Event of the mubahala

File:Mubahala.jpg

Illustration from the Iranian Tasnim News Agency. The Muslim delegation (Hasan, Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Husayn) are shown from behind.

Template:Shia Islam The event of the Template:Transliteration (Template:Langx) was an aborted attempt to resolve a theological dispute between Muslims and Christians in Template:Circa CE by invoking the curse of God upon the liars. These debates took place in Medina, located in the Arabian Peninsula, between a Christian delegation from Najran, and the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who proposed this solution probably when their discourse had reached a deadlock concerning the nature of Jesus, human or divine.

The Christian delegation withdrew from the challenge and negotiated a peace treaty, either immediately, or when Muhammad arrived for the Template:Transliteration with his family, according to the majority of Islamic traditions. This episode has been linked to certain verses of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, particularly verse 3:61. The event is particularly significant for Shia Muslims because Muhammad was accompanied by his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn, who are pivotal to Shia beliefs. At the time, this event must have raised their religious rank as the partners of Muhammad in his prophetic claims.

Etymology

The word Template:Transliteration () is derived from the root verb Template:Transliteration, which means 'to curse', while the noun Template:Transliteration can mean either 'the curse' or a scarcity of water.Template:Sfn The word Template:Transliteration can also mean 'withdrawing mercy from one who lies or engages in falsehood'.Template:Sfn The act of Template:Transliteration (Template:Lit) thus involves swearing a conditional curse, for instance, "May I be cursed if...," together with a purifying oath.Template:Sfn As a last resort, Template:Transliteration remains a lawful option to resolve disputes in Islamic jurisprudence (Template:Transliteration).Template:Sfn

Event

With the rise of Islam in the Hejaz,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Muhammad wrote to nearby personages around the year 9 AH (631Template:Ndash632 CE) and invited them to Islam.Template:Sfn One such letter was apparently addressed at the bishops of the Christian community of Najran.Template:Sfn A delegation of Najrani Christians later arrived in Medina to meet with Muhammad in 8,Template:Sfn 9,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn or 10 AH,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn perhaps to ascertain his claims to prophethood.Template:Sfn In view of their weak ties with the Sasanian Empire, these and other Christians of the south were probably in a position to independently negotiate with Muhammad.Template:Sfn By one account, the delegation was led by Abd al-Masih, Abu al-Harith ibn Alqama, and Sayyid ibn al-Harith.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn There a peace treaty was finally reached by which the Christians agreed to pay an annual poll-tax (Template:Transliteration) but were not required to convert to Islam or partake in Muslims' military campaigns,Template:Sfn and remained in charge of their own affairs.Template:Sfn This was perhaps the first such treaty in Muslim history,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn but also resembled the treatment of Christians elsewhere by Muhammad.Template:Sfn It was not until the caliphate of Umar (Template:Reign) that the Christians of Najran were expelled from the Arabian Peninsula.Template:Sfn

Template:Transliteration

In Medina, Muhammad and the Christian delegation may have also debated the nature of Jesus, human or divine, although the delegation ultimately rejected the Islamic belief that Jesus was merely human,Template:Sfn as represented by verse 3:59 of the Qur'an, which acknowledges the miraculous birth of Jesus but rejects the Christians' belief in his divinity, "Truly the likeness of Jesus in the sight of God is that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, 'Be!' and he was."Template:Sfn Indeed, this and some other verses of the third chapter (Template:Transliteration), perhaps even its first seventy to eighty verses,Template:Sfn are said to have been revealed to Muhammad on this occasion.Template:Sfn Among these is verse 3:61, sometimes known as the verse of Template:Transliteration, which instructs Muhammad to challenge his opponents to Template:Transliteration,Template:Sfn perhaps when the debate had reached a deadlock:Template:Sfn

And to whomsoever disputes with thee over it, after the knowledge that has come unto thee, say, "Come! Let us call upon our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves. Then let us pray earnestly, so as to place the curse of God upon those who lie."Template:Sfn

The following verse 3:63, "And if they turn away, then God knows well the workers of corruption,"Template:Sfn has been interpreted as the subsequent rejection by the Christian delegation of Template:Transliteration, that is, the Islamic belief in the oneness of God.Template:Sfn

Participants

File:Madina trip 154.jpg

The Mubahala Mosque in Medina, present-day Saudi Arabia

By some reports, the delegation did not accept the challenge and instead negotiated a peace treaty with Muhammad, either because they thought possible that he was truthful in his claims,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn or because they were intimidated by the military might of Muslims.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This is reported by the Sunni exegete Muqatil ibn Sulayman (Template:Died in),Template:Sfn and by the Sunni historian Ibn Sa'd (Template:Died in) in his Template:Transliteration.Template:Sfn In a tradition cited by Muqatil, Muhammad reflects hypothetically that he would have taken with him to the Template:Transliteration his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, and their two sons Hasan and Husayn.Template:Sfn Ibn Sa'd writes that two leaders of the delegation later returned to Medina and converted to Islam,Template:Sfn which might explain their earlier refusal of the Template:Transliteration.Template:Sfn

Yet according to other reports, Muhammad did appear for the occasion of Template:Transliteration, accompanied by his family, as instructed by the verse of Template:Transliteration,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn apparently at the Template:Transliteration (Template:Lit) in the al-Baqi cemetery, later renamed to Template:Transliteration (Template:Lit).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Those who accompanied him are often identified as Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Such reports are given by the Shia-leaning historian Ibn Ishaq (Template:Died in) in his Template:Transliteration, the Sunni exegete Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (Template:Died in) in his Template:Transliteration,Template:Sfn the Sunni traditionist Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (Template:Died in) in his canonical Template:Transliteration, the Sunni traditionist Hakim al-Nishapuri (Template:Died in) in his Template:Transliteration,Template:Sfn and the prominent Sunni exegete Ibn Kathir (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn This indeed appears to be the majority view in exegetical works.Template:Sfn Here, the Islamicist Wilferd Madelung argues that the term 'our sons' (Template:Transliteration) in the verse of Template:Transliteration must refer to Muhammad's grandchildren, namely, Hasan and Husayn. In that case, he continues, it would be reasonable to include also in the event their parents, namely, Ali and Fatima.Template:Sfn

Template:Transliteration

Some traditions about the Template:Transliteration add that Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn stood under Muhammad's cloak, and the five have thus become known as the Template:Transliteration (Template:Lit).Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn On the same occasion, Muhammad may have defined his Template:Transliteration (Template:Lit) as Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn, according to Shia and some Sunni sources,Template:Sfn including the canonical collections Template:Transliteration, Template:Transliteration,Template:Sfn and Template:Transliteration.Template:Sfn Alternatively, some have suggested that these claims were possibly later additions.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn At any rate, the inclusion of these four by Muhammad, as his witnesses and guarantors in the Template:Transliteration ritual,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn must have raised their religious rank within the community.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Significance in Shi'a Islam

File:آیه مباهله.jpg

Verse 3:61 of the Quran, also known as the verse of Template:Transliteration, inscribed in the shrine of Husayn in Karbala, located in Iraq

That Muhammad was accompanied to the Template:Transliteration by the above four is also the Shi'a view,Template:Sfn and Shia sources are unanimous that the term 'our sons' (Template:Langx) in the verse of Template:Transliteration refers to Hasan and Husayn, the term 'our women' (Template:Langx) therein refers to Fatima, and that the term 'ourselves' (Template:Langx) is a reference to Muhammad and 'Ali.Template:Sfn By contrast, most reports presented by the Sunni exegete al-Tabari (Template:Died in) are silent about the matter, whereas some other Sunni authors agree with the Shia reports.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The verse of Template:Transliteration is often cited by Shi'a scholars to support their claims concerning the prerogatives of the Template:Transliteration.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In particular, if the word 'ourselves' in the verse is a reference to 'Ali and Muhammad, as Shi'a authors argue, then the former naturally enjoys a similar authority as the latter.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Likewise, the Shi'a exegete Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i (Template:Died in) contends that the participation of these four, to the exclusion of other Muslims, necessitates their partnership with Muhammad in his prophetic claims, for otherwise there could have been no negative consequence to their participation as the verse of Template:Transliteration targets only the liars.Template:Sfn

Eid of the Template:Transliteration

Eid of the Template:Transliteration () is the Shi'a commemoration of the prophet Muhammad's Template:Transliteration with the Christians of Najran, celebrated annually on 21,Template:Sfn or 24 Dhu al-Hijja of the Islamic calendar,Template:Sfn although the date in the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year because the former calendar is lunar and the latter is solar. The equivalent Gregorian date to 24 Dhu al-Hijja is shown below for a few years.

Islamic year	1441	1442	1443	1444	1445	1446
Eid of Template:Transliteration	14 August 2020	3 August 2021	23 July 2022	12 July 2023	1 July 2024	20 June 2025

Christian interpretation of the Template:Transliteration

Giulio Basetti-Sani, a Franciscan Islamicist, argued that St. Francis's meeting with Sultan Malik al-Kamil was an act of reparation for the failure of the Christians of Najran to bear witness to Christ.

References

• Template:Cite thesis