Could Not Answer

A committee of Christians from Nejrân came to our master, Rasûlullah ‘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 Rasûlullah ‘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. Rasûlullah ‘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. Rasûlullah ‘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.

Rasûlullah ‘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.”

Rasûlullah, “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.]

Rasûlullah, “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.”

Rasûlullah, “Our Rabb created Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ as He willed, didn’t He?”

They said, “Yes, He did.”

Rasûlullah, “Our Rabb does not eat or drink. No change occurs in Him. Do you know this, too?”

They said, “Yes, we do.”

Rasûlullah, “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.”

Rasûlullah, “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’?”

Rasûlullah said, “Yes, (I do).”

They said, “Then this will be enough for us,” and resumed their stubborn stance.

Upon this, Allâhu ta’âlâ ordered (Rasûlullah) to challenge them to mubâhala (cursing one another). So Rasûlullah ‘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 sûra. 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 As-hâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihimur-ridwân’ awaited in submissive silence, eager to know who would be honoured with the exalted Prophet’s trust, Rasûlullah ‘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 Rasûlullah ‘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, 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!