WAS THE PROPHET (ص) AFFECTED BY MAGIC?

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Is it authentically established that a Jew bewitched the Prophet (ص), leading Allah, the Exalted, to reveal the two Mu‘awwidhatayn [Surah An-Nas and Surah Al-Falaq], which the Prophet recited, thereby removing the effects of the magic?

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Several narrations—most of which are transmitted through Sunni sources—report that a man from among the Jews, named Labid ibn al-A‘sam, bewitched the Prophet (ص). He placed the spell inside the sheath of a date palm blossom and hid it beneath a rock in a well belonging to the Banu Zurayq, known as Dhi’rwan. Some accounts mention that his daughters were also involved. As a result of this sorcery, the Prophet (ص) experienced fatigue and bodily pain, which persisted for a period reported to be a year, six months, or, according to other accounts, a different duration.

It is further narrated that two angels descended upon him while he was asleep—one sitting near his head and the other at his feet. Some reports identify these angels as Jibril and Mika'il. One of them asked the other, "What ails this man?" The other replied, "He has been bewitched." The first then asked, "Who bewitched him?" The response was, "Labid bin al-A‘sam." The next question was, "With what?" The answer came, "With a comb, hair remnants, and the sheath of a date palm blossom." The final inquiry was, "Where is it?" To which the reply was, "In the well of Dhi’rwan."

The Prophet (ص) awoke and sent ‘Ali (ع)—and, according to some reports, also al-Zubayr and ‘Ammar—to the well. They drained its water and lifted the rock, discovering hair clippings and remnants of a comb, as well as a cord tied with eleven knots, each secured with a needle. At that moment, the two Mu‘awwidhatayn (Surah al-Falaq and Surah al-Nas) were revealed. As the Prophet (ص) recited each verse, a knot unraveled, and he felt relief. He then stood up as if he had been freed from shackles.

This is the general account presented in numerous narrations, which implies that the Prophet (ص) was affected by sorcery. However, they suggest that the magic only impacted his blessed body, causing him physical pain, fatigue, and weakness.

Additionally, some narrations state that the spell affected the Prophet’s (ص) memory and perception. For instance, a report from ‘A’ishah mentions:

كان رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) يُخيل إليه أنْ يفعل الشيْء وما يفعله

"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, would imagine that he had done something, though he had not done it." [1]

Another version states:

أنَّ رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) سحر له حتى كان يُخيل إليه أنَّه يصنع الشيء ولم يصنع

"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was bewitched to the extent that he would think he had performed an action when he had not." [2]

She ['Aisha] also said:

لبث رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) ستة أشهر يرى أنه يأتي ولا يأتي فاتاه

"For six months, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) believed he was approaching [his wives], though he had not done so." [3] 

And 'Aisha has stated the following, as recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari:

كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم سحر حتى كان يرى أنه يأتي النساء ولا يأتيهن قال سفيان وهذا أشد ما يكون من السحر إذا كان كذا

"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was affected by sorcery to the extent that he would imagine himself engaging in relations with his wives while in reality, he had not." Sufyan commented, "This is the most severe form of sorcery when it reaches such a level." [4]

Similarly, in some of our books, a narration without a chain is found stating that Labid bin Al-A‘ṣam, the Jew, cast a spell on the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Abu Basir asked Abu Abdullah (Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him):

بلى كان النبي (صلى الله عليه وآله) يرى أنَّه يُجامع وليس يجامع، وكان يريد الباب ولا يُبصره حتى يلمسَه بيده

"What could such sorcery have possibly done to him?" Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) replied, "Indeed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would imagine himself engaging in intimacy but had not actually done so. He would also approach a door without seeing it until he touched it with his hand." [5]

Additionally, in Da‘a’im al-Islam by Qadi al-Maghribi, a disconnected chain of narration is reported from Ja‘far ibn Muhammad, from his father, from his forefathers, from Ali (peace be upon him), stating:

سحر لبيد بن الأعصم اليهودي وأم عبد الله اليهودية، رسول الله (ص) في عقد خيوط من أحمر وأصفر، فعقدا له فيه إحدى عشرة عقدة. ثم جعلاه في جف طلع. ثم أدخلاه في بئر، ثم جعلاه في مراقي البئر بالمدينة، فأقام رسول الله (ص) لا يسمع ولا يبصر ولا يفهم ولا يتكلم ولا يأكل ولا يشرب، فنزل عليه جبرئيل (ع) بمعوِّذات ثم قال له: يا محمد، ما شأنك؟ فقال: لا أدري، أنا بالحال الذي ترى، فقال: إن لبيد بن الأعصم اليهودي وأم عبد الله اليهوديين سحراك، وأخبره بالسحر حيث هو، ثم قرأ عليه بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ فقال رسول الله (ص) ذلك، فانحلَّت عُقدة. ثم قرأ أخرى فانحلَّت عُقدةٌ أخرى، حتى قرأ إحدى عشرة مرة، فانحلَّت إحدى عشرة عُقدة .."

"Labid ibn al-A‘ṣam, along with Umm Abdullah, both of whom were Jews, bewitched the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) by tying eleven knots in red and yellow threads. They placed them inside a date palm husk and hid it in a well in Medina. As a result, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) lost his ability to hear, see, understand, speak, eat, or drink. Then, Jibril (peace be upon him) descended upon him with the protective supplications (al-Mu‘awwidhat), and said, 'O Muhammad, what is the matter with you?' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, 'I do not know; I am in the condition you see.' Jibril then informed him that Labid ibn al-A‘ṣam and Umm Abdullah had bewitched him and revealed to him the location of the spell. He then recited: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak… Upon reciting it, one knot was undone. He continued reciting until he had repeated the supplication eleven times, at which point all eleven knots were undone." [6]

The implication of these narrations is that sorcery affected certain cognitive faculties of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). According to these accounts, he would forget things and imagine doing actions he had not actually performed. In the final narration, the sorcery supposedly impacted his understanding to the extent that he could neither comprehend nor perceive his surroundings.

The Fabrication of Narrations Claiming Sorcery Affected the Prophet’s (ص) Cognition

The narrations that claim sorcery influenced the Prophet’s (ص) cognitive faculties and senses are false and undoubtedly fabricated. This is because they contradict a fundamental tenet of Islamic belief, which is the Prophet’s (ص) infallibility (ʿiṣma). It is a doctrine necessarily known in religion that the Messenger (ص) is protected from error, forgetfulness, delusion, heedlessness, and any impairment affecting his intellect and awareness.

Additionally, these reports directly oppose the explicit statement of the Qur’an, which condemns the disbelievers for accusing the Prophet (ص) of being under the influence of sorcery. Allah, the Exalted, states:

﴿وَقَالَ الظَّالِمُونَ إِنْ تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا رَجُلًا مَسْحُورًا انْظُرْ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُوا لَكَ الْأَمْثَالَ فَضَلُّوا﴾

“And the wrongdoers said: ‘You follow none but a man bewitched.’ See how they set forth comparisons for you, but they have gone astray.” (The Holy Qur'an 17:47)

This verse explicitly labels those who make such claims against the Prophet (ص) as wrongdoers, implying that their accusation is nothing but a grave transgression. Furthermore, the verse describes them as wrong-doers, indicating the falsehood and baselessness of their assertion.

The disbelievers propagated this falsehood to undermine the Prophet (ص), diminish his influence, and cast doubt on his credibility. This is precisely the effect of the fabricated narrations in question. Consequently, those who seek to cast doubts about the Prophet (ص) have used these reports as a means to challenge his reliability. They argue that if he was susceptible to the sorcery of one individual, then what guarantees that he was not influenced by others before or after? This, in turn, leads to skepticism about all that he conveyed.

Thus, there is no doubt that the fabricators of these narrations intended to harm Islam and its followers. Unfortunately, many scholars from the ʿāmmah (Sunni tradition) have accepted these narrations due to their transmission through sources they consider reliable, without reflecting on their corrupt implications or their contradiction with the Qur’an and the doctrine of prophetic infallibility.

In contrast, Shi'a scholars do not assign any weight to these narrations due to their weak chains of transmission and their clear opposition to the established belief in the Prophet’s (ص) absolute infallibility. Moreover, they directly contradict the unequivocal statements of the Qur’an.

The Weakness of Narrations Claiming Sorcery Affected the Prophet’s (ص) Physical Body

As for the narrations that claim Labid the Jew’s sorcery affected the physical body of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) without influencing his cognitive faculties or senses, they too are unreliable due to their weak transmission chains and inherent flaws. Moreover, it is established that sorcery has no real effect on prophets and Imams (peace be upon them). In fact, the correct view [7] [8] is that sorcery does not intrinsically affect people in general, let alone the prophets.

The true nature of magic is that it operates solely by deceiving the perception of onlookers. This is why Allah, the Exalted, says regarding Pharaoh’s sorcerers:

﴿سَحَرُوا أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ﴾

“They bewitched the eyes of the people.” (Qur’an 7:116)

This means that they merely deceived people’s vision, making them believe that ropes and staffs were moving like living serpents, whereas in reality, they remained inanimate objects. A sorcerer cannot fundamentally alter the nature of things—he cannot transform a sheep into a lion or a cup of water into an ocean. Likewise, he cannot kill, wound, burn, or inflict illness through sorcery.

What a magician can do, however, is create illusions that influence the minds of the bewitched. For instance, he may deceive a person into believing that a sheep is a lion, causing extreme fear that might lead to death or illness. In such a case, the person’s death or sickness is a result of his own fright-induced shock, not an actual transformation of the sheep into a lion. Similarly, a magician might create the illusion that a person’s body is engulfed in flames, causing panic that could lead to death or insanity. The afflicted individual dies or loses his sanity due to his own delusion, yet in reality, no fire ever touched him.

Likewise, a sorcerer may manipulate a man’s vision to make his wife appear ugly or even as an ape, causing him to feel repulsed by her. However, this does not mean that her appearance has actually changed—she remains physically the same, and the effect of sorcery is merely an illusion distorting the man’s perception.

The Effect of Sorcery on the Perception and Belief of the Bewitched

Sorcery primarily influences the imagination of the bewitched, leading them to believe that an object has changed from its actual state. However, in reality, no actual transformation occurs. For this reason, it is impossible for prophets to be affected by sorcery, as their divinely granted infallibility (ʿiṣma) prevents them from perceiving things contrary to reality. Any such misperception would constitute an error, and Allah has safeguarded His prophets from all forms of error.

Some have argued that the verse:

قَالَ بَلْ أَلْقُوا فَإِذَا حِبَالُهُمْ وَعِصِيُّهُمْ يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ سِحْرِهِمْ أَنَّهَا تَسْعَى

"He (Moses) said, ‘Rather, you throw!’ And suddenly, their ropes and staffs appeared to him, due to their magic, as if they were moving." (Qur’an 20:66)

suggests that Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) fell under the influence of sorcery, as he supposedly perceived the ropes and staffs as living serpents.

However, this interpretation is incorrect. Even if we assume that the pronoun in “appeared to him” refers to Musa (ص), the verse does not indicate that he was actually affected by the sorcery. This is because illusion (takhayyul) can coexist with an awareness that what is perceived is not real. For example, when one observes a rapidly spinning electric fan, it may appear as a solid circular disk, yet the observer remains aware that this is merely an illusion. A person truly affected by sorcery, however, falsely believes that their illusion is reality—something that was not the case for Prophet Musa (ع).

Conclusion

In summary, all narrations claiming that a Jewish sorcerer bewitched the Prophet Muhammad (ص) are entirely unreliable in terms of their transmission (isnād), and they are also textually (matn) unacceptable. Even those reports that state the effects of the sorcery were limited to the Prophet’s physical body are inadmissible.

However, it is plausible that the Jewish sorcerer may have placed his spell inside a juf ṭalʿa (a dried palm sheath) and concealed it in the Well of Dharwān, believing that it would affect the Prophet (ص). Allah then informed His Messenger (ص) of this act, and the Prophet (ص) sent Imam ʿAlī (ع) to retrieve it. This event served as evidence against the Jews and a sign of the Prophet’s divine support and revelation. As for the claim that the Prophet (ص) was actually affected by the sorcery, this is a fabrication added by forgers.

And All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds

References

[1] Sahih al-Bukhari, Muhammad Al-Bukhari, Book 59, Hadith 78

[2] Sahih al-Bukhari, Muhammad Al-Bukhari, Book 58, Hadith 17

[3] The Sunni Scholar Al-Wahidi An-Naysaburi has stated the following: 

الْمُعَوِّذَتَانِ [٤٧١] بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ [قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ.... إِلَى آخِرِ السُّورَةِ. [١: ٥]

قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ ... إِلَى آخِرِ السُّورَةِ]

قَالَ الْمُفَسِّرُونَ: كَانَ غُلَامٌ مِنَ الْيَهُودِ يَخْدُمُ رسول الله - صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - فأتت إِلَيْهِ الْيَهُودُ، وَلَمْ يَزَالُوا بِهِ حَتَّى أَخَذَ مُشَاطَةَ رَأْسِ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - وَعِدَّةَ أَسْنَانٍ مِنْ مُشْطِهِ، فَأَعْطَاهَا الْيَهُودَ فَسَحَرُوهُ فِيهَا، وَكَانَ الَّذِي تَوَلَّى ذَلِكَ لَبِيدُ بْنُ الْأَعْصَمِ الْيَهُودِيُّ، ثُمَّ دَسَّهَا فِي بِئْرٍ لَبَنِي زُرَيْقٍ يُقَالُ لَهَا ذَرْوَانُ، فَمَرِضَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ - صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - وَانْتَثَرَ شَعْرُ رَأْسِهِ ولبث سِتَّةَ أَشْهُرٍ، يُرَى أَنَّهُ يَأْتِي النِّسَاءَ وَلَا يأتيهن

The Two Protective Surahs (Al-Mu‘awwidhatān)

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Allah, the Exalted, says: Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak... to the end of the surah.

Allah, the Exalted, says: Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind... to the end of the surah.

The Tafsir Scholars [Mufassarin] have said that a Jewish servant of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was approached by some members of the Jewish community. They persistently influenced him until he managed to obtain strands of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) hair that had fallen during combing and a few of his comb’s teeth. He then handed these items over to the Jews, who used them to perform sorcery upon him. The one responsible for carrying this out was Labid ibn al-A‘ṣam, a Jewish man. He concealed the enchanted items in a well belonging to the Banu Zurayq, known as Dharwan. As a result, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) became ill, and his hair began to fall out. He remained in this condition for six months, experiencing illusions of engaging in marital relations while in reality, he did not.."

[Asbab An-Nuzul, Al-Wahidi An-Naysaburi, Page 473]

[4] The Sunni Scholar Muhammad Al-Bukhari has narrated the following:

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ قَالَتْ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم سُحِرَ حَتَّى كَانَ يَرَى أَنَّهُ يَأْتِي النِّسَاءَ وَلاَ يَأْتِيهِنَّ‏.‏

"Narrated by Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said:

Magic was worked on Allah's Messenger, peace be upon him, so that he used to think that he had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not.."

[Sahih Al-Bukhari, Muhammad Al-Bukhari, Book 76, Hadith 79]

[5] Biḥār al-Anwār , Al-ʿAllāma al-Majlisī, Volume 89, Page 366

[6] Daʿāʾim al-Islām, Al-Qāḍī An-Nuʿmān al-Maghribī, Volume: 2, Page: 138-139

[7] The Shi'ite Scholar Ash-Shahid Ath-Thani has stated the following: 

وهل له حقيقة، أو هو تخيل؟ الأكثر على الثاني

"Is sorcery real, or is it merely an illusion? The majority opinion favors the latter [that it is merely an illusion]."

[Masālik al-Afhām ilā Tanqīḥ Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, Ash-Shahīd al-Thānī, Volume: 3, Page: 128]

[8] The Sunni Scholar Muhammad Ali As-Sabuni has said the following: 

اختلف العلماء في أمر (السحر) هل له حقيقة أم هو شعوذة وتخييل؟

فذهب جمهور العلماء: من أهل السنة والجماعة إلى أن السحر له حقيقة وتأثير.

وذهب المعتزلة وبعض أهل السُنّة: إلى أنّ السحر ليس له حقيقة في الواقع وإنما هو خداع، وتمويه، وتضليل، وأنه باب من أبواب الشعوذة

"Scholars have differed regarding the nature of sorcery (sihr)—whether it has an actual effect or is merely illusion and deception.

The majority of scholars from Ahl al-Sunnah wa Al-Jama‘ah, hold that sorcery has a real existence and an actual influence.

On the other hand, the Mu‘tazilites and some scholars from Ahl al-Sunnah maintain that sorcery has no real effect in reality. Instead, they argue that it is a form of deception, trickery, and illusion, classifying it as a type of charlatanry."

[Rawā’i‘ al-Bayān fī Tafsīr Āyāt al-Aḥkām, Ṣābūnī, Muḥammad ‘Alī, Volume 1, Page 77]

The original text in Arabic can be found here

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