Story of the Jewish Woman who Tried to Poison Prophet Muhammad

It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said: “When Khaibar was conquered, a roasted poisoned sheep was presented to the Prophet as a gift (by the Jews).

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) ordered:

Let all the Jews who have been here, be assembled before me.

The Jews were collected and the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

I am going to ask you a question. Will you tell the truth?

They said:

“Yes.”

The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked:

Who is your father?

They replied:

“So-and-so.”

He said:

You have told a lie; your father is so-and-so.

They said:

“You are right.”

He said:

Will you now tell me the truth, if I ask you about something?

They replied:

“Yes, O Abul Qasim; and if we should tell a lie, you can realize our lie as you have done regarding our father.”

On that he asked:

Who are the people of the (Hell) Fire?

They said:

“We shall remain in the (Hell) Fire for a short period, and after that you will replace us.”

The Prophet said:

You may be cursed and humiliated in it! By Allah, we shall never replace you in it.

Then he asked:

Will you now tell me the truth if I ask you a question?

They said:

“Yes, O Abul Qasim.”

He asked:

Have you poisoned this sheep?

They said:

“Yes.”

He asked:

What made you do so?

They said:

“We wanted to know if you were a liar in which case we would get rid of you, and if you are a prophet then the poison would not harm you.” (Al-Bukhari)

Lessons drawn from the above mentioned Hadith:

1- The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) accepted gift; however, did not accept charity nor was it permissible for him. That is because rulings of gift differ from that of charity.

2- It is permissible to take gift from the Jews and eat their slaughtered animals.

3- Allah the Almighty has revealed to His Messenger hidden and unseen matters.

4-  Stubbornness of the Jews i.e. although they acknowledged the truthfulness of the Prophet Muhammad when he told them about the real name of their father and the poison they put in the sheep, they remain stubborn and went on denying his Prophethood.

5- The greatness of the character of the Prophet Muhammad, his great forbearing, patience, loving forgiveness and pardoning, where he did not take revenge for himself and did not punish the woman.

6- Allah the Almighty has preserved His Religion and Prophet (peace be upon him). The secret of the Jews were revealed and their efforts were of no avail.

7- Things such as, poisons and the like, have no effect with themselves. Bishr ibn Al-Bara’ died from the poison while the Prophet Muhammad used to feel ill from that sheep but did not die from it; rather, he lived many years after eating from it.

Source: https://islamhashtag.com.