Allah Almighty ensured the protection of His Prophet ﷺ and safeguarded him from his enemies. The Prophet ﷺ relied on Allah’s assurance of protection after the divine promise of being safeguarded from harm:
“Allah will ˹certainly˺ protect you from the people.” [Surah Al-Ma'idah: 67]
Many incidents demonstrated Allah’s safeguarding of His Prophet ﷺ, serving as signs of prophethood. These incidents left no room for doubt for those who sought truth, such as the Jews who, by poisoning the lamb, attempted to test his prophethood ﷺ despite its clear authenticity. However, even when it was proven to them, they persisted in denial and did not embrace Islam.
Ibn Kathir said in his Tafsir (3/154):
"Whenever one of the polytheists or People of the Book plotted against the Prophet ﷺ, Allah foiled their schemes and turned their plots against them. When the Jews attempted to harm him through magic, Allah protected him and revealed the two protective Surahs (Al-Mu’awwidhatayn) as a remedy. When the Jews poisoned the lamb in Khaybar, Allah informed him and protected him from it. There are numerous similar events that are too many to list here."
The Incident of the Poisoned Lamb
Muslim narrates from Anas that a Jewish woman brought a poisoned lamb to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he ate from it. She was then brought to him, and he asked her about it. She said, “I wanted to kill you.” He replied:
“Allah will never give you power over me.”
Ibn Hajar mentioned in Fath al-Bari (10/246):
"In the aforementioned hadith of Anas, the woman said, ‘I wanted to kill you,’ and he replied, ‘Allah will never give you power over me.’ In a narration by Sufyan ibn Husayn, from Al-Zuhri, from Sa’id ibn Al-Musayyib, from Abu Hurairah, regarding a similar incident, the woman said: ‘I wanted to test whether you are a prophet. If you are, Allah will inform you, and if you are not, I will rid the people of you.’ This was recorded by Al-Bayhaqi."
Al-Bukhari narrates from Abu Hurairah:
"When Khaybar was conquered, a lamb was gifted to the Prophet ﷺ, but it had been poisoned. The Prophet ﷺ said:
‘Gather the Jews present here.’
They were brought to him, and he asked:
‘Will you tell me the truth if I ask you something?’
They replied, ‘Yes.’ He asked:
‘Who is your father?’
They said, ‘So-and-so.’
He said, ‘You are lying; your father is so-and-so.’
They admitted, ‘You have spoken the truth.’ He then asked:
‘Will you tell me the truth if I ask you something else?’
They said, ‘Yes, O Abu Al-Qasim. If we lie, you will know just as you did with our father.’ He asked:
‘Who are the people of Hellfire?’
They said: ‘We will be in it for a short time, and then you will replace us in it.’
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
‘Stay humiliated in it; by Allah, we will never replace you in it.’
He then asked:
‘Will you tell me the truth if I ask you something else?’
They said: ‘Yes, O Abu Al-Qasim.’ He asked:
‘Did you put poison in this lamb?’
They said: ‘Yes.’
He asked:
‘What made you do that?’
They said: ‘We wanted to test you. If you are truthful, the poison will not harm you, and if you are lying, we will rid ourselves of you.’”
The Fate of the Woman Who Poisoned the Lamb
Imam An-Nawawi explained in Sharh Muslim (14/179):
"This incident demonstrates the Prophet’s ﷺ divine protection from all people, as Allah said: ‘Allah will protect you from the people.’ It is a miracle that the lethal poison, which would have killed others, did not harm him immediately, and Allah informed him of the poisoned lamb through divine revelation and the lamb’s speech to him.
This Jewish woman’s name was Zaynab bint Al-Harith, the sister of Marhab, the Jew. This is mentioned in Musa ibn Uqbah’s Maghazi and Al-Bayhaqi’s Dala’il an-Nubuwwah.
Qadi ‘Iyad said there is a difference of opinion regarding whether the Prophet ﷺ killed her. In Sahih Muslim, it is mentioned that when the companions asked, ‘Shall we kill her?’ the Prophet ﷺ replied, ‘No.’ Similarly, it is narrated from Abu Hurairah and Jabir. However, in another narration from Jabir via Abu Salamah, it is mentioned that he ﷺ killed her. Ibn Abbas narrated that he handed her over to the family of Bishr ibn Al-Bara’, who had eaten from the lamb and died as a result. They executed her in retaliation.
Ibn Sahnun said: ‘The scholars unanimously agree that the Prophet ﷺ executed her.’ Qadi ‘Iyad reconciled the reports by explaining that the Prophet ﷺ did not kill her immediately after discovering the poison but handed her over to Bishr’s family when he died from it. Thus, both reports are accurate.”
The Effect of the Poison on the Prophet ﷺ
Abu Al-Abbas Al-Qurtubi explained in Al-Mufhim (18/62):
"The poison did not harm the Prophet ﷺ during his lifetime except for a lingering effect on his palate, which occasionally recurred. When his time of death approached, Allah caused the effects of the poison to intensify, and he ﷺ passed away as a result. As he said during his final illness:
‘The poison I ate at Khaybar continues to trouble me. Now is the time for my aorta to be severed.’
Thus, Allah combined prophethood and martyrdom for His Messenger ﷺ as a means of elevating his status and honor."
