Saturday, July 27, 2013

Addressing the Argument: Did Allah Fail to Protect His Prophet?

Addressing the Argument: Did Allah Fail to Protect His Prophet?

Argument

Allah promised to protect His Prophet (peace be upon him) from the people (Surah 5:67), yet we read in the hadith literature that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was hurt during the Battle of Uhud, affected by magic and was affected by the poison in the sheep he ate at khaybar. Is this not a contradiction?

Response

Regarding the Prophet (peace be upon him) getting hurt during Uhud, there were a number of responses the scholars formulated:

One: This took place before the Qur’anic verse was revealed OR the protection offered in the Qur’anic verse is from getting killed and being destroyed. This is the opinion of the majority of the mufassireen and muhadditheen.

Two: The protection offered in the Qur’anic verse is from getting killed and destruction only.

The difference between these two opinions is that the first camp believes that it could be an either or, while the second camp insists that the Qur’anic verse is only restricted to being protected from getting killed and destroyed.

However, the response to these two camps is that the Prophet (peace be upon him) ate the poisonous sheep at Khaybar after that Qur’anic verse was revealed and he also died because of it, so this also demonstrates that the verse is not about the Prophet (peace be upon him) being protected from getting killed.

Some responded back arguing that the verse’s promise was for the Prophet (peace be upon him) to be protected, whilst delivering the message of Islam. Once the message of Islam has been delivered, then that promise wouldn’t apply anymore.

The third camp argued that the Qur’anic verse is referring to protection from committing sins (i.e. protection of the heart), however they have been responded back to by arguing that the context of the verse is talking about the protection of the Prophet (peace be upon him) from the harm of the people and not their sins.

Regarding the Prophet (peace be upon him) getting bewitched, there were a number of responses the scholars formulated:

One: What happened to the Prophet (peace be upon him) was a form of illness and this is not impossible for Prophets (peace be upon him), nor does it impugn their character and prophethood. This doesn't affect the reliability of his deliverance of the Message, which is what Allah’s promise for protection ultimately ensured to protect.

Two: The magic only affected the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) limbs and organs, but it did not affect his heart, beliefs and mind (i.e. it only affected him on the outside, but not in the inside). The Qur’anic verse is about protection of faith and the heart, regardless of what may occur to the physical body.

Three: That the story of the Prophet (peace be upon him) being bewitched is fabricated, however this view is invalid.

Regarding the Prophet (peace be upon him) eating the poisonous sheep, there were a number of responses the scholars formulated:

One: That what happened didn’t contradict the Qur’anic verse, since the verse entailed protection until the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) duty was over.

Two: That the Prophet (peace be upon him) wouldn’t be killed in a state of subjugation.

Three: That the narration regarding the Prophet (peace be upon him) getting killed by the poison isn’t reliable.

The above has been summarized from pages 137-149 of the book الأحاديث المشكلة الواردة في تفسير القرآن الكريم عرض ودراسة by أحمد بن عبد العزيز بن مقرن القصير.

Strongest View (Bassam Zawadi's opinion)

It appears to me that the strongest view is that Allah promised to protect His Prophet (peace be upon him) from anything which would have caused his duties to come to an end before the time that they were supposed to. That was the most important reason behind keeping the Prophet (peace be upon him) safe. His enemies wanted to kill him in order to stop him from continuing to preach Islam and keep doing what Allah ordered him to do. Why would Allah protect him from merely being killed when martyrdom itself is the greatest form of death? The Prophet (peace be upon him) died after his mission was complete and Allah revealed the verse “Today, I have completed your religion” and it was after this that there wouldn't be a necessary objection to Allah allowing His great Prophet to die the glorious death of a martyr. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.