The event of “Mubahala”(which means imprecation, or invoking the curse of Allah upon the liar), which took place in the 9th-10th year of Hijrah. In that year a delegation consisting of 14 Christian priests came from Najran to meet the Prophet (S).
When they met the Prophet they asked him what is his opinion about Jesus (as). The Messenger of Allah (S) said: “You may take rest today and you will receive the reply afterwards.”The next day, 3 verses of Qur’an (3:59-61) about Jesus were revealed. When Christians did not accept the words of Allah, The Prophet recited the last revealed verse:
But whoever disputes with you in this matter after what has come to you of knowledge, then say: Come let us call our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and our selves and your selves; then let us be earnest in prayer and invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars. (Qur’an 3:61).
In this way, the Prophet (S) challenged the Christians. The next day the Christian priests came out on one side of the field. Also on the other side, the Prophet came out of his house carrying al-Husayn in his arm with al-Hasan walking along with him while he was holding his hand. Behind him was Fatimah al-Zahra (sa), and behind her was ‘Ali(a.s), peace be upon them all.
When the Christians saw the five pure souls, and how determined the Prophet is in his idea that he put the closest people to him at risk, the Christians were terrified and abstained from the proposed malediction (Mubahala) and submitted to a treaty with the Prophet (S).
al-Suyuti who was a great Sunni scholar, wrote:
In the above verse (3:61), according to what Jabir Ibn Abdillah al-Ansari (the great companion of the Prophet) said, the word “sons”refers to al-Hasan and al-Husayn, the word “women”refers to Fatimah, and the word “our selves”refer to the Prophet and ‘Ali. Thus ‘Ali is referred as “the self”of the Prophet (Nafs of the Prophet).
Reference: al-Durr al-Manthoor by al-Hafidh Jalaluddin al-Suyuti, v2, p38
It follows that just as it is unlawful to seek to be superior to the Prophet, similarly it is unlawful to supersede ‘Ali (who is the “self”of the Prophet according to the words of Allah). Any one who presumed to supersede ‘Ali, was, in essence, presumed to supersede the Prophet! This is another Qur’anic proof for the right of Imam ‘Ali as the immediate successor of the Prophet (S).
Muslim and al-Tirmidhi both confirm the above incident, and recorded the following tradition in their authentic collections of traditions:
Narrated Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas:
…And when the verse 3:61 was revealed, the Prophet called ‘Ali, Fatimah, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn. Then the Prophet said: “O Lord! These are my family members (Ahli).
Sunni references:
- Sahih Muslim, Chapter of virtues of companions, section of virtues of ‘Ali, 1980 Edition Pub. in Saudi Arabia, Arabic version, v4, p1871, the end of tradition #32.
- Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p654
- al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p150, who said this tradition is authentic based on the criteria set by two Shaikhs, al-Bukhari and Muslim.
- Dhakha’ir al-Uqba, by Muhibbuddin al-Tabari, p25
و لمَّا نزلَت هذه الآية: فقل تعالوا ندع أبنائنا و أبنائكم… دعا رسول الله علياً و فاطمة و حسناً و حسيناً فقالَ اللهمَّ هؤلاءِ أهلي.
The point, here, is that the Messenger of Allah (S) did not bring any of his wives to the field of “Mubahala“, and according to above tradition, he used the word “Ahl”(family) ONLY for the above-mentioned individuals (i.e., Imam ‘Ali, Fatimah, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn).
Note that in the verse 3:61 of Qur’an Allah uses plural form “women”by saying “Let us bring our women“, but the Prophet only brought his daughter Fatimah (sa). If there were more than one woman in Ahlul-Bayt, the Prophet was required by this verse to bring them, but since there was not any other woman among his Ahlul-Bayt, he brought Fatimah (sa) only.
Some Sunni scholars have narrated that on the day of consultation for appointing the ruler after the death of Umar, Imam ‘Ali (as) argued with the members of Shura reminding them his rights to the Caliphate, and one of his reasons was the incident of Mubahala:
On the day of consultation, ‘Ali argued with the committee members saying: “I adjure you in the name of Allah, is there anyone amongst you closer in relationship to the Messenger of Allah than me? Is there any other man whom the Prophet made him ‘his (own) soul’ (Nafs), and that he made his children ‘his (own) children’, and his women ‘his (own) women’?”They replied: “No, by God!”
Sunni Reference:
- al-Darqunti, as per:
- al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Ch. 11, section 1, p239
It is also narrated that:
The Messenger of Allah (S) said: “Me and ‘Ali are from one tree, and the rest of people are from different trees.“
أنا و عليٍ من شجرةٍ واحدةٍ و سائرِ الناس من شجرٍ شتَّى
Sunni references:
- al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Ch. 9, section 2, p190
- Tarikh al-Khulafaa, by Jalaluddin al-Suyuti, p171
- al-Awsat, by al-Tabarani, from Jabir Ibn Abdillah al-Ansari
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