MUBAHALA (Maledictory Conflict)

Towards the close of the ninth year of Hegira, embassies from all parts of Arabia came uninterruptedly to the Holy Prophet at Medina, to profess Islam and to declare the adherence of their tribes to Prophet Muhammad. (Men­tion is made in the Holy Quran about this in Sura CX AN- NASR) (The Help).

Up till now, the Christians of Najraan (a city in the province of Yemen) had kept themselves aloof. The Holy Prophet sent a letter, inviting them to embrace Islam. In response to that letter the Christians counseled among themselves as to what their course of action should be and ultimately sent a representative deputation of four­teen members to Medina to study the facts pertaining to the Prophet of Islam and his Mission. Three scholars of repute headed the deputation. These were Abdul Maseeh Aaquib, Sayeed and Abdul Haris.

When these deputies reached Medina, they changed their clothes which they had worn on the journey, dressed themselves in silken garments, put rings of gold on their fingers and went to the mosque to greet the Prophet. All of them greeted the Prophet traditionally, but the Apostle of God did not respond and turned his face away from them. They left the mosque and approached Osman and Abdul Rahman Ibn Auf, complaining “your Apostle wrote to us and invited us, but when we went to see him and wished him, ho neither reciprocated our wishes nor replied to us. Now what do you advise us to do? Should we go back or wait for another opportunity?” Osman and Abdul Rehman could not comprehend the situation. At last they took the deputationists to Ali, who advised thorn to remove the clothes of silk and the rings of gold that they were wearing and to put on their priestly robes. The Holy Prophet would then willingly see them. Thereupon the Christian delegates changed into humble garments and presented themselves to the Apostle who then responded to their salutations and said, “By the Lord who has appointed me His Messenger, when they first came to me they were accompanied by Satan”.

Thereafter the Apostle preached to them and requested them to accept Islam. They asked, “What is your opinion about Jesus Christ?” The Apostle said, “You may rest today in this city and after being refreshed you will receive the replies to all your questions from me.” The Apostle was awaiting a revelation in this matter, and the next day the verses of the Holy Quran Sura 3 (Al-E-Imraan) verses 58-59-60 were revealed to him to show the true nature of Jesus Christ.

Verses 58 and 59 read as follows

“Surely the likeness of Jesus is with Allah as the likeness of Adam;
He created him from dust, then said to him ‘Be’, and he was.
This is the truth from your Lord, so be not one of the disputers.”

When they ‘reappeared before the Holy Prophet, he informed them of the above verses, explaining that Jesus Christ was a Prophet like Adam, he was created from dust and therefore could not be the son of God. After this, the Holy Prophet invited them to embrace Islam. The

Christians would not agree and refused to be convinced. Thereupon the following verse No. 60 from Sura 3 was revealed

“If anyone disputes in this matter with thee, now after (full) knowledge hath come to thee say: Conic! Let us gather together, our Sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves; then let us earnestly pray and invoke the curse of God on those who lie!”

The unexampled sinless ness and purity of Ali and his family was clearly proved by their selection for the contest out of the entire community of the Muslims.

When the Holy Prophet had informed the deputation of what had been revealed to him by God, he again urged them to accept Islam. As they did not believe his words, he challenged them to a ‘Mubahala’. ‘Mubahala’ means a ‘maledictory conflict’, and is derived from its Arabic root ‘bahlah’ meaning ‘Curse’. So literally ‘Mubahala’ means cursing one another. After private consultations, the Christians agreed to the challenge.

At the appointed’ time and place, when the Christians saw that not only Muhammad, but his daughter Fatima, his son-in-law Ali, and his grandsons Hasan and Husain, (styled as the Holy Panjetan) also came out for this maledictory conflict, they were dismayed and overwhelmed. “Verily I see a divine light on the face of our combatants,” said the leader of the deputation to his fellow-priests. “Truth shines in their eyes, I am sure that should they pray for anything, God would hearken to their solicitations, and even move mountains if they ask for it. I sincerely advise you to refrain from this ‘Mubahala’. To invoke the curse of God with people like these is to invite sure death.”

Having thus changed their minds, they went to the Holy Prophet and informed him of their inability to proceed with the contest. The Holy Prophet again extended to them the invitation to accept Islam. The Christians re­plied, “We have not the conviction of your faith, nor the strength to fight against you. Let us make a compromise and come to terms.” At last a treaty was signed by which the Christians of Najraan agreed to pay annual tribute to the Muslims, in the shape of two thousand garments of the value of forty Dirhems each, thirty camels and thirty horses, thirty coats of arms, and thirty lances, every year.

Authentic Proofs are quoted below regarding the Ayah of the Holy Quran-Sura 3-verse 60 as given on page 73 Imam Fakhruddin Razi writes in his ‘Tafseer-e-Kabeer’ (Volume 2) : “When this verse was revealed to the Holy Prophet, the Christians of Najraan accepted the challenge of ‘Mubahala’ and the Holy Prophet took along with him Imam Hasan, Imam Husain, Janab-e-Fatima and Hazrat Ali to the field of ‘Mubahala’ “. Alama Zamakhshari writes in his ‘Tafseer-e-Kashshaf’ : “There can be no more authen­tic and stronger evidence for the holiness of Ashab-e-­Kisa, i.e., Hazrat Ali, Janab-e-Fatima, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain, than this Quranic verse. For in compliance with the order of God, the Holy Prophet summoned his Ahl-ul-Bait, took Imam Husain in his arms, grasped Imam Hasan’s hand in his own, asked Janab-e-Fatima to follow him, and Hazrat Ali to follow her. This proved that the Holy Ahl-ul-Bait were those to whom the Quranic verse was directed.”

Saad lbne Waqqas relates : “When this verse was revealed, the Holy Prophet sent for Hazrat Ali, Janab-e-Fatima, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain, and prayed to God thus: “0 my God! These are the very Ahl-ul-Bait of mine.” (Sahih Muslim, volume 1, Sahih Tirmizi)

It is maintained by the generality of Muslims that only these members of the Prophet’s house comprised of his permanent or unchangeable family, whom the Prophet loved dearly and who were distinguished from the rest of the Muslim world, on account of their having been declared purified by God as sinless and faultless in the revelation contained in Sura XXXIII-33, “It has always been the Will of Allah to keep off from you all stigma (of sin, ignorance and disbelief), 0 people of the house, and to purify you with the most perfect purification.” This verse is meant as a guarantee and a reassurance regarding the purity of the Ahl-ul-Bait, so that all Muslims should recognize their excellence.