Eid al-Mubahila: The Day Truth Stood Unshaken
How the Prophet (S) and His Pure Household Silenced Falsehood with a Divine Challenge
In the year 631 CE, an extraordinary event unfolded outside the city of Madinah. It was not a battle of swords, but of truth. Known as the Event of Mubahila, this encounter between Prophet Muhammad (S) and a Christian delegation from Najran marked a turning point in interfaith dialogue — one that would forever honour the status of the Ahlul Bayt (AS) and confirm the Prophet’s unwavering truthfulness.
🌿 The Challenge of Mubahila
As recorded in Surah Aal-e-Imran, the Prophet was commanded by Allah to invoke a Mubahila — a mutual invocation of divine curse — when discussions with the Christians of Najran reached a theological deadlock over the nature of Prophet Isa (Jesus, peace be upon him).
"Then whoever argues with you about it after [this] knowledge has come to you—say, 'Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then let us pray and invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars.'"
(Quran, Surah al-i-Imraan, Chapter 3, The Family of Imran, Verse 61)
This verse forms the bedrock of the Mubahila and is universally agreed upon in both Sunni and Shia tafsir. However, the Shia tradition particularly emphasises who the Prophet brought with him.
🌟 Who Represented Truth?
Rather than bringing a large delegation, the Prophet (S) arrived with only four individuals:
Imam Ali (AS) — referred to as "ourselves" (anfusana)
Lady Fatima (SA) — "our women" (nisa’ana)
Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husayn (AS) — "our sons" (abna’ana)
This moment is preserved in numerous hadiths and tafsir, including:
Tafsir al-Qummi, which states:
“By ‘our sons’, he meant Hasan and Husayn; by ‘our women’, Fatima; and by ‘ourselves’, Ali ibn Abi Talib.”Al-Ihtijaj by Shaykh al-Tabrisi, which records the full exchange and its peaceful resolution.
This choice was not just symbolic — it was divine authentication of the purity and truthfulness of the Ahlul Bayt.
🕊️ A Victory of Light, Not War
Seeing these radiant faces, the Christians of Najran recoiled in awe. One among them reportedly said:
“I see faces that if they ask Allah to move a mountain, it would move. Do not engage in this Mubahila, lest you be destroyed.”
They chose peace — agreeing to pay the jizya (tax) and live under Islamic protection — a diplomatic and spiritual victory for Islam.
🎉 Why Shia Muslims Celebrate Eid al-Mubahila
For Shia Muslims, Eid al-Mubahila is more than a historical episode — it is a celebration of:
The spiritual authority of the Ahlul Bayt (AS)
The truthful position of the Prophet (S)
The power of dialogue and divine reliance in resolving disputes
It stands as a clear Quranic endorsement of the Five Pure Ones (Ahlul Kisa) and affirms that Imam Ali (AS) was counted by the Prophet as his very self — a central pillar in the Shia understanding of Imamah.