Mubahila

The Event of Mubahala was a meeting between the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a Christian delegation from Najran (present-day Yemen), in the month of Dhu'l-Hijja, 10 AH (October 631, October 631-2, October 632-3), where Muhammad invoked a curse attempting to reveal who was lying about their religious differences.

The initial effort was to invite the Najrani Christians to Islam and acknowledgement of Muhammad as a prophet. During religious discussions of similarities and differences, the topic of the divinity of ‘Īsā (Arabic: عِـيْـسَى‎‎, Jesus) arose. The Christians refused to accept Muhammad's teachings about Christ and refused denying their beliefs. Muhammad invoked a mubahala (prayer curse) regarding their refusal, and included his children and wives in the call to invoke a curse.

According to a hadith in Bihar al-Anwar, Mohammad brought only selected members of his family, Husayn, Hasan, Fatimah and Ali. The Christians were surprised, according to the traditions, and decided not to invoke a curse on Muhammad and the others, and instead asked for peace, offering Muhammad tribute in return for protection. Islamic sources offer various explanations of this outcome. Some of them suggest that the Christians would have perished by the end of the year if they had entered into the imprecations. According to Islamic tradition, this event is considered a victory over Christianity.

The event is commemorated annually on 24 Dhu al-Hijjah by Shia and is an inceptual argument for Shia Muslims in proving that Ahl al-Kisā’ (Arabic: أَهْـل الـكِـسَـاء‎‎, People of the Cloak) are the Ahl al-Bayṫ (Arabic: أَهْـل الـبَـيْـت‎‎, People of the Household [of Muhammad]) mentioned in the Quran.

...
Wikipedia