The Invalid Arguments of the Christians

After the conquest of Mecca, in the ninth year of the Hijra, numerous groups from near and far came to meet with the Prophet (s.a.w.) either to accept Islam or to engage in discussion and debate. For this reason, that year was called “the Year of Delegations” (ʿām al-wufūd), meaning the year of meetings between various groups and delegations with the Messenger of God (s.a.w.).(667)

One of these groups was a delegation from the Christians of Najrān,(668) characterized by their ceremonial display, pomp, and material grandeur.(669)

This verse discusses the story of mutual imprecation between the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) and this group. Due to its importance, in the previous verse which begins the story of mutual imprecation, through both affirmative “This is the truth from your Lord” and negative statements “so do not be among the skeptics”, it rejected any doubt about the truthfulness of the central figure of the mutual imprecation,(670) just as these two epistemological principles can complement the previous story, namely the miraculous birth of Jesus (a.s.).

The verse under discussion expresses the invalid argumentation of the Christians. In the Qur’an, the term “muḥājja” (“argumentation”) is frequently used for invalid matters, such as “Have you not regarded him who argued with Abraham about his Lord, because God had given him kingdom?”,(671) “O People of the Book! Why do you argue concerning Abraham?”,(672) and “His people argued with him. He said, ‘Do you argue with me concerning God?’”(673)

On this basis, in some verses of the Qur’an, the argument of the misguided is described as “dāḥiḍa” (invalid): “Those who argue concerning God, after His call has been answered, their argument stands refuted with their Lord, and upon them shall be [His] wrath, and there is a severe punishment for them”(674)

In the verse under discussion, the intended meaning of muḥājja is also its invalid instance, based on two contextual indicators: first, the statement “This is the truth from your Lord, so do not be among the skeptics”,(675) and second, the qualification “after the knowledge that has come to you.” Thus, their argumentation with the Prophet (s.a.w.) was like Nimrod’s argumentation with the Friend of God - a “ḥujjat dāḥiḍa” (“invalid argument”), meaning baseless and unfounded.