In the early days of Islam, Najran was a big center of
learning whose inhabitants were idol-worshipers. Subsequently, they accepted
Christianity as their religion. Najran is in the modern Saudi Arabia,
south of Jeddah.
The Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) had sent letters to the heads
of different countries inviting them to Islam. One such letter was also sent to
the bishop of Najran.
It read as follows:
In the name of the God of Ibrahim, Is’haaq and Yaqoob. This letter
is from Muhammad, the Prophet and Messenger of Allah to the Bishop of
Najran. Praise be to the God of Ibrahim, Is’haaq, and Yaqoob. I invite you to
worship Allah instead of His servants. I invite you to come out of the rule of
servants of Allah and into the rule of Allah Himself.
It is also stated that the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) included the
following Ayah of the Glorious Qur’an:
“Say, (O’Muhammad) O People of the Book (Bible), come to an
agreement between us and you; that we shall worship none but Allah and that we
shall claim no partner to Him, and that none of us shall take others for Lords
besides Allah” And if they turn away, then say, “Bear witness that we are
Muslims ( who have surrendered to Allah).” (3:64)
This was the event of 10 A.H. Sixty learned priests headed by
their chief monk priest, Abdul Masih, came to Madinah and went straight to meet
the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) wearing golden ornaments and dressed in silken
clothes. He (s.a.w.a.s.) did not like their attire and turned his face away
from them. They inquired from a few influential Companions for the reason, but
they did not know the state of his (s.a.w.a.s.)’s mind. The Commander of the
faithful, Maula Mushkil-Kusha, Imam Ali (a.s.) came to their rescue and advised
them to dress in simple clothes. When they returned wearing simple clothes, the
Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) warmly welcomed them. It may be inferred that appearances
and attires show the thinking of the person. They wanted to show pride and high
status.
Following conversation ensued:
The Prophet: I invite you to the
belief of Unity of Allah (Tauheed) and the worship of one God and submission to
His will. (Then he recited the above-mentioned Ayah)
Abdul Masih: If Islam means faith
in one God of the universe, we already believe in Him and follow His commands.
The Prophet: Islam has a few
other signs and some of your actions show that you have not accepted true
Islam. How do you claim worship of one God when you worship the cross and do
not abstain from eating pork and believe that God has a son?
Abdul Masih: Certainly, he (I’sa
(a.s.) was the son of God because his mother Mary- Mariyam (s.a.) had given
birth to him without marrying anyone in the world. Therefore, obviously his
father is the God of this universe. And, because he used to bring the dead back
to life, cure the sick and create birds from clay and make them fly. It shows
that he is God.
The Prophet: No, he was the
servant and creature of God, and placed in the womb of his mother Mariyam
(s.a.). All his power and strength were granted to him by God. At this time,
Archangel Gabriel brought the following Ayah 59 of Surah Ale Imran: “Surely, the
example of I’sa to Allah is like that of Adam; He created him from dust and
then said to him, “Be” and he was “It means that if Isa (a.s.) could be called the son of God because
he was born without father, then Adam (a.s.) deserves this title more because
he was born without a father and a mother. The priests could not reply to this
argument and continued to argue out of obstinacy.
Then the following Ayah 61 of Surah Ale Imran was
revealed:
“And
whoever argue 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, ourselves and yourselves, then let us humbly pray (to our Lord) and
invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars”
The Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) produced this verse
before the priests and challenged for “Mubahalah”. The priests consulted each
other and accepted the challenge. It was agreed that the contest would take
place the next day in the open desert outside Madinah. On 24th Zilhajj,
the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) came out for Mubahalah. He was holding Imam
Husayn (a.s.) in his arms and held Imam Hasan (a.s.) by his hand; Lady of
Paradise Sayyida Fatima Zahra (s.a.) was behind him, while the Lion of Allah,
Imam Ali (a.s.) was behind her. The Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) said to them,
“When I pray for curse of Allah, you should say Ameen”.
In compliance of the Ayah of Mubahela, the Noble
Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) brought Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn (a.s.) as his “SONS”,
Sayyida Fatima Zahra (s.a.) in place of “WOMEN” while he could have
brought three or more women, and Imam Ali (a.s.) as his “SELF “while the Ayah had
the accommodation for three.
The priests, by seeing these shining faces emitting
light, were spellbound. Their hearts trembled, and they began to shake on
seeing the light radiating from the faces of The Sacred Panjetan (a.s.).
Their leader asked: “who are these persons who have
come with Muhammad “A man told their names and their relationship with the
Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.). He could no longer hold his patience and cried
out:
“By God, I am seeing such faces that if they were to
pray to God to move the mountain, God Almighty would move the mountain for
them. O You People of Najran, if you contest with Muhammad in this prayer of
invoking curses on the liars, then I warn you that all of you will be destroyed
and not a single soul will remain on this earth. I feel that it would be better
to surrender to them and obey them”
After the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) heard these
words, he later remarked: “By God, had the Christians of Najran contested with
us, they would have been transformed into monkeys and swine. Fire would have
rained over them”
It is a historic event of a unique triumph of Islam.
This event unquestionably established the truth about Islam and the spiritual
purity of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.). It proved beyond doubt as to who were the
members of The House of the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) and their
“unquestionable Truthfulness!”
There is a point to be remembered here that in Arabic
language the plural tense is used for more than three persons. Allah had provided the place for three or more than three persons
in the categories of “SONS”, “WOMEN”, and “SELVES”. But
the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) had to decide as to who were the persons who
were “TRUTHFUL” and never lied in their lifetime, because
Mubahelah would bring up Allah’s wrath on the “LIARS”. It was a
crucial test for Islam. Hence, he picked-up Imam Hasan (a.s.) and
Imam Husayn (a.s.); only two persons for the place in “SONS”. While in the
place of “WOMEN”, he picked-up only his daughter, The Lady of Paradise,
Sayyida Fatima Zahra (s.a.). Similarly, in the place of “SELVES”, he picked up
only The Conqueror of Khyber, Imam Ali (a.s.).
After the sad demise of the Noble Messenger
(s.a.w.a.s.), when Sayyida Fatima Zahra (s.a.) claimed her gifted property of
Fadak, which was given to her by her father, the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.),
the Caliph did not accept her testimony, that of Imam Ali (a.s.) nor Imam Hasan
(a.s.) and Imam Husayn (a.s.). These were the same Panjetan, whose Truthfulness
was accepted by Allah on the eve of Mubahalah!
No comments:
Post a Comment