54 – ÎSÂ (ALAIHISSALÂM) WAS A HUMAN BEING; HE CANNOT BE WORSHIPPED

A commission of Christians from Najrân visited our master Rasûlullah. Najrân was a city between Hijâz and Yemen. They consisted of sixty cavalrymen, twenty-four of whom were their superiors. However, only three of them held the most superior ranks. Their chief was Abdulmasîh. Of them, Abulhâris bin Alqama was the most learned. He had read about the symptoms of the Last Prophet in the Injîl. But, because he was fond of his worldly rank and fame, he had not converted to Islâm. Being well-known for his knowledge, he used to be favoured by the kaisers and used to control many churches. At any rate, these Christians came to Madina and, after the afternoon prayer, entered Masjîd-i sharîf. They wore the ornamented dresses of priests. It being the time for them to pray, they stood up to pray in Masjîd-i sharîf and Rasûlullah said, “Let them pray.” They performed it turning towards the east. Their three superiors began to talk. In the course of their conversation, once they said, “Allah,” at another time they said, “the Son of Allah,” and at another time they said, “one of the three gods,” referring to Hadrat Îsâ. They said that they called him Allah because he used to enliven the dead, cure the sick, communicate the unknown, and because he used to make birds out of mud, which flew when he blew into them. They said that they called him the Son of Allah because he did not have a certain father. And they said that he was one of the three, because Allah said, “We made, we created.” If He was one, He would have said, “I made, I created.” Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ invited them to the religion. He read some âyats. They did not believe him. They said, “We believed before you did.” Rasûlullah said, “You are lying! He who says that Allah has a son does not have îmân.” They asked, “If he is not the son of Allah, who is his father then?”

Rasûlullah: Don’t you know that Allahu ta’âlâ never dies, and He is the only one who keeps everything in existence? As for Hadrat Îsâ he was non-existent, and he will cease to exist.

They: Yes, we know.

Ra.: Do you know of any offspring which is not like its father?

They: Every child is like its father. [A young sheep is like a sheep].

Ra.: Don’t you know that our Allah creates, grows and feeds

-215-

everything? But Hadrat Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ did not use to do any of these.

They: Yes. He did not do so.

Ra.: Our Allah created Hadrat Îsâ as He wished, didn’t He?

They: Yes, He did.

Ra.: Our Allah does not eat, drink or change; do you know this, too?

They: Yes, we do.

Ra.: Hadrat Îsâ had a mother. He was born like any child. He used to eat, drink and get rid of harmful substances. You know this too, don’t you?

They: Yes, we do.

Ra.: Then, how can Hadrat Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ be as you suppose him to be?

They said nothing. They kept silent. After a while:

They: O Muhammad! Don’t you say that he is the word of Allah, and a soul from Him?

“Yes,” said Rasûlullah.

Then, “This is enough for us,” they said obstinately.

Upon this, Allahu ta’âlâ ordered him to invite them to mubâhala^[1]. So Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ said to them, “Well, if you don’t believe me, let us do mubâhala. That is, let us say, ’May Allahu ta’âlâ curse the one among us who is lying.” This command of Allah’s is communicated in the sixty-first âyat of Sûrat-u Âl-i ’Imrân. Sherhabîl, whom they called sayyed, convened them and said, “Every behavior of his proves that he is the Prophet. If we do mubâhala with him, neither we nor our descendants will escape its result. We’ll certainly suffer a great calamity!” They abstained from doing mubâhala and said, “O Muhammad! We love you. We will give you whatever you want. Send a trustworthy person from among your Ashâb with us; we will pay him our taxes!”

Our prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ took an oath that he would send with them a very trustworthy person. The Âshâb-i kirâm ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’ were anxious to know who would be

------------------------------------

[1] When two persons do not believe each other, they say, “May Allah curse the one among us who is lying.” The one who is unjust will not accede to doing so. This process is called mubâhala.

-216-

honoured with being trustworthy. Rasûlullah declared: “Stand up! O Abâ Ubayda!” Saying, “This is a trustworthy one from among my Ummat.” He sent him with them.

The article of peace was as follows: They would give two thousand dresses each year. A thousand of them would be delivered in the month of Rajab and the other one thousand in Safer. Together with every dress, forty dirhem (135 grams) of silver would be delivered. Latter, Abdulmasîh, their chief, and Sharhabîl, their sayyed, converted to Islâm, and thereby were honoured with being in the service of Rasûlullah (sall Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam).  

-217-