Death of Prophet Muhammad

The death of Prophet Muhammad is a very interesting event.  A Jewish lady wanted to test Muhammad’s prophethood by giving him a poisoned meal to see if God would save him.  He took the bait and eventually died from the poison.

In a hadith it states:

Anas reported that a Jewish woman brought the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, poisoned sheep. He ate from it and she was brought. It was asked, “Should we not kill her?” “No,” he replied. (Adab al mufrad)
Note: In the version in Abu Dawud she is ordered to be killed

Here is the story. After the battle of Khaibar he was invited to eat some food, and a Jewish lady cooked a poisoned sheep for them.
The first companion to eat swallowed the food and died, and then Prophet Muhammad who had already taken a bite warned his companions that the sheep has told him its poisoned so stop eating.  Strangely the sheep only told him that after his companion died and he took a bite.

Jabir ibn Abdullah used to say that a Jewess from the inhabitants of Khaybar poisoned a roasted sheep and presented it to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who took its foreleg and ate from it. A group of his companions also ate with him.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then said: Take your hands away (from the food). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then sent someone to the Jewess and he called her.

He said to her: Have you poisoned this sheep? The Jewess replied: Who has informed you? He said: This foreleg which I have in my hand has informed me. (Abu Dawud)

Muhammad asked them:

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.” (Bukhari)

Three years later he had not died but was suffering now..

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.” (Bukhari)

Then Prophet Muhammad tried to cure himself using his methods that he had including pouring seven skins of water:

Narrated `Aisha:
When the Prophet entered my house and his disease became aggravated, he said, “Pour on me seven water skins full of water (the tying ribbons of which had not been untied) so that I may give some advice to the people.” So we made him sit in a tub belonging to Hafsa, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ) and started pouring water on him from those water skins till he waved us to stop. (Bukhari)

Also one of his companions tried to get him medicine from Ethiopia.

He also tried cupping:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had himself cupped on his shoulder on account of that which he had eaten from the sheep. AbuHind cupped him with the horn and knife. He was a client of Banu Bayadah from the Ansar. (Abu Dawud)

Also, he did the duas:

Whenever Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) became ill, he used to recite the Muawidhatan (i.e. the last two surahs of the Qur’an) and blow his breath over himself (after their recitation ) and rubbed his hands over his body. So when he was afflicted with his fatal illness. I started reciting the Muawidhatan and blowing my breath over him as he used to do and then I rubbed the hand of the Prophet (ﷺ) over his body. (Bukhari)

And angel Gabriel used to pray for him too

When Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) fell ill, Gabriel used to recite this: “In the name of Allah, may He cure you from all kinds of illnesses and safeguard you from the evil of a jealous one when he feels jealous and from the evil influence of eye.” (Muslim)

It didn’t work. In regards to his suffering, he explained it to companions that every prophet is given double the fever and test than normal men:

Narrated Ibn Mas`ud:
I visited the Prophet (ﷺ) while he was having a high fever. I touched him an said, “You have a very high fever” He said, “Yes, as much fever as two me of you may have.” I said. “you will have a double reward?” He said, “Yes No Muslim is afflicted with hurt caused by disease or some other inconvenience, but that Allah will remove his sins as a tree sheds its leaves.” (Bukhari)

When he realized he was dying, he explained to his companions that he actually chose to die, because all prophets are given a choice.

Narrated `Aisha:
When the Prophet (ﷺ) was healthy, he used to say, “No soul of a prophet is captured till he is shown his place in Paradise and then he is given the option.” When death approached him while his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious and then recovered his consciousness. He then looked at the ceiling of the house and said, “O Allah! (with) the highest companions.” I said (to myself), “Hence, he is not going to choose us.” Then I realized that what he had said was the application of the narration which he used to mention to us when he was healthy. The last word he spoke was, “O Allah! (with) the highest companion.” (Bukhari)

Now the most startling fact from all this.. The Quran says:

[It is] a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.
And if Muhammad had made up about Us some [false] sayings,
We would have seized him by the right hand;
Then We would have cut from him the aorta.
(Quran 69:43-49)

Prophet Muhammad used the same words to describe his death, that his aorta vein was being cut off.

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.” (Bukhari)

Different people have given different theories as to why he used the same words.  Was it a common expression? Was it an indication of guilt?  Was it just a chance coincidence?  An ironic death?  Who knows…

What do you think?

You can find more details at: http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/mo-death.htm

 

10 thoughts on “Death of Prophet Muhammad

  1. Can you attach references to this information. Its a interesting read and I have been a silent follower of you on FB

  2. The body of Mohammed is supposed to be in undecomposed state in the tomb in the green dome in Medina, that means a few things that we will probably will never be able to verify:
    1. We can examine the body to establish cause of death.
    2. Observation of a miracle (1400 year old body undecomposed ! )
    3. Mohammed is not in heaven but on earth.

    I think it would even be possible to examine the grave without opening it, a tiny whole would be sufficient to get samples, pictures and data.

    I guess we have to wait for a muslim scientist to dare such an operation .

  3. I pity you for being so stupid n for trying to misguide the people by your hocus-pocus commentary of the Hadiths…
    According to the Hadith the holy Prophet (PBUH) well as his companion ate from the poisoned sheep but where does it say that the holy Prophet (PBUH) stopped the rest of the companions after the former companion died?
    Use your common sense dude. The poison was surely not Cyanide that killed the Prophet’s companion instantly or the moment he put the morsel in his mouth which gave the holy Prophet (PBUH) enough time to asses the situation n warn the others. Obviously not. It would taken some time for that poor fellow to die. What is clear from the Hadith is that after the Prophet (PBUH) n his companion took a morsel of the poisoned meat and it was then revealed to the Prophet (PBUH) that the meat was poisoned and the Prophet (PBUH) quickly stopped the rest from eating from it.
    The lesson taught by ALLAH (The Exalted) in HIS Wisdom through this incident is;
    1) A Prophet by himself has no knowledge of the unseen it is ALLAH ALMIGHTY Alone Who Possess ilm Al Ghayab (The knowledge of the unseen) hence it becomes manifest by this incident that the holy Prophet (PBUH) was informed by Allah (SWT) of the poisoned meat rather than himself knowing it n that goes for all the Prophets before him (PBUT) all.
    2) It also becomes evident by this incident that the holy Prophet (PBUH) was a true Prophet but not a false one as after eating from the same meat that his companion did and died almost instantly the poison did not have any effect on the Prophet (PBUH).
    He, the Prophet (PBUH) surely passed away as every created soul has and will. The death of holy Prophet (PBUH) took place some 3 odd years after this incident which is sufficient enough to prove that he didn’t die of poisoning.

    My humble request to you; kindly refrain from lying n boasting about things that you have no knowledge about and save yourself from further embarrassment.

    All that I have said above is from my limited understanding and I seek refuge in ALLAH for my short comings. It is Allah Almighty Alone Who posses the true knowledge of everything within the Heavens, the Earth n beyond.
    May The Exalted n The Most Merciful ALLAH forgive me for my short comings n may HE reward me Generously for the very little efforts that I make to seek HIS pleasure… Aameen!

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