The Messenger and Magic (2/3)

The Challenge to Men and Jinn

The challenge in the Noble Qur'an is thus addressed to both men and jinn. What did men do? What did the jinn do? Men resisted the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, harmed him and opposed him and tortured the believers and proclaimed enmity to the Deen and tried to stop people from believing. They plotted to murder the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but Allah made their actions in all of this come to nothing. Thus men failed both in their open enmity and injury and also in their secret conspiring and plotting.

The only option that remained for them was to use another, greater, power. It had to be greater and stronger than any human power because all the powers of man had failed in their attempt to frustrate the call to the Deen of Allah and to plot against His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. This power was that of the jinn. Allah Almighty wanted to confront them with a similar failure in respect of the power of the jinn so that all people might know that neither the strength of man nor that of the jinn would ever succeed in overcoming the Messenger of Allah.

Therefore they sought the assistance of magic. Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! - indicated to the Messenger of Allah that they had bewitched him, and guided him to the place where the spell was hidden and informed him how the magic was carried out. He did so in order that the whole world might know that no creature had any power over Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whether they openly declared their enmity or concealed that enmity and plotted to kill him, or sought the help of another species, the jinn. Allah Almighty, who sent him, revealed to him what had happened and nullified the devices of all those who plotted, whether man or jinn.

Not an Indictment but a Challenge

Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was bewitched by the Jews, This is not any kind of indictment of him but rather a challenge to men and jinn to do their worst against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah Almighty included the jinn in the challenge in relation to the Qur'an and the Path of Islam.

It must be realised from these noble ayats which challenge men and jinn that the real challenge is accomplished in respect of the faculties of the jinn. They tried to harm the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and failed. This was known. It was not for men alone but for jinn and men because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent to both jinn and men. So everyone must be shown that the devices of both men and jinn together will not harm him at all.

If this magic had been a hidden event and had not been made public with people being aware of it, they could have said that the Qur'an had challenged men and jinn and that whereas men had taken up the challenge and failed, the jinn had not taken it up. Perhaps if they had taken up the challenge, they would have been successful. So Allah -glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! wanted to establish for all to see that if the jinn took up the challenge they too would fail.

The Miracle of the Hijra

We must note the fact that men and jinn plotted against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on several occasions, and that the plot to kill the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the eve of the hijra was a plot hatched by various groups of the shaytans, both among men and jinn, who all participated in it. Allah Almighty wanted to challenge all who plotted in secret against the Messenger of Allah.

It had to be that the Divine Power preserving the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would be apparent. Allah Almighty did not wish to conceal His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in a safe place where the unbelievers could not reach him. So He had him remain in his house and the unbelievers knew that he was in his house. Nor did Allah Almighty wish His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to leave the house before the arrival of the strong men who had been chosen to carry out the plot to assassinate him. Those men arrived and surrounded the house of the Messenger of Allah while he was in it. So all the components of the plot were in place.

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asleep in his house and the men who had come to kill him were surrounding the house. Then what happened? The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came out of his house and Allah took away sight from the eyes of the men who had come to kill the Messenger of Allah and made them fall asleep. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took a handful of dust and threw it in their faces and said, "The faces are disfigured." But none of them moved and none of them was aware that the Messenger of Allah had gone between them on his way to the cave.

Such was the Divine miracle which constituted the real challenge to the unbelievers. If the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had been concealed in a place they did not know, they could have said, "If we had found him, we would have killed him." If he had left his house before the unbelievers who were ready to kill him had arrived, they could have said, "If we had reached him while he was in his house, we would have killed him." They knew where he was and he was asleep in is bed but they were still unable to kill him and he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, left safe and sound.

Magic is Powerless

The same is also true of magic. If they had not sought the help of magic and the jinn, they would have said, "If we, had sought the help of magic, we would have defeated him." If Allah Almighty had nullified magic before that occurred, they could have said, "If magic had not been nullified, it would have been a different story."

But Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! - willed that they should seek the help of sorcery and the jinn and that the eyes of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, should be bewitched, just as the eyes of Musa were bewitched before him. Then Allah Almighty guided him to the place where the magic was to bring it to naught and showed him the one who carried out the magic so that all the Muslims would see it and know what had transpired.

So it can be seen that this question, far from being to the detriment of the Messenger 'of Allah, in fact serves to confirm him. It confirms for us that the jinn took up the challenge against the noble Messenger and that Allah Almighty helped him against them.

However the magic to which our noble Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was exposed, was in itself the same kind of magic as that to which Musa was exposed. It is the magic of creating an appearance which only affects the eye and does not affect the intellect or the heart or the rest of the limbs of the body: in other words, it was an illusion.

Hopefully this will have served to bring about correct understanding of the story of the sorcery used against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

After that we come to what Allah Almighty says about the harm of magic:

"They do not harm anyone by it, except with the permission of Allah.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:102)

We can see by this that Allah Almighty has been merciful to His slaves, and that even if He gives some of His creation the power to seek the help of the shaytans' in their attempt to cause people harm, He has reserved for Himself the permission to actually cause harm. He asks us to seek refuge with Him from magic. We have formulated a supplication incorporating the text of the ayat which mentions it as protection against magic and envy.

(Continued)