Imamate in the Verse of Mubāhala in the View of Imāmīyya and Ash’arīs

The Verse of Mubāhala (prayer curse) is one of the most important Quranic verses, concerning a Mubāhala meeting between Muslims and Najran Christians, which demonstrates Prophet Muhammad’s truthfulness and the sublimed place of his household (Ahl al-Bayt). Thus, many scholars and exegetes from different Islamic denominations have discussed the verse. Given the importance of the issue, in this paper we consider the views of Imāmīyya and Ash’aris with a descriptive-analytic approach. One of the most important findings of the research is that both Ash’aris and Imāmīs acknowledge the presence of al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn, Fāṭima, and 'Alī in the event of Mubāhal, suggesting that “our sons” in the verse refers to al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, and “our women” refers to Fāṭima al-Zahrā. Moreover, Imāmīs and the majority of Ash’aris believe that “our souls” in the verse refers to ‘Alī, although some Ash’aris deny that this would assign any superiority to ‘Alī. Ash’aris are divided as regarding Imam 'Ali’s superiority: (1) priority for caliphate amounts to superiority in virtues, because it is impossible to make a less virtuous person prior to a more virtuous person, and (2) priority for caliphate is not evidence for superiority in virtues. The latter group acquiesced to the view that it is permissible to make a less virtuous person to a more virtuous person. They tried to support their view with objectionable arguments.