Selected Exegesis

After encouraging the Prophet (s.a.w.) to engage in debate with the Christian delegation from Najrān, and confirming his righteousness and victory and dispelling any doubt about it, God commanded him - who alongside calling to God’s oneness and the created nature of Jesus (a.s.) also claimed prophethood - to invite them to mutual imprecation (mubāhala). He said: Whoever disputes with you concerning this truth, of which Jesus Christ (a.s.) is an example, and demands proof from you in false argumentation, engage in mutual imprecation, for after intellectual methods have been exhausted and your opponent refuses to accept the truth, argumentation is no longer beneficial and the problem can only be resolved through invoking a miracle.

God commanded the Prophet (s.a.w.) to bring “sons” (abnāʾ), “women” (nisāʾ) and “souls” (anfus); meaning if you have one child bring one, and if more, bring them all; similarly for women and souls (each of these terms is used in its conceptual sense rather than referring to specific instances, even if in practice each had no more than one or two instances, since at the time of usage, the understood concept sometimes has one or more individuals).

In any case, the Prophet (s.a.w.) had all those from his family who fell under the categories of sons, women and souls participate in the mutual imprecation.

In this verse, sons (abnāʾ) means male children and refers to Ḥasan and Ḥusayn (a.s.), meaning the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) daughter’s children, not all believers and co-religionists.

The term “women” (nisāʾ), which is used comprehensively to refer to women in relation to husband, father, brother, son, and men in general, in this verse refers specifically to daughters, and in this instance only Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (a.s.) was present.

The referent of “ourselves” (anfusunā) is someone who is closer to the one making the call than sons or daughters, and does not mean relatives in general or tribal relations, since the closest members of his community were already mentioned separately. Rather, it means either yourself or someone who is like your own self should come to the mutual imprecation (mubāhala). Since the one making the call is different from the one being called, and no one calls themselves, the meaning of “ourselves” refers to someone who is like the Prophet’s own self, and according to the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) compliance in that instance, the only example of this was the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (a.s.) who, in this respect, enjoys superiority over all previous prophets.

Participation in the mutual imprecation had a condition that only these individuals possessed, which was the effect of their saying “amen” alongside the supplication. Or it was the effect of these special companions in giving confidence to the opposing side about the truthfulness of the one proposing the mutual imprecation. The point is that the central figure and main person responsible for the mutual imprecation was the Prophet (s.a.w.), and the companions came to the scene to say “amen,” not to supplicate or make the call themselves. Of course, the companions’ utterance of “amen” was effective in the acceptance of the supplication, because whoever’s utterance of “amen” is accepted, their supplication is also accepted.

The Prophet (s.a.w.) came to the scene of mutual imprecation with his dearest relatives and said: We leave the matter to God and through humble supplication we call God’s curse upon the liars; meaning we will ask God through supplication for a miracle in favor of the group of truth and against the group of falsehood, and specifically request the descent of punishment for the liars.

The mutual imprecation (mubāhala) is meant to uproot those liars, because the continuation of every being depends on special divine grace and mercy, and with cursing, meaning the withdrawal of this grace and mercy, that being is uprooted.

When he said: “We will place God’s curse,” this indicates the certainty of the response, because those holy essences are manifestations of divine love and wrath.

The Prophet’s (s.a.w.) claim is that God has no partner and that Jesus Christ (a.s.) is God’s servant whom He sent as a prophet. In this claim, either you are lying or we are, and we place God’s curse upon the liars. This curse, as mentioned, is a punishment of eradication, and not every liar deserves such punishment. The definite article in “the liars” (al-kādhibīn) is for a specific reference, not for generalization or category, and refers to one who knowingly lies; meaning someone who knows the truth yet lies and whose work is lying.

In the invitation to mutual imprecation, it was not said “let us perform mutual imprecation so that God destroys you,” but rather it was said with fairness and courtesy: "let us perform mutual imprecation so that God destroys the liars, whoever they might be."

The mutual imprecation is a living and eternal miracle, and the possibility of mutual imprecation for others could also justify the plural form of “liars.”