Ali bin Abi Talib came in and said : "Peace be on you, O daughter of the Prophet of Allah"
I replied : "And upon you peace, O father of Al-Hassan, and the Prince of the Believers"
He then said : "Fatimah! I smell a sweet fragrance like that of my brother, (my cousin), the Prophet of Allah"
I replied : "Yes. He is underneath the cloak with your two sons." So, Ali went near the cloak and said: "Peace be on you, Prophet of Allah; May I enter the cloak with you?"
He replied : "And upon you peace, my brother, my legatee, my successor, and my standard bearer, you are given the permission to enter" So, Ali entered the cloak with them.
Then I stepped forward and said : "Peace be on you, my father, O Prophet of Allah; May I enter the cloak with you?" He replied: "And upon you peace, my daughter, O part of my self; you are given the permission to enter" So, I entered the cloak with them.
Getting together underneath the cloak, my father, the Prophet of Allah, held the two ends of the cloak and raised his right hand towards the heavens and prayed: "O Allah, these are the people of my Household (Ahlul-Bayt). They are my confidants and my supporters. Their flesh is my flesh and their blood is my blood. Whoever hurts them, hurts me too.
Whoever displeases them, displeased me too. I am at war with those at war with them. I am at peace with those at peace with them. I am the enemies of their enemies and I am the friend of their friends.
They are from me and I am from them. O Allah! Bestow Your Blessings, Benevolence, Forgiveness and Your pleasure upon me and upon them. And remove impurity from them and keep them thoroughly pure"
Then the Lord, Almighty Allah said: "O My angels! O Residents of My Heavens, verily, I have not created the erected Sky, the stretched earth, the illuminated moon, the bright sun, the rotating planets, the flowing seas and the sailing ships, but for the love of these Five lying underneath the cloak"
Gabriel, the trusted angel, asked : "Who are under the cloak?" The Almighty answered : "They are the Household of the Prophet and the assets of Prophethood. They are Fatimah, her father, her husband and her two sons"
Gabriel said : "O Lord, May I fly to earth to be the sixth of them?" Allah replied : "Yes. You are given the permission"
Gabriel, the trusted, landed near them and said: "Peace be on you, O Prophet of Allah. The All-Highest conveys His peace on you and His greetings and says: "By My Honor and Glory, O My angels! O Residents of My Heavens, verily, I have not created the erected Sky, the stretched earth, the illuminated moon, the bright sun, the rotating planets, the flowing seas and the sailing ships, but for your sake and love" God has given me permission to enter the cloak with you. May I join you, O Prophet of Allah?"
The Prophet replied: "And peace be on you, O trusted bearer of Allah's Revelations! you are granted the permission" So, Gabriel entered the cloak with us and said to my father : "Allah sends His Revelations to you" Verily Allah's desire is to remove blemish from you, O People of Household (Ahlul-Bayt) and purify you with a perfect purification."
Then Ali said to my father : "O Prophet of Allah, tell me what significance has Allah given for getting together underneath this cloak?"
The Prophet replied: "By Him who rightfully appointed me a Prophet and chose me a Messenger for the salvation of the mankind. whenever and wherever and assembly of our followers and friends mention this event, Allah will bestow on them His Blessings and Mercy; angels will encircle them asking Allah the remission of their sins until the assembly disperse
So Ali said : "Verily, by the Lord of Ka'ba! we and our followers are the winners" Then my father replied : "By Him who rightfully appointed me a Prophet and chose me a Messenger for the salvation of the mankind, whenever and wherever an assembly of our followers and friends mentions this event, there shall remain none grieved but Allah will remove his grief, there shall remain none distressed but Allah will dispel his distress, there shall remain none wish-seeker but Allah will grant his wish.
All happily said : "Verily, by the Lord of Ka'ba! we and our followers are the winners and the blessed, in this world and the next."
The Ahlul-Kisaa include: Prophet Mohammed, Fatimah, Ali, Al-Hassan, Al-Hussein and also archangel Gabriel (From Them is Peace).
But who is Gabriel?
It is know that Gabriel is the angel of revelation and Sunnis consider him to be Ruh Al-Qudus.
https://islamqa.org/hanafi/muftionline/114075/what-is-ruhul-qudus/
https://quranx.com/tafsirs/2.87
https://islamqa.info/en/answers/14403/who-is-the-holy-spirit
What else does the Quran say about this?
"To Moses We gave the Book and sent a succession of messengers after him. We gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. But, whenever a messenger came to you with something which you did not desire, you grew arrogant, calling some liars and slaying others." - Surah al-Baqarah Verse 87
"When Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how I strengthened thee with the holy Spirit, so that thou spakest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught thee the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and how thou didst shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by My permission, and didst blow upon it and it was a bird by My permission, and thou didst heal him who was born blind and the leper by My permission; and how thou didst raise the dead by My permission; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from (harming) thee when thou camest unto them with clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved exclaimed: This is naught else than mere magic" - Surah Maida Verse 110
“Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others; to some of them Allâh spoke (directly); others He raised to degrees (of honour); and to Jesus the son of Maryam, We gave clear proofs and evidences, and supported him with Ruh al-Qudus” - Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 253
Say, “The holy spirit has brought it down from your Lord with the truth to reassure the believers, and as a guide and good news for those who submit ˹to Allah˺.” - Surah An-Nahl 16 Verse 102
Since it is known that the Ar-Ruh al-Qudus (“the Holy Spirit”) is Jibreel, whenever in the Quran the Holy Spirit is mentioned, is it always related to Jesus.
And we have evidence from a gnostic text where Jesus (FHIP) says that he is Gabriel. We read in the Epistle of the Apostles, verse 14:
For ye know that the angel Gabriel brought the message unto Mary. And we answered: Yea, Lord. He answered and said unto us: Remember ye not, then, that I said unto you a little while ago: I became an angel among the angels, and I became all things in all? We said unto him: Yea, Lord. Then answered he and said unto us: On that day whereon I took the form of the angel Gabriel, I appeared unto Mary and spake with her. Her heart accepted me, and she believed (She believed and laughed, Eth.), and I formed myself and entered into her body. I became flesh, for I alone was a minister unto myself in that which concerned Mary (I was mine own messenger, Eth.) in the appearance of the shape of an angel. For so must I needs (or, was I wont to) do. Thereafter did I return to my Father (Copt. After my return to the Father, and run on).
Source: https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/apostolorum.html
And Aba Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace) has made an episode proving that Jesus (FHIP) is Gabriel
Jesus is the ARCHANGEL Gabriel, The Angel Of Revelation | عيسى هو ملاك الوحي
As well as showing that Jesus also foretold of the appearance of the Ahlul-Bayt (From Them Is Peace) after him.
Jesus & The Ahlul Bayt | وعد عيسى أن آل البيت سيأتون
And we find in the Goal of the Wise:
Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan (From Him is Peace) said, “There is no difference between Jesus (PBUH) and Al-Hussein son of Ali (PBUH) in rank.” We know that Jesus (PBUH) was Gabriel (PBUH), who was the sixth member under the cloak (Ahlul-Kisaa). For those unfamiliar with the incident, here is an excerpt of the narration of the event by Fatimah Al-Zahra (From Her is Peace):
God said: “O my angels! O inmates of the heavens! I have created this solid firmament, well-stretched earth, well-lighted moon, shining sun, rotating planets, rippling oceans and floating boats for the sake and love of these five people who are inside the cloak.” At this, the archangel Gabriel asked: “O Lord! Who are these inside the cloak?” The Lord said: “They are the Ahlul-Bayt of the Prophet and the assets of the Prophethood. They are Fatimah, her father, her husband and her two sons.” Gabriel said: “O Lord! Permit me also to descend to earth and join them as the sixth inside the cloak.” The Lord said: “You are permitted.” Thus Gabriel, the archangel, came down to Earth and said: “O Prophet of Allah! Peace be upon you. The Gracious Lord, the Almighty Allah sends His Greetings to you to bestow upon you His Grace and Mercy and says: ‘By My Grace and Grandeur! I have created this solid firmament, well-stretched earth, well-lighted moon, shining sun, rotating planets, rippling oceans and floating boats for the sake and love of you.’ And the Lord, Almighty has given me permission to join you inside the cloak O Prophet of Allah! May I come in and be with you?” The Holy Prophet replied: “O bearer of the divine revelations! Peace be upon you also. Yes, you may come in.” Then Gabriel too came inside the cloak. Thereafter, he spoke to my father: “Allah sends His revelation to you and says: ‘Verily Allah’s desire is to keep you away from impurity (and flaws), O People of the Household (Ahlul-Bayt) and keep you thoroughly purified.’ ”
- Al-Asrar Al-Fatimiyah, Shaikh Mohammed Fadhil Al-Masudi, p. 184Since it was revealed that Gabriel is Jesus (PBUH), we know that Jesus is a member of the People of the Cloak (Ahlul-Kisaa) whom God honored and purified thoroughly from the impurities or inspiration of Satan.”
- The Goal of the Wise, Door 27
Ali Ibn Mohammed narrated from Sahl Ibn Ziyad from Musa Ibn al-Qasim Ibn Mu‘awiyah and Mohammed Ibn Yahya from al-‘Amrakiy Ibn Ali altogether from Ali Ibn Ja’far from Aba Al-Hassan Musa (a.s) who said: Abu Abdallah (a.s) has said, ‘Allah (swt) created us and He made our creation the best [of all creations]. He formed us and made our form the best [of all forms]. He made us the treasurers of His heavens and His earth. For our [sake] the tree spoke, by our worship Allah (swt) is worshipped. Had we not been in existence, Allah would not have been worshipped.” - Al-Kafi Volume 1, Book 4, Chapter 11, Hadith 6
Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Hammad ibn ‘Isa from Ibrahim ibn ‘Umar al-Yamani from Sulaym ibn Qays al-Hilali from Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) who has said the following. “Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, cleansed us, granted us protection against sins, made us to bear witness to the activities of His creatures and granted us Divine authority on earth. He made us to be with the holy Quran and the Holy Quran to be with us. We do not depart the Holy Quran and the Holy Quran does not depart us.”