“Surely the likeness of Isa is with Allah as the likeness of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, Be, and he was.â€‌[474]
They said, “Our belief respecting Isa remains unshaken and we will neither forsake it nor acknowledge that what you say concerning Him is true. Now therefore let us make an appeal to God and let His curse be on either us that lies and let the truth be speedily manifested. And very soon the truth becomes manifest. At that time, the following verse of imprecation was revealed:

“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.â€‌[475]
The Holy Prophet (S) communicated this verse to them and told them that the Almighty Allah has commanded me to accept your suggestion about imprecation ceremony and if you agree you must do as you say. They said we shall gather tomorrow and invoke divine curse on the liars.
Sayyid Aqib and their companions now retired to their quarters out of the town where they had halted on a hill and said to one another, “Muhammad has decided such a course of action that it will decide our dispute with him. Let us see if Muhammad appears tomorrow with multitude, or with a chosen few who are the chosen ones from the pious, because this is always a small group.
If he comes with many men of worldly rank and riches, we shall be victorious; but if he comes in the manner of the prophets, then take warning by it and avoid the trial. Because it would be a sign for you. So you must see what he does.â€‌ In this way Sayyid and Aqib showed that they feared the consequences of the imprecation ceremony.

The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) brings his family members
Muhammad ordered a place between two trees to be swept, and a black cloak to be spread on the trees where at the appointed hour he took his position. Aqib and Sayyid made their appearance with their two sons, Al-Mohsin and Abdul Munim and from their wives, Sarah and Maryam. They were attended by the Christians that came with them from Najran and the riders of Bani Harith bin Kaab, all in splendid array. All the people of Medina came out with banners and making their best display to see the issue of the ordeal.
The Prophet remained in his house till the morning was considerably advanced when he proceeded to the place of divine appeal attended by Ali and Fatima, and their two sons, the young Imams, Hasan and Husain. These five illustrious persons placed themselves under the cloak which had been spread upon the trees. Then sent a man to Sayyid and Aqib to call them for the ordeal. Sayyid and Aqib appeared and demanded of the Prophet if he would make the appeal with only that young man and woman and those two boys, and not with the principal men of his nation.
He replied that he was so ordered by the Lord. At this declaration the color of Sayyid and Aqib turned pale and they went back to their companions, who inquired of them what had happened to which they made no reply. A young scholar of their party now exclaimed. “Woe be to you! You must never engage in the ordeal with them; call to mind what you read in the Jamia respecting Muhammad. Verily, you know he is true. It won’t be long for you to be transformed into apes and pigs, therefore fear God.â€‌ As they knew the young man wished them well, they were silent
The narrator says that Manzar bin Al-Qama was a brother of Abu Harith, and himself a scholar and an accomplished man. Although the Christians respected him a great extent he was not present in the assembly of Najran and he reached when they were setting out for Medina. So he also accompanied them and because he found them differing.
Now he took Sayyid and Aqib aside, and after assuring them of his sincere friendship, which they professed not to doubt, warned them that all who had ever engaged in an ordeal with a Prophet had been destroyed; reminding them at the same time all who had any knowledge of the divine books knew that Muhammad was that Prophet whom all the others had announced, with description of him and his family. And even now, open your eyes to the alarming portends of nature.
The sun is changed in appearance, the trees bow down, the birds lay their heads and spread their wings on the ground; also see the mountains shivering; through divine fear, notwithstanding they are sinless, and this is only because they see signs of impending wrath. Observe, besides, the trembling of the mountains, and smoke covering the earth, and although it is the clear season of summer, see fragments of black clouds beginning to appear.
Look, Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) have raised their hands in prayer, and are waiting for you to accept the trial by imprecation. Be assured, then if one word of imprecation proceeds from them, we shall never return to our families and possessions again, but all be destroyed. Sayyid and Aqib now trembled and were almost bereft of reason and they knew that if they went ahead with the imprecation, they would be chastised.
Manzar bin Al-Qama saw that they were fearful, so he continued: “If you become Muslims you will be safe in this world and the next; but if you want only the world and cannot forsake the rank you enjoy among your people. I have nothing to say to you. But it is not nice that you are challenging Muhammad to a divine appeal. It was due to your foolishness. Muhammad accepted your challenge and when prophets decided something, they don’t stop till they have fulfilled it.
If you intend to retreat from the appeal, do it speedily, and make peace with Muhammad for your situation is like that of the people to whom Yunus was sent who repented when the signs of divine wrath appeared.

Sayyid and Aqib send Manzar with an offer of peace
Sayyid and Aqib now commissioned Manzar to negotiate for them with Muhammad. The deputy accordingly waited on him and addressed him. Peace be on you. I testify that besides the Lord of the universe there is no Lord, and you and Isa (a.s.) are both servants of God, and sent by Him to mankind. Thus Manzar became a Muslim, and then laid the object of his mission before Muhammad, who on his part empowered Ali to conclude peace with the Christians of Najran.
Amirul Momineen (a.s.) said: May my parents be sacrificed on you, on which conditions should I make peace? The Messenger of Allah (S) said: O Abul Hasan, that which is best according to you as what you say or do is same as what I would say or do. It was stipulated that they should pay an annual tribute of two thousand good robes, and one thousand mithqal[476] of gold, one half to be delivered in the month of Mohurrum, and the other half in the month of Rajab.
Ali (a.s.) now introduced Aqib and Sayyid, who were greatly abashed, to the Prophet in whose presence they ratified the treaty to their own humiliation. Muhammad, in declaring his acceptance of the treaty, said that if his opponents had joined issue with him and those under the cloak, in the appeal by imprecation, the whole valley would have been filled with fire and the whole Christian party would have been instantly destroyed.
The Prophet and his sacred family now returned to the Masjid, where presently Jibraeel met them, saying. The most High send you salutation, and declares that His servant, Musa, with Harun and his children, made a divine appeal against Qarun who with all his party and property, were swallowed up by the earth. And if you, O Ahmad, with your family, had met in ordeal all other creatures, verily the heavens had been rent in pieces, the mountains pulverized and the earth had sunk.
But it was against My will. The Prophet immediately fell in adoration, and then raised his hands in such way that the whiteness of his armpits became apparent, and rendered thanks to God saying: “Thanks be to the giver of bountyâ€‌, thrice. People asked him the reason for happiness that was seen on his face. His Eminence replied: I have thanked the Almighty for the bounty that the Almighty Allah has mentioned about my Ahlul Bayt (a.s.). Then he mentioned the message that Jibraeel had brought.
The author says: Accounts of this Mubahila, transmitted down from hand to hand by Shia and Sunni without much difference, in many respects prove the prophethood of Muhammad, the Imamate of Ali and the exalted rank of those under the cloak. First, if the prophet had not full confidence in his own truth, he would not have been so bold in making a divine appeal, nor would he have exposed those dearest to him to imminent danger.
Second, he forewarned his opponents that if they joined issue with him in the ordeal, the wrath of God would descend upon them, and to bring on the appeal, which, if he had not been perfectly confident of success, would have only exposed his own falsehood, a result which no sensible man would have risked.
Third, the Christians backed out from Mubahila, and if they had no certainty in the veracity of the Prophet, they should not have cared for the curse of few people and they should have taken up the challenge like they used to be prepared to fight and sacrifice their blood and their families for their faith, since retreat was injurious to their own rank among their people and besides, they submitted to the humiliating terms of tribute. Fourth, all accounts declare that the Christians restrained one another from participating in the ordeal, by saying: “The truth of Muhammad is manifest, and it is evident that he is the promised prophet.â€‌
Fifth, it was proved that His Eminence, Amirul Momineen (a.s.) and Fatima, and Hasan, and Husain, next to the Prophet, were the most exalted of mankind, and dearest of all to Muhammad, as indeed is admitted by our opponents, the Sunni; for instance, by Zamakhshari, Baidhawi, Fakhruddin Razi and others.
Zamakhshari, who is the most bigoted of them all, in the book entitled Kashaf, says, “Since the Prophet challenged his enemies to a divine appeal, in order to make evident which party was true and which false, of what use it was then to bring to that trial women and children?â€‌ I answer: “His doing so proves more perfectly his own confidence and faith in his religion, than if he had made the appeal by himself alone.
For, in bringing them to the ordeal, he exposed those dearest to him - parts of his own liver - and those of all mankind he loved best, to divine curse and destruction, which he never would have done had he not been sure that his enemies were liars, and he wished them and those most dear them to be destroyed if they joined issues with him in the trial, because they are dearest of all and closer to the heart more than any others, and often it happens that a man will expose himself to death in order to protect them, for which reason they have been sometimes taken with an army to prevent flight and therefore verse communicated respecting the ordeal required their presence.â€‌
To the above Zamakhshari adds, “This is the most weighty proof possible of the exaltation of the people of the cloak, or those who were privileged to sit under it with the prophet.â€‌ So far if is evident that they were the dearest of mankind to the prophet, every man of sense must see they were the best of creatures, and in that time, next to him in excellence, for it is obvious that his love was not due to their relationship, but that those dearest to God were most beloved by himself. Now if they are better than others, it is not proper that others should take precedence over them.
Sixth, this account proves that the Imams Hasan and Husain were the children of the Prophet, for in the verse Allah, the Most High says, “Our sons and your sons,â€‌ and Muhammad introduced none but these in the ordeal. Fakhruddin Razi observes that the Shia from this verse maintain that Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) is superior to all the prophets except Muhammad, and more exalted than all companions of Muhammad, for Allah the Most High has declared in this text, “Let us call ourselves and yourselves;â€‌ the reference here not being to Muhammad, for he makes the challenge with respect to others, since a man does not call himself.
This term must therefore mean another than the Prophet, and it is agreed on all hands that no one but a woman and children was there present except, Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.), who therefore must here be denoted by the term soul or self. And as no two souls can be one and the same, the Prophet must here speak metaphorically, and a meaning which lies near the literal implication of a word is preferable to a sense which is remote.
In the case under consideration, the comparison holds in every point, except that Ali does not share with Muhammad in prophethood. And since Muhammad is superior to all other prophets. Fakhrruddin Razi states this as being held by the Shia, and answers it in the following manner: It is conceded that Muhammad is superior to Ali, and in the same way it may be proved that all the prophets are superior to all those who did not enjoy the gift of prophecy.
But he gives no answer to show that Ali is not superior to the other companions of the prophet, for the plain reason that he had none to give. And what he says respecting the superiority of the other prophets over Ali is obviously futile, for the Shia do not agree that superiority rests solely on the ground of Sunni consensus, so what is their consensus worth?
If they say that all Ummah had consensus it is not acceptable, because most Shia scholars believe that Amirul Momineen (a.s.) and the other Imams are superior to all the other prophets, with which view the authority of the Imams themselves concurs. Eighth, most Shia and Sunni traditionists concur that the party the Holy Prophet (S) brought to the ordeal were next to himself, the dearest of creatures.
More will be said on this subject in the book relating to the eminence of Ali, although what has here been stated is sufficient for one who sincerely seeks the truth. Verily God is the guide to the right path.
Notes:
[469] Surah Aale Imran 3:59
[470] Surah Aale Imran 3:61
[471] Surah Ahzab 33:33
[472] Surah Aale Imran 3:59-61
[473] Surah Aale Imran 3:64
[474] Surah Aale Imran 3:59
[475] Surah Aale Imran 3:61
[476] 1.234 grammes