❖ Question:
What is the Sharʿī ruling on Mubāhala (invoking Allah’s curse upon the liar) in light of the Qur’an and Hadith?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
✿ Answer:
Mubāhala is permissible in Sharīʿah. It can be done with any deviant, disbeliever, atheist, or follower of falsehood.
❀ ʿAllāmah Ibn al-Athīr رحمه الله (d. 606H) said:
المباهلة الملاعنة، وهو أن يجتمع القوم إذا اختلفوا في شيء فيقولوا: لعنة الله على الظالم منا
“Mubāhala (mutual imprecation) is that when people differ over something, they gather and say: ‘May Allah’s curse be upon the wrongdoer among us.’”
(al-Nihāyah fī Gharīb al-Ḥadīth: 1/167; Lisān al-ʿArab: 11/72)
❀ Allah the Exalted says:
فَمَنْ حَاجَّكَ فِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْا نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءَنَا وَأَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَنِسَاءَنَا وَنِسَاءَكُمْ وَأَنفُسَنَا وَأَنفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَل لَّعْنَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ ﴿٦١﴾
(Āl ʿImrān 3:61)
❀ Sayyidunā Ḥudhayfah bin al-Yamān رضي الله عنه reported:
Two men from Najrān, ʿĀqib and Sayyid, came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intending Mubāhala. One said to the other: “Do not do it! By Allah, if he is indeed a Prophet and we invoke Allah’s curse with him, neither we nor our descendants will be saved.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 4380; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2420)
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله (d. 852H) explained:
This proves that when truth has been clarified, but the opponent persists in falsehood, Mubāhala is legislated. Some scholars performed Mubāhala. Experience shows that a follower of falsehood who engages in Mubāhala does not live beyond one year. I myself once made Mubāhala with a stubborn heretic, and he lived only two months after.
(Fatḥ al-Bārī: 8/95)
Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما said regarding those who came for Mubāhala:
“If they had proceeded with it, they would have returned without wealth or families intact.”
(Musnad Aḥmad: 2225; al-Sunan al-Kubrā al-Nasā’ī: 10995 – with a ṣaḥīḥ chain)
He also said:
وددت أن هؤلاء الذين يخالفوني في الفريضة نجتمع فنضع أيدينا على الركن، ثم نبتهل فنجعل لعنت الله على الكاذبين
“I wish those who opposed me regarding the inheritance issue (ʿawl) would gather with me, place our hands on the Yemeni Corner, and invoke Allah’s curse upon the liars.”
(al-Faqīh wa’l-Mutafaqqih – al-Khaṭīb: 2/123 – with a ṣaḥīḥ chain)
❀ ʿIkrimah رحمه الله said regarding the Āyat al-Taṭhīr:
من شاء باهلته أنها نزلت في أزواج النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم
“Whoever wishes, I am ready for Mubāhala to prove that this verse was revealed concerning the wives of the Prophet ﷺ.”
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr: 6/411 – with a ḥasan chain)
Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (d. 728H) is reported to have performed Mubāhala with some pantheistic Ṣūfīs.
(Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā: 4/82–83)
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله (d. 751H) said:
The Sunnah method in debate with people of falsehood is that when Allah’s proof is established upon them, yet they persist in obstinacy, then they are invited to Mubāhala. Allah commanded His Messenger ﷺ to do so, and did not restrict it to him alone. Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما invited someone to Mubāhala over a subsidiary issue of inheritance, and none of the Companions objected.
(Zād al-Maʿād: 3/561)
ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān رحمه الله (d. 1307H) said:
After the Prophet ﷺ, Mubāhala remains permissible, but only in serious Sharʿī issues, where the opponent’s obstinacy cannot be removed except by it. Some of the Salaf performed it, such as Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله regarding Allah’s attributes, and Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله against a group of blind followers — and they were defeated by the truth, al-ḥamdu lillāh.
Thus, those who say Mubāhala is not permissible after the Prophet ﷺ have no evidence, and their statement is baseless, showing ignorance of Sharʿī rulings.
Conclusion:Mubāhala is a legislated and valid practice in Islam, not only for the Prophet ﷺ but also for the Ummah, provided it concerns serious religious matters, after the truth has been made clear, and the opponent remains stubborn upon falsehood.
