Breakdown

The Poison Of Khaybar And The Honour Of Shahadah

Ibn al Qayyim (d. 751AH) says that the Prophet ﷺ was poisoned at Khaybar after a Jewish woman gave him a roasted sheep. The Prophet ﷺ ate from it, and some of his Companions also ate. He then told them to stop, asked the woman if she had poisoned the sheep, and she admitted it. Her reason was that if he was false, people would be relieved of him, and if he was a true Prophet, the poison would not harm him.

The Prophet ﷺ then had hijamah (cupping) done on the kahil (upper back between the shoulders), and he instructed his Companions to do the same. Some of them died from the poison. Another report states that Abu Hind performed hijamah for him with a horn and blade. The report of hijamah has different routes, some of which are disconnected, but it has supporting reports, while the basis of the poisoning itself is established in the two Sahihs. (Sahih al Bukhari. Sahih Muslim. Sunan Abi Dawud 4510. al Darimi 68. al Musannaf, Abd al Razzaq, 10019 and 19814. Dala’il al Nubuwwah, al Bayhaqi, 4/260–263. al Tabaqat, Ibn Saʿd, 2/201. al Muʿjam al Kabir, al Tabarani, 19/70. Majmaʿ al Zawa’id, al Haythami, 8/296. al Matalib al Aliyah, 11/245–249.)

Ibn al Qayyim then mentions that the Prophet ﷺ lived for three years after that incident, until the illness in which he passed away. During that final illness, he said: “I continued to feel the effect of the morsel that I ate from the sheep on the day of Khaybar, until this was the time when my aorta was cut.” Ibn al Qayyim concludes from this that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away as a shahid (martyr). (al Maghazi, Musa ibn Uqbah, p. 255. Dala’il al Nubuwwah, al Bayhaqi, 4/264. al Tabaqat, Ibn Saʿd, 2/201. al Muʿjam al Kabir, al Tabarani, 2/35.)

Side Note: Some Christians argue that him dying from poison proves he is a false prophet because of the verses where Allah said:

وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الْأَقَاوِيلِ ۝ لَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ ۝ ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ

“Had he falsely attributed some sayings to Us, We would certainly have seized him by the right hand. THEN We would certainly have cut from him the aorta.” (al Haqqah 44–46)

الوتين al watīn

However what these Christians do not know is that the same Arabic word is not used in the hadith that mentions his aorta was severed 

وقال يونس عن الزهري، قال عروة: قالت عائشة رضي الله عنها: كان النبي ﷺ يقول في مرضه الذي مات فيه: “يا عائشة، ما ازال اجد الم الطعام الذي اكلت بخيبر، فهذا اوان وجدت انقطاع ابهري من ذلك السم.”

“Yunus reported from al Zuhri, who said: Urwah said: Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: In the illness from which he died, the Prophet ﷺ would say: “O Aishah, I still feel the pain of the food that I ate at Khaybar, and now is the time when I feel my aorta being cut from that poison.””

أبهري abharī

Al watin means a vital vessel connected to the heart, often explained as the vessel of the heart or the attachment of the heart.

Al abhar is also a vital vessel connected to the heart, but it is broader in the dictionaries. It can mean a vessel in the back, a vessel connected to the spine and heart, the jugular vein according to some, or the two vessels that come out from the heart and branch into the arteries.

Ibn Manzur says under al watin:

“الوتين: عرق في القلب إذا انقطع مات صاحبه… ابن سيده: الوتين عرق لاصق بالصلب من باطنه أجمع، يسقي العروق كلها الدم ويسقي اللحم، وهو نهر الجسد… وقيل: هو نياط القلب.”

Al watin (word used in the verse) is a vessel in the heart. If it is cut, its owner dies.

Ibn Sidah said: Al watin is a vessel attached to the inside of the spine, all along it. It gives blood to all the vessels and gives blood to the flesh, and it is the river of the body. It was also said: it is the attachment of the heart. (Lisān al ʿArab by Ibn Manẓūr 15/150)

Ibn Manzur says under al abhar:

الأبهر: عرق في الظهر يقال هو الوريد في العنق، وبعضهم يجعله عرقا مستبطن الصلب… والأبهر: عرق إذا انقطع مات صاحبه، وهما أبهران يخرجان من القلب ثم يتشعب منهما سائر الشرايين.

Al abhar (word used in the hadith) is a vessel in the back. It is said that it is the vein in the neck, and some make it a vessel inside the spine. Al abhar is a vessel which, if cut, its owner dies.

There are two abhar vessels. They come out from the heart, then the rest of the arteries branch out from them. (Lisān al ʿArab by Ibn Manẓūr 2/165)

Al Firuzabadi also says in al Qamus, as quoted by al Biqaʿi:

والأَبْهَرُ: الظَّهْرُ، وعِرْقٌ فيه، ووَرِيدُ العُنُقِ، والأَكْحَلُ، والجانِبُ الأَقْصَرُ من الريشِ، وظَهْرُ سِيَةِ القَوْسِ، أو ما بين طائِفِها والكُلْيَةِ، والطَّيِّبُ من الأرضِ لا يَعْلوهُ السَّيْلُ، والضَّريعُ اليابِسُ

The word can mean: the back, a vein in the back, the vein of the neck, the vein in the arm used for drawing blood, the shorter side of a feather, the back of the curved end of a bow, or the part between the curved end of the bow and its central section. It can also mean good land that floodwater does not rise over, and dry thorny pasture. (Kitāb al Qāmūs al Muḥīṭ by al Fīrūzābādī pg 355)

Al Qamus al Muhit gives al abhar several meanings. It is not limited to one blood vessel. It can mean the back, a vessel in the back, the vein of the neck, the vein used for drawing blood in the arm, and other meanings.

What we understand from the classical Arabic dictionaries is that:

Al watin is more specifically the vital vessel of the heart, or the vessel by which the heart is attached and through which life is sustained.

Al abhar is broader. It can refer to the back, a vessel in the back, a neck vein, or the great vessel from which other arteries branch.

So they are not the same, because the dictionaries give them separate entries and different ranges of meaning, but they are close in the meaning, because both can refer to a fatal central vessel connected to the heart.

Another point that refutes this poor argument is that the verse says the prophet’s hand will be seized THEN his aorta will be severed, however we see no proof of his right hand being seized.

The Medical Wisdom Behind Hijamah

Ibn al Qayyim explains that the treatment of poison is by removing harmful matter from the body and by using medicines that oppose and weaken the poison. If medicine is not available, the poisoned person should rush to remove the poisonous matter from the body. The most beneficial way, according to his explanation, is hijamah, especially in hot lands and hot weather.

The reason is that poison travels through the blood, spreads through the veins and pathways, and then reaches the heart. Since blood is the route by which poison reaches the heart and organs, removing blood can remove the poisonous matter mixed with it. If the removal is complete, the poison is removed or weakened until the body overcomes it.

The Prophet ﷺ had hijamah done on the kahil because it is among the closest places to the heart where hijamah can be done. Ibn al Qayyim says the poisonous matter came out with the blood, but not completely. A weakened trace remained. When Allah willed to complete every rank of virtue for His Prophet ﷺ and honour him with shahadah (martyrdom), the hidden effect of the poison appeared during his final illness. (Sunan Abi Dawud 3860. Jamiʿ al Tirmidhi 2051. Sunan Ibn Majah 3483. Musnad Ahmad 12191 and 13001.)

The Qur’an Verse And The Action Of The Jews

Ibn al Qayyim connects this event to Allah’s statement about the Jews:

أَفَكُلَّمَا جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ بِمَا لَا تَهْوَى أَنْفُسُكُمُ اسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ فَفَرِيقًا كَذَّبْتُمْ وَفَرِيقًا تَقْتُلُونَ

“Whenever a messenger came to you with what your selves did not desire, you became arrogant. So a group you denied, and a group you kill.” (al Baqarah 87)

He explains that “you denied” came in the past tense because their denial had already occurred and become established. But “you kill” came in a future sense, pointing to what they were still seeking and waiting for. In this way, the poisoning of the Prophet ﷺ revealed part of the meaning of this Qur’an verse.

The Sihr Against The Prophet ﷺ And Its Correct Understanding

Ibn al Qayyim then says the sihr (magic) that affected the Prophet ﷺ. He rejects the claim of those who denied it because they thought it implied a flaw in the Prophet ﷺ. He says this is incorrect. Sihr, in this case, was an illness from the illnesses that could affect his body, just as poison and pain could affect him. It did not harm his nubuwwah (prophethood), sidq (truthfulness), reason, heart, or revelation.

The hadith of Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, establishes that the Prophet ﷺ was affected by sihr until it seemed to him that he had gone to his wives when he had not done so. The wording also mentions that this was from the strongest forms of sihr. (Sahih al Bukhari 5765. Sahih Muslim 2189.)

Qadi Iyad (d. 544AH) mentioned that sihr is an illness and a temporary condition, like other illnesses that may affect the Prophet ﷺ. It does not damage prophethood. What occurred was in worldly bodily matters, not in conveying the religion. The proof and consensus establish that the Prophet ﷺ was protected in his truthfulness and in revelation. (al Shifa, Qadi Iyad, 2/181–182.)

The Treatment Of Sihr By Removing Its Source

Ibn al Qayyim explains that the strongest treatment for the sihr was to remove it and cancel its effect. The Prophet ﷺ asked Allah, and Allah guided him to its place. It was taken out from a well. It was found in a comb, combed hair, and the dried covering of a male palm spathe. Once it was removed, the effect left him, as though he had been released from a bond.

This shows that removing the physical means of sihr can be one of the strongest ways of treating the afflicted person, because it is like removing corrupt matter from the body. Ibn al Qayyim presents this as the strongest and clearest remedy in this case. (Sahih al Bukhari 5765. Sahih Muslim 2189.)

Hijamah As A Secondary Treatment For Sihr

Ibn al Qayyim also mentions a second type of treatment, which is removing harmful matter from the body part affected by sihr. He explains that the sihr reached the head and affected one of its faculties, causing false perception in a worldly bodily matter. For this reason, hijamah on the head was a fitting treatment when the harm had reached that area.

Abu Ubayd (d. 224AH) reported from Abd al Rahman ibn Abi Layla (d. 83AH) that the Prophet ﷺ had hijamah done on his head with a horn when he was affected by sihr. Abu Ubayd explained that the word used there meant sihr. (Gharib al Hadith, Abu Ubayd, 3/405. al Tabaqat, Ibn Saʿd, 2/201. Tahdhib al Athar, al Tabari, 1/530.)

Ibn al Qayyim criticises those who reject the connection between hijamah and sihr while they would have accepted it if a famous physician like Hippocrates or Ibn Sina (d. 428AH) had said it. He explains that sihr can affect the body through evil spirits and through the body’s natural forces. If that effect settles in a particular organ, treating that place by removing harmful matter can be very beneficial.

The Limits Of The Sihr And The Protection Of The Prophet ﷺ

Ibn al Qayyim ends by making the matter clear: the sihr only affected the Prophet’s ﷺ body and apparent senses. It did not affect his reason, heart, belief, revelation, or truthfulness. He did not believe the false perception to be real. Rather, he knew it was khayal (false perception), with no real outward existence.

This is similar to some illnesses that may cause a person to perceive something that has not actually happened. Therefore, the sihr was a bodily illness and trial, not a flaw in prophethood. The Prophet ﷺ remained protected in his risalah (message), his truthfulness, and his conveying from Allah.

End of Summary.

Ibn Al Qayyim’s Chapters On The Poisoning Of The Prophet & How He Cured Himself

His Guidance ﷺ In Remedying The Poison That Afflicted Him At Khaybar From The Jews

Abd al Razzaq (d. 211AH) mentioned from Maʿmar (d. 153AH), from al Zuhri (d. 124AH), from Abd al Rahman ibn Kaʿb ibn Malik, that a Jewish woman gave the Prophet ﷺ a roasted sheep as a gift at Khaybar. He said: “What is this?” She said: “A gift.” She was careful not to say: “Charity,” so that he would not eat from it.

The Prophet ﷺ ate, and his Companions ate. Then he said: “Stop.” Then he said to the woman: “Did you poison this sheep?” She said: “Who informed you of this?” He said: “This bone,” meaning the bone of its leg, while it was in his hand. She said: “Yes.” He said: “Why?” She said: “I wanted, if you were lying, that the people would be relieved of you. And if you were a Prophet, it would not harm you.”

He said: The Prophet ﷺ had hijamah (cupping) done three times on the kahil (upper back between the shoulders), and he instructed his Companions, so they also had hijamah done.

Some of them died.

In another route: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had hijamah done on his kahil because of what he had eaten from the sheep. Abu Hind did the hijamah for him with a horn and a blade. He was a freed slave of Banu Bayadah from the Ansar. (Reported by Abu Dawud 4510 through the route of Yunus, and by al Darimi 68 through the route of Shuʿayb ibn Abi Hamzah. Both report it from Ibn Shihab, from Jabir ibn Abd Allah, with this wording. This is one of the routes reported from al Zuhri for this hadith. Al Maqdisi said in al Sunan wa al Ahkam, 5/544: “Ibn Shihab did not meet Jabir.” So the chain is disconnected. But it has many supporting reports. Abd al Razzaq mentioned this in al Musannaf, by Abd al Razzaq, 10019 and 19814. Through his route, al Bayhaqi reported it in al Dala’il, by al Bayhaqi, 4/260–263, and the quotation appears to be taken from there. He said: “This is mursal (a report with a missing Companion in the chain), and it is possible that Abd al Rahman carried it from Jabir ibn Abd Allah.”

Ibn Saʿd reported it in al Tabaqat, by Ibn Saʿd, 2/201, through the route of Muhammad ibn Abd Allah, from al Zuhri, from Abd al Rahman ibn Abd Allah ibn Kaʿb ibn Malik, from Jabir, with its meaning. Al Tabarani reported it in al Kabir, by al Tabarani, 19/70, through the route of Ibn Abi Dhi’b, from al Zuhri, from Abd al Rahman ibn Kaʿb, from his father, that a Jewish woman did this. Al Haythami said in al Majmaʿ, by al Haythami, 8/296: “In it is Ahmad ibn Bakr al Balisi.

Ibn Hibban declared him reliable and said: He makes mistakes. Ibn Adi declared him weak. The rest of its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.” Among the supporting reports for the Prophet ﷺ having hijamah due to the poison of Khaybar are the hadiths of Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurayrah, Abd Allah ibn Jaʿfar, and Abd al Rahman ibn Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them, and the mursal reports of al Hasan, Ikrimah, and Abd al Rahman ibn Abi Layla. See al Matalib al Aliyah, 11/245–249, al Shithri edition. The basis of the story is in the two Sahihs, without mention of hijamah)

He remained after that for three years, until the illness in which he passed away. He then said: “I continued to feel the effect of the morsel that I ate from the sheep on the day of Khaybar, until this was the time when my aorta was cut.”

So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away as a shahid (martyr).

This was said by Musa ibn Uqbah (d. 141AH). (Al Maghazi, by Musa ibn Uqbah, p. 255. He said: Al Zuhri said: Jabir ibn Abd Allah said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had hijamah done on the kahil on that day,” and so on. Through the route of Musa, al Bayhaqi reported it in al Dala’il, by al Bayhaqi, 4/264, and its chain is disconnected. Ibn Saʿd also reported it in al Tabaqat, by Ibn Saʿd, 2/201, from al Waqidi, who is matruk, and he gathered several chains for it. Al Tabarani reported in al Kabir, by al Tabarani, 2/35, through the route of Ibn Lahiʿah, from Abu al Aswad, from Urwah, as a mursal report. He mentioned the story of the poisoned sheep, and at the end of it: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained after that for three years, until the illness in which he died.”)

The remedy for poison is through removing harmful matter from the body and through medicines that oppose the action of poison and cancel it, either through their qualities or through their special properties. Whoever lacks medicine should rush to complete removal of harmful matter from the body.

The most beneficial of this is hijamah, especially when the land is hot and the time is hot. The poisonous force moves into the blood, spreads through the veins and pathways, and reaches the heart, causing death. Blood is the pathway that carries poison to the heart and organs. So if the poisoned person rushes and removes blood, that poisonous quality mixed with it comes out with it. If the removal is complete, the poison does not harm him. Either it goes away, or it becomes weak, and the body’s natural strength overcomes it, cancels its action, or weakens it.

When the Prophet ﷺ had hijamah done, he had it done on the kahil, which is one of the closest places to the heart where hijamah can be done. So the poisonous matter came out with the blood, but not completely. Rather, some of its effect remained, though weakened, because of what Allah, exalted is He, wanted of completing every rank of virtue for him. When Allah wanted to honour him with shahadah (martyrdom), the effect of that hidden trace of poison appeared, so that Allah would fulfil a matter that was already decreed. (Reported by Abu Dawud 3860, al Tirmidhi 2051, Ibn Majah 3483, Ahmad 12191 and 13001, and others, from the hadith of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him)

The secret of Allah’s saying to His enemies from the Jews then became clear:

أَفَكُلَّمَا جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ بِمَا لَا تَهْوَى أَنْفُسُكُمُ اسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ فَفَرِيقًا كَذَّبْتُمْ وَفَرِيقًا تَقْتُلُونَ

“Whenever a messenger came to you with what your selves did not desire, you became arrogant. So a group you denied, and a group you kill.” (al Baqarah 87)

So the wording “you denied” came in the past tense, referring to what had already occurred from them and become established. And the wording “you kill” came in the future sense, referring to what they expected and awaited. Allah knows best.

His Guidance ﷺ In Remedying The Sihr That The Jews Used Against Him

A group of people denied this and said that it is not permissible for such a thing to happen to him. They thought it was a flaw and a defect. The matter is not as they claimed. Rather, it is from the same category as the illnesses and pains that would affect him ﷺ. It is an illness from among illnesses. Being afflicted by it is like being afflicted by poison. There is no difference between them.

It is established in the two Sahihs from Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was affected by sihr (magic), until it would be made to seem to him that he had gone to his wives, though he had not gone to them. That is the strongest form of sihr. (Reported by al Bukhari 5765, and this is his wording, and by Muslim 2189. The sentence “That is the strongest form of sihr” is from the words of Sufyan ibn Uyaynah.)

Qadi Iyad (d. 544AH) said: Sihr is an illness from among illnesses, and a temporary condition from among conditions. It is permissible for it to affect him ﷺ, just like different kinds of illness. This is not denied, and it does not damage his prophethood. (In al Shifa, by Qadi Iyad, 2/181.)

As for it being made to seem to him that he had done something when he had not done it, there is nothing in this that brings any flaw into his truthfulness in anything, because the proof and the consensus establish his protection from that. Rather, this occurred in matters of his worldly life, for which he was not sent, and by which he was not given virtue. In such worldly matters, he was exposed to afflictions like the rest of mankind. So it is not far fetched that something from those matters would be made to appear to him without reality, then it would become clear and leave him, as it did.

The intended point is to mention his guidance in remedying this illness. Two types have been narrated from him regarding it.

The first, which is the stronger of the two, is extracting it and cancelling it. It is authentically reported from him ﷺ that he asked his Lord, exalted is He, about it, so He guided him to it. It was then taken out from a well. It was in a comb, combed hair, and the dried spathe of a male palm tree. When it was taken out, what had affected him left, until it was as though he had been released from a bond. This is from the strongest remedies for the person affected by sihr. This is like removing the corrupt matter and pulling it out from the body through evacuation.

The second type is removing harmful matter from the place reached by the harm of sihr. Sihr has an effect on the body’s nature, stirring its bodily humours and disturbing its natural balance. If its effect appears in an organ, and the corrupt matter can be removed from that organ, then this is very beneficial.

Abu Ubayd (d. 224AH) mentioned in his book Gharib al Hadith, through his chain, from Abd al Rahman ibn Abi Layla (d. 83AH), that the Prophet ﷺ had hijamah done on his head with a horn when he was affected by tabb. Abu Ubayd said: The meaning of tabb is that he was affected by sihr. (Gharib al Hadith, by Abu Ubayd, 3/405. The quotation is from the book of al Hamawi, p. 318. Abu Ubayd reported it from Hushaym, from Husayn ibn Abd al Rahman, from Ibn Abi Layla, as a mursal report. Ibn Saʿd also reported it in al Tabaqat, by Ibn Saʿd, 2/201, through the route of Abu Awanah. Al Tabari reported it in Tahdhib al Athar, by al Tabari, 1/530, Musnad Ibn Abbas, through the route of Ibn Idris. Both report it from Husayn, from Ibn Abi Layla, with similar wording. His hijamah ﷺ on his head is referenced in the two Sahihs.)

This was unclear to someone whose knowledge was little, so he said: What does hijamah have to do with sihr? What is the connection between this sickness and this remedy? If this person had found Hippocrates or Ibn Sina (d. 428AH), or someone else, clearly mentioning this remedy, he would have accepted it and submitted to it, and would have said: Someone whose knowledge and virtue cannot be doubted has clearly mentioned it.

So know that the matter of the sihr that afflicted him ﷺ reached his head, reaching one of its faculties, until it was made to seem to him that he was doing something when he had not done it. This was an influence from the magician upon the body’s nature and blood matter, until that matter overcame the front part of the head and changed its balance from its original natural state.

Sihr is composed of the effects of evil spirits and the response of natural bodily forces to them. This is the strongest form of sihr, especially in the place where the sihr reaches. Using hijamah at the place whose function was harmed by sihr is from the most beneficial remedies, when used according to the proper rule.

Hippocrates said: The things that should be removed from the body must be removed from the places to which they are most inclined, using the organs suitable for removing them.

A group of people said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was afflicted by this illness, and it was made to seem to him that he had done something when he had not done it, he thought that this was due to blood matter or something else that had moved towards the brain and overcome its front part, causing its natural balance to move away from its normal state. At that time, using hijamah was among the strongest medicines and the most beneficial remedies, so he had hijamah done.

This was before Allah revealed to him that it was from sihr. When revelation came from Allah, the Most High, and informed him that he had been affected by sihr, he turned to the true remedy, which was extracting the sihr and cancelling it. He asked Allah, exalted is He, so He guided him to its place. He then took it out and stood up as though he had been released from a bond.

The utmost effect of this sihr upon him was only on his body and his apparent limbs, not upon his reason or heart. Because of this, he did not believe that what was made to appear to him of going to his wives was real. Rather, he knew it was khayal (false perception), with no reality. The same kind of thing can occur through some illnesses. Allah knows best.

Zād al Maʿād by Ibn al Qayyim 4/175–182