Al-Mubāhala verse (Arabic: آية المباهلة) is verse 61 of Chapter 3 of the Holy Qur'an (Sura Al 'Imran) which is about the Prophet's (s) encounter with Christians of Najran. Shi'ite and some Sunni exegetes have considered this verse as a merit for Ashab al-Kisa' especially Imam 'Ali (a). Imam Ali (a) has been introduced as the soul of the Prophet (s). Imam al-Rida (a) has considered this verse as the greatest merit for Imam Ali (a) in the Qur'an.
Text and Translation
فَمَنْ حَاجَّكَ فِيهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْا نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءَنَا وَأَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَنِسَاءَنَا وَنِسَاءَكُمْ وَأَنْفُسَنَا وَأَنْفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَلْ لَعْنَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ
"Should anyone argue with you concerning him (Jesus), after the knowledge that has come to you, say, 'Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, our souls and your souls, then let us pray earnestly and call down Allah's curse upon the liars."
Qur'an, 3:61
Occasion of Revelation
Shi'a and Sunni exegetes believe that this verse is about the debate between the Prophet (s) and the Christians of Najran in which they insisted on their belief that Jesus (a) is one of the three personifications of God and that they did not accept the revelation of the Qur'an which referred to Jesus (a) as merely a pious servant and a messenger of God (s). Once they rejected the arguments proposed by the Holy Prophet (s), he invited them to attend a Mubahala (a mutual curse).[1]
Sunni exegetes such as al-Zamakhshari, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi[3], al-Baydawi[4], etc. have said that "Abna'ana" (our sons) in the verse refers to al-Hasan (a) and al-Husayn (a), "Nisa'ana" (our women) refers to Fatima al-Zahra (a) and "Anfusana" (our souls) refers to Imam 'Ali (a), i.e. the four people who accompanied the Prophet (s) form the five Ashab al-Kisa'.
Having seen the sincerity and valor of the Prophet (s) and those who accompanied him, the Christians of Najran became fearful of divine punishment and did not accept Mubahala. They made peace with the Prophet (s) and asked him to let them remain Christian and pay Jizya and the Prophet (s) accepted.[5]
Commentary
Although the Mubahala was primarily between the Prophet (s) and Christian men, but then children and women were also brought to Mubahala to prove the claim of the caller, thus, the Prophet (s) brought his most beloved ones to Mubahala.
In addition, 'Allama Tabataba'i has mentioned another aspect for the involvement of the Prophet's (s) family is that: It is as if the Prophet (s) intends the parties to curse each other and to wish for the divine punishment for the other party so that the curse would include women, children and souls too, so that the enemies would be eradicated.
Based on this view, it was not necessary for the parties to be more than two people so that the plural pronouns could be used in the verse, because according to the above opinion, the plural pronoun meant that through mutual cursing the wrong party would be uprooted completely. Exegetes, narrators and historical reports unanimously maintain that the Prophet (s) took no one else to Mubahala except for 'Ali (a), Fatima (a), al-Hasan (a) and al-Husayn (a), so the souls were two [the Prophet (s) and 'Ali (a)], the "women" was one [Fatima (a)], and the sons were two [al-Hasan (a) and al-Husayn (a)] through which the divine order was fulfilled. Also, other verses are found in the Qur'an which refer to one person while the verbal reference is plural, such as the Zihar verse in Qur'an 58.
