(… say (unto him): Come! We will summon our sons and your sons…) [3:61].
Abu Sa‘d informed us> ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Zimjari> Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn Malik> ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal> his father> Husayn> Hammad ibn Salamah> Yunus> al-Hasan who said: “The two monks of Najran came to see the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and he invited them to surrender to Allah. One of them said: ‘We have surrendered to Allah before you’. He said: ‘You lie! Three things prevent you from surrendering to Allah: your prostration before the cross, your claim that Allah has a son and your consumption of wine’. They said: ‘What do you say about Jesus?’ The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not answer. But then this verse was revealed (This (which) We recite unto thee is a revelation and a wise reminder… Lo! the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam) up to Allah’s saying (… say (unto him): Come! We will summon our sons and your sons…). Then the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, challenged them to summon Allah’s curse upon the one who is lying amongst them (Mula‘anah). The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went and brought al-Hasan, al-Husayn, Fatimah and all his family and children, peace be upon them. When the two Christians left, one of them said to the other: ‘Consent to pay the Jizyah and do not agree to summon Allah’s curse on the liar’. They went back and said: ‘We agree to pay the Jizyah and abstain from summoning Allah’s curse on the liar’ ”.
‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz informed us among that which he gave us permission to narrate from him> Abu Hafs ‘Umar ibn Ahmad al-Wa‘iz> ‘Abd Allah ibn Sulayman ibn al-Ash‘ath> Yahya ibn Hatim al-‘Askari> Bishr ibn Mihran> Muhammad ibn Dinar> Dawud ibn Abi Hind> al-Sha‘bi> Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah who said: “The delegation of the people of Najran came to see the prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. The deputy chief and the master spoke with the Prophet and he invited them to surrender to Allah. They said: ‘We have surrendered to Him before you’. He said: ‘You lie! And if you wish I will inform you about that which prevents you from surrendering to Allah’. They said: ‘Do inform us!’ He said: ‘It is the love of the cross, the consumption of wine and pork’. Then he challenged them to summon Allah’s curse upon the liar amongst them. They promised to come and see him in the evening. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went and brought Fatimah, al-Hasan and al-Husayn whose hands he held, then he sent for the two men. But they refused to come and see him and agreed to pay a levied tax. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said then: ‘By Him Who has sent me with the truth, had they agreed to summon Allah’s curse on the liar, fire would have rained on the valley [where the delegation of Najran had camped]’. Then the following verse was revealed about them ((unto him): Come! We will summon our sons and your sons…)”. Al-Sha‘bi said: “our sons refer to al-Hasan and al-Husayn and our women refers to Fatimah, while ourselves refers to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be well pleased with one and all”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou