Was our master Muhammad really bewitched?!

 

Scholars have three opinions regarding this incident:

The first opinion: What the Prophet (PBUH) was exposed to of bewitchment is an illness and a condition, and this is permissible for prophets like other human beings. It is something that cannot be denied and does not detract from prophethood, nor does it impair the message or revelation. God Almighty only protected His Prophet (PBUH) from what would stand between him and the message and its delivery, and He protected him from being killed, not from the conditions that befall the body.
(4)
And it was narrated by Qadi Iyad, where he said: “As for what was reported that he imagined that he did something and he did not do it, there is nothing in this that would include anything in his message or his Shari’ah, or cast doubt on his truthfulness, because there is evidence and consensus on his infallibility from this. Rather, this is in what is permissible to occur to him in the matter of his worldly life, for which he was not sent nor was he given preference because of it, and he is subject to calamities like all other human beings, so it is not far-fetched that he imagined from its matters what has no reality, then it becomes clear to him as it was,… And there is no report that it was transmitted from him in that regard a statement contrary to what he had reported that he did and did not do, rather it was thoughts and imaginations.” End quote (6) And
Ibn al-Qayyim said: “The magic that afflicted him, may God bless him and grant him peace, was an illness.” “From the diseases that Allah cured him of, and there is no deficiency in that or any defect in any way; for illness is permissible for the prophets, and so is fainting; for he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, fainted during his illness (7), and he fell when his foot was dislocated, and his donkey was torn (8) (9), and this is from the trials by which Allah increases his status and attains his honor, and the people who are most severely afflicted are the prophets, so they were afflicted by their nations with what they were afflicted with, from killing, beating, cursing and imprisonment, so it is not strange that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was afflicted by some of his enemies with a type of magic, as he was afflicted by the one who threw stones at him and wounded him, and he was afflicted by the one who threw a chain of sludge on his back (10) while he was prostrating (11), and other than that, so there is no deficiency or shame in them; rather this is from their perfection and the highness of their status with Allah.” (12)

The second statement: That magic only affected his outward appearance and limbs, not his heart, belief, and mind. The meaning of the verse is the protection of the heart and faith, without the protection of the body from worldly incidents that befall it.
This is the choice of Qadi Iyad (13) and Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (14).

The third statement: That what was narrated - that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was bewitched - is false and not authentic, rather it is a fabrication of the atheists. This is the doctrine of the Mu’tazila (15).
Al-Jassas was chosen by the Sunnis, as he said: “They claimed that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was bewitched, and that magic worked on him... and such news is fabricated by atheists, playing with the ignorant crowd, and drawing them to say that the miracles of the prophets, peace be upon them, are invalid, and to cast aspersions on them, and that there is no difference between the miracles of the prophets and the actions of magicians, and that it is all of the same type. It is surprising that someone combines belief in the prophets, peace be upon them, and proving their miracles with belief in such actions of magicians, despite the Almighty’s saying: {And the magician will not succeed, wherever he comes} [Taha: 69], so these people believed the one whom God denied and informed of the invalidity of his claim and fabrication.
It is possible that the Jewish woman did that out of ignorance, thinking that it works on bodies. She intended the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. So God informed His Prophet of the location of her secret, and revealed her ignorance of what she had done and thought, so that this would be evidence of his prophethood, not that it harmed him or confused his affairs. Not all the narrators said that his affairs were confused, but rather this wording was added to the hadith and has no basis.” (16)
The argument of these people is that saying that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was bewitched necessitates:

1- Invalidating the miracles of the Prophets, peace be upon them, and casting doubt on them.
2- It necessitates mixing up the miracles of the Prophets with the actions of sorcerers.
3- It is necessary that it be a confirmation of the words of the infidels: {You follow none but a man bewitched} [Al-Furqan: 8], and the people of Salih said to him: {You are only one of the bewitched} [Ash-Shu’ara: 153], and the people of Shu’aib said the same to him.
4- They said: It is not permissible for the prophets to be bewitched; because that contradicts God’s protection and infallibility for them. (17)
They responded to the hadith of Aisha, may God be pleased with her - in which it says that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was bewitched - by saying that it is something that Hisham ibn Urwa (18) narrated alone, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Aisha. (19)

And he objected:

1- That the saying of the Most High: {You follow none but a man bewitched}, and His saying: {You are only one of the bewitched}: what is meant by it is: someone who has been bewitched until he has gone mad and has become like a madman whose mind has been lost; because the bewitched person who is not followed is the one whose mind has become corrupted to the point that he does not know what he is saying, so he is like a madman, and for this reason they said about him: {A madman taught} [Ad-Dukhan: 14], and as for the one who has been afflicted in his body with one of the diseases that afflict people; This does not prevent following him, and the enemies of the Messengers did not accuse them of physical diseases, but rather they accused them of what they warn their fools from following them with, which is that they were bewitched until they did not know what they were saying, like the insane. For this reason, Allah the Almighty said: {See how they set forth for you examples, then they have gone astray and cannot find a way.} [Al-Isra’: 48].
2- As for their saying that the bewitchment of the Prophets contradicts Allah the Almighty’s protection of them, then just as He the Almighty protects them, safeguards them, preserves them, and takes care of them, He also tests them with whatever harm the disbelievers may cause them. (20)
3- As for their saying that the hadith of Aisha is something that Hisham ibn Urwah alone narrated, the answer is that what these people said is rejected by the people of knowledge, for Hisham is one of the most trustworthy and knowledgeable of people, and none of the imams have criticized him in a way that would require his hadith to be rejected. The authors of the two Sahihs agreed on the authenticity of this hadith, and none of the people of hadith said a single word about it. The story is well-known among the people of interpretation, Sunan, hadith, history, and jurists, and these people are more knowledgeable about the conditions of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his days than others.
This hadith was not narrated by Hisham alone. It was narrated by Al-A’mash, on the authority of Yazid ibn Hayyan, on the authority of Zayd ibn Arqam, who said: “A Jewish man cast a spell on the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and he complained of it for several days. Then Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to him and said: ‘A Jewish man cast a spell on you and tied a knot for you in such-and-such a well.’” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent for them to bring her out. She was brought and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood up as if she had been freed from a shackle. He did not mention that to the Jew, nor did he ever see it on his face.” (22) (21)



References:

() Al-Mu’allim bi-Fawa’id Muslim (3/93).
(2) Umdat al-Qari (15/98).
(3) Hashiyat al-Sindi ‘ala Sunan al-Nasa’i (7/113).
(4) Majmu’ Fatawa Ibn Baz (***).
(5) See: Fath al-Bari (10/237) and Nayl al-Awtar (17/211).
(6) Al-Shifa bi-Ta’rif Huquq al-Mustafa (2/113).
(7) Narrated by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, in the Book of the Call to Prayer, Hadith (687), and by Muslim in his Sahih, in the Book of Prayer, Hadith (418).
(8) A donkey whose skin was scratched. See: Mashariq al-Anwar (1/140), and Al-Nihaya fi Gharib al-Hadith (1/241).
(9) On the authority of Anas ibn Malik, may God be pleased with him, who said: “The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, fell from his horse, and his right side was scratched.” Narrated by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, in the Book of Prayer, Hadith (378), and by Muslim in his Sahih, in the Book of Prayer, Hadith (411).
(10) The amnion: the thin skin in which the child emerges from his mother’s womb wrapped in. See: Al-Nihaya fi Gharib al-Hadith (2/396).
(11) Narrated by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, in the Book of Ablution, Hadith (240), and by Muslim in his Sahih, in the Book of Jihad and Military Expeditions, Hadith (1794).
(12) Bada’i’ Al-Fawa’id (2/192). See also: Zad Al-Ma’ad (4/124).
(13) Ash-Shifa (2/113).
(14) Az-Zawajir (2/163-164).
(15) See: Mafatih Al-Ghaib (32/172), and Umdat Al-Qari (21/280).
(16) Ahkam Al-Quran, by Al-Jassas (1/58-59).
(17) See: Ahkam Al-Quran, by Al-Jassas (1/59), Mafatih Al-Ghaib (32/172), and Bada’i’ Al-Fawa’id (2/191).
(18) He is: Hisham bin Urwah bin Az-Zubayr bin Al-Awwam bin Khuwaylid bin Asad bin Abdul-Uzza bin Qusayy bin Kilab, the trustworthy Imam, Sheikh of Islam, Abu Al-Mundhir Al-Qurashi Al-Asadi Al-Zubayri Al-Madani. Ibn Saad said: He was trustworthy, steadfast, and a narrator of many hadiths. Abu Hatim Al-Razi said: He was trustworthy, an Imam in hadith. Yahya bin Ma’in and a group said: He was trustworthy. (d. 146 AH). See: Seerah A’lam An-Nubala (6/34).
(19) See: Bada’i’ Al-Fawa’id (2/191).
(20) See: Bada’i’ Al-Fawa’id (2/192-193), and Mafatih Al-Ghaib (32/172).
(21) It was narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah in Al-Musannaf (5/40), Imam Ahmad in his Musnad (4/367), and An-Nasa’i in his Sunan, in the Book of the Prohibition of Blood, Hadith (4080), all of them on the authority of Al-A’mash, with it. Al-Albani authenticated it in Sahih Sunan al-Nasa’i (3/98), Hadith (4091).
(22) See: Bada’i’ al-Fawa’id (2/191).