The commander of
the Faithful, the Lion of Allah, the Conqueror of Khyber, one of the members of
the Ayah of Purity, the spouse of the Chief of the women of the World, the
father of the Chiefs of the Youths of Paradise, the Vice-gerent of the Noble
Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) Imam Ali (a.s.) was taken by the Prophet of Islam
(s.a.w.a.s.) in the spiritual contest of “Mubahilah” as his (Prophet’s) self or
soul. This is the unique and distinct superiority of Imam Ali (a.s.) which no
one in the world will ever share!
The Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) sent letters to the heads
of different countries and also to Abu Harith, the Bishop of Najran, in the
Arabian Peninsula. In the letter he also referred to Surah Ale Imran Ayah 64: “(Muhammad), say to the People of the Book, “We
must come to a common term and allow ourselves to worship no one except Allah….”
Sixty most distinguished and wise men were selected and arrived in Madinah
under the leadership of Abu Harith. They were dressed with golden attires etc and
tried to meet the Prophet who was displeased with them. Then Imam Ali (a.s.) advised
them to dress soberly. The Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) met with them
respectfully and allowed them to pray in their own way. They insisted that
Prophet I’sa was the son of God because of his miracles and that he had no
father. The Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) said that if the criteria for treating
Prophet I’sa as the son born without a father, the Prophet Adam should be
entitled for this position as he was created by Allah without father and
mother!
At this juncture, the Ayah of Imprecation (Mubahilah) was
revealed saying: “If anyone disputes
with you after the knowledge has come to you, say, ‘Let each of us bring our
children, our women, ourselves to one place and pray to Allah to curse upon the
liars among us.” (Surah Ale Imran Ayah 62)
Zamakhshari wrote
in his Kashaf: “The Prophet selected only four persons for Mubahilah; they were
Ali ibn Abi Talib, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn as amongst all Muslims no purer
souls could be found!”
Before the appearance of the Prophet, the chiefs of the
representatives of Najran were saying to each other: “In case you see that Muhammad has brought his warriors and officers
then you should conclude that he has no faith in his prophet hood.” When the Prophet appeared before the Christians of
Najran that he has brought little children of his beloved daughter, the Bishop Abu Harith said: “I see such
faces that if they raise their hands in supplication and pray to Allah that the
biggest mountain may be moved from its place, Allah will move it. We should in no circumstances
engage in Mubahilah with these sacred and virtuous personalities because it is
not improbable that we may be annihilated and it is possible that the Divine
wrath may expand and engulf the entire Christian world and not even one
Christian may remain alive on earth.”
Qazi Nur Allah
Shustari, in his book “Ahqaq-ul-Haq” volume 3 page 46 wrote: “There is a
consensus of opinions among the traditionalists that in this Ayah, the word “Sons”
was represented by Imam Hasan (a.s.) and Imam Husayn (a.s.), the word “Women”
was represented by the Lady of Paradise Sayyida Fatima Zahra (s.a.), and the
word “Selves” was represented by the
Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (a.s.). In the foot note of the book, he
had written the names and the book’s names of the senior Sunni Writers who had reported
Mubahila in their books from page 46 to page 76. Some of the names are: Muslim bin Hajjaj Neshapuri in his Sahih Muslim, Ahmad bin Hanbal in
Masnad, Tibri, Hakim in Mustadrak, Hafiz Abu Naim Isphani in Dalail Nubuwwah,
Wahidi Neshapuri in Asbab-un-Nuzul, Fakhruddin Razi in Tafsir Kabir, Ibne
Atheer in Jami-ul-Usool, Ibne Jauzi in Tazkeratul Khawas, Qazi Baizavi in
Tafsir, Alusi in Ruhul Ma’ani, Tantavi in Aljawahir, Zamakhshari in Kashshaf,
Hajar Asqalani in Alasabah, Ibne Sabbagh in Fusul Muhimma, Allama Qartabi in
Jame’ Alahkam al-Qur’an.
In the book
Ghayatul Muram, the writer had quoted from “Sahih Muslim”: “One day Muawiya
asked Sa’d bin Abi Waqas, “Why don’t you curse Abu Turab (Imam Ali)?” Sa’d
replied: “Ever since I remembered the three virtues of Ali (a.s.) as mentioned
in the books that when the Ayah of Mubahela was revealed, the Noble Prophet
(s.a.w.a.s.) took four people with him; Hasan, Husayn, Fatima, and Ali.”
Nafs means self or
soul. There is a tradition of the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.): “I and Ali are
part of one Noor”. His physical similarity may also be confirmed on the night
of “Migration”, when Imam Ali (a.s.) slept in the bed of the Noble Prophet
(s.a.w.a.s.) while the Polytheists were watching the bed. If there would have
been variance in physiques of the two, they would have quickly entered the
house and killed the person in the bed. As reported by Hazrat Aisha, when the Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) would sleep
wearing a sheet, a light used to emit from his face. Apparently, when Imam Ali
(a.s.) was sleeping in the Prophet’s bed, the light must have been continued to
emit and hence the Polytheists could not distinguish as to who was sleeping
under the sheets.
Sources used: Tafsir-e-Namuna by Ayatollah Nasir Makarem
Shirazi,
The Message by Ayatollah Jafar Subhani
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