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Eid Mubahalla |
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by Unknown |
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Online |
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15th February, 2003 |
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The
Prophet of Islam (S.A.W) wrote a letter to Abdul Haris lbne
Alqama, the Grand Bishop of Najran, who was the official
representative of the Roman Church in the Hijaz. And invited the
people of that area to embrace Islam. The text of the said
letter runs as under: In the
name the Lord of Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ya'qub This is
a letter from Muhammad, the Prophet and Messenger of Allah to
the Bishop of Najran: I Praise and glorify the Lord of Ibrahim,
Ishaq and Ya'qub, and invite you all to worship Allah instead of
worshipping His creatures, so that you may come out of the
guardianship of the creatures of Allah and take place under the
guardianship of Allah Himself. And in case you do not accept my
invitation you must (at least) pay Jizyah (tribute) to the
Islamic Government (in lieu of which it will undertake the
protection of your lives and property), failing which you are
hereby warned of dangerous consequences. Muhammad, say to the followers of the Bible, "We must come to a common term: 'Let us worship no one except Allah'........".(Surah Ale Imran, 3:64) Towards
the close of the ninth year of Hijra, embassies from all parts
of Arabia came uninterruptedly to the Holy Prophet at Medina, to
profess Islam and to declare the adherence of their tribes to
Prophet Muhammad. (Mention is made in the Holy Qur’an as below
about this in Sura An-Nasr (Succour, Divine support)
When there comes the
help of Allah and the victory, And you see men entering the
religion of Allah in companies, Then celebrate the praise of
your Lord, and ask His forgiveness; surely He is oft-returning
(to mercy). 110:001-003 Until now, the
Christians of Najran (a city in the province of Yemen) had kept
themselves aloof. The Holy Prophet sent a letter, inviting them
to embrace Islam. In response to that letter the Christians counselled
among themselves the course of their action and did
ultimately send a representative deputation of fourteen members
to Medina to study the facts pertaining to Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W)
and his mission. Three Christian scholars, viz. Abdul Maseeh
Aaquib, Saiyed and Abdul Haris, headed the deputation. When these deputies
reached Medina, they changed their clothes, which they had worn
on the journey, dressed themselves in silken garments, put rings
of gold on their fingers, and went to the mosque to greet the
Prophet. All of them greeted the Prophet traditionally, but the
Apostle of God did not respond and turned his face away from
them. They left the mosque and approached Osman and Abdul Rahman
Ibn Auf, complaining "your Apostle wrote to us and invited
us, but when we went to see him and wished him, he neither
reciprocated our wishes nor replied to us. Now what do you
advise us to do? Should we go back or wait for another
opportunity?" Osman and Abdul Rehman could not comprehend
the situation. At last they took the deputies to Ali, who
advised them to remove the clothes of silk and the rings of gold
that they were wearing and to put on their priestly robes. The
Holy Prophet would then willingly see them. Thereupon the
Christian delegates changed into humble garments and presented
themselves to the Apostle who then responded to their
salutations and said, "By the Lord who has appointed me His
Messenger, when they first came to me they were accompanied by
Satan". Thereafter the Apostle preached to them and requested them to accept Islam. They asked, "What is your opinion about Jesus Christ?" The Apostle said, "You may rest today in this city and after being refreshed you will receive the replies to all your questions from me." The Apostle was awaiting a revelation in this matter, and the next day the verses of the Holy Qur’an Sura No.3 (Al-e-Imraan) verses 59-60 were revealed to him to show the true position of Jesus Christ.
Surely the likeness
of Jesus is with Allah as the likeness of Adam; He created him
from dust, then said to him ‘Be’, and he was. (This is) the
truth from your Lord, so be not of the disputers. 003:059-060 When they reappeared before the Holy Prophet, The Holy Prophet recited the above verses before the visiting Christians explaining that Christ was a Prophet like Adam and like Adam, created from dust and therefore could not be the son of God. After this, the Holy Prophet invited them to embrace Islam. The Christians remained obstinate and refused to be convinced by anything. Thereupon the following verse No. 61 from Sura No.3 was revealed
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 ourselves and yourselves, then let us be
earnest in prayer, and invoke the curse of Allah on the liars.
003.061 Now the Holy Prophet
reproduced the Quranic verse before the deputation of the
Christians and declared the challenge of ‘Mubahala’. The
term ‘Mubahala’ is derived from its Arabic root ‘Bahlah’
meaning ‘curse’. Thus the word ‘Mubahala’ literally
means cursing each other. The Christians consulted each other
and ultimately announced their acceptance of the challenge. Early next morning
the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) sent Salman al Farsi ( May Allah be
well pleased with him ) to the open place, fixed outside the
city for the historic event, to erect a small shelter for
himself and those he intended to take along with him for the
contest. However, it was on the morning of 24th Zilhajj that the
Holy Prophet emerged at the appointed time and place, from his
sacred abode with Imam Hussain in his arms and holding Imam
Hasan’s hand and Janab-e-Fatima followed by Hazrat Ali (styled
as the Holy Panjetan). The Holy Prophet then directed them to
utter "Ameen" when he prayed to God. No sooner had the
sacred caravan of the Holy Prophet appeared to the sight of the
opposing group of the Christians of Najran then they were
awestruck and spellbound. Abdul Haris lbne Alqama, the greatest
scholar among them, addressed his people: "Verily I see a
divine light on the face of our combatants, I am beholding such
faces among them as can make the mountains move from their spots
if they pray to God. So beware! Never try to contest with them,
otherwise you will perish and the entire nation of Christians
will succumb to extinction!" Thereupon the Holy
Prophet reiterated, "By God! Had the Christians of Najran
contested with us, they would have been transformed into monkeys
and swans. Fire would have rained over them from the sky and
they would have been doomed." When the Christians
refrained from ‘Mubahala’, the Holy Prophet put before them
two alternatives: either to embrace Islam or to be prepared to
come to terms. But the Christians would not agree till the
matter was finally decided by an offer of treaty from their
side. Thus a peace treaty was signed on the terms that the
Christians of Najran would thereby be committed to pay the Holy
Prophet an annual tribute consisting of two thousand
costumes-worth: forty thousand Dinars, thirty horses, thirty
camels, thirty armours and thirty spears. (Meraj-un-Nabuwat) Authentic Proofs are
quoted below regarding the Ayat of the Holy Qur’an-Sura
3-verse 61 as given on page 73 Imam Fakhruddin Razi writes in
his Tafseer-e-Kabeer (volume 2): "When this verse was
revealed to the Holy Prophet, the Christians of Najran accepted
the challenge of ‘Mubahala’ and the Holy Prophet took along
with him Imam Hussain, Imam Hasan, Janab-e-Fatima and Hazrat Ali
to the field of Mubahala’." To quote Allama
Zamakhshari in his ‘Tafseer-e-Kashshaf". "There can
be no more authentic and stronger evidence for the integrity of
Ashab-e-Kisa, i.e., Hazrat Ali, Janab-e-Fatima, Imam Hasan and
Imam Hussain than this Qur’anic verse. For in compliance with
the order of God the Holy Prophet summoned his Ahl-ul-Bait, took
Hussain in his arms, grasped Imam Hasan’s hand in his own,
asked Janab-e-Fatima to follow him and Hazrat Ali to follow her.
This proved that the Holy Ahl-ul-Bait were those to whom the
Qur’anic verse was directed." It is related by Soad
Ibne Waqas that: "When this verse was revealed, the Holy
Prophet sent for Hazrat Ali, Janab-e-Fatima, Imam Hasan and Imam
Hussain and prayed to God thus: "O My God! These are the
very AhI-ul-Bait of mine!" (Sahih Muslim. Vol. 1, Sahih
Tirmizi.) Abdullah Ibne Umar
quotes the Holy Prophet to have commented: "Had there been
any soul on the whole earth better than Ali, Fatima, Hasan and
Hussain, God would have commanded me to take them along with me
to ‘Mubahala’. But as they were superior in dignity and
respect to all human beings, God confined His Choice on them
only for participation in ‘Mubahala’". (Tasfeer-e-Baizavi) According to some
versions it is stated that on the morning of 24th Zilhajj, a
large number of people thronged the door of the Holy Prophet,
every one anticipating his chance to be selected for the team of
‘Mubahala’. But when the Holy Prophet emerged out of his
house accompanied by his ‘AhI-ul-Bait’. They were all
stunned. The event of the
Mubahala is important for the following reasons 01. It proved to be a
silencing lesson for all the Christians of Arabia who no longer
dared any competition with the Holy Prophet. 02. The invitation of
‘Mubahala’ was directed by God, and it was in compliance
with His Command that the Holy Prophet took his Ahl-ul-Bait
along with him to the field of ‘Mubahala. This serves to
generalise how affairs pertaining to Apostleship and the
religion of God are determined by the Will of God; allowing no
margin of interference from the common people (Ummat) The matter
of Hazrat Ali’s succession followed by eleven Imams to the
office of religious leadership should be viewed in this
perspective. 03. The
indispensability of Hazrat Ali, Janab-e-Fatima, Imam Hasan and
Imam Hussain in following the precepts of the Holy Prophet could
no longer be disputed. 04. That
notwithstanding their childhood, Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain did
nevertheless, serve as the active partners of the Holy Prophet
in the field of ‘Mubahala’. This yields the conclusion that
age is no criteria for the greatness of the infallibles (Masoom).
They are born adorned with virtues and knowledge. 05. That the Holy
Prophet’s act of having preferred a few obviously elevates
their status above all others. As Islam had emerged
triumphantly against Christianity on the occasion of ‘Mubahala’,
this day assumes the significance of an Eid day in Islamic
history. Why Was Ali
Included ? The Almighty
commanded His Messenger to say to the delegation of Najran:
"Come! We will summon our Sons and your Sons, our women and
your women; and ourselves and yourselves...." In compliance with
this command, the Prophet brought with him, AI-Hasan and Al-Hussain,
because they were the sons of his daughter Fatima, and for this
they are his sons. He brought Fatima with him because she
represents the women from the members of his House. But why did
he bring with him Ali who was neither from the sons nor from the
women? Ali has no place in
the verse unless he is included in the word
"ourselves." Bringing Ali with him
indicates that the Messenger of God considered Ali an extension
of his personality. By considering him so, he elevated him above
all the Muslims. The Messenger said on
many occasions: "Ali is from me and I am from him." Hubshi Ibn Janadah
reported that he heard the Messenger of God, saying: "Ali is from me and I am from him, and no one represents me but Ali." |
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