Surah Aal-i-Imraan (3) — Ayah 61

(Ayah 61) ➊ From the beginning of the Surah up to this point, Allah’s oneness, the birth of Messiah (Jesus) peace be upon him, and that he is neither Allah nor the son of Allah, have been explained with powerful intellectual arguments. Now, the command is given that whoever does not accept even after such clear arguments is inclined towards stubbornness, and there is no benefit in debating with him; then invite them to Mubahalah (mutual invocation of Allah’s curse).

➋ The form of Mubahalah is described as: come, let us call our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves, then pray earnestly, and invoke Allah’s curse upon the liars. The meaning of “{بَهَلَ يَبْهَلُ} (F)” is to curse, and the meaning of { ’’ بَاهَلَ مُبَاهَلَةً ‘‘} and {’’ اِبْتَهَلَ يَبْتَهِلُ ‘‘} is to pray for a curse upon each other. Since this prayer is made with utmost sincerity and humility, the word {’’اِبْتَهَلَ‘‘} is also used in the sense of praying with humility.

➌ Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that when this verse was revealed: «فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْا نَدْعُ اَبْنَآءَنَا وَ اَبْنَآءَكُمْ …», the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them), then said: [ اَللّٰهُمَّ هٰؤُلاَءِ اَهْلِيْ ] “O Allah! These are my family.” [مسلم، فضائل الصحابۃ، باب من فضائل علی بن أبی طالب رضی اللہ عنہ : ۳۲؍۲۴۰۴ ] But the people of Najran were afraid of Mubahalah and agreed to pay Jizyah, as Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Aqib and Sayyid from Najran came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), intending to do Mubahalah with him. One of them said to the other: “Do not do this, for by Allah! If he is a prophet and we do Mubahalah, then neither we nor our descendants after us will ever prosper.” So both said: “We will give you what you have demanded from us, and send with us a trustworthy man, and send only a trustworthy one.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Indeed, I will send with you a truly trustworthy man.” So the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised their necks (to see whom he would choose), and he said: “O Abu Ubaidah bin Jarrah! Stand up.” When he stood up, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “He is the trustworthy one of this Ummah.” [بخاری، المغازی، باب قصۃ أہل نجران : ۴۳۸۰ ] Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: “If those people had done Mubahalah with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they would have returned in such a state that they would have found neither their families nor their wealth.” (Tabari, with a Hasan chain)

➍ From this verse, scholars have deduced that Mubahalah can be done with someone who denies the truth out of stubbornness. If you look at it, Li’an is also a form of Mubahalah.

➎ {وَ نِسَآءَنَا وَ نِسَآءَكُمْ وَ اَنْفُسَنَا وَ اَنْفُسَكُمْ:} In the verse of Mubahalah, there is mention of calling one’s sons and women. The word { ”نِسَآءَ“ } (women) is used for wives, as in Surah Ahzab, the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are repeatedly addressed as { ”يٰنِسَآءَ النَّبِيِّ“ }, and they are addressed as Ahl al-Bayt (people of the house). (See Ahzab: 30 to 34) For daughters, the word 'daughters' is used, not 'women', but when combined with other women, this word can also apply to them. Here, some people say that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called Fatimah, Ali, Hasan, and Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them), and these were his Ahl al-Bayt, and did not call his wives, although there is no hadith mentioning that the wives were not called, and it is an established rule that the absence of mention does not mean negation. In fact, in the hadiths, there is no mention of calling other companions or their coming either, so does that mean no one else was present? The reality is that the wives of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) were his household, and there was no living son, so he prayed to Allah to include the family of Ali among his family. The evidence for this is the word {”اَللَّهُمَّ“}, and it is well known that the lineage of a daughter’s children is attributed to her husband and his forefathers, not to the maternal grandfather. Yes, this is a special distinction for Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them) that by the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer, they are also Ahl al-Bayt, but to exclude the wives, who are the actual household, from the household is mere prejudice, whereas Allah is calling them the household. He said: «لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ اَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ » [الأحزاب : ۳۳ ] “Allah only wishes to remove impurity from you, O people of the house!” And Jibreel (peace be upon him) addressed Sarah (peace be upon her), the wife of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), with the words «رَحْمَتُ اللّٰهِ وَ بَرَكٰتُهٗ عَلَيْكُمْ اَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ», meaning “Allah’s mercy and His blessings be upon you, O people of the house!” [ہود : ۷۳ ]

61. 1. This verse is called the verse of Mubahala. Mubahala means for two parties to invoke a curse, that is, to pray against each other. The meaning is that when two parties differ over the truth or falsehood of a matter and it does not seem to be resolved through arguments, then both should pray in the presence of Allah that, "O Allah, send Your curse upon the one among us who is lying." The brief background is that in the 9th year of Hijrah, a delegation of Christians from Najran came to the service of the Prophet ﷺ and began to debate about the exaggerated beliefs they held regarding Isa (Jesus) ؑ. Eventually, this verse was revealed and the Prophet ﷺ invited them to Mubahala. He took along Ali ؓ, Fatimah ؓ, Hasan and Husayn ؓ, and told the Christians to also bring their families, and then together they would invoke a curse upon the liar. After mutual consultation, the Christians refrained from Mubahala and offered that they were ready to give whatever the Prophet ﷺ wanted from them. Thus, the Prophet ﷺ imposed jizya upon them, and for its collection, he ﷺ sent Abu Ubaidah bin Jarrah ؓ, whom he ﷺ had given the title of "Amin al-Ummah" (the trustworthy of the Ummah), along with them (Tafsir Ibn Kathir and Fath al-Qadeer, etc.). In the next verse, the People of the Book are being invited to Tawheed (monotheism).

61. Then if anyone disputes with you about this after knowledge (revelation) has come to you, say: "Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves, then let us pray earnestly and invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars [56]."

[56]
The People of Najran Accepting Jizyah and Avoiding Mubahalah:

In this verse, the procedure of mubahalah is described. When this verse was revealed and you recited it to them, they said, "Give us some time to think and consult." Then, when their consultative assembly was held, a wise old man said, "O group of Christians! You know that Allah has promised to send a prophet from among the descendants of Isma'il. It is possible that this is that very prophet. The things he has said are clear and decisive. If he is indeed that prophet and you engage in mubahalah, then neither you nor your descendants will fare well. It is better that we make peace with him and return to our homeland." Thus, the next day they came and informed you of their decision and requested peace, agreeing to pay jizyah. Imam Bukhari has narrated this incident briefly in these words.

Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah, the Trustworthy of the Ummah:

Hazrat Hudhaifahؓ says that Aqib and Sayyid from Najran came to you. These people wanted to engage in mubahalah with you. One of them said to the other, "If he is a prophet and we engage in mubahalah, then neither we nor our children will fare well." Then they said to youﷺ, "Whatever jizyah you demand, we will pay. Please send with us a trustworthy man, one who is truly trustworthy." Hearing this, your companions began to wait (to see whom you would name). So youﷺ said, "Ubaidah bin Jarrah! Stand up!" When he stood up, youﷺ said, "The trustworthy one of this ummah is this person."
[بخاری، کتاب المغازی، باب قصہ اہل نجران]