Family life in the Hadith al-Kisa
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to God and peace be upon His chosen servants.
If the family life of every noble family was observed with its principles, it would be found that it is based on the spirit of harmony and understanding and spreading the spirit of respect between the old and the young, between the father and mother, the father and son, the mother and son, the grandfather and his grandchildren, his son-in-law and his daughter, and other family cohesion between the members of the same family. The greatest family known to human history and told to us about are the five People of the Cloak, because of the cohesion in it among themselves and between themselves and their dependents of male and female slaves, and what the Hadith of the Cloak witnesses is the greatest example of that harmony and respect between them.
Therefore, we did not limit ourselves to the Hadith of the Cloak as a Hadith that tells us about the virtue of the People of the House (peace be upon them) from the doctrinal aspect and the clarification of their virtue, their leadership, and their purification from impurity and filth only, but we also noticed it from its moral and social aspect, including family cohesion and the dissemination of that essential spirit that they (peace be upon them) adopted.
If we read the hadith from the beginning, we would understand the moral aspect and the high respect between them and the dissemination of the culture of asking permission and exchanging peace and Islamic greetings between every member of the same family.
In the Hadith al-Kisa, we also read how each family member declares his love and praise for the other and commends his qualities. Lady Zahra addresses each of her two sons, saying: “O my son, the joy of my eyes and the fruit of my heart.” Al-Hussein addresses his grandfather, saying: “Peace be upon you, O grandfather, peace be upon you, O he whom Allah has chosen.” Imam Ali greets his wife Zahra, saying: “Peace be upon you, O daughter of the Messenger of Allah.” She responds: “And upon you be peace, O Abu al-Hasan and O Commander of the Faithful.” There are many other expressions in the Hadith that tell of their love for each other and their praise of each other’s character.
Likewise, we understand and this prophetic behavior of the integrated family teaches us how to build families and the necessity of increasing cohesion between its members. We can infer from the Hadith of the Cloak the value of friendly family meetings and gatherings that fill the souls of family members with love, tenderness, and respect, and provide them with the opportunity to exchange feelings and ideas and increase family cohesion and solidarity. It was mentioned in the Hadith of the Messenger of God (may God bless him and his family): “A man’s sitting with his family is more beloved to God Almighty than seclusion in this mosque of mine.”
While many families in some of our societies lack an atmosphere of affection and tenderness, as men are busy in their own world and their own concerns, as are women, and children spend most of their time in front of the television and computer or with their friends from outside the family.
This is what records a negative impact on that family, which may take the path of destroying the single structure that is the entity of its existence. The state of harmony and love in the family develops in the human soul confidence, gentleness, balance and good treatment of others, while the turbulent family atmosphere produces a shake in the human personality, and plants various complexes in his soul.
These images shown in the noble hadith indicate the strength of the bonds between the members of that family, which God has chosen to carry the message of the heavenly teachings and to be a model to be emulated.
A person within his family, whether husband, wife, child or parent, has mutual rights and duties. He cannot attain the pleasure of his Lord nor enjoy his family life except by taking care of them and adhering to them.