𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦.
Mohamad Mostafa Nassar
Twitter:@NassarMohamadMR
Regarding the issue of narrations of the hadiths about the witchcraft of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
Despite these hadiths about the Prophet peace be upon him being impacted by witchcraft are authentic and proven hadiths, and in the highest degree of authenticity.
Yet these hadiths have been the subject of controversy for some, and many doubts over the authenticity of these hadiths have been raised about it in old and new times.
There is no doubt that these hadith are authentic, it was agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim, and it was narrated by others from the hadith books, such as Imam Ahmad, Ibn Majah and others.
Moreover, there is no doubt that Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him was temporarily impacted by the witchcraft in his body and not in his brain, mind.
One of these Hadith for instance is the following:
Narrated `Aisha:
Magic was worked on the Prophet (ﷺ) so that he began to fancy that he was doing a thing which he was not actually doing. One day he invoked (Allah) for a long period and then said, “I feel that Allah has inspired me as how to cure myself. Two persons came to me (in my dream) and sat, one by my head and the other by my feet.
One of them asked the other, “What is the ailment of this man?” The other replied, ‘He has been bewitched” The first asked, ‘Who has bewitched him?’ The other replied, ‘Lubaid bin Al-A’sam.’ The first one asked, ‘What material has he used?’
The other replied, ‘A comb, the hair gathered on it, and the outer skin of the pollen of the male date-palm.’ The first asked, ‘Where is that?’ The other replied, ‘It is in the well of Dharwan.’
” So, the Prophet (ﷺ) went out towards the well and then returned and said to me on his return, “Its date-palms (the date-palms near the well) are like the heads of the devils.” I asked, “Did you take out those things with which the magic was worked?” He said, “No, for I have been cured by Allah and I am afraid that this action may spread evil amongst the people.” Later on, the well was filled up with earth.
Reference : Sahih al-Bukhari 3268
In-book reference: Book 59, Hadith 78
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 4, Book 54, Hadith
āhād reporting:
The deniers of the Sunnah challenge this hadith on the grounds that it is Solitary/Isolated reported ahadith, and they question Hisham ibn Urwah ibn al-Zubayr.
What those Sunnah deniers said is rejected by the scholars of Islam, simply because any solitary/isolated reported Hadith is the report narrated by one person or more and did not reach the level of “tawātur” (multiplicity of the sources of a report), and the conscious agreement of the vast majority of scholars of Islam is in agreement that, “Khabar āhād” (solitary/isolated report is fully accepted):
If the “āhād” report is authentic and has been verified, then it is a valid proof and it must be acted upon in terms of beliefs and rulings. This is in case the Islamic community accepts it or in case that there are strong signs and proofs suggesting that it is authentic.
Ahl-us-Sunnah Wa al-Jamā‘ah regard the authentic Sunnah the way they regard the Glorious Qur’an in terms of making inferences, and they use it as a proof just as they do with the Qur’an without differentiating between the “āhād” and the “mutawātir” reports in creed as well as legal issues
This means that: Hisham bin Urwah bin Al-Zubayr is one of the most trustworthy and knowledgeable of people, and none of the imams criticized him for what necessitates the refutation of his hadith.
Moreover, the hadith was narrated by others, Hisham, on the authority of Aisha, and the two Sheikh of the Two Sahihs (Bukhari and Muslim) agreed on the authenticity of this hadith.
And none of the people of hadith indicated any single error about the hadith, and the story interpretation that the prophet was temporarily impacted in his body and not his mind by the witchcraft of imagination is well-known among the scholars of, Sunnah, hadith, history, and jurists.
And these scholars of, Sunnah, hadith, history, and jurists. are the most knowledgeable people about Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him authentic hadiths much more than anyone else, especially those ignorants who deny the Authentic Sunnah.
Prophets and Messengers of Allah are Humans:
Prophets and messengers of Allah are humans, and they are not protected from illnesses, sicknesses, tests, and trails as they are our role models that we follow and know how to deal with such situations.
Hence when the Prophet peace be upon him became ill, such illnesses does not invalidate his infallibility or the infallibility of revelation, the remaining question is: Is it permissible for the prophets to be affected by witchcraft?
Does this hadith that proves that the Messenger was a bewitched man, contradicts the following noble Quranic verses?
“Or a treasure had been cast down to him, or he had had a garden from which he may eat!” And the wrongdoers say ˹to the believers˺, “You are only following a bewitched man. See
˹O Prophet˺ how they call you names!1 So they have gone so ˹far˺ astray that they cannot find the ˹Right˺ Way. “Quran (25:8-9)
And
“We know best how they listen to your recitation and what they say privately—when the wrongdoers say, “You would only be following a bewitched man. See how they call you names ˹O Prophet˺!1 So they have gone so ˹far˺ astray that they cannot find the ˹Right˺ Way.” Quran (17:47-48)
The hadith of witchcraft against the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is a sahih=authentic hadith which was narrated by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and other imams of hadith. Ahl al-Sunnah accept this story, and no one denies it except an innovator. There follows the text of the hadith, its source, its meaning, and the refutation by the scholars of those who deny it.
It was narrated that ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
A spell was put on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) until he imagined that he had done a thing when he had not done it. One day he made du’aa’ then he said: “Do you know that Allah has shown me in what lies my cure?
Two men came to me and one of them sat at my head and the other at my feet. One of them said to the other, ‘What is ailing the man?’ He said: ‘He has been bewitched.’ He said: “Who has bewitched him?’
He said: ‘Labeed ibn al-A’sam.’ He said, ‘With what?’ He said: ‘With a comb, the hair that is stuck to it, and the skin of pollen of a male date palm.
He said: ‘Where is it?’ He said, ‘In the well of Dharwan.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went out to the well, then he came back and said to ‘A’ishah when he came back: “Its date palms are like the heads of devils.” I said: “Did you take it out?” He said: “No. Allah has healed me, and I feared that that might bring evil upon the people.” Then the well was filled in.
Narrated by al-Bukhari, 3268; Muslim, 2189.
‘A comb and the hairs stuck to it and.’ The first one asked, ‘Where is that?’ The other replied, ‘(That is) in the well of Dharwan.’ ” So, Allah’s Apostle along with some of his companions went there and came back saying, “O ‘Aisha, the color of its water is like the infusion of Henna leaves.
The tops of the date-palm trees near it are like the heads of the devils.”
I asked. “O Allah’s Apostle? Why did you not show it (to the people)?” He said, “Since Allah cured me, I disliked to let evil spread among the people.” Then he ordered that the well be filled up with earth.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Al-Maazari said:
The innovators rejected this hadith and claimed that it detracted from the status of Prophethood and cast aspersions upon it.
They said: Everything that leads to that is false. And they said that accepting that meant that we could not be sure of the laws that he prescribed, because it is possible that he imagined that he was seeing Jibreel when he was not there, and that something had been revealed to him when nothing had been revealed.
Al-Maazari said: All of this is to be rejected, because the evidence that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was truthful in what he conveyed from Allah and that he was infallible in conveying it is well established.
The miracles within the Glorious Qur’an and authentic Sunnah bear witness to his truthfulness and for innovators to reject a highly ranked authentic hadith when there is clear evidence to its authenticity, such rejection would be an innovation, deviance, that can lead to a disbelief.
Regarding some worldly matters for which he was not sent, and which have nothing to do with his message, then he was exposed to the same as all other human beings, such as sickness, illnesses, and trails, which no human is immune against.
In fact, Prophets and messengers were the first to bear enormous responsibilities that came with lots of trails and tests along their Prophetic missions, which they have been our role models in how to handle such situations.
It is not far-fetched to say that he could be made to imagine something regarding worldly matters that was not true, which happened to Prophet Moses when he imagined that the robes were turned to be snakes when thrown to the ground by the magicians of Pharaoh as per Quran (20:66), whilst at the same time he was protected against such things regarding matters of religion.
Some people said that what is meant by this hadith is that he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) imagined that he had had intercourse with his wives when he had not done so.
This is something that people frequently imagine in their dreams, so it is not far-fetched to say that he could have imagined that when he was awake.
I – Ibn Hajar – say: This is what is stated clearly in the report of Ibn ‘Uyaynah that is narrated by al-Bukhari, which says: “until he thought that he had had intercourse with his wives when he had not done so.”
‘Iyaad said: Thus, it is clear that the witchcraft prevailed over his body and physical faculties, not over his, mind, discernment and beliefs…
Al-Mahlab said: The protection of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) against the devils does not mean that they would not try to harm him. In al-Sahih it is narrated that a devil wanted to spoil his prayer, but Allah protected him against him.
The same applies to witchcraft; the harm that affected him did not have any impact on his conveying of the message, rather it was akin to any other kind of sickness that afflicted him, such as having difficulty in speaking or doing certain things or experiencing illusions that did not last. Rather it passed and Allah foiled the plots of the devils. End quote.
Fath al-Baari, 10/226, 227
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
How the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was guided to treat the spell which Jews cast on him:
This has been denied by some people who said that this could not have happened to him, and they thought that it was a shortcoming and a fault.
But it is not as they think, rather it comes under the heading of sickness and pain that befell him; it is a kind of illness which befell him just as he was also affected by poison – there is no difference between the two.
It is proven in al-Saheehayn that ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
“The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was bewitched until he thought that he had had intercourse with his wives when he had not done so, and that is the worst kind of witchcraft.”
Al-Qaadi ‘Iyaad said: Witchcraft is a kind of sickness which happened to him like other kinds of sickness. That cannot be denied, and it does not detract from his Prophethood.
Regarding his imagining that he had done something when he had not done it, that does not have any impact on his truthfulness, because of the evidence to that effect and the scholarly consensus that he was protected from that. Rather it was one of the matters of this world which are not the reason for which he was sent.
And which are not the basis of his virtue and in which he was like all other human beings. It is not far-fetched to say that he might imagine some things that were not real, then things became clear to him later on, as indeed happened. End quote.
Zaad al-Ma’aad , 4/124
So, it is clear that the hadith is sahih, and that it does not detract from the status of Prophethood. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, protected his Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and made him infallible before this spell was cast, during it and afterwards.
The spell did no more than make the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) think that he had had intercourse with his wives when he had not done so; it had to do with a purely worldly matter and had nothing to do with his conveying of the message at all.
The words of the scholars quoted above are sufficient, and whoever wants to know more may refer to Fath al-Baari and Zaad al-Ma’aad.
Therefore, any views of innovators and Sunnah deniers ae rejected; Because the crystal-clear concrete evidence had been established of the sincerity, truthfulness of our beloved Prophet peace be upon him Prophethood as the last and final Prophet and messenger of Allah to mankind, and in what he communicated from Allah Exalted He, and on his infallibility in conveying the message of Islam to mankind.
And his miracles and the miracles included in the Glorious Quran are evidence bearing witness to the ratification of the Glorious Holy Qur’an.
The infallibility of the Prophet and Messenger of Allah is infallibility regarding the conveyance of revelations:
Evidence from the Glorious Quran:
“O Messenger! Convey everything revealed to you from your Lord. If you do not, then you have not delivered His message. Allah will ˹certainly˺ protect you from the people. Indeed, Allah does not guide the people who disbelieve.” Quran (5:67)
The Prophets and messengers of Allah are human beings, and what happens to normal human beings of sickness, affliction, trails, and hardships happens to them too as they are humans.
The Prophets and messengers of Allah are our role models, and such incidents and situations occurred to them, let us learn from them how to behave.
One of those ordeals that Prophet Muhammed went through was the witchcraft of imagination that our beloved Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him was temporarily impacted in his body for a short time.
And that ordeal of being impacted temporarily by the witchcraft of imagination was a blessing in disguise from Allah to Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him and to us.
Please complete the reading to the end of the article and read the lessons learned from the reality of the witchcraft that impacted the Prophet peace be upon him.
That blessing in disguise that was at the conclusion of that trail of the witchcraft incident included miracles and evidence of the truth of the prophecy of the Messenger peace be upon him.
The Prophet is human and exposed to what affect humans:
Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him is human and he is exposed like us to harm, tests, trails, verbal harm from humans like any other human, happiness, sadness and even death.
Evidence from the Glorious Quran
“And there are others who hurt the Prophet by saying, “He listens to anyone.” Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “He listens to what is best for you. He believes in Allah, has faith in the believers, and is a mercy for those who believe among you.” Those who hurt Allah’s Messenger will suffer a painful punishment.? Quran (9:61)
And
“Surely those who offend Allah1 and His Messenger2 are condemned by Allah in this world and the Hereafter. And He has prepared for them a humiliating punishment.” Quran (33:57)
The meaning of this above-mentioned noble Quranic verse, especially “those who offend Allah: is Those who anger Allah by disobeying Him and by doing what He has forbidden to them, and it is not that He, the Mighty and Majestic, be afflicted by harm from His creation in anything that He forbids.
What afflicted the Prophet peace be upon him, is a kind of witchcraft called witchcraft of imagination, meaning that he, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, was imagining the thing that he did and did not do it for a very temporary period – we would like to confirm that it was for a temporary period, and when his mind was not impacted in any way shape or form, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, he was describing what he feels with full consciousness.
And the evidence is that it was the witchcraft of imagination from the same text of the hadith, where Sayyida Aisha bint As-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with them both, says that he was imagining that he was doing something and what he did.
This does not contradict at all with the noble verses, as there is evidence from the Holy Qur’an that Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, was also afflicted with the same type of delusion.
Allah Exalted he says in the Glorious Quran:
“Moses responded, “No, you go first.” And suddenly their ropes and staffs appeared to him—by their magic—to be slithering.” Quran (20:66)
As for the unbelievers accusing the Prophet of being a bewitched man, as mentioned in the previous noble verses, it was not related this incident of being afflicted with witchcraft for a short period of time. Rather, this accusation exists before that because they accuse the Holy Qur’an itself of having magic, and the evidence from the Glorious Quran where The Arabic Pagans of Quraish Tribe used to accuse Islam and the Glorious Quran of being magic:
“saying, “This ˹Quran˺ is nothing but magic from the ancients.” Quran (74:24)
And this the habit of disbelievers also who accused the message of Prophet Moses of being Magic:
“Moses responded, “Is this what you say about the truth when it has come to you? Is this magic? Magicians will never succeed.” Quran (10:77)
The Arch Enemy of Islam al-Walid ibn al-Mughira accused the Glorious Quran of being Magic PRIOIR to the incident of the witchcraft of the Prophet:
The well known- arch enemy of Islam al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, may the curse of Allah be upon him, said in the description of the Holy Qur’an after listening to the prophet reciting the Glorious Quran: by Allah, that what he (the prophet) says (The Quran) has sweetness, and that it has sweetness is all over, and it is fruitful at the top, flooding the bottom, and that it rises and nothing rise above it, and it destroys what is below it.
The wretched Walid was fully convinced of the veracity of the Messengership of the Holy Prophet, but his anger got the better of him, and being vanquished by his arrogance and conceit, he had decided to oppose him. However, he wanted to abstain from lying openly, so that he might not be exposed to shame and disgrace.
Therefore, he pondered very carefully, and suggested that he should be labelled a ‘magician’ on the grounds that his speech causes separation between father and son, and between brothers, as it happens in the case of sorcery. He is therefore cursed repeatedly in the verses cited above.
Accusations that the Glorious Quran is being a magic are PRIOR to the witchcraft incident impacted the Prophet Temporarily:
The Arabs were falsely accusing the Prophet of being a sorcerer and that he was sent down by demons and similar fabrications, due to their inability to match the Holy Qur’an in its rhetoric
Evidence from The Quran that Arab pagans has been making such false accusations for a long time prior to the incident of the Prophet being temporarily impacted by the witchcraft of imagination
“Saying, “This ˹Quran˺ is nothing but magic from the ancients.” Quran (74:24)
And
“Saying, “This is nothing but pure magic.” Quran (37:15)
Summary:
The accusation for the Quran and Islam of being Magic from day one is not new and also means that the LATER ON incident of the witchcraft did NOT impact the Divine revelation from Allah Exalted He.
For more reading about this check here God’s Testimony: The Divine Authorship of The Qur’an
Response to the worshippers of Prophet Jesus, son of Mary, and he is innocent from them:
Before we pose the critical back breaking questions, we should start by reviewing the following passage from Luke 4:1-10
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’[b]”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’[c]”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
Questions for the worshippers of Jesus
How does the devil try to tempt your god and take him to the mountain and stop him on the roof of the temple and lead him to Jerusalem – are you drunk?
How can the created Satan control the movements of those you claim to be your god who created Satan?
Response to Atheists:
You claim your love for modern science and your trust in it and so on – we want from you one scientific, one fully verified, cross examined, peer reviewed documented evidence that proves that the universe arose from nothing and that man originated from a monkey, chimpanzee or fish – is there solid scientific evidence that is proven, fully verified, cross examined, peer reviewed documented – we do not ask you for a scientific theory.
In principle, do you know the difference between a scientific theory and a scientific fact that has been verified and verified through experience and that it is repeatable?
Your response will say that atheism has nothing to do with my questions, because atheism is simply a lack of belief in the existence of a god due to lack of evidence.
And my answer is, study the Great Qur’an and its miracles to know that it is impossible for the Prophet peace be upon him, who did not write or read, to come up the Great Qur’an from himself.
Western scientists today recognize the theory of intelligent design, with which it is impossible for hundreds of millions of random events to occur and work harmoniously without intelligent design.
The emergence of the great organized universe and the diversity of creatures are impossible without intelligent design made by our creator Allah Exalted.
The Lessons learned from the incident of the witchcraft temporarily impacted the Prophet peace be upon him
1) Evidence of the Oneness of the King of Kings, Allah, Exalted He, The Most High, and that Allah has no partner or equals in anything or in his kingdom and He does not associate anyone in His judgment, whether a close angel or a prophet.
Allah say in the Glorious Quran:
“Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Allah knows best how long they stayed. With Him ˹alone˺ is ˹the knowledge of˺ the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How perfectly He hears and sees! They have no guardian besides Him, and He shares His command with none.” Quran (18:26)
2) That the Prophet peace be upon him, was afflicted by the witchcraft of imagination, like what afflicted Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, when he saw the magicians of Pharaoh throwing their sticks, which appeared to him to have turned into snakes, but they did not turn into snakes in reality.
Allah Exalted he says in the Glorious Quran:
“Moses responded, “No, you go first.” And suddenly their ropes and staffs appeared to him—by their magic—to be slithering.” Quran (20:66)
3)The prophets are infallible in conveying the messages of God Almighty, and they are not infallible from sickness and harm. Infecting them with sickness and harm is a matter of trial, raising their ranks, and teaching us how to deal with such situations.
Allah Exalted he says in the Glorious Quran:
“O Messenger! Convey everything revealed to you from your Lord. If you do not, then you have not delivered His message. Allah will ˹certainly˺ protect you from the people. Indeed, Allah does not guide the people who disbelieve.” Quran (5:67)
4) The confirmation that the Prophet peace be upon him, is a human being who does not know the unseen except by what is revealed to him from Allah Exalted He
“Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “I am only a man like you, ˹but˺ it has been revealed to me that your God is only One God. So, whoever hopes for the meeting with their Lord, let them do good deeds and associate none in the worship of their Lord.” Quran (18:110)
And
“Say, “I am not the first messenger ever sent, nor do I know what will happen to me or you. I only follow what is revealed to me. And I am only sent with a clear warning.” Quran (46:9)
5) This story is one of the types of evidence proving the sincerity of the prophethood of the Messenger peace be upon him, as Allah revealed to him who did witchcraft, its place, and how to get rid of it and get treatment from it through the revelation of the two short chapters of chapter the daybreak= Surah Al-Falaq (113) and Chapter the Mankind= Surah An-Nas (114).
When the Prophet peace be upon him recited the two noble short chapters, he was fully and completely healed from any impact of that witchcraft. Which is a lesson for any Muslim to follow such steps and seek refuge in Allah and recite the Noble Quran, as it is prohibited to visit any magician or anyone who does not treat with the Noble Quran.
6) The story proves the historical enmity and the struggle between falsehood, represented by the Jew who performed witchcraft in Labid Ibn Al-Aasam, and the Jews and those like him, and between the truth, represented by the person of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and Islam.
7) Only fools who denigrate the sincerity of the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him, because of this story, are in fact deaf, dumb, and blind, so they do not understand.
Let us give a simple example.
If any of us, or for example a doctor who holds a doctorate in medicine, was injured and had done successful documented research before he fell ill, or he contracted a mental illness as a result of a painful accident, such as the death of a loved one or the like.
This does not denigrate at all the fact that this doctor, his doctorate in medicine, his scientific research, and his acclaimed achievement cannot be disputed by any creature because of a subsequent, accidental disease.
Especially in reality, many people were afflicted with mental illnesses and recovered from them – and among us, humans, also, those who underwent surgeries and were placed under anesthesia, and it happens that the patient speaks with hallucinations and fantasies, then he recovers and returns healthy in body and mind. As for Prophets they are protected from any mental diseases in mind as part of their infallibility in delivering the message of Allah.
8) God purifies the truth and invalidates the falsehood with such incidents so that He can show us, Muslims, the good and the bad in human beings.
And Allah Almighty knows what was, what is, what will be, and what was not, if it were, how it would be
9) warding off harm takes precedence over bringing about interests.
10) Patience and relying on Allah in facing trials and tests when occurs.
11) Persistence in supplication and its repetition in asking Allah, as that supplication is a means to break the magic and remove the harm.
12) Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him miracle of identifying the location of the witchcraft and who did it, and his infallibility in what he conveyed to mankind from Allah Exalted he.
13: The importance of taking reasons, and that it does not contradict the complete reliance on Allah Exalted He.
14) One of the characteristics of some of the Jews who lived during the time of the Prophet is betrayal of Allah and His Messenger peace be upon him.
Allah knows Best.