12 February 2012

Refuting magic on Prophet, Khaibar (p1), Hadith 36 (p1)

Seerah of Muhammed*
*: May the Peace, Blessings and Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an

Refuting the story of magic on the Prophet* and The start of the Khaibar Campaign

The story of magic on the Prophet

The following story is mentioned in the biography of the Prophet* compiled by Martin Lings. I will print what he says (based upon hadith) and then mention why many scholars do not believe this to be authentic.

In these same weeks after the return of the pilgrims there was an attack on the Prophet's life by a means which had not yet been used against him. In every generation of the Jews in Arabia there could be found one or two adepts in the science of magic; and one of these was amongst the Jews still living in Medina, Labid by name, an expert sorcerer who had also instructed his daughters in the subtle art lest his own knowledge should die with him. Labid now received a heavy bribe to put as deadly a spell as he could upon the Prophet*. For this purpose he needed some combings of his hair, which he or one of his daughters contrived to procure, possibly through the intermediary of an entirely innocent person. He tied eleven knots in the hair, and his daughters breathed imprecations upon each knot. Then he attached it to a sprig from a male date-palm which had on it the outer sheath of the pollen, and threw it into a deep well. The spell could only be undone by the untying of the knots.

The Prophet* was soon aware that something was seriously wrong. On the one hand his memory began to fail him, while on the other hand he began to imagine that he had done things which in fact he had not done. He was also overcome with weakness, and when food was pressed upon him he could not bring himself to eat. He prayed God to cure him, and in his sleep he was conscious of two persons, one sitting at his head and the other at his feet. He heard one of them inform the other of the exact cause of his infirmity and of the name of the well. When he woke Gabriel came to him, and confirming his dream he gave him two surahs of the Qur’an, one of which contains five verses and the other six. The Prophet* sent 'Ali to the well, telling him to recite over it the two surahs. At each verse one of the knots untied itself until all were untied and the Prophet* recovered his full strength of mind and body.' The Prophet* ordered the well to be filled up and another to be dug near at hand to replace it. He sent for Labid, who confessed to having placed the spell upon him for the sake of a bribe, but he did not take any action against him.

The first of the two surahs is: ‘Say: I take refuge in the Lord of daybreak from the evil of that which He hath created, and from the evil of dusk when it dimmeth into night, and from the evil of the women who breathe upon knots, and from the evil of the envier when he envieth,' The second is: Say: I take refuge in the Lord of men, The King of men, the God of men, from the evil of the stealthy whisperer, who whispers in the breasts of men; from Jinn and from men.'

According to many authorities these two surahs which were recited on this occasion were not then newly revealed but had been given to the Prophet* in Mecca before the Hijrah.

These surahs are placed last of all in the Qur’an. They are called "the two takings of refuge", and are recited continually for protection against all manner of evil.

Comment

There are khabar ahad (singular) narrations that say the Prophet* was affected by magic but the meaning of these cannot be accepted as they contradict the definite matter of infallibility of the Prophet* and that he could not be influenced by Shaitan or evil in any way. The Prophet* is infallible with regards to the Deen. Furthermore, if a speculative (zanni) matter contradicts a definitive (qati) matter then the definitive must be taken even if there is a zanni narration upon the issue. This means that we should accept the principle of infallibility of the Prophet(s) above any narration as there may be error in the narration.

Secondly, the actual authenticity of the narrations regarding magic influencing the Prophet* themselves have been doubted by scholars. We talked about this topic when discussing ‘The Satanic Verses’ many months ago.
We find that the chains of transmission of this story can be divided into two categories:
A) Hisham – his father ‘Urwah – ‘Aishah
From Hisham several people (Yahya, ‘Isa, Abu Usamah, Ibn Numayr etc) narrate the story, so we can take it back to him with considerable confidence. But we have no way to verify that Hisham heard the story from ‘Urwah, since he is the only one to attribute it to him. And if we do accept that Hisham did relate it from ‘Urwah we cannot be sure that ‘Urwah heard it from ‘Aishah, since he is the only one to attribute it to her.
Hisham was a resident of Medina, although he later moved to Iraq and died there. Imam Malik, also from Medina quotes many traditions from him but he does not quote this one. One explanation of this fact is that when he was residing in Medina in early part of his life Hisham either did not know this story or he did not give credence to it. It is reported by scholars that Hisham became very feeble-minded in his later years. Thus ‘Uqayli says: he mentally degenerated in the last part of his life. It may be that Hisham heard the story from some unreliable narrators in his earlier years and in his later years his feeble-mindedness led him to attribute it to ‘Urwah. This would explain why no other narrator transmits the story from ‘Urwah or from ‘Aishah. This is one explanantion.
B) The second category of chains of transmission has: Abu Mu‘awiyah – al-A‘mash – Yazid bin Hayyan – Zayd bin Arqam
These chains are even more problematic than those from ‘Aishah. They are found only in two of the nine collections of Hadith: Nasa`i and Ahmad and allow us to take the hadith back with some confidence only to Abu Mu‘awiyah who died in 195. We have only his word that al-A‘mash (d. 147) narrated the story and the same is true about two earlier narrators: Yazid bin Hayyan and Zayd bin Arqam.

To conclude, although these stories are mentioned in some books of hadith we reject the stories partly because they contradict the Qur’anic promise of Allah to protect His Messenger and partly due to the weakness in the chain of narrators. Hence, there is doubt both in the text and transmission.

The Start of the Khaibar Campaign

Khaibar was a spacious strongly fortified territory, studded with castles and farms, lying at a distance of 60-80 miles north of Medina, now a village known for its uncongenial climate. After Al- Hudaibiyah Treaty, the major party of the anti-Islam tripartite coalition — Quraish, the bedouin horde of Najd tribes and the Jews — was neutralized, therefore, the Prophet* deemed it an appropriate time to settle his affairs with the other two wings — the Jews and the Najd tribes — in order that peace and security could prevail and the Muslims may devote their time and effort in propagating the Message of Allah and calling people to embrace it. Khaibar itself had always remained a hotbed of intrigue and conspiracy, and the Jews had always constituted it a source of military provocations and war instigation centre, so it was given a top priority on the agenda of the Prophet’s compelling exigencies. The Jews of Khaibar had united by an ancient alliance with the Confederates, triggered Bani Quraiza to practise treachery, maintained contacts with Ghatafan and the Arabians and they even devised an attempt at the Prophet’s life. In fact, the continual afflictions that the Muslims had sustained were primarily attributable to the Jews. Envoys were repeatedly sent to them for peaceful settlement, but all in vain. Consequently the Prophet* came to the conclusion that a military campaign was a must in order to forestall their hostilities. Interpreters of the Noble Qur’an suggest that capturing Khaibar had been a Divine promise implied in Allah’s Words: · “Allah has promised you abundant spoils that you will capture, and He has hastened for you this.” [48:20] i.e., Al-Hudaibiyah Peace Treaty and the surrender of Khaibar.

The hypocrites and people weak of heart had hung back from joining the true Muslims in Al- Hudaibiyah campaigns, so now Allah, the All-Mighty inculcated the following words in His Prophet’s ears: · “Those who lagged behind will say, when you set forth to take the spoils, ‘Allow us to follow you.’ They want to change Allah’s Words. Say: ‘You shall not follow us; thus Allah has said beforehand.’ Then they will say: ‘Nay, you envy us.’ Nay, but they understand not except a little.” [48:15]

For this reason, the Prophet* invited only those who were willing to fight in the cause of Allah to accompany him in his march against Khaibar. 1400 men only, who had sworn allegiance in response to his call. Meanwhile, Siba‘ bin ‘Arfatah Al-Ghifari was chosen to run the affairs of Medina.

The hypocrites of Arabia took notice of the fresh Islamic intentions so they began to alert the Jews to the imminent military activities. Their chief, ‘Abdullah bin Ubai delegated an envoy to the Jews of Khaibar warning them against the d angers approaching, and nerving them to resist the Muslims as they outnumbered the latter and were better equipped. On hearing the news the Jews despatched Kinanah bin Abi Al-Huqaiq and Haudha bin Qais to their former allies, the tribe of Ghatafan requesting military assistance, promising to grant them half the yield of the fruit that their farms could yield if they managed to beat the Muslims.

The Prophet* marched by way of Isra Mountain and then went forward with the army till he halted in a valley called Ar-Raji‘, encamping between Khaibar and Ghatafan so as to prevent the latter from reinforcing the Jews. The guides accompanying him led him to an intersection from which branched out three roads with different designations; all leading to his destination. He abstained from following the first two roads on grounds of their ominous designation and chose the third for its propitious indications.

Amr bin Al-Akwa’s martyrdom

It has been narrated on the authority of Salamah bin Al-Akwa‘, who said: We marched upon Khaibar with the Messenger of Allah*. We journeyed during the night. One of the men said to my brother ‘Amir: Won’t you recite to us s ome of your verses, ‘Amir? So he began to chant his verses to urge the camels, reciting: O Allah, if You had not guided us, We would have neither been guided rightly nor practised charity, nor offered prayers. We wish to lay down our lives for You; so forgive You our lapses, And keep us steadfast when we encounter (our enemies). Bestow upon us peace and tranquillity, Behold, when with a cry they called upon us to help.

The Messenger of Allah* said: “Who is this driver (of the camels)?” They said: “It is ‘Amir.” He said: “Allah will show mercy to him.” A man said: “Martyrdom is reserved for him; O Messenger of Allah, would that you had allowed us to benefit ourselves from his life.” The Prophet’s Companions had already known that he would never invoke Allah’s mercy upon a close Companion but to single him out for martyrdom.

The Prophet* began the campaign by reducing the minor strongholds one after the other. The first fort he was to attack was Na‘im, the first defence line with a formidable strategic position. Marhab, the leader of the fort, invited ‘Amr bin Al-Akwa‘ to meet him in combat and the latter responded; when ‘Amr struck the Jew, his sword recoiled and wounded his knee, and he died of that wound. Some people claimed, based on this action, that Amir ‘commited suicide and lost all his good deeds’ and this made Salamah unhappy. The Prophet* noticed this and later said: “For him (‘Amir) there is a double reward in the Hereafter.” He indicated this by putting two of his fingers together. ‘Ali bin Abi Talib then undertook to meet Marhab in combat, and managed to kill him. Yasir, Marhab’s brother, then turned up challenging the Muslims to a fight. Az-Zubair was equal to it and killed him on the spot. Real fighting then broke out and lasted for a few days. The Jews showed courage and proved to be too formidable even to the repeated rushes of the veteran soldiers of Islam. However, they later realized the futility of resistance and began to abandon their positions in An-Na‘im and infiltrate into the fortress of As-Sa‘b.

Hadith:

First half of Nawawi's 40 Hadith, Number 36

Hadith 36: Part 1 ~ Helping Brother Muslims 

Hadith No.36 (Nawawi's 40 Hadith): On the authority of Abu Huraira from the Prophet* who said: “Whoever relieves a believer’s distress of the distressful aspects of this world, Allah will rescue him from a difficulty of the difficulties of the Hereafter. Whoever alleviates [the situation of] one in dire straits who cannot repay his debt, Allah will alleviate his lot in both this world and in the Hereafter. Whoever conceals [the faults of] a Muslims, Allah will conceal [his faults] in this life and the Hereafter. Allah is helping the servant as long as the servant is helping his brother. Whoever follows a path in order to seek knowledge thereby, Allah will make easy doe him, due to it, a path to Paradise. No people gather together in a house of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves, except that tranquillity descended upon them, mercy covers them, the angels surround them and Allah makes mention of them to those in His presence. Whoever is slowed by his deeds will not be hastened forward by his lineage.”[Muslim]

We see that in this hadith the obligations towards other Muslims are emphasised and the fulfilment of brotherhood is again stressed. The previous hadith talks about the prohibitions regarding a Muslim’s duties towards their fellow Muslims, and this talks about the more positive elements of Brotherhood and its responsibilities. This is a great hadith that encompasses all the branches of Knowledge, and the Principles [of the Religion], and the Excellent Manners. In it is found the virtue of fulfilling the needs of the Muslims, and benefitting them, from what is possible for one, of Knowledge, or wealth, or aid, or guidance towards that which will correct their affairs, or advice.

“Whoever alleviates [the situation of] one in dire straits who cannot repay his debt, Allah will alleviate his lot in both this world and in the Hereafter.”

The Day of Judgement will be a very difficult day with many hardships. The only way to be rescued from difficulties on that Day is by obtaining the grace and mercy of Allah, all praises and glory be to Him. In this part of the hadith, the Prophet* has informed us about one of the ways in which we can attain the mercy of Allah. Relieving our fellow Muslim of their debt is an act beloved to Allah that may earn us His mercy, and an alleviation from trials in this world and the Hereafter. Here, it is not wise or appropriate for a Muslim to demand his money back from a poor or needy Muslim who honestly cannot afford to pay him. He should either give him a chance until he is able to repay his money or forgive him.

There are basically two ways in which we can relieve another’s debt. If we have leant money, and we know that someone is not able to repay the loan, we can wait until they have the means to repay it. This is in fact an obligation commanded by Allah, when He says: “And if the debtor is on straitened circumstances, then grant him time until it is easy for him to repay” (2:280)  A second option would be to reduce the debt or forgive it completely, and that is better for us, as Allah says: “But of you remit it [the debt] by way of charity, that is better for you if you did but know. And be afraid of the Day when you shall be brought back to Allah. Then every person shall be paid what he earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly” (2:281)

Also included is the concept is giving the one in debt charity or a gift to help them pay off their debts. The Prophet* said regarding this: “Whoever would be pleased to have Allah save him from distress on the Day of Resurrection should then relieve one in straitened circumstances or completely remove his debt.” (Muslim)  Ibn Uthaimeen points out that if a Muslim does the opposite of this, and demands the debt, making life difficult for that person, then Allah may make life difficult him both in this life and the next. We can see that caring for our fellow Muslims, and seeking to alleviate their stresses and strains, be they financial or otherwise, not only serves to strengthen the ties of the brotherhood and sisterhood, and alleviate distress, it also benefits us though the removal of trials and tribulations either in this world, or on the Day of Judgement. The Prophet*, says in one of his great hadiths: "A man of the previous nations was very rich and people used to borrow money from him. Not only did he lend them money, which is indeed a good deed, but he also asked his sons to alleviate and forgive those who could not repay the money." The Prophet*, says that in the Hereafter Allah will reward him and forgive his sins because of his generosity. Allah says in Surah al-Furqan, Ayah 26 that "it will be a very hard day for the disbelievers". This means that there is a situation where a person who is kind to those in need and Allah will relief that person by rewarding him a great reward from Allah's Mercy and Help.

“Whoever conceals [the faults of] a Muslim, Allah will conceal [his faults] in this life and the Hereafter.”

The matter of concealing the faults of others is mentioned in numerous hadith of the Prophet*. In particular, we find the following: “O gathering who believe with their tongues but faith has yet to enter into their hearts, do not backbite the Muslims. And do not search into their private matters. Whoever searches for their private matters will have Allah follow up his private matters. And whose private matters Allah follows, He will expose him even [if his act were done] in his house.” (Ahmad and Abu Dawood)

And this is with regards to hiding the sins that they may have committed in the past, and which are over. On the other hand, if they are caught red-handed performing a sin then it is obligatory to admonish them and forbid them from it. And if they are unable to do so, then they must raise the matter to the Authorities, if they do not fear any evil repercussions from this. In general, a believer in Allah and the Last Day, would not like their mistakes and faults to be broadcast to others. If we make a mistake or commit a sin, it is better that we keep the matter to ourselves and ask Allah for forgiveness than to tell others about we have done, perhaps inadvertently encouraging them to do the same. If, may Allah forgive us, we are happy at having committed the sin, then it is a sign of a shortcoming in our faith, and we should repent to Allah and ask Him to guide us to what is better. Allah, all praises and glory be to Him has told us in the Qur’an: “Verily, those who like that lewd sinful acts should propagated among those who believe, they will have a painful torment in this world and in the Hereafter” (Surah al-Noor:19)

Those Whose Sins Should be Concealed

There are essentially two types of people. One is religious and performs the obligatory and recommended acts and remains away from what is forbidden. The other openly admits commits sins and acts that are forbidden by the shariah. In the light of the teachings of this hadith, the actions with respect to each type of person is different. The first type of person, who is not known to commit sins, should have shortcomings concealed by others. However, conditions must be met for this approach to be followed:

1) The sin that the person committed must be one related to the ‘rights of Allah’ and not the rights of mankind. That is, if you see them do something that will not harm anyone else, you should conceal that. But if what they are doing concerns others, such as stealing, then you cannot remain silent because another person’s rights have been violated.

2) The sin must have already been finished. In other words, if see someone in the act of committing a sin, you should try to stop them, even if it means telling others about it, but if the acts is done, then it should be concealed.

3) The person whose fault is being concealed must be a religious person who is not known to perform evil deeds, thus the act could be considered a slip.

4) The concealment must not be in a situation where one has been called to be a witness to what has occurred, or to the character of the accused.

5) The benefit of concealing the person’s sin must outweigh the benefit of letting the sin be known. If the benefit and the harm seem of an equal level, the sin should be concealed.

According to ibn Rajab, the one who comes privately to the authorities, full of repentance and sorrow, asking for punishment without explicitly stating which type of sin has been committed, should also have their sin concealed and be told to repent privately to Allah. This was the practice of the Prophet*.

Those Who are Not Deserving of Intercession

The second category of people, who openly and repeatedly commit sins, are not deserving of having their sins concealed. Instead, others should be told about them so that they take precautions against them. They should also be reported to the proper authorities in order to try and curb their evil, and one should not intercede on their behalf. When all this is considered, we can see that this teaching serves to protect the honour of the pious Muslim who may have slipped and committed a sin against the rights of Allah. But if the act committed was against the rights of a person, or committed openly with no shame, then there is no concealment and the action should be dealt with appropriately. Allah is all-Forgiving and He loves to Forgive, and we should never despair of His Mercy, but neither should we openly commit sins or harm the rights of another person, otherwise we cannot hope for Allah to conceal our own faults, in this life, or more importantly, in the Hereafter.

“Allah is helping the servant as long as the servant is helping his brother.”

This statement is a principle. Before this statement, the Prophet*, gives us three examples of Allah helping those who help others. We can see from this statement of the Prophet* that Allah rewards His servants in a manner similar to the deeds that they perform. If we are helping our brother or sister, Allah will help us in return. Some of the virtues of helping one another were discussed in detail in the commentary of Hadith Number 26, but this particular hadith gives us further cause for reflection. Allah promises to be our helper if we help one another, and who could be a better helper than Allah? If Allah is helping us, would we need for anything? This also shows us what the ideal Islamic society should look like. It is a society in which its members help each other and support each other and encourage each other to do what is best. Allah commands us: “Help one another in acts of piety and righteousness. And do not assist each other in acts of sinfulness and transgression. And be aware of Allah. Verily, Allah is severe in punishment” (al-Maaidah:2) Hence we should help each other to do good and avoid helping others in acts that would displease Allah.

A hadith of the Prophet* illustrates the reward of helping one another. Anas narrated that the Prophet* and his Companions were on a journey, and some of the Companions were fasting whilst others were not. Those who were fasting were struggling to perform the chores of feeding the animals and preparing the food and so forth, so those who were not fasting performed these tasks for them. Although fasting is an act that is extremely pleasing to Allah, the Prophet* said of their situation:“Those who were not fasting took all of the reward today.” (al-Bukhari and Muslim) Those who were not fasting received such a great reward because they were helping their brothers who were in need.

Helping one another is not limited to doing a deed on another’s behalf, it also includes the other deeds previously referred to in this hadith, including relieving someone in a distressful situation, relieving debt or interceding on their behalf. We should therefore use our physical and material means as well as other means such as our reputation and authority to help those in need. When we do this, we will find the most blessed of things, Allah as our helper. But should we confine ourselves only to the needy mentioned in the hadith? Of course not. The Prophet*, wants to convey to us that we should help our brothers in any way possible. There are hundreds of forms of need. For example, helping the blind to cross the street or any of the great and charitable acts that are mentioned in Hadiths 25 and 26. The greater the help, the greater the reward. This is something that Muslims should take seriously because if we have a community which care about each other and help one another, then there would be no needy. This should be our attitude - we should seek to be motivated to offer our help at any time to our Muslim brothers.

This is a generalisation whose detailed explanation must include the case where the Slave [of Allah] resolves to help his brother Muslim [by admonishing him], whereupon it becomes required of him not to be cowardly of speaking the Truth to him, believing, all the while, that Allah will help him and protect him from any evil repercussions of doing so.

The second half of the hadith will be covered next week, Insha’Allah

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