Hadith About the Prophet Contemplating Suicide

[فداء الرسول]

We read in Tafsir al-Jalalayn provided by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought:

Ibn Abbas said: Yaqoob was made to appear before him (Yusuf), and he struck his (Yusuf’s) breast, whereupon his [sexual] desire withdrew [from his body] through his fingernails…

(Tafseer al-Jalayn)

We read in Tafseer Ibn Abbas:

(She) the woman (verily desired him, and he) Joseph (would have desired her if it had not been that he saw the argument of his lord) if he had not seen that the chastisement of his Lord would befall him; it is also said that this means: if he had not seen the figure of his father; and it is also said that this means: if he had not seen the proof of his Lord. (Thus it was, that We might ward off from him evil and lewdness) adultery. (Lo! he was of Our chosen slaves) who are protected from adultery.

(Tafseer Ibn Abbas)

We have come to the conclusion that prophet Yusuf had hamm and that hamm was removed by the burhan, which was either the image of Yaqoob, the appearance of the Arch-Angel Jibraeel, or something similar. Is this not the same case as the hamm of prophet Muhammad which was removed by the appearance of the Arch-Angel Jibraeel? The Hadith reads:

…every time he went up the top of a mountain in order to throw himself down, Jibraeel would appear before him and say, “O Muhammad! You are indeed Allah’s Apostle in truth” whereupon his heart would become quiet and he would calm down and would return home.

(Sahih Bukhari)

The Shia say that we take away the Ismah (infallibility) of the Prophets by accusing him of having this hamm. They say: Allah would prevent the prophet from such thoughts as committing suicide. We say: did Allah not show His burhan and thereby do exactly that? So yes, Allah would protect his prophet from such sin and that is why the Prophet’s thought was removed when he saw the burhan. And this is the very definition of the Ismah of the Prophets, and this is keeping in line with that.

The Prophets could have hamm but Allah removed that hamm and in this way the Prophets are protected from such major sins. prophet Yusuf and prophet Muhammad both had hamm, but Allah removed any such hamm through His burhan. The Shia and the groups like them claim that the Prophets are intrinsically infallible, but we say that it is only through the Grace of Allah that they are made infallible.

The Shia would say that the Prophets do not have hamm and they say that this does not befit their nobility, but we say that it only increases them in their nobility. If, for example, one were to argue that prophet Yusuf had no desire at all, then in that case what would be the big deal in him avoiding that woman? If, for example, a man is being seduced by a very ugly woman for which he has no desire for, then it is no big accomplishment on his part that he refrained from her. But if this were a very beautiful woman whom he had a great desire for and yet even still he refrained from her due to his fear of Allah, then this shows the strength of his faith. It is overcoming the desire–not the absence of desire–that is what exalts the human being over the angels.

The angels cannot have hamm: they lack desire and free-will. As such, they are incapable of committing sin. And yet Allah exalted prophet Adam over and above the angels, and the reason for that is that Allah gave him desire and free-will and even so he stayed away from sin. prophet Yusuf stayed away from sin even when there was desire; prophet Muhammad refrained from ending his life even when the weight of the world was placed on his shoulders. From this we find that the one who cannot have hamm is at a lower position and rank than the one who can have hamm but turns away from it out of fear of Allah.

It should be further noted that there are different types of hamm. We do not say that prophet Yusuf and Zulaykha had the same type of hamm; rather, the hamm of Zulaykha was of one of evil intent, whereas prophet Yusuf’s hamm was that of the uncontrollable urges that come with being human. Likewise, if the prophet had any hamm about ending his life, then this was not of an evil intent but rather an uncontrollable urge that comes with being human.

Rayat the Shia says
“The Sunnis claim the prophet was terrified and did not know what happened to him when he received revelation.
”
There is a Hadith in which the prophet says: “No prophet has suffered as much as I have suffered.” And this is known to mean that no human being has ever been put to the test as much as the Prophet. As such, any feelings of anxiety, sadness, or even suicide, are understandable. But the fact that the prophet pushed through these feelings and rose above them is indicative of the steadfastness of his character. The fact that the prophet had feelings of distress and foreboding at the start of his mission in fact tells us of the greatness of the task that he accomplished.

Shia says
“Allah would protect the prophet from having such thoughts, because the Prophets are infallible!
”
Exactly! And this is exactly why Allah showed His burhan to prophet Muhammad just as He had showed His burhan to prophet Yusuf. We believe that Allah does indeed protect his Prophets from such thoughts, and this is why Allah showed His burhan and took away those thoughts of suicide (and of temptation in the case of prophet Yusuf). Every single time prophet Muhammad had any such thoughts, then Allah sent His burhan (i.e. Arch-Angel Jibraeel) and thereby prevented the prophet and maintained his infallibility. The Shia are actually arguing over a non-issue; the Hadith conforms to the idea that Allah protected His Prophets from such thoughts, because it shows that Allah removed them from their minds.

Rayat the Shia says
“Sahih Bukhari Hadith Claims The Holy prophet (ص) was Suicidal, Naudhobillah
”
That is just one spin on it. A more accurate statement would be: Sahih Bukhari Hadith shows that the Holy prophet was protected from any suicidal thoughts by Allah and His burhan, Al-Hamdu Lillah!

We recall the story of the prophet during his youth: the prophet had gone to a wedding party in which there was music playing. But Allah protected him from that by putting him into a deep slumber. The prophet said:

“I wanted to go down to Mecca and entertain myself as the young men did. I went down to the first house in Mecca where I heard music. I entered and asked: ‘What is this?’ Someone answered: ‘It is a wedding party.’ I sat down and listened but soon went into a deep sleep. I was awakened by the heat of the sun. I went to my fellow shepherd and told him what happened to me. I never tried it again.”

(narrated by Ibn al-Atheer, classed as Sahih by Hakeem)

In other words, the prophet could have the normal instincts and thoughts, but Allah then prevented him from indulging in that, and in fact, Allah removed all avenues and ways to that.

If we take out the Shia book of Hadith, al-Kafi, we find that they ascribe many qualities of Allah to their Imams. This is similar to what the Christians did with prophet Eesa. prophet Eesa did many miracles but in actuality these miracles were not done by him, but rather they were from Allah. However, soon the Christians thought that the source of the power was from prophet Eesa, but the Islamic belief is that human beings have no power and the source of all power is Allah Almighty alone. Likewise, the Shia have exalted the status of the prophet and their Imams. All of prophet Muhammad’s greatness came from Allah the Almighty.

Prophet Muhammad himself could not read, but Allah gave him the power to read when Arch-Angel Jibraeel embraced him. The prophet had told Jibraeel multiple times that he could not recite, but then Allah gave him the power to do that. The prophet was also a human being so he could forget things, but Allah then protected the prophet from forgetting any of the verses of the Quran. The prophet could feel fear, but then Allah sent His Sakeenah (divine tranquility) down on him which would remove any fear he felt. The point is that the prophet was a human being but then Allah bolstered him with His Power. Likewise, the prophet could feel hamm but then Allah removed it.

Rayat the Shia says
“1) The Sunnis claim the prophet was terrified and did not know what happened to him when he received revelation. He supposedly said, “What is wrong with me”? It is completely wrong to claim the prophet was in that confused and poor state of mind regarding his Prophethood, and it is a borderline attack on his holiness and nobility.
”
How is it in any way an attack on the Prophet’s holiness and nobility to claim that he was in a state of shock when he was first announced a Messenger of Allah? This was a monumental announcement and the prophet would not have been a human being if he were not shocked by this news. It should be noted that the prophet went through various stages, and this event happened at the start of his mission when he had just begun his ascent.

Ibn al-Qaiyim mentioned the stages that the prophet went through:

The First (stage): The period of true vision. It was the starting point of the Revelation to Allah’s Messenger.

The Second: When the angel invisibly cast in the Prophet’s mind and heart, (but) without being seen…

The Third: The angel used to visit Allah’s Messenger in the form of a human being..

The Fourth: The angel came to him like the toll of a bell and this was the most difficult form because the angel used to seize him firmly and sweat would stream from his (the Prophet’s) forehead…

The Fifth: The prophet saw the angel in his actual form…

The Sixth: What Allah Himself revealed to him in heaven, i.e. when he ascended to heaven and received Allah’s order for Salah.

The Seventh: Allah’s Words to His Messenger at first hand without the mediation of an angel…

Some religious scholars added a controversial eighth stage in which they state that Allah spoke to the prophet directly without a curtain in between.

(source: Zadul-Ma’ad, 1/18)

The prophet was elevated in status throughout his mission. When Arch-Angel Jibraeel first informed the prophet of his mission–and when the suicide legend occurred–this was only at the beginning when the prophet was on the lowest of the stages above. But then Allah slowly elevated him to higher and higher levels. At the start of his mission, the prophet was a normal human being who had all the feelings and thoughts associated with our species; but then Allah raised him to the rank of Messenger, bolstered him, and elevated him to higher and higher levels of Prophethood. It should be noted that the Shia also believe in “stages of Prophethood”, as they describe how prophet Ibrahim went through various stages and ranks. The point is that the confidence with which prophet Muhammad strode into Mecca as a conquerer at the end of his mission would differ from the feelings of apprehension he had at the start of his mission when he was first announced as a Messenger of Allah.

Rayat the Shia says
“Narrated ‘Aisha:
Then Allah’s Apostle returned with the Inspiration, his neck muscles twitching with terror till he entered upon Khadija and said, “Cover me! Cover me!” They covered him till his fear was over and then he said, “O Khadija, what is wrong with me?”…

1) The Sunnis claim the prophet was terrified and did not know what happened to him when he received revelation. He supposedly said, “What is wrong with me”? It is completely wrong to claim the prophet was in that confused and poor state of mind regarding his Prophethood, and it is a borderline attack on his holiness and nobility.

”
After Arch-Angel Jibraeel declared him a Prophet, prophet Muhammad was so shaken up by this that he went to his wife who covered him up with a cloak to stop his shivering. How can the Shia deny this when Allah revealed about this:

“O you wrapped up in the cloak! Arise and warn!”

(Quran, 74:1-2)

This is when Allah commanded the Prophet–who was shivering beneath the cloak–to embrace his noble task of Prophethood. “This mighty command” took the prophet “from his sleep and his comfort, to struggle and continue under hardship.” (Ar-Raheeq al-Makhtum, p.92) Once again, this does not at all call to question the Prophet’s nobility, but rather it raises the status of the prophet as it shows that he rose above any fears in order to serve His Lord Most High.

Conclusion

The story of the prophet contemplating throwing himself off a mountain is a legend which is classed as Dhaeef (weak). Shaykh Uthman al-Khamees, in his refutation of the Shia, stated that the issue need not be discussed since it was a Dhaeef addition by Zuhri to the Sahih narration by Aisha. Additionally, the legend is not offensive to the prophet because it proves that the prophet was protected from suicidal thoughts by none other than Allah.

Article Written By: Ibn al-Hashimi, www.ahlelbayt.com

« Return to the main Articles page or the Rebuttals subsection.

للمزيد من مواضيعي

 

الموضوع الأصلي : Hadith About the Prophet Contemplating Suicide     -||-     المصدر : مُنتَدَيَاتُ كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءِ الدَّعَويِّة     -||-     الكاتب : فداء الرسول