The In the Name of Most Gracious Most Merciful
A Slander Refutation
This paper discusses two issues: Magic and Prophets' Protection (‘Isma) suspicions.
Magic
(Sorcery)
شبهة سحر الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم
Magic in the language is an expression that denotes any reason that is occult or curtained. This has also been referred to in Sahih-ul-Bukhari, Quoting Prophet Muhammad (SAAW) saying:
{إن من البيانِ لسحِرا}
Meaning: Some eloquence (rhetoric) is like magic (it enthralls listeners). While Qur’an says:
قَالَ أَلْقُوْاْ فَلَمَّا أَلْقَوْاْ سَحَرُواْ أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ وَاسْتَرْهَبُوهُمْ وَجَاءوا بِسِحْرٍ عَظِيمٍ
Meaning: He said: Throw! And when they threw they cast a spell upon the people's eyes, and overawed them, and produced a mighty spell by legerdemain. 7.116.
Imam Al-Qurtubi also said: Verily, Sorcery is true (confirming its veracity).
The type of magic we refer to here is a kind of outer illusion and imaginations and does not refer to an inner devilish obsession that devil clad man with, transmigrating his personality. The Hadith says that Prophet Muhammad (SAAW) was imagining that he gets in unto his wife (intercourse) while the truth, he was not. Therefore his case is seen as nothing but an ordinary ailment.
Ibn Al-Qayyim says: “The magic that befell the Prophet (SAAW) was an incidental ailment and Allah cured him of. There is no shame or ignominy in such a thing to cause a downgrade of his sublimity in any way besides, it is also probable that prophets become sick or faint (syncope), they are human beings after all! Muhammad (SAAW) fainted when he was sick, and he recovered, tumbled, got his foot luxated, his skin got seriously lacerated and he recovered too. These were all calamities that Allah inflicted him with so that he attains a higher concernment and eminence in life and in the hereafter. We all know, the more unfortunate and calamitous one is, the greater and more perfect his reward, and prophets are the most inflicted of us all.
Prophets’ torture and agony caused by their enemies varied. It included killing, beating, insulting, imprisoning, and our Prophet (SAAW) was no exception. He was bewitched, and the disbelievers of Mecca threw animal bowels on his head while he was praying near Ka'ba as he was prostrating. This is no shame as mentioned above; it rather highlights his perfectibility. If one thinks that the Prophets' sorcery contradicts Allah's protection for him, one is then mistaken. Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, protects and inflicts His prophets the way He likes so that they deserve His utmost mercy. Allah wants also to show prophets' exemplariness for their followers when they get offended or tortured by their people, so that they can too endure and persevere.” (Bada’i-ul-Fawa’id, vol. 2, p. 192).
Our efforts here to clarify that Prophet Muhammad (SAAW) was bewitched, never means that he was powerless and that Satan had power over him.
One may wonder how the slander of Satan's power over Mohamed (SAAW) originated then!
In fact, fingers point to Christians who have had a long history in devilish obsession stories and, one will not forget those dark ages and Churches' imperishable reputation in burning the witches and the indescribable ways they used to do so. They used to fabricate reasons valid enough to indict them of indulgence in sorcery and take them to Church inspection courts, followed by burning them in the holocaust.
We Muslims do not believe that our Prophet was subservient to Satan's power, but he was rather bewitched. This is an ailment or a disease like any other disease one recovers from. We reiterate: this does not contradict his being protected by Allah; he is a human being after all and it is natural that he imagines the above mentioned happenings, like everyone else does.
Prophets' Protection (‘Isma)
We would like to establish a point in the protection concept here according to the Sunni belief, before we start our explanation:
• Saying that the Prophet is protected means there is a subject (Protector) and this subject carries out the protection act, and there is a verb; to protect and an infinitive too.
Hence, there is an act from Allah's side; and this is the protection. So, if we said that prophets do not err because they can primarily prevent themselves from wrongdoing, then, there would be no protection from Allah's side for them.
Scholar Ibn Bazz (deceased) said: “The majority of scholars agree that the Prophet (SAAW) is surely protected of committing enormities (Kaba'er) not from tenuities (Sagha'er) of sins, and that he may commit tenuities, but God always draws his attention to their prohibition so they can be relinquished. The same applies for his day-to-day life. Source:
http://www.binbaz.org.sa/Display.asp?f=bz01116
The permanent Fatwa committee of Saudi Arabia was asked once if Prophets and the messengers of Allah really err.
The committee's answer was: "Yes Prophets and the messengers err, but Allah shows them their mistakes out of his mercy for them and for their people and Allah forgives their lapses and accepts their repentance out of his graciousness and clemency.” EOQ.
Ibn Taimya said: “ Saying that Prophets are protected from enormities rather than tenuities of sin, is the opinion of the majority of scholars of Islam as well as all sects. Abul-Hassan Al-Amidi mentioned that this is the opinion of majority of the Ash'arites. It is also the opinion of the majority of Interpretation (Tafsir) scholars, Narration (Hadith) scholars and Jurists. This was also narrated by our ancestors (Salaf), Imams, Companions and Successors; narrations that only concorded.” (Fatawa Collections , vol. 4, p. 319)
Ibn Hazm added: “ All Islam scholars: Sunnis, Mu'tazilites , Nagarites, Khawarij and Shi’ites agreed that it is illicit that a prophet commits a wrongdoing be it an enormity ( kabeerah ) or a tenuity ( Sagheerah ) . The same was agreed by others such as Ibn Mujahid Al-Ash'ari, teacher of Ibn Furk, and Al-Baqilani.
Abu Muhammad (In Hazm) said: this is the opinion that we strongly embrace and we are committed to it; and nothing else.” (Al-Fisal, vol. 2, p. 293)
The conclusion of the above sayings and our firm belief in Prophets is thus: Prophets do not commit wrongdoings intentionally but it is possible that they err or slip unintentionally.
Muhammad Ibn Saleh Al-Munajjid, one of the prominent modern scholars of Saudi Arabia said: “There is a big difference between "sins" and "mistakes", because the word "sins" is the plural of a sin, and it is not acceptable to connote this des cription to prophets at all, it is rather correct to say "mistakes" which is the plural of a mistake, and a mistake is never intentional while the sin is.” Source:
http://www.islamonline.net/fatwa/ara...hFatwaID=79 659
Al-Qadi Abul-Fadl Ayyadh clarifies his opinion about infallibility from Satan as such: “ Know that the whole Muslim nation agrees that Prophet Mohamed (SAAW) was protected and preserved from Satan's physical harm or even just his sneaking whispers. “ (Ash-Shifa, vol. 2, p. 141)
Ibn Masoud reported that he heard Prophet (SAAW) saying: “Every one is assigned to a coeval (Qareen) from Jinn and a coeval from Angels.”
Companions went on asking: even you too, Messenger of Allah?
He said: “Yes except that God empowered me over him so he gave up and adopted Islam.” (Sahih Muslim, no. 2814)
Al-Qadi Abul-Fadl ‘Ayyadh commented on the above Hadith of Ibn Masoud saying: "If this is the case of devils assigned to human beings, what can one say then about those far from him whom he cannot even near! (Meaning the prophets ).
It was mentioned in more than a report how Satan tried to defy the Prophet (SAAW) in an attempt to put out this prophetic light and to weaken his will but all his trials were in vain. It is reported in both Sahihs that Abu Hurairah said that the Prophet (SAAW) said: “Satan opposed me during prayer.” Abur-Raziq added confirming: “where it came disguised as a cat trying to spoil my prayer, but I managed (by the aid of Allah) to get hold of him and I almost throttled him. I was about to tie him up in a pillar here so that you can look at him, but I suddenly remembered my brother Prophet Suleiman when he said:
قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَهَبْ لِي مُلْكاً لَّا يَنبَغِي لِأَحَدٍ مِّنْ بَعْدِي إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ
Meaning: "My Lord! Forgive me and bestow on me sovereignty such shall not belong to any after me. Lo! Thou art the Bestower "38.35
So, Allah made him retreat humiliated.
In the report of Abul-Darda’, he said he heard God's Apostle saying: " Satan, the enemy of Allah, came to me with a flame in his hand and he wanted to throw it on my face when I was praying, but I sought refuge in Allah and cursed him; I caught him” and he narrated the rest of the Hadith and ended with saying : “ it would be tied so Medina children could toy with it “ (Ash-Shifa, vol. 2, p. 142
This Hadith is authentic and is mentioned in three locations in Sahih-ul-Bukhari , and was narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, and is related to An-Nisa'i, Al-Baihaqi and Al-Daraqutni in their Sunnans. So, how on earth could anyone allege that Satan had power over Allah’s Apostle (SAAW)?!
