Before I met him and read his treatise, I had heard that one of the doctoral scholars in Kuwait was declaring this hadith weak. This was confirmed when I received a letter from one of the brothers there, taking me to task for including the hadith in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr under numbers 2453, 2454, 2745, and 7754, since the scholar in question had declared it weak and found it surprising that I had authenticated it. The brother referred to asked me to reconsider my verification of this hadith. I did so as a precaution, so that perhaps he may find in it what will show him the error of that scholar, as well as his own error in being reassured by and relying upon him, without recognizing the difference between one who is a novice in this field and one firmly grounded in it. This is an oversight that has afflicted many people who follow everyone who writes in this field, though such writers have no firm footing in it. Allah is the One whose help is sought.

Know, dear reader, that it is well known that the Shiʿah cite this hadith as proof and speak of it incessantly, to the point that some Sunnis imagine that they are correct in doing so. Yet both are mistaken in this matter, for two reasons:

First, what is intended by the Prophet’s words, “my family,” is more extensive than what the Shiʿah claim; nor do the Sunnis reject it—rather, they hold fast to it. That is, his family are the members of his household. This is clarified in some of its versions, such as the hadith under discussion: “My family is my household.” In the primary sense, his household consists of his wives, including the truthful one, Aishah, may Allah be pleased with them all, as is made explicit by Allah’s saying in Surat al-Ahzab:

“Allah only intends to remove all impurity from you, O people of the household, and to purify you completely.”

This is demonstrated by the verse preceding it and the one following it:

“O wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women, if you are mindful of Allah. So do not be soft in speech, lest one in whose heart is a disease be tempted; rather, speak in an appropriate manner. Remain in your homes, and do not display yourselves as women did in the former age of ignorance. Establish the prayer, give zakah, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah only intends to remove all impurity from you, O people of the household, and to purify you completely. And remember what is recited in your homes of Allah’s verses and wisdom. Indeed, Allah is Ever-Subtle, All-Aware.”

The Shiʿah’s restriction of the term “people of the household” in this verse to Ali, Fatimah, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with them, to the exclusion of his wives, is part of their distortion of Allah’s verses in support of their desires, as has been explained in its proper place. The most that the Hadith of the Cloak and similar reports establish is