Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:61
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 supplicate earnestly [together] and invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars [among us]."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word: فَمَنْ حَاجَّكَ فِيهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْا نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءَنَا وَأَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَنِسَاءَنَا وَنِسَاءَكُمْ وَأَنْفُسَنَا وَأَنْفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَلْ لَعْنَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ ("Whoever then disputes with you concerning him, after the knowledge has come to you, say: Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves; then let us pray earnestly and invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars.") (61)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by His word "Whoever then disputes with you concerning him": whoever then disputes with you, O Muḥammad, concerning the Messiah ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam.
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And the "hu" (him) in His word "concerning him" refers back to the mention of ʿĪsā. It is also permissible that it refers back to "the truth," of which He — exalted is His mention — said: الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّكَ ("The truth is from your Lord").
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And He means by His word "after the knowledge has come to you": after the knowledge has come to you that I have clarified to you concerning ʿĪsā, namely that he is a servant of Allah. "Say then: Come" — come hither, that we may call. "Our sons and your sons, our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves; then let us pray earnestly" — He says: then let us curse one another.
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One says in the language: "What is the matter with him? Bahala-hu Allāh," that is: may Allah curse him. And "What is the matter with him? Upon him be buhlatu Allāh," by which the curse is meant. Labīd said — and he mentioned a people that had perished —, he said:
* "Time looked upon them, and it prayed (fa-btahala)" *
that is: it invoked destruction upon them.
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"And invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars" — among us and among you, concerning the question of who he, ʿĪsā, is. As:
7171 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "Whoever then disputes with you concerning him after the knowledge has come to you," that is: concerning ʿĪsā, namely that he is a servant of Allah and His messenger, from the word of Allah and a spirit from Him. "Say then: Come, let us call our sons and your sons," up to His word: "upon the liars."
7172 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: "Whoever then disputes with you concerning him after the knowledge has come to you," that is: after I have recounted to you his report, and how his affair was. "Say then: Come, let us call our sons and your sons," the verse.
7173 - He related to us, on the authority of ʿAmmār, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word: "Whoever then disputes with you concerning him after the knowledge has come to you," he says: whoever disputes with you concerning ʿĪsā after the knowledge thereof has come to you.
7174 - Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: "Then let us pray earnestly and invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars," he said: among us and among you.
7175 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: and Ibn Lahīʿa related to me, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Ziyād al-Ḥaḍramī, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Jazʾ al-Zubaydī, that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying: "Would that there were between me and the people of Najrān a partition, so that I would not see them and they would not see me!" — because of the severity with which they used to dispute with the Prophet (ﷺ).
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