(#096)
Salam,
I have a question in my mind that is seriously bothering me. I have red somewhere in hadith that a jewish woman tried to poison the prophet (PBUH).
Can you explain this? I am finding difficulty in understanding it. Several people say that a Yahoodi woman tried to poison the Prophet (PBUH) and he passed away from the consequences and affects of the poison. I am dividing my question into five parts so that you may find it easy to answer the question:-
Question 1: Allah says in the Quran: “O Messenger (Muhammad )! Proclaim (the Message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord. And if you do not, then you have not conveyed His Message. Allah will protect you from mankind. Verily, Allah guides not the people who disbelieve.” We can clearly see that Quran says that Allah will Protect Prophet (PBUH) from all of these types of plots, then how can a Yahoodi woman poison the Prophet (PBUH) in a cunning way? Quran seems to be clear on this issue.
Question 2: Moreover, if we look at the narration, we will find that Prophet (PBUH) himself said that Allah will never give power to her in what she intended to do:- Anas reported that a Yahoodiyah came to Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) with poisoned mutton and he took of that what had been brought to him (Allah’s Messenger). (When the effect of this poison were felt by him) he called for her and asked her about that, whereupon she said: I had determined to kill you. Thereupon he said: Allah will never give you the power to do it. He (the narrator) said that they (the Companion’s of the Holy Prophet) said: Should we not kill her? Thereupon he said: No. He (Anas) said:
I felt (the affects of this poison) on the uvula of Allah’s Messenger. (Sahih Muslim, Book 026, Number 5430) In the above hadith we can clearly see Prophet'(PBUH) saying “Allah will never give you the power to do it.” My question is: Since we Muslims believe that each and every word of Prophet is absolute truth, then how can poison affect him?
Question 3: Some narrations say that Prophet (PBUH) died from fever. This is different from this poisoning story. Which one is correct?
Question 4: Are all hadith of Sahih Al-Bukhari And Sahih Al-Muslim 100% authentic? If they are not 100% authentic, then what is the guarantee that this posoning story is 100% authentic? Are all hadith of Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim 100% authentic? There are several scholars who say that not
every hadith of Sahih Bukhari is 100% authentic. One of the most notable scholars among them is Maulana Ishaq.
Question 5: Yahoodi woman tried to test the Prophet that if he (PBUH) was a true Prophet then the poison would not harm him. Prophet said, “Allah will never give you the power to do it.” Then how can poison affect him? All of these questions are causing serious doubts in my mind and compelling me to reject those hadiths which say that Prophet (PBUH) was ever poisoned. Please pray for my guidance and your early reply will be highly appreciated.
Answer
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
حامدا و مصليا و مسلما
Muhtaramah
We acknowledge the receipt of your query concerning the above Hadeeth Shareef. We apologize for the belated reply. Our response is as follows:
The above questions can be divided into the following portions:
1) Is Sahehain 100% authentic?
2) How did Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salam pass away and how do we reconcile the other Ahadeeth and Ayat on this issue?
The following points will Inshallaah answer the above questions.
Ulama agree that the most authentic collection of Ahaadeeth is Saheeh Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim, and the majority are of the opinion that Saheeh Bukhari is more authentic than Saheeh Muslim
(Hadyah Daraari -73 pg).
Muhaqiq Ibn Humaam Rahimahullah writes that we need to remember that when a Muhaddith regards a Hadeeth to be Saheeh than that is in accordance to the conditions which he has stipulated; therefore, according to a certain Muhaddith a Hadeeth may be authentic while it may not be authentic according to another Muhaddith (Hadyah Daraari 87 pg)
However, Sahehain are accepted to be completely Saheeh, the objections which have been raised on certain narrations have been answered by the Ulama and these Ahadeeth are mentioned Ta’leeqan not Aslan (Hadyah Daraari 132 pg).
A narration which may (apparently) contradict another narration does not affect the authenticity of the narration, rather this is sometimes due to some narrations being abrogated due to others, or other ways of reconciliation have been mentioned by the Ulama.
2) From the books of Ahaadeeth and Seerah we come to learn that Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salam did feel the effects of poison in his final moments, together with this there was a fever, therefore, both narrations do not contradict each other.
The Ayat which mentions that Allah Ta’ala states:
” واللهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ “
“And Allah will save you from the people”
The answer has been given below:
فإن قيل : إن الله تعالى قال في حقَّه عليه السَّلام : ” واللهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ ” فكيف أثر فيه السحرُ ؟
فالجواب أن قوله تعالى : ( وَاللَّهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ ( [ المائدة : 67 ] المراد به عصمة القلب والإيمان لا عصمة الجسد عما يرد عليه من الأمور الحادثة الدنيوية ، فإنه عليه السلام قد سحر وكسرت رباعيته ، ورُمي عليه الكرش والثرب ، وآذاه جماعة من قريش .
(اللباب فى علوم الكتاب)
One of the explanations of the above verse is that Allah Ta’ala has saved Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salams heart and Imaan from wrong and evil, and the verse is not referring to his physical body, because sorcery was practiced on Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salam, his tooth was also broken and other difficulties were inflicted upon Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salam.
Others have written that the Ayat means that no one will able to assassinate Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salam while he is still engaged with his mission of propagating Islam.
المراد بقوله تعالى: { يعصمك من الناس }: حال التبليغ؛ أي بلغ وأنت في حال تبليغك معصوم، ولهذا لم يعتد عليه أحد أبداً في حال تبليغه، فقتله..
Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salm endured hardships at the time of death, this was to grant comfort and ease to the believers, that if a believer experiences any difficulty at the time of death then he will take comfort that the greatest of creation endured the pangs of death which are a means of increasing ones rank. Sayyiditina Aisha radiyallahu anha says that after I witnessed the difficulties of death on Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salm then I never regarded the pangs of death as something bad.
Furthermore, it has been mentioned that when the family members witness their beloved experiencing the pangs of death and they become worried and concerned then this will be a means of reward for them (Seerat Halbiya 505)
The author mentions that his Ustadh Shaikh Muhammad Bakri Rahimahullah said that the difficulties experienced by Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salam were much more than that of a normal person, that is why Nabi Sallalhu alai wa salam had said that the fever which he experiences is equal to the fever of two men.
(Also refer to Subul Hudaa-12/570)
A narration is mentioned in Seerah Halbiyah that the sickness which Nabi Salallahu alai wa salam was referring to when he had said that it will not affect him was of pleurisy.
When Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salam had consumed the poison and had uttered that it will not harm him, Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salam was referring to that that it could not harm him at that specific moment. Allah Ta’ala had displayed a miracle whereby Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salam was not affected by the poison (at that moment).
However, Allah Ta’ala had brought back the effect of the poison after Nabi Sallallahu alai wa salams mission was complete ,so that he may pass away as a Shaheed.
Imaam Zuhri Rahimahullah writes that due to the poison being a means of his death, therefore Nabi Sallallahu alai wasalam had a death of a Martyr.
( باب إذا غدر المشركون بالمسلمين هل يعفى عنهم )
وفيه أن الإمام مالكا احتج به على أن القتل بالسم كالقتل بالسلاح الذي يوجب القصاص وقال الكوفيون لا قصاص فيه وفيه الدية على العاقلة قالوا ولو دسه في طعام أو شراب لم يكن عليه شيء ولا على عاقلته وقال الشافعي إذا فعل ذلك وهو مكره ففيه قولان في وجوب القود أصحهما لا وفيه معجزة ظاهرة له عليه السلام حيث لم يؤثر فيه السم والذي أكل معه مات وفيه أن السم لا يؤثر بذاته بل بإذن الرب جل جلاله ومشيئته ألا ترى أن السم أثر في بشر ولم يؤثر في النبي فلو كان يؤثر بذاته لأثر فيهما في الحال والله أعلم
(عمدة)
وقولهم إن كنت نبيا لم يضرك جهل محض لأن الأنبياء بشر فما يؤذي البشر يؤذيهم
(كشف المشكل عن الصحيحين)
And Allah Ta’ala knows best
Muhammad Irshad Motara
7th Muharram 1436
1st November 2014
Checked and approved by:
Mufti Musayab Sahib
7th Muharram 1436
1st November 2014
