Abu Ishaq said: “It reached me that a man once came to ʿAmr and said, ‘I am under obligation to emancipate a slave from the offspring of Ishmael.’ ʿAmr replied, ‘I know of none who fit that description except al-Hasan and al-Husayn.’ I (the narrator) said, ‘I could not grasp the point of this.’ (1)

Ibrahim ibn Nafiʿ transmitted from ʿAmr ibn Dinar, who said: “Whenever a person came to Ibn ʿUmar saying, ‘I must set free a slave of the children of Ishmael,’ he would tell him, ‘Fulfil it through al-Hasan and al-Husayn.’”

Hawdha related to us—ʿAwf, from al-Azraq ibn Qays—who said: “The bishop of Najran and the ʿAqib (2) arrived before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He invited them to embrace Islam, but they responded, ‘We were Muslims before you.’ He said, ‘You lie! Three things have barred Islam from you: your claim that Allah has taken a son, your eating of pork, and your prostration before the idol.’

“They asked, ‘Then who is Abu ʿIsa?’ The Prophet did not know until Allah revealed: ‘Indeed, the likeness of Jesus in the sight of Allah is like that of Adam…’ up to His words: ‘Indeed, this is the true account.’ [Aal ʿImran 59–63]

“He then called them to mutual imprecation (mubāhala) (3); he took the hand of Fatimah, al-Hasan and al-Husayn and declared, ‘These are my children.’ One of the two consulted privately with the other and said, ‘Do not engage him in mubāhala; if he is a prophet, none of us will remain.’

“So they said, ‘We desire neither Islam nor mubāhala with you. Is there a third option?’ He answered, ‘Yes: the jizyah (tribute).’ They agreed to it and went back home. (4)