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 ]