Therefore...

Therefore, if he must involve himself and them together in a mubahala , he is most likely to think twice, and to withdraw from it if he has the slightest doubt in his claims. Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (d.

728 H) agrees: والنفوس تحنوا على أقاربها مالا تحنوا على غيرهم وكانوا يعلمون انه رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم ويعلمون انهم أن باهلوه نزلت البهلة عليهم وعلى أقاربهم واجتمع خوفهم على أنفسهم وعلى أقاربهم فكان ذلك أبلغ في امتناعهم و إلا فالإنسان قد يختار أن يهلك ويحيا ابنه والشيخ الكبير قد يختار الموت إذا بقى أقاربه في نعمة ومال وهذا موجود كثير The hearts (lit: the souls) care for their closest people what they do not care for others .

They (the non-Muslim disputants) knew that he was the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and they knew that if they did mubahala with him, curse would descend upon them and upon their closest people. So, their fear over themselves became combined with their fear over their closest people. This caused their withdrawal (from the mubahala ). Otherwise, the human being prefers to lose his life in order to save his son from death (if the need arises).

Moreover, the old man prefers death if his closest people will be in comfort and wealth. And this is very common.[^2] In simple words, each party in the mubahala was to involve in it the people closest to his heart, those people whom he cared most for. So, who were the closest persons to the heart of the Messenger of Allah during his lifetime?

This is where trouble sets in for our dear Shaykh: فعلم انه أراد الأقربين إلينا من الذكور والإناث من الأولاد والعصبة ولهذا دعا الحسن والحسين من الأبناء ودعا فاطمة من النساء ودعا عليا من رجاله ولم يكن عنده أحد أقرب إليه نسبا من هؤلاء وهم الذين أدار عليهم الكساء والمباهلة إنما تحصل بالأقربين إليه و إلا فلو بأهلهم بالابعدين في النسب وان كانوا أفضل عند الله لم يحصل المقصود فان المراد انهم يدعون الأقربين كما يدعوا هو الأقرب إليه Know that He (Allah in the Verse of al-Mubahala ) intended the closest people to us - males and females – from the children and the blood relatives.

This was why he called al-Hasan and al-Husayn from the sons and called Faṭimah from the women and called ‘Ali from his men. There was no one else who was closer to him, in terms of blood relationship, than these people . They were those over whom he spread the kisa (cloak), AND THE MUBAHALA WOULD ONLY SUCCEED THROUGH THE CLOSEST OF PEOPLE TO HIM .