Muhammad is reported to have given the following medicinal advice:
Narrated AbuHurayrah
Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "The ajwah dates come from Paradise and contain a cure for poison; truffles are a kind of manna and their juice is a medicine for the eye."
Tirmidhi transmitted it. (Tirmidhi Hadith, Number 1127; Alim CD-Rom Version)
Narrated AbuHurayrah
When some of the companions of Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) remarked to him that truffles were the smallpox of the earth, he replied, "Truffles are a kind of manna, and their juice is a remedy for the evil eye. The ajwah dates come from Paradise, and they are a remedy for poison." AbuHurayrah said that he took three, five, or seven truffles, pressed them, put their juice in a bottle and applied it as an eye-lotion to a slave-girl of his who was bleary-eyed, and she recovered.
Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan tradition. (Tirmidhi Hadith, Number 1194; Alim CD-Rom Version)
Narrated Saud:
The Prophet said, "If somebody takes some 'Ajwa dates every morning, he will not be effected by poison or magic on that day till night." (Another narrator said seven dates). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 663)
Narrated Saud:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "If Somebody takes seven 'Ajwa dates in the morning, neither magic nor poison will hurt him that day." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 664)
Narrated Sad:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "Whoever takes seven 'Ajwa dates in the morning will not be effected by magic or poison on that day." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 671)
Thus, if a person eats some dates, up to seven, he or she will not be harmed by either magic or poison for that day. We would expect that Muhammad followed this advice and ate dates on a daily basis, especially when the hadith literature tells us that Muhammad used to eat dates:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Allah's Apostle never proceeded (for the prayer) on the Day of 'Id-ul-Fitr unless he had eaten some dates. Anas also narrated: The Prophet used to eat odd number of dates. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 15, Number 73)
From the foregoing we would assume that Muhammad would not suffer from either magic or poison.
Yet such is not the case since the same hadith literature claims that Muhammad suffered from the ill effects of both:
Narrated Aisha:
Once the Prophet was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact he had not done. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 53, Number 400)
Narrated 'Aisha:
Magic was worked on the Prophet 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 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. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 54, Number 490)
Narrated 'Aisha:
Magic was worked on Allah's Apostle so that he used to think that he had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not (Sufyan said: That is the hardest kind of magic as it has such an effect)... (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 660)
Sufyan states that Muhammad came under the hardest kind of magic, the kind that led him to think he was actually having sex with his wives when he wasn't!
Muslim sources unashamedly acknowledge that certain Jews, specifically a Jewess, successfully poisoned Muhammad which resulted in his death:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
When Khaibar was conquered, a (cooked) sheep containing poison, was given as a present to Allah's Apostle. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, Number 551)
Narrated Abu Huraira:
When Khaibar was conquered, a roasted poisoned sheep was presented to the Prophets as a gift (by the Jews). The Prophet ordered, "Let all the Jews who have been here, be assembled before me." The Jews were collected and the Prophet said (to them), "I am going to ask you a question. Will you tell the truth?" They said, "Yes." The Prophet asked, "Who is your father?" They replied, "So-and-so." He said, "You have told a lie; your father is so-and-so." They said, "You are right." He said, "Will you now tell me the truth, if I ask you about something?" They replied, "Yes, O Abu Al-Qasim; and if we should tell a lie, you can realize our lie as you have done regarding our father." On that he asked, "Who are the people of the (Hell) Fire?" They said, "We shall remain in the (Hell) Fire for a short period, and after that you will replace us." The Prophet said, "You may be cursed and humiliated in it! By Allah, we shall never replace you in it." Then he asked, "Will you now tell me the truth if I ask you a question?" They said, "Yes, O Abu Al-Qasim." He asked, "Have you poisoned this sheep?" They said, "Yes." He asked, "What made you do so?" They said, "We wanted to know if you were a liar in which case we would get rid of you, and if you are a prophet then the poison would NOT HARM YOU." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 53, Number 394)
Narrated Abu Huraira:
When Khaibar was conquered, Allah's Apostle was presented with a poisoned (roasted) sheep. Allah's Apostle said, "Collect for me all the Jews present in this area." (When they were gathered) Allah's Apostle said to them, "I am going to ask you about something; will you tell me the truth?" They replied, "Yes, O Abul-Qasim!" Allah's Apostle said to them, "Who is your father?" They said, "Our father is so-and-so." Allah's Apostle said, "You have told a lie, for your father is so-and-so," They said, "No doubt, you have said the truth and done the correct thing." He again said to them, "If I ask you about something; will you tell me the truth?" They replied, "Yes, O Abul-Qasim! And if we should tell a lie you will know it as you have known it regarding our father," Allah's Apostle then asked, "Who are the people of the (Hell) Fire?" They replied, "We will remain in the (Hell) Fire for a while and then you (Muslims) will replace us in it." Allah's Apostle said to them. ''You will abide in it with ignominy. By Allah, we shall never replace you in it at all." Then he asked them again, "If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth?" They replied, "Yes." He asked. "Have you put the poison in this roasted sheep?" They replied, "Yes." He asked, "What made you do that?" They replied, "We intended to learn if you were a liar in which case we would be relieved from you, and if you were a prophet then it would NOT HARM YOU." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 669)
Carefully note what the Jews said to Muhammad. If Muhammad were a true prophet then the poison would not harm him, which means that if the poison did affect him, then he would not be a true prophet. This point is significant, as we will shortly see.
The next set of traditions affirm that a Jewess successfully poisoned Muhammad which, even by Muhammad's own admission, caused him great pain that eventually resulted in his death:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
A Jewess brought a poisoned (cooked) sheep for the Prophet who ate from it. She was brought to the Prophet and he was asked, "Shall we kill her?" He said, "No." I continued to see the effect of the poison on the palate of the mouth of Allah's Apostle. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 47, Number 786)
Anas reported that a Jewess 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)
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
'Umar bin Al-Khattab used to let Ibn Abbas sit beside him, so 'AbdurRahman bin 'Auf said to 'Umar, "We have sons similar to him." 'Umar replied, "(I respect him) because of his status that you know." 'Umar then asked Ibn 'Abbas about the meaning of this Holy Verse:-- "When comes the help of Allah and the conquest of Mecca..." (110.1)
Ibn 'Abbas replied, "That indicated the death of Allah's Apostle which Allah informed him of." 'Umar said, "I do not understand of it except what you understand." Narrated 'Aisha: The Prophet in his ailment in which he died, used to say, "O 'Aisha! I still feel the pain caused by the food I ate at Khaibar, and at this time, I feel as if my aorta is being cut from that poison." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, Number 713)
One online Islamic site, www.Islamqa.com, candidly admits that Muhammad would even be treated with cupping (a procedure which seeks to extract blood from the body) in order to undo the painful effects of the poison which he consumed:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to feel ill because of this food, and he would be treated with cupping for that.
Ahmad (2784) narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that a Jewish woman sent a gift to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) of a poisoned roasted sheep. He sent for her and asked her, "What made you do what you did?" She said, "I wanted to see if you were a Prophet, then Allaah would tell you about it, and if you were not a Prophet the people would be rid of you." Whenever the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) felt ill as a result of that he would have himself treated by cupping. On one occasion he traveled and when he entered ihraam he felt ill as a result of that and he had himself treated by cupping. The editor of al-Musnad classed it as saheeh. (Question #32762: The Jews’ attempts to kill the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): online source)
In light of the foregoing we are left with the following points:
If he were a true prophet then the least thing Allah could have done is to insure that the poison that his messenger ingested would have no effects on him so as to provide concrete proof to the Jews that Muhammad was a true prophet even by their own criteria. For instance, contrast what happened with Muhammad to what happened to the blessed Apostle Paul when a poisonous viper bit him:
"After we had escaped, we then learned that the island was called Malta. And the natives showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, when a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, 'No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.' He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They waited, expecting him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead; but when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god." Acts 28:1-6
Paul's miraculous protection led the people to wrongly conclude that he was a god! Although not a god, this miraculous intervention did prove that Paul was a real emissary of the true God. Allah could have done something similar for his messenger, but he didn't, thereby solidifying the doubts of the unbelievers regarding Muhammad's prophetic (il)legitimacy.
Articles by Sam Shamoun
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