❖ The Narration
Imām Bāqir narrates that the Prophet ﷺ once wrapped a cloak around ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه), which was called "Sahāb" (سَحاب – cloud). It is stated that ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) came wearing this cloak, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ remarked:
“This is ʿAlī coming in the Sahāb.”
Later, Jaʿfar, the son of Bāqir, said:
“People distorted the statement and began to claim that ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) comes in the clouds (actual clouds in the sky).”
— [Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, Vol. 6, Pg. 408]
❖ The Fabricated Belief of the Rājiʿah Sect
Among the Shīʿah, there was a subgroup called al-Rājiʿah whose beliefs included:
✔ ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) was taken alive into the clouds
✔ The thunderclap is the sound of his horse’s hooves
✔ The lightning is the flash of his whip
This sect gave the term Sahāb a mythical and esoteric interpretation, entirely detached from the original narrative.
❖ Historical Impossibility of the Report
One must question the authenticity of the incident:
- Imām Bāqir, per Mullā Muḥammad Bāqir al-Majlisī, was born in 57 AH
- At that time, ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) had already passed away
- In Karbala (61 AH), Bāqir was a child of just four years
- Thus, the event of the cloak could not have been witnessed by him directly
In the view of Ahl al-Ḥadīth, such a narration is classified as "mursal", which is not acceptable as ḥujjah (legal evidence) unless supported by other reliable chains.
❖ The Narrators in the Chain
The narration is transmitted by:
- Imām Bāqir → his son Jaʿfar → Masʿadah ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ al-Bāblī
❖ Masʿadah ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ:
⨯ Ibn ʿAdī: "He is destructive in narration."
⨯ Abū Dāwūd: "A liar (kadhdhāb)."
⨯ Imām Aḥmad: "We discarded his narrations long ago."
⨯ Qutaybah: "I saw him but refused to hear anything from him."
— [Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 6/408; al-Mughnī 2/654; al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn 3/116; al-Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Kabīr 4/245]
Al-Dāraqutnī adds:
“Masʿadah ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ al-Bāhilī was from Baṣrah. He narrates from Jaʿfar ibn Jurayj and Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr. He is matrūk (abandoned).”
— [Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn, 159]
❖ Final Assessment
The narration about the Sahāb cloak is:- Disconnected (mursal)
- Based on a discredited chain
- Misused by extremist sects to establish deviant beliefs
The fabricated interpretation by sects like al-Rājiʿah is refuted even by Imām Bāqir himself, as quoted by his son Jaʿfar.