The event of the () was an aborted attempt to resolve a theological dispute between Muslims and Christians circa 632 CE by invoking the curse of God upon the liars. These debates took place in Medina, located in the Arabian Peninsula, between a Christian delegation from Najran, a city in South Arabia, and the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who proposed this solution probably when their discourse had reached a deadlock concerning the nature of Jesus, human or divine.
The Christian delegation withdrew from the challenge and negotiated a peace treaty, either immediately, or when Muhammad arrived for the with his family, according to the majority of Islamic traditions. This episode has been linked to certain verses of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, particularly verse 3:61. The event is particularly significant for Shia Muslims because Muhammad was accompanied to the by his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn, who are pivotal to Shia beliefs. At the time, this event must have raised their religious rank as the partners of Muhammad in his prophetic claims.
Etymology
The word () is derived from the root verb , which means 'to curse', while the noun can mean either 'the curse' or a scarcity of water. The word can also mean 'withdrawing mercy from one who lies or engages in falsehood'. The act of () thus involves swearing a conditional curse, for instance, "May I be cursed if...," together with a purifying oath. As a last resort, remains a lawful option to resolve disputes in Islamic jurisprudence ().
Event
With the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, the Islamic prophet Muhammad wrote to nearby personages around the year 9 AH (631632 CE) and invited them to Islam. One such letter was apparently addressed at the bishops of the southern city of Najran, which hosted a Christian community. A delegation of Najrani Christians later arrived in Medina to meet with Muhammad in 8, 9, or 10 AH, perhaps to ascertain his claims to prophethood. In view of their weak ties with the Persian Empire, these and other Christians of the south were probably in a position to independently negotiate with Muhammad. By one account, the delegation was led by Abd al-Masih, Abu al-Harith ibn Alqama, and Sayyid ibn al-Harith. There a peace treaty was finally reached by which the Christians agreed to pay an annual poll-tax () but were not required to convert to Islam or partake in Muslims' military campaigns, and remained in charge of for their own affairs. This was perhaps the first such treaty in Muslim history, but also resembled the treatment of Christians elsewhere by Muhammad. It was not until the caliphate of Umar () that the Christians of Najran were expelled from the Arabian Peninsula.
In Medina, Muhammad and the Christian delegation may have also debated the nature of Jesus, human or divine, although the delegation ultimately rejected the Islamic belief that Jesus was human, as represented by verse 3:59 of the Quran, which acknowledges the miraculous birth of Jesus but rejects the Christians' belief in his divinity, "Truly the likeness of Jesus in the sight of God is that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, 'Be!' and he was." Indeed, this and some other verses of the third chapter (), perhaps even its first seventy to eighty verses, are said to have been revealed to Muhammad on this occasion. Among these is verse 3:61, sometimes known as the verse of , which instructs Muhammad to challenge his opponents to , perhaps when the debate had reached a deadlock.
The following verse 3:63, "And if they turn away, then God knows well the workers of corruption," has been interpreted as the subsequent rejection by the Christian delegation of , that is, the Islamic belief in the oneness of God.
Participants
By some reports, the delegation did not accept the challenge and instead negotiated a peace treaty with Muhammad, either because they thought possible that he was truthful in his claims, or because they were intimidated by the military might of Muslims. This is reported by the Sunni exegete Muqatil ibn Sulayman (), and by the Sunni historian Ibn Sa'd () in his . In a tradition cited by Muqatil, Muhammad reflects hypothetically that he would have taken with him to the his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, their two sons, namely, Hasan and Husayn. Ibn Sa'd writes that two leaders of the delegation later returned to Medina and converted to Islam, which might explain their earlier refusal of the .