Did the Prophet Muhammad tried to commit suicide

[فداء الرسول]

Even if the Narrations Were True, They Don't Disprove Muhammad's Prophethood

Even if the Prophet (peace be upon him) was truly depressed and attempted to kill himself, that would not disprove his Prophethood. Let's try to understand in a little more detail what allegedly happened:
Muhammad expected the revelations to guide his path from day to day, but they subsided. Gabriel did not appear for some time, and all around him there was nothing but silence. Muhammad fell into solitude, separated from himself as well as from the people. His old fears recurred. It is told that even Khadijah said to him, "Does it not seem that your Lord is displeased with you?" Dismayed and frightened, he returned to the mountain and the cave of Hira'. There, he prayed for God fervently, seeking assiduously to reach Him. Particularly, he wanted to ask God about the cause of this divine displeasure. Khadijah did not dread these days any less than Muhammad, nor was she any less fearful. Often Muhammad wished to die, but he would again feel the call and the command of his Lord which dispelled such ideas. It was also told that he once thought of throwing himself down from the top of Mount Hira' or Mount Abu Qubays, thinking what good was this life if his greatest hope therein was to be frustrated and destroyed? Torn between these fears on one hand and despair on the other, revelation came to him after a long interval. The word of God was as clear as it was reassuring:

"By the forenoon, and by the night as it spreads its wings over the world in peace, your Lord has not forsaken you; nor is He displeased with you. Surely, the end shall be better for you than the beginning. Your Lord will soon give you of His bounty and you will be well pleased. Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? Did He not find you erring and guide you to the truth? Did He not find you in want and provide for you? Do not, therefore, oppress the orphan nor turn away whosoever seeks your help. And the bounty of your Lord, always proclaim."[Qur'an, 93:1-11]



The Call to Truth Alone

Oh, what divine majesty, what peace of mind, what joy of heart and exaltation to the soul! Muhammad's fears dissolved and his dread was dissipated. He was overjoyed with this fresh evidence of his Lord's blessing and fell down in worship to God and praise of Him. There was no more reason to fear, as Khadijah had done, that God was displeased with him, and there was no cause for his dread. God had now taken him under His protection and removed from him every doubt and fear. Henceforth there was to be no thought of suicide but only of a life dedicated to calling men unto God and unto God alone. To the Almighty God on High shall all men bend their brows. To Him shall all that is in heaven and earth prostrate themselves. He alone is the True, and all that they worship besides him is false. To Him alone the heart should turn, on Him alone the soul should depend, and in Him alone the spirit should find its confirmation. The other realm is better for man than this realm. In the other realm, the soul becomes aware of all being as well as the unity of being; and in this unity space and time disappear and the needs and considerations of this realm are forgotten. It is in the other realm that the forenoon with its brilliant and dazzling sun, the night with its widespread darkness, the heavens and the stars, and the earth and the mountains all become one; and the spirit which enters into awareness of this unity is happy and felicitous. That is the life which is the objective of this life. And that is the truth which illuminated with its light the soul of Muhammad. When revelation subsided for a while, it was this truth which inspired him anew to solicit and think of his Lord and to call men unto Him. The calling of men unto God demands the purification of oneself, the shunning of evil, and the bearing with patience all the harm and injury with which the caller may meet. It demands that he illumine the path of true knowledge for the benefit of ignorant mankind, that he never rebuke the inquisitive, and that he never reject the man in need or oppress the orphan. Sufficient unto him must be the fact that God had chosen him to convey His message to mankind. Let this message then be the permanent subject of his conversation. Sufficient unto him must be the fact that God had found him an orphan and given him shelter under the protection of his grandfather, `Abd al Muttalib, and his uncle, Abu Talib. Sufficient unto him must be the fact that God had found him in want and provided for him through his trustworthiness, and had shown him His favor by granting to him Khadijah, the companion of his youth, of his solitude and retreat, of his prophetic mission, and of love and kindness. Sufficient unto him must be the fact that God had found him erring and had guided him to the truth through His message. All this must be sufficient unto him. Let him now call to the truth and exert himself as heartily as he could. Such was the command of God to His Prophet (peace be upon him) whom He had chosen, whom He had not forsaken, and with whom He was not displeased. (Muhammad Husayn Haykal, The Life of Muhammad (Allah's peace and blessing be upon him), Translated by Isma'il Razi A. al-Faruqi, Source)



After mentioning the coming of the Revelation, the Messenger of Allah [peace be upon him] said: "I have never abhorred anyone more than a poet or a mad man. I can not stand looking at either of them. I will never tell anyone of Quraish of my Revelation. I will climb a mountain and throw myself down and die. That will relieve me. I went to do that but halfway up the mountain, I heard a voice from the sky saying 'O Muhammad! You are the Messenger of Allah [peace be upon him] and I am Gabriel.' I looked upwards and saw Gabriel in the form of a man putting his legs on the horizon. He said: 'O Muhammad You are the Messenger of Allah [peace be upon him] and I am Gabriel.' I stopped and looked at him. His sight distracted my attention from what I had intended to do. I stood in my place transfixed. I tried to shift my eyes away from him. He was in every direction I looked at. I stopped in my place without any movement until Khadijah sent someone to look for me. He went down to Makkah and came back while I was standing in the same place. Gabriel then left, and I went back home. I found Khadijah at home, so I sat very close to her. She asked: 'Father of Al-Qasim! Where have you been? I sent someone to look for you. He went to Makkah and returned to me.' I told her of what I had seen. She replied: 'It is a propitious sign, O my husband. Pull yourself together, I swear by Allah that you are a Messenger for this nation.' Then she stood up and went to Waraqa and informed him. Waraqa said: 'I swear by Allah that he has received the same Namus, i.e. angel that was sent to Moses. He is the Prophet (peace be upon him) of this nation. Tell him to be patient.' She came back to him and told him of Waraqa's words. When the Messenger of Allah [peace be upon him] finished his solitary stay and went down to Makkah, he went to Waraqa, who told him: 'You are the Prophet (peace be upon him)of this nation. I swear by Allah that you have received the same angel that was sent to Moses.'" [At-Tabari 2/207; Ibn Hisham 1/237,238]

Once more, Gabriel brings Allah's Revelation

Ibn Hajar said: 'That (the pause of Allah's revelation for a few days) was to relieve the Messenger of Allah[peace be upon him] of the fear he experienced and to make him long for the Revelation. When the shades of puzzle receded, the flags of truth were raised, the Messenger of Allah [peace be upon him] knew for sure that he had become the Messenger of the Great Lord. He was also certain that what had come to him was no more than the ambassador of inspiration. His waiting and longing for the coming of the revelation constituted a good reason for his steadfastness and self-possession on the arrival of Allah's inspiration. (Saifur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (THE SEALED NECTAR), Source)



The Prophet (peace be upon him) was depressed about Waraqa dying and on top of all that he was also depressed about the revelation not coming down to him for a while. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was all alone and almost everyone except a few went against him; calling him a mad poet, magician, soothsayer, crazy etc. This all affects someone psychologically. The Prophet (peace be upon him) would ignore them and feel confident about himself because of the revelation that he would receive from God. However, this 'pause of revelation', known as the Fatrah period, which according to some scholars lasted sometime between 6 months to three years made the Prophet (peace be upon him) feel lonely and depressed. Some even feel that it was only a matter of days:


Interruption of Revelation

Ibn Sa'd reported on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that the Revelation paused for a few days. [Fath Al-Bari 1/27,12/360] After careful study, this seems to be the most possible. To say that it lasted for three and a half years, as some scholars allege, is not correct, but here there is no room to go into more details. (Ibid.)



Other opinions were either 15 days or 25 days or 40 days. (See Abu 'Abdullah Al-Qurtubi, Tasfir al Jami' li-ahkam al-Qur'an, Commentary on Surah 93:3, Source)



Conclusion

Assuming that the hadith is truly authentic, the whole issue of the Prophet (peace be upon him) contemplating suicide really doesn't prove anything against his Prophethood. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not go around jumping from the mountain and surviving and failing to kill himself. No, he did not throw himself because Gabriel came and stopped him. Plus who was sending down these revelations to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) anyways? If these were the words of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) himself or if he stole them from another source then why would the Prophet (peace be upon him) purposely do such a thing to himself? This goes to show that he was not the author of the Qur'an, nor did he plagiarize it from anyone. This Quran must have been coming from a supernatural source. Is this supernatural source Satan?

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