Was the Prophet Poisoned? Is Sahih Bukhari Completly Authentic?
Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: Assalamu alaikum,
1)Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) said that: “I never felt so jealous of any woman as I did of Khadija, though she had died three years before the Prophet married me, and that was because I heard him mentioning her too often, and because his Lord had ordered him to give her the glad tidings that she would have a palace in Paradise, made of Qasab and because he used to slaughter a sheep and distribute its meat among her friends.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Please can you explain this hadith? What does it really mean?
2) Are all hadith of Sahih Bukhari 100% authentic?
3) Can you explain the poisoning story which people quote from hadith?They say the companions who ate from it died on the spot but Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) survived for 3 or 4 years and died from that poison later. Many scholars say that he died from a natural death.
Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.
The Hadith of `A’isha about Khadija (May Allah be pleased with them both)
A’isha said, “I was never jealous towards any of the other wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as I was jealous towards Khadija even though I never saw her. However, he used to mention her often. Often when he sacrificed a sheep, he would cut it into pieces and send them to Khadija’s friends. I would often say to him, ‘It is as if there was only Khadija in the world!’ He would say, ‘She was as she was and I had children from her.'” [Bukhari and Muslim]
In one variant, “If he sacrificed a sheep, he would give enough of it to her friends to suffice them.” In one variant, “When he sacrificed a sheep, he would say, ‘Send it to the friends of Khadija.'” In one variant she said, “Hala bint Khuwaylid, the sister of Khadija, asked permission to come into the Messenger of Allah, and it reminded him of how Khadija had used to ask permission, and that made him very happy so that he said, ‘O Allah, Hala bint Khuwalid!'”
This tradition (hadith) shows us the virtue of Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her), and the love of the Holy Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) for her indicated by his mentioning her much.
Please also see: The Protective Jealousy (Ghayra) of Spouses
The Hadith on the Poisoning of the Holy Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
It is related that Abu Hurayra said, “When Khaybar was conquered, a poisoned sheep was presented to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.” [Bukhari]
And it is related that ‘A’isha said, “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say in his illness from which he died, ‘O ‘A’isha, I still feel the pain of the food which I ate at Khaybar and now I feel as if my aorta is being severed by that poison.'”
Ibn Masud (Allah be pleased with him) felt that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had died as a martyr, the delay in the poison’s effect being a prophetic miracle. Allah Most High thus preserved His beloved Messenger until his mission was completed, and then, to honour him, caused him to die a martyr. [al-Zurqani, Sharh Mawahib Laduniyya] [see: Did the Prophet Muhammad Die As a Martyr? ]
And see also: What Are the Reliable Hadith Collections Besides the Six Famous Books?
And Allah alone gives success.
wassalam,
Tabraze Azam
Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.
