Commentary

Can Magic affect a Prophet?

A prophet being affected by magic is as possible as being affected by sickness. Therefore, blessed prophets are not devoid of or detached from human characteristics. For instance, they could be wounded, run temperature or feel pain. Similarly, they could also be affected by magic because, that too, is triggered by the influence of physical causes, such as those of the Jinn. And it also stands proved from Hadith that there was an occasion when the Holy Prophet ﷺ was affected by magic. As for the disbelievers calling him 'bewitched' ('mashur' ) in verse 47 which the Qur'an has refuted for the reason that they really meant to call him 'insane.' (Bayan al-Qur'an) Therefore, the Hadith of magic is not contradictory.1

1. Moreover, the magic or sorcery can affect a prophet only to cause a physical illness. It can never have an adverse effect on performing their functions as prophets. The disbelievers used to call the Holy Prophet ﷺ t 'bewitched person' in this later sense which was totally impossible in his case, while the hadith refers to the physical illness suffered by the Holy Prophet ﷺ which was caused by an act of magic. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani)

The subject taken up in the first two verses (45, 46) has a particular event as a background. According to al-Qurtubi reporting on the authority of Sayyidna Said ibn Jubayr ؓ ، when Surah al-Masad/al-Lahab (iii) beginning with: تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ was revealed in the Qur'an, it also condemned the wife of Abu Lahab. She went to the place where the Holy Prophet ﷺ used to sit with his Companions. At that time, Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ was present there. Noticing her coming well ahead of her arrival, he said to the Holy Prophet ﷺ "if you move away from here, it will be better. This woman has a sharp tongue. She will say things which may cause you pain." He said, "no, Allah Ta` ala will put a curtain between me and her." So, she reached there but when she could not see the Holy Prophet ﷺ anywhere around, she turned towards Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ and said, your companion has satirized us in poetry." Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ said, "By Allah, he is no composer of poetry, much less that of the kind in which people are satirized (hajw)." Thereupon, she left in a huff saying, "you are no more than a verifier for him." After she was gone, Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ submitted, "didn't she see you?" He said, "as long as she was here, an angel kept obstructing the view between me and her."

A Qur'anic formula of remaining hidden from enemy sight

'On occasions when the Holy Prophet ﷺ wished to remain hidden from the sight of the Mushriks,' says Sayyidna Ka` b ؓ ، 'he would recite three verses of the Holy Qur’ an. Such was its effect that the disbelievers were unable to see him.' Those three verses are:

1. إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرً‌ا (Surely, We have put covers on their hearts, so that they do not understand it, and deafness in their ears - Surah al-Kahf, 18:57).

2. أُولَـٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ طَبَعَ اللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَسَمْعِهِمْ وَأَبْصَارِ‌هِمْ (Those are the ones Allah has put a seal on whose hearts and hearing and vision - Surah an-Nahl, 16:108).

3. أَفَرَ‌أَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَـٰهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَجَعَلَ عَلَىٰ بَصَرِ‌هِ غِشَاوَةً (Have you seen the one who has taken his own desire as god while Allah has let him go astray because of knowledge [ his or His ] and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heart and placed over his vision a veil - Surah al-Jathiyah, 45:23).

Sayyidna Ka'b ؓ says that he related this thing about the Holy Prophet ﷺ to a Syrian who had to go to adjoining Byzantium on a certain business. He went there and stayed for a long time until the local disbelievers started harassing him. When he escaped from there, they pursued him. At that time, he remembered that narrative and recited the three verses identified there. It so happened as if a screen was placed on their eyes why they could not see this person who was walking on the same pathway the enemies were passing by.

Imam Tha` labi says that he related this narrative of Sayyidna Ka` b ؓ to a resident of the town of R'ay. It so happened that he was put under arrest by the disbelievers of Dailam. For some time he remained under detention with them. One day he got his chance to escape. They pursued him, but this person also recited those three verses. The effect was immediate. Allah Ta’ ala screened their eyes in a manner that they were unable to see him - though, they were walking side by side with their clothes touching his clothes.

Imam al-Qurtubi (رح) says that the verses from Surah Ya Sin which were recited by the Holy Prophet ﷺ at the time of Hijrah may also be added to the three verses cited above. This was when the Mushsriks of Makkah had besieged his house. He recited those verses and went right through them. In fact, he went by throwing dust on their heads and none of them knew anything about it. Those verses of Surah Ya Seen are:

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّ‌حْمَـٰنِ الرَّ‌حِيمِ

يس ﴿1﴾ وَالْقُرْ‌آنِ الْحَكِيمِ ﴿2﴾ إِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْ‌سَلِينَ ﴿3﴾ عَلَىٰ صِرَ‌اطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ ﴿4﴾ تَنزِيلَ الْعَزِيزِ الرَّ‌حِيمِ ﴿5﴾ لِتُنذِرَ‌ قَوْمًا مَّا أُنذِرَ‌ آبَاؤُهُمْ فَهُمْ غَافِلُونَ ﴿6﴾ لَقَدْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ عَلَىٰ أَكْثَرِ‌هِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿7﴾ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا فِي أَعْنَاقِهِمْ أَغْلَالًا فَهِيَ إِلَى الْأَذْقَانِ فَهُم مُّقْمَحُونَ ﴿8﴾ وَجَعَلْنَا مِن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُ‌ونَ ﴿9﴾

With the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the Very-Merciful

Ya Seen. By the wise Qur'an, surely you [ 0 Muhammad ] are from among the messengers, on a straight path. [ This is ] a revelation of the Mighty, the Very Merciful, that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are unaware. The word has already taken effect against most of them, so they do not believe. Surely, We have placed shackles on their necks reaching down to their chins, so they are with heads forced high up. And We have placed before them an obstruction and behind them an obstruction and covered them, so they do not see - Surah Ya Seen, 36: 1-9)

Imam al-Qurtubi (رح) says that he himself went through an incident in the Manthur Castle of al-Qartubah in his own country of al-Andalus (Spain). I ran in front of the enemy and sat in a corner. The enemy sent two horsemen after me. I was on open grounds. There was nothing to obstruct the view between us. But, I was reciting these verses of Surah Ya Sin. Both these horsemen passed by me. Then they went back towards where they had come from, saying, 'this person must be some devil,' because they could not see me. Allah Ta’ ala had turned them blind as far as I was concerned. (Qurtubi)