WHY DOES NOBODY SPEAK ABOUT MUBAHILA?

WHY DOES NOBODY SPEAK ABOUT MUBAHILA? Eid ul Mubahila lecture delivered by Mowlana Syed Aftab Haider on 14 September 2017 (24th night of Dhul Hijja 1438) at the Ahlul Bait (a.s) Islamic Centre, Ottery, Cape Town But whoever disputes 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 and our near people and your near people, then let us be earnest in prayer, and pray for the curse of Allah on the liars. Holy Quran: Surah aal-imraan (chapter 3; verse 61) We offer choicest blessings and congratulations on this auspicious occasion in this month of Dhul Hijja, referred to in the Holy Quran and history as Mubahila. WHAT IS MUBAHILA? On this 24th day of Dhul Hijja, we celebrate a historic moment in Islamic history where our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWAS) received a high profile delegation of Christian priests from the city of Najran, which is located near the border with Yemen. They came to meet our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWAS) in Medina and their purpose was to validate his authenticity as the final Prophet of Allah (SWT). This meeting continued for a few days and our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWAS) very clearly proved to them that the message which he brought was Divinely authentic and that he is the final messenger of Almighty Allah (SWT). Their belief as Jesus as the son of God is not correct, and inconsistent with the teachings of Almighty Allah (SWT) but somehow they continued to debate with Rasulullah (SAWAS). They did not surrender to the logic and evidence which was provided to them. Amongst this situation, we find that the above verse was revealed. Rasulullah (SAWAS) conveyed this verse to the Christian delegation when it was revealed to him, as being the command of Almighty Allah (SWT). So, the intent was for the Christian delegation to meet Rasulullah (SAWAS) the following day, in the open field, and raise their hands in prayer, and that the curse of Allah (SWT) be on the ones who are lying. Everyone was naturally keen to see this Mubahila take place, with special curiosity on whom Rasulullah (SAWAS) will include in his special delegation to represent himself, his women and his sons, as requested in this verse of the Holy Quran. 1 / 5

He arrives in the open field and is accompanied by his 2 grandchildren, Imams Hassan and Husayn (a.s). Behind him was his beloved daughter Lady Fatima (s.a) and bringing up the rear was Imam Ali (a.s). This is how Rasulullah (SAWAS) arrived for the event of Mubahila described above. On the other side, when the Christian delegation witnessed this, they confessed that the supreme spiritual status of the faces they are seeing will render the religion of Christianity to become extinct if these people raise their hands in prayer for the curse of Allah (SWT) to be on them if their beliefs are not true! As a result, the Christian delegation refused to enter this situation and surrendered. Rasulullah (SAWAS) gave them 2 options now. They should either accept Islam or they should pay a protection tax, whereby they can continue with their beliefs. IBN TAYMIYYAH ON MUBAHILA First of all, the very important question is about the authenticity of this story of Mubahila. Did Rasulullah (SAWAS) really bring Imams Hassan and Hussain (a.s), Lady Fatima (s.a) and Imam Ali (a.s)? How authentic is this narration? Ibn Taymiyyah is amongst the worst enemies of Ahlul Bait (a.s) and their followers, and can truly be coined as the ideological forefather of the extremist Wahhabi dogma. His life was dedicated to promoting hate and to nullify the virtues Ahlul Bait (a.s), removing their esteemed place in history. Ibn Taymiyyah is on record as claiming that the authenticity of this incident of Mubahila is impossible to deny. This should be sufficient to address any question on the validity of the narration of Mubahila! Across the generations of extremist Wahhabi doctrine, we see that this narration of Mubahila remains intact and beyond reproach. However, there is no consensus when it comes to understanding it! DOES MUBAHILA PROVE THE LEADERSHIP OF AHLUL BAIT (A.S)? Those who deny the supreme status of Ahlul Bait (a.s) argue that this narration does not prove anything, as Almighty Allah (SWT) commanded our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWAS) to bring his children, his women, and himself, so what is the big deal that he chose Imams Hassan and Hussain (a.s), Lady Fatima (s.a) and Imam Ali (a.s) respectively? As a result, according to them, it does not give any prominence or conclusion on Imamat (leadership) which we as Shia want to take! This event of Mubahila challenges the basic conscience of people! Let us assume that this verse of this Holy Quran and the narration of the event of Mubahila as its reference do not prove any virtue or priority for Ahlul Bait (a.s) over anybody else. One thing 2 / 5

is for sure though, namely that Islam became victorious over Christianity on this Day of Mubahila! Islam s validity and authenticity was acknowledged on this day, as the head of the Christian church surrendered and did not enter into this challenge of Mubahila. In their hate for Ahlul Bait (a.s), they forget that this is the Day of Islam s victory! In principle this day proves the victory of Islam, regardless of whether you accept this event as proving the superiority of Ahlul Bait (a.s) or not. Why do mainstream Muslims not speak about this event? Have you ever heard anybody speaking about Mubahila? Why? Why the silence if this is the day of Islam s victory? Why do mainstream Muslims hide this victorious day which we should ALL be proud of? It truly boggles the mind how these overwhelmingly recorded incidents of Ghadier and Mubahila are completely sidelined!! This is called prejudice, which makes one blind! UNDERSTANDING VERSE 61 OF SURAH AAL-IMRAAN (CHAPTER 3 OF THE HOLY QURAN) This verse says that rational, logical, intellectual, evidence based dialogue did not work. Everything was proven to them but they were not ready to surrender. What to do now? The only solution is to seek the direct intervention of Almighty Allah (SWT), which requires one to approach Allah (SWT) with the most sincere intentions and with the MOST PIOUS PEOPLE with the surety that Allah (SWT) will not reject your request. The same Wahhabi Ulema who agree with the authenticity of the narration of Mubahila agree that Mubahila can be resorted to even by us if our evidence based, rational arguments do not work. One of the major conditions that they outline for us doing Mubahila is that it must be done by the most pious people, with the highest degree of sincerity because it is a very sensitive issue. In other words, those who raise their hands in Dua should have hands without sins, and therefore, hands which Allah (SWT) cannot reject! So, today we are saying that this is the critical condition for Mubahila, but when Rasulullah (SAWAS) brought his Ahlul Bait (a.s) for Mubahila, we say it was nothing major and does not prove their special status? How does one explain this double-standard? Let us look at this in the context of the serious challenge we are currently facing with droughts. Various organisations have arranged communal prayers for rain on different Sundays, called Salatul Istisqa. We have found that not everybody s humble appeal to Allah (SWT) for rain was successful, but when a few raindrops emerged in the subsequent days then those organisations who felt successful in the endeavour would think that their religiosity is superior to others. Amazingly, they use a few drops of rain to prove that they are better than others, but deny the supreme status of Ahlul Bait (a.s) when they prayed at Mubahila, not for a few raindrops, but to protect the whole of Islam! The life of Islam was on the line that day! WHY DID RASULULLAH (SAWAS) BRING HIS FAMILY TO SAVE ISLAM AT MUBAHILA? 3 / 5

This verse asks Rasulullah (SAWAS) to bring his children, which is not in the biological context only. There were so many innocent children at that time for him to choose from, and he could have taken so many in the hope that the dua (supplication) of one of them will be accepted. In Arabic, plural refers to 3 and more. Amazingly, we see over here that Rasulullah (SAWAS) brings 2 children! The verse continues by requesting that Rasulullah (SAWAS) brings his women. Again plural! But Rasulullah (SAWAS) only brought 1 woman! We respect all the wives of Rasulullah (SAWAS) as they are regarded as mothers of the Ummah. Respect is one thing, but here Rasulullah (SAWAS) is requested to bring forth his women. Amazingly, Rasulullah (SAWAS) could have chosen from different women in his house, but instead left them all behind and chose only one woman, namely Lady Fatima (s.a) as she is the Leader of all the women of the world, from the beginning of time until the end. Then, the verse continues by requesting Rasulullah (SAWAS) to bring himself. Now the situation becomes even more serious. Important to note that this request is not to bring his men! It requests for him to bring himself. This is unanimous across all translations and commentaries of the Holy Quran. Rasulullah (SAWAS) brings one person to represent himself. Again, from all the choices at his disposal he chooses Ali ibn abi Talib (a.s). What does this mean? It means that there is only one person on whom the self of Rasulullah (SAWAS) can apply, and that is none other than Ali ibni abi Talib (a.s)! This shows the status and closeness of Imam Ali (a.s) to Rasulullah (SAWAS), such that he is seen by Rasulullah (SAWAS) as his self. SA AD IBNI ABI WAQQAS EXPLAINS THE SUPREME STATUS OF AHLUL BAIT (A.S) Sahih Muslim narrates from Aamir, who is the son of Sa ad ibni abi Waqqas, a prominent Sahabi (companion of Prophet Muhammad (SAWAS)). He was from the first generation of Muslims and even led one of the battles. Aamir is recorded to have said that Muawiya asked his father Sa ad, what stops him from cursing Imam Ali (a.s). Sa ad responded to Muawiya that Rasulullah (SAWAS) mentioned 3 specific matters relating to Imam Ali (a.s), and therefore he cannot curse him. Why? Sa ad explains that if he had only one of those 3 things then it is better for him than the very expensive red-haired camels. What are these 3 matters? Sa ad says that he heard from Rasulullah (SAWAS) saying when he left for one of the battles that Ali (a.s) is to him like Harun is to Musa (a.s), except that there will be no prophet after him. He says this is one quality of Ali (a.s) that he wishes he could have. 4 / 5

The second quality is that Sa ad heard from Rasulullah (SAWAS) say to Imam Ali (a.s) on the day of Khayber, that he will indeed give the flag to someone who undoubtedly loves Allah (SWT) and Rasulullah (SAWAS), and that love is reciprocated by them. Sa ad says that this created some healthy competition amongst them, hoping that they can carry the flag! Then Rasulullah (SAWAS) requested them to bring Ali (a.s) forward as the flagbearer and on that basis Islam gained victory at Ali s (a.s) hands. The third quality that Sahih Muslim has recorded from Sa ad is that when the verse of Mubahila (refer above) was revealed, Rasulullah (SAWAS) brought forward Hassan and Hussain (a.s), Fatima (s.a) and Ali (a.s) and said O Allah (SWT) they are my Ahlul Bait (a.s)! Can we even question the supreme virtue and superiority of Ahlul Bait (a.s) over everybody else? Sa ad ibni abi Waqqas is answering this question 14 centuries ago! Also bear in mind that he was not a close friend of Ali (a.s) and the Ahlul Bait (a.s) either! In fact, his son, Umar ibn Sa ad was the commander of the army in the battlefield of Karbala, responsible for the killing of Imam Husayn (a.s)! This is Sa ad ibni abi Waqqas explaining why he cannot curse Ali (a.s). LOVE FOR AHLUL BAIT (A.S) IS OUR SALVATION! The virtues and magnanimity of Ahlul Bait (a.s) are so vast that it is impossible to deny, except if you are trying to be as irrational as possible. Nothing can help you if that is the case because love of Ahlul Bait (a.s) is deeply entrenched in one s heart, and hate of Ahlul Bait (a.s) is unfortunately a disease which is incurable! This love of Ahlul Bait (a.s) is not restricted to one particular school of thought. Rather, it is the single point of reference and commonality shared by all Muslims, except those who suffer from the disease of hate. Therefore, when we celebrate days like Mubahila, it is certainly not about trying to score points as Shia. Furthermore, it is also recorded that the verse of Ahlul Bait (a.s) was revealed on this day: Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying. Holy Quran: verse 33 of Surah Ahzab (chapter 33) May this Day of Mubahila reaffirm our love and commitment to the supremacy of Ahlul Bait (a.s) and using them as our ideal leaders and guides. 5 / 5