The Verse of Malediction (Mubahalah)

"... come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our near people and your near people,..."

Holy Qur'an (3:61)

The exegetes, in explaining the cause of the revealation of this verse known as the verse of al-Mubahalah (malediction), say that the Christians of Najran agreed with the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) to pray to Allah to kill the party which espoused falsehood. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.), went out accompanied only by his family; Fatimah, Imams Ali, Hasan and Hussein (a.s.) to the contest. When the Christians saw the blessed faces which the Messenger (s.a.w.) had brought with him to pray to Allah for death on the liars, they backed out offering some excuse. They yielded to his authority and paid him the jizyah (a tax paid by the non-Muslims who live in the Islamic state).

As we can see, the holy verse calls Imams Hasan and Hussein (a.s.) "our sons", and the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and Imam Ali (a.s.) "ourselves", while Her Holiness Fatimah Al-Zahra' (a.s.) represented the women of all the Muslims, as she is called "our women". It is a frank, and incontrovertible proof of the great stature of Ahlul-Bait in the eyes of Allah and His Messenger (s.a.w.).

Adapted from the book: "Imam Hasan bin Ali (a.s.)" by: "Al-Balagh Foundation"