ISLAM CONFIRMS MUHAMMAD WAS BEWITCHED

 

Islamic sources reveal that when Muhammad received his calling as a Prophet of Allah, his first impression was that he was possessed by a demon. His immediate conclusion was that it was not an angel but a demon that spoke to him. Thus, Muhammad was the very first person to doubt the source of his revelations. It is important to remember that the validity of Islam is closely linked to the reliability of Muhammad. Islam stands or falls on the person of Muhammad. What may come as a surprise to most Muslims is the fact that according to the Qur’an, Satan could easily exercise control over Muhammad. We are not making this up, it is in the Qur’an. In fact, Islamic sources state clearly that during the course of his prophetic career, Muhammad once even came under the spell of black magic. Yes! Muhammad was bewitched. Let us now consider the evidences. The following Qur’anic verse shows that Satan could have free access to the mental power of Muhammad:

Surah 6:68: When you see people mocking Our revelations, turn away from them so that they may change the subject. If Satan causes you to forget this, do not sit with the unjust people when you remember. (Sarwar)

This is a very serious matter. The Qur’an is revealing here the extent of influence that Satan could exercise over Muhammad. If Satan could even cause Muhammad to forget, in what other manner could Satan exercise his influence over him? Can someone who comes under the influence of Satan to such an extent be a true prophet of God? Can Muhammad be trusted? Surprisingly, in a number of places the Qur’an testifies that Satan has no authority over any of Allah’s righteous servants.

Surah 15:39-42: Iblis said: “O my Lord! Because Thou hast put me in the wrong, I will make wrong fair-seeming to them on the earth, and I will put them all in the wrong, – Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy Grace).” (God) said: “This (way of My sincere servants) is indeed a way that leads straight to Me. For over My servants no authority shalt thou have, except such as put themselves in the wrong and follow thee.” (Yusuf Ali)

This Qur’anic verse clearly proclaims that Satan will have no authority over the righteous servants of Allah. If true, then Satan or the demons should not be able to exercise any kind of influence over Muhammad – the foremost servant of Allah. Thus, at no instant should Muhammad come under the power or spell of either Satan or the demons. And this protection should especially be far-reaching during the period of Muhammad’s career as the prophet of Allah. And Allah guarantees this divine protection to all his faithful servants. However, the following Hadiths clearly show that Muhammad was bewitched.

BLACK MAGIC WORKED ON MUHAMMAD

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 54, Number 490:

Narrated By ‘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 Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 89:

Narrated By ‘Aisha: The Prophet continued for such-and-such period imagining that he has slept (had sexual relations) with his wives, and in fact he did not. One day he said, to me, “O ‘Aisha! Allah has instructed me regarding a matter about which I had asked Him. There came to me two men, one of them sat near my feet and the other near my head. The one near my feet, asked the one near my head (pointing at me), ‘What is wrong with this man? The latter replied, ‘He is under the effect of magic.’

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 660:

Narrated By ‘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 Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 75, Number 400:

Narrated Hisham’s father: ‘Aisha said, “, so he invoked Allah repeatedly requesting Him to cure him from that magic).”

The above Hadiths should trouble sincere Muslims. They clearly state: “Magic was worked on Allah’s Apostle” and “Allah’s Apostle was bewitched.” Muhammad is exulted as the “Seal of the Prophets” in the Qur’an. How could the demons exercise control over the “Seal of the Prophets”? As guaranteed in Surah 15:42, why was Allah unable to protect Muhammad from the influences of the demons? Allah clearly stated to Satan: “For over My servants no authority shalt thou (Iblis) have, except such as put themselves in the wrong and follow thee.”  This means either Muhammad was a follower of Satan or this Qur’anic verse is totally false in its claim? Let us look at further damaging evidences from Islamic sources.

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Ali ibn Ahmad Al-Wahidi, Q. 113-114:

(Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak…) [113:1-5] The commentators of the Qur’an said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, had a Jewish servant boy. The Jews approached him and kept after him until he gave them some fallen hair from the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, as well as a few teeth from his comb. The Jews used these to cast a spell of black magic on him. The person who was behind this was the Jew Labid ibn al-A’sam. He then put the hair in a well belonging to Banu Zurayq called Dharwan.

The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, fell ill for a period of six month, during which the hair of his head fell off; he imagined that he slept with his wives when he did not, and was withering away without knowing the reason. As he was one day sleeping, he saw two angels coming to him. One of them sat at his head and the other at his feet. The angel who sat at his head asked: ‘What is wrong with the man?’ The second angel responded: ‘A spell of black magic was cast on him’. (Source: Altafsir.com)

Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah:

“From B. Zurayq: Labib b. A’sam, who bewitched the apostle of God so that he could not come at his wives.” (Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah – The Life of Muhammad –Translated by A. Guillaume, p. 240). Guillaume’s footnotes states that according to a Muslim scholar, the spell lasted for a year.

Lubaid bin Al-A’sam was a Jewish sorcerer from the tribe of Bani Zaraiq. It is important to note that this incident occurred after Muhammad migrated to Medina and settled there. Muhammad’s arrival in Medina took place during the thirteenth year of his prophetic career. This means long after he became a prophet, he succumbed to the demons. Muhammad was still serving as a Prophet of Allah during this period. Even though he is supposed to be the greatest among the Prophets of Allah, he came under demonic influences for nearly a year. He was so bewitched that he believed he was having sexual relations with his wives, when in reality he did not. Imagine, Allah’s greatest Prophet was bewitched by a kafir.

Details on this event are also recorded in Ibn Sa’d’s “Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir” (Book of the Major Classes), Volume 2, pp. 244 to 248. Here is a relevant quote:

“The apostle of Allah fell ill. He was bewitched about women and food…There were eleven knots in the hair from the comb. The two Surahs no. 113 and 114 were revealed to him. No sooner did the apostle of Allah recited a verse than a knot loosened. When all of them were loosened, he regained his urge for food and women.”

Muslims take pride in saying that Surah 113 and Surah 114 cured Muhammad from the Jewish spell. Do they really have reasons to boast? Consider the following facts: Firstly, the claim that Surah 113 and Surah 114 cured Muhammad from sorcery is in itself an admission that he was bewitched. Otherwise, why was there a need to cure him from the influence of the demons? Secondly, a true prophet of God is not even supposed to be affected by sorcery in the first place. The Bible says that the servants of the true God will not come under demonic control such as sorcery or magic because of the protection of Jehovah over them:

Numbers 23:23: “There is no sorcery against Jacob. Nor any magic that can harm Israel.”

A man who fell victim to sorcery while declaring himself to be God’s greatest messenger can only be a fraud. Thirdly, according to Muhammad, consuming seven dates in the morning are just as effective as Surah 113 and Surah 114 to ward off magic:

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 664:

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 Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 15, Number 73:

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.

The “odd number of dates” shows how deeply Muhammad was ingrained in superstition. Now, notice the words of Muhammad’s prayer.

Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 41, Hadith Number 5036:

Narrated AbulAzhar al-Anmari: When the Apostle of Allah (p.b.u.h.) went to his bed at night, he would say: in the name of Allah, I have laid down my side for Allah. O Allah! Forgive me my sin, drive away my devil, free me from my responsibility, and place me in the highest assembly.

QUESTIONS FOR MUSLIMS

(1) If the Qur’an is true in its teachings that Satan will not affect those righteous servants of Allah, why did Muhammad come under the control of sorcery? Think carefully, does this not prove that either the Qur’an is wrong in its promised protection or Muhammad is not a true prophet? Note, either option proves Islam to be false.

(2) What was Muhammad actually doing during the entire year that he thought he was having sexual relationship with his wives when he did not? After all, for him to actually believe he was really having sex with his wives when he did not, implies that he was pleasuring himself in some unknown manner. Otherwise, how could he sense that he was actually engaging in intercourse? Is this not somewhat degrading for someone claiming to be a prophet of God? And why would Allah permit his Prophet to be humiliated in this way, imagining he was engaging in sex when he did not?

(3) Why would Allah deprive Muhammad’s wives to go on without having sex with their husband for nearly a year when he could have simply healed him from the very start?

(4) Can we trust that for almost a year Muhammad was not receiving “revelations” when he was under the spell? Can Muslims provide a conclusive statement from the Islamic texts, which say that he was not receiving inspiration during the period when Satan had him under his control?

(5) Would not this incident imply that Satan is more powerful than Allah seeing that he was able to bewitch Muhammad for nearly a year even though the Qur’an says that he would not be able to harm Allah’s righteous servants? Or are we to assume that Muhammad was not righteous, which explains why Allah permitted him to come under the control of the demons?

Amazingly, several Muslim expositors even admitted that Muhammad had a demonic visitor named al-Abyad (the White) who would appear to him in the form of Gabriel.

Burhan al-Deen al-Halabi, Al-Sira al-Halabiyya, Volume I, p. 58:

“Some of the commentators mention that Muhammad had an enemy from among the demons of the jinns whose name was the White. And he use to appear to him in the image of Gabriel. But some people objected to that because people would not then trust the revelation. But we say that God bestowed on the prophet the necessary knowledge by which he would discern between Gabriel and the demon.”

It seems easy for the demons to connect to Muhammad. The above commentary, Muslim commentators claim that “God bestowed on the prophet the necessary knowledge by which he would discern between Gabriel and the demon” impersonating as Gabriel. This claim is a lie. Notice carefully, it is not Allah who is saying that Muhammad was bestowed with the knowledge to discern between Gabriel and the demon but the commentators themselves. Notice the words: “But we say.” In other words, it is only the opinion of the Muslim commentators that Muhammad was bestowed with this knowledge.

A well-known incident that took place during Muhammad’s prophetic career shows that he could not tell the difference between Satan and “Gabriel.” This famed event is known as the “Satanic Verses.” The records of early Muslim sources show that Muhammad, at one time, delivered a revelation from Satan believing that it was from “Gabriel.” Muhammad himself admitted that Satan had put words in his mouth making him compromise with idol worship. Allah later removed the verses and the Qur’anic recital was changed. Evidence of this incident can be seen in the following Qur’anic verse:

Surah 22:52: Whenever We sent any messenger or prophet before you, and he recited anything of Our revelation, Satan tampered with it. But God abrogates Satan’s interjections and then He firmly reaffirms His revelations. God is all knowing and all wise. (W. Khan)

“Never did We send a Messenger or a Prophet before you, but when he did recite the revelation or narrated or spoke, Satan threw some falsehood in it. But Allah abolishes that which Shaitan (Satan) throws in. Then Allah establishes His Revelations. And Allah is All-Knower, All-Wise.” (Hilali-Khan)

Allah is in effect saying: “Don’t worry about it Muhammad, all prophets proclaim satanic messages from time to time.” This is a blasphemous lie. Notice what the Bible teaches:

2 Samuel 23:2: The spirit of Jehovah spoke through me. His word was on my tongue.

2 Peter 1:21: But men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Surah 22:52 is in fact an admission in the Qur’an that Allah failed to protect Muhammad from the influence of Satan. And Allah is now lying to conceal his failure through this Qur’anic verse. Why would Allah make light of a prophet speaking the words of Satan as the words of God? While Surah 22:52 confirms that the Satanic Verses episode did really occur, it also shows that Allah openly lied that all of God’s prophets in the past were also influenced by Satan. This blatant lie is deliberately told by Allah to cover the humiliation of Muhammad who submitted to satanic influence.

Surah 22:52, which falsely claims that all of God’s prophets succumbed to satanic influence, is in itself a satanic verse woven into the fabric of the Qur’an. To excuse his Prophet’s succumbing to the influence of Satan, Allah defamed all the prophets of God by claiming that Satan has also casts words into the messages that they received through inspiration. Allah did not provide the slightest proof to substantiate his wicked defamation of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and many other faithful prophets of God in the Holy Bible.

The nature of Allah is very much identical to that of Satan. Both try to tarnish the divine qualities of the true God. They depict God as being powerless in preventing Satan’s interference with his messages. Additionally, they also humiliate the prophets of the true God. They do this by resorting to lies and deception.

Allah, who easily excused Muhammad’s serious sin, cannot be the true God. The failure of Allah to chastise Muhammad is one thing but to continue to inspire the one who had succumbed to the inspiration of Satan is quite another thing. This cast serious doubts on the inspiration of the Qur’an. The imputing of Satan’s suggestion into the mind of Muhammad is further revealed in the following Qur’anic verses:

Surah 7:199-200: “Be indulgent O Muhammad and favour forbearance…,  And if Al-Shaytan entices you by suggesting divergence or discord secretly to your mind, do not consent nor be actuated, but commit yourself to Allah…” (Al-Muntakhab)

The vital lesson that Muslims must learn from all these evidences from Islamic sources themselves is that Muhammad cannot be a prophet of the true God. It will therefore be wise for Muslims to look elsewhere for their salvation. It is vital for Muslims to examine the life of another Messenger of God – Jesus of Nazareth. We will now consider just one out of the many encounters that Jesus had with the demons:

Mark 1:21-27: They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. And they became amazed at his way of teaching, for there he was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the teachers of the law. Just at that immediate time there was in their synagogue a man under the power of an unclean spirit, and he shouted, saying: What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know exactly who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked it, saying: “Be silent, and come on out of him!” And the unclean spirit, after shaking him violently and yelling at the top of its voice, came out of him screaming. Well, the people were all so astonished that they began a discussion among themselves, saying: “What is this? A new teaching! He even orders the unclean spirits with authority, and they obey him.”

Contrary to the claims made by Allah in Surah 22:52, Jesus had complete authority over the demons. For the record, none of the prophets who received inspired messages from Jehovah were ever influenced by Satan. And none of the messages that they received was at any time influenced by Satan. Can Muslims provide the name of a single prophet of God in the Bible who spoke the words of Satan? There is not one. Not a single one of them compromised the Word of God to gain converts as Muhammad did. If you have to choose between Muhammad and Jesus, is it not sensible to trust the one who terrified the demons with his presence rather than the one who came under their influence? Would it be wise to follow a man who came under the inspiration of Satan? Muhammad was thoroughly misled by Satan. And this is an indisputable proof that Muhammad was a false prophet who came under the influence of Satan.

A true prophet will not fall prey to the demons. Muhammad’s own wife testified that he was bewitched. And she is not his enemy. Given such clear evidences of Muhammad’s subjection to the demons, it is extremely difficult to take this man’s claims as a prophet seriously. And Jesus warned his followers:

Matthew 24:11: “And many false prophets will arise and mislead many.”

The evidences provided by Muslim sources themselves strongly suggest that Muhammad falls into this category that Jesus warned us about. The Disciples of Christ were not only protected from the demons but they had power over them.

Luke 10:17: Then the seventy returned with joy and said: “Lord, even the demons submit to us by the use of your name.”