Hadith of the ship

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Hadith-i Safinah is a famous Hadith in Islam.

It is one of the primary hadiths used by the Shia to justify Ali's right k.w. in the Succession of Muhammad. The Sunnis interpret it otherwise.

According to the Hadith, Muhammad is known to have said:

"My household is like the ship of Noah; whoever embarks upon it will be saved and whoever turns away from it will be drowned."

In his Ghâyat al-marâm wa-hujjat al-hisâm, p.237, al-Bahrani cites eleven chains of transmission for this hadith from Sunni sources and seven from Shi'a sources.

Sunnis argue that if the hadith is taken as believable, that the hadith clearly says "...whoever embarks upon it..." and therefore people must actually be able embark on it. This means that wives of the prophet would be considered as part of Ahlul bayt because although they may not have been born on the "ship" (like Muhammad's grandson's), they were invited on board it.

The hadith is found in the following sources, none of which are Sahih:

Dhakha'ir al-uqba, p.20
al-Sawa'iq al-muhriqah of Ibn Hajar, Cairo, 1312, pp. 150
''History of the Caliphs of Suyuti. Cairo, 1952, p.307
Nur al-absar of Shiblanil Cairo. 1312. p. 114.

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