A committee of Christians from Nejrân came to
our master, Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’. Nejrân is a city between
Hidjâz and Yemen. They were sixty horsemen, twenty-four of whom were eminent
chiefs. Their spokesman was named Abdulmesîh. A man named Abdulhâris bin Alqama
was the most learned one among them. He had read about the signs of the latest
time’s Prophet in the Bible. Yet
his aspiration for worldly ranks and ambition for fame would not let him become
a Muslim. Being well-known for his knowledge, he was revered by kaisers and
obeyed by churches. They arrived in Medina and entered the Mesjîd-i-sherîf
after the late afternoon prayer. They wore adorned priestly garments. It being
their time for prayer, they stood for prayer in the Mesjîd-i-sherîf, and
Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ said, “Let them pray.” They performed
their prayer eastwards. Their three leaders began to talk. During the
conversation, they referred to Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ now as ‘God’, then as the
‘Son of God’, now as ‘One of Three Gods.’ They called him ‘God’ “because,” they
said, “he resuscitated the dead, cured ill people, informed about the unknown,
made birds from mud, breathed life into them and made them fly.” He was called
the ‘Son of God’ because “he did not have a father.” He was, according to them,
“One of Three Gods,” because “God Himself uses such expressions as ‘We have
made,’ ‘We have created.’ If He were one, He would say. ‘I have made,’ ‘I have
created,’ ” they said. Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ invited them to
the (Islamic) religion. He recited a few âyat-i-kerîmas. They would not
believe. “We had believed before you did,” they said. Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu
alaihi wasallam’ said, “You are lying! A
person who says that Allah has a son
cannot have believed.” “If he is not the Son of God, then who
is his father,” they said.
Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’
stated, “Do not you
know? Allâhu ta’âlâ never dies, and He, alone, keeps everything in existence.
But Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ was nonexistent, and he shall cease to exist again.”
They said, “Yes, we know.”
Rasűlullah, “Do not you know? Is there any child which is unlike
its father?”
They said, “Every child will resemble its
father. [The young of a sheep will be like the sheep.]
Rasűlullah, “Do not you know? Our Rabb (Allâhu
ta’âlâ) creates,
grows, sustains everything. Yet Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ did not do any of these.”
They said, “No, he did not.”
Rasűlullah, “Our Rabb created Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ as He willed,
didn’t He?”
They said, “Yes, He did.”
Rasűlullah, “Our Rabb does not eat or drink. No change occurs in Him.
Do you know this, too?”
They said, “Yes, we do.”
Rasűlullah, “Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ had a mother. He came to the world like
any other child. He was fed like other children. He would eat, drink, and
dispose of waste matter. You know this, too, don’t you?”
They said, “Yes, we do.”
Rasűlullah, “Then, how could Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ be as you think
he is?”
They could not answer and remained silent for
a while. Then they said:
“O Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’! Don’t you say
that Jesus is ‘The Word of Allah, and a Soul from Him’?”
Rasűlullah said, “Yes, (I do).”
They said, “Then this will be enough for us,”
and resumed their stubborn stance.
Upon this, Allâhu ta’âlâ ordered (Rasűlullah)
to challenge them to mubâhala (cursing one another). So Rasűlullah ‘sallallâhu
alaihi wasallam’ said, “If you do not believe me, then come on and let us make
mubâhala, that is, let us say, ‘May Allâhu ta’âlâ damn him who is lying!’ ”
This commandment of
Allâhu ta’âlâ is cited in the sixty-first
âyat-i-kerîma of Âl-i-’Imrân sűra. One of them, who was named Sherhabîl and was called ‘Sayyid’ by his colleagues, convened them and said, “He evinces all
sorts of qualifications that would make him a Prophet. If we made mubâhala with him, we would certainly incur a
catastrophic scourge that would devastate not only us, but also all our
descendants!” So, being afraid to make mubâhala, they said, “O Muhammad
‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’! We want to remain friends with you. We will give
you whatever you want. Let a trustworthy person among your Sahâba accompany us
back home, and we shall give him our taxes.”
Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ stated, “I shall send an extremely trustworthy person along with
you.” As the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihimur-ridwân’
awaited in submissive silence, eager to know who would be honoured with the
exalted Prophet’s trust, Rasűlullah
‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ ordered, “Stand up, O Abâ Ubaydah!” Declaring, “This (person) is the (most) trustworthy among my Ummat (Muslims),” he sent him along with them.
A peace treaty was made under the following
terms: They were to give two thousand sets of clothing every year. One thousand
of them would be given in the (Arabic) month of Rajab, and the remaining one
thousand in the month of Safer. Forty dirhams [135 grams] of silver would be
added to each set of clothing. Sometime later Abdulmesîh, their chief, and
Sherhabîl, their Sayyid, became Muslims and were honoured with taking service
with Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam.’
The (Holy Bible), which Christians
have translated into all languages and spread all over the world, contains the
following statements in the fourth, fifth, six and seventh verses of the sixth
chapter of (Deuteronomy), (fifth book) of the Old Testament: “Hear, O Israel:
The LORD our God is one LORD:” “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all
thine heart, and with all thy soul, and all thy might.” “And these words which
I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:” “And thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children, ...” (Deut: 6-4, 5, 6, 7)
The fifth and sixth verses of the forty-fifth
chapter of the Book of Esh’iyâ (Isaiah) reads as follows: [I am the LORD, and
there is none else, there is no God beside me: ...” “That they may know from
the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am
the LORD, and there is none else.” (Is: 45-5, 6)
And it is stated in its twenty-second verse:
“Look unto me,
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and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and
there is none else.” (ibid: 45-22)
The ninth verse of its forty-sixth chapter
states: “... for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none
like me.” (ibid: 46-9) Christians’ Holy Bible says, “Allah is One. There is
nothing like Him.” They deny their own Book. May Allâhu ta’âlâ give them wisdom
and reason! May He bless them with realizing the truth, so that they will stop
deceiving themselves and misleading others!
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