Appearance
Who Is “Ourselves” in the Mubāhala?
فَمَنْ حَآجَّكَ فِيهِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْا۟ نَدْعُ أَبْنَآءَنَا وَأَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَنِسَآءَنَا وَنِسَآءَكُمْ وَأَنفُسَنَا وَأَنفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَل لَّعْنَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَى ٱلْكَـٰذِبِينَ
“Should anyone argue with you concerning him, after the knowledge that has come to you, say, ‘Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then let us pray earnestly and call down God’s curse upon the liars’” (3:61)
The question
In let us call … ourselves and yourselves, who is meant by “ourselves” (anfusanā), and does it show that ʿAlī stands as the Prophet’s own self?
Views answered: al-Ālūsī; Ibn Taymiyya; the author of al-Manār
Jawādī Āmulī’s argument
For Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, “ourselves” cannot be the Prophet himself, since no one calls himself: it is the one who is like his own self, ʿAlī, as many narrations confirm, and after the Prophet no one is higher. Al-Ālūsī takes “ourselves” as the Prophet himself and counts ʿAlī among “our sons” as a son-in-law; he answers that words are taken literally unless context shows otherwise, and here the context points the other way, since “ourselves” stands apart from sons and women. Al-Ālūsī adds that ʿAlī was not caliph when the verse came; he answers that the verse shows ʿAlī’s superiority to all, from which his precedence for succession follows. Ibn Taymiyya, and the author of al-Manār after him, take “ourselves” as one’s people or kin; he answers that naming “ourselves” beside sons and women rules out mere kinship, or the Prophet would have brought his uncle al-ʿAbbās.
Views compared
Each view is given as al-Tasnim reports it, with the exegete or work it cites. Each point opens al-Tasnim at that place.
Can “ourselves” be the Prophet himself? Read →
al-Ālūsī
Yes: one can call oneself, as in “I convinced myself” (5:30); ʿAlī is among “our sons”, since a son-in-law is called a son.Jawādī Āmulī
Calling a son-in-law a son, or calling oneself, is figurative and needs context; here the context points to the literal meaning, since “ourselves” stands apart from sons and women.Caliphate Read →
al-Ālūsī
ʿAlī was not caliph when the verse came down in the ninth year; that he would be is not disputed.Jawādī Āmulī
The verse does not speak of the caliphate directly: it shows ʿAlī is superior to all people, as the Prophet’s own self, and so first in line to succeed him.“Ourselves” as one’s people Read →
Ibn Taymiyya
“Ourselves” means people connected to one another, as in 2:84–85; ʿAlī is an instance but no more.Jawādī Āmulī
Named beside sons and women, the closest kin, it cannot mean mere kinship; otherwise the Prophet would have brought his uncle al-ʿAbbās.Why not al-ʿAbbās? Read →
Ibn Taymiyya
Al-ʿAbbās was not among the early emigrants, so he was not suited to the mubāhala.Jawādī Āmulī
Al-ʿAbbās was the Prophet’s uncle and suffered much for Islam, yet was not called: ʿAlī’s presence shows his spiritual nearness to the Prophet.Absolute kinship Read →
The author of al-Manār
Following Ibn Taymiyya, “ourselves” means kinship in general.Jawādī Āmulī
“Ourselves” keeps its true meaning: the Prophet himself, or the one at the level of his soul, as “yourselves” stands apart from “your families” in 66:6.Reading guide
Each step opens al-Tasnim at that point.
- Who “ourselves” is: the one like the Prophet’s own self
- Al-Ālūsī: the Prophet calls himself
- The answer: literal meaning and context
- Al-Ālūsī on the caliphate, and the answer
- Ibn Taymiyya: “ourselves” as one’s people
- The answer, and the question of al-ʿAbbās
- The author of al-Manār, and the true meaning of “ourselves”