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Fatwa CenterMisunderstanding of a narration about the interruption of revelation
Question
A Christian once pointed out that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was suicidal as written in Bukhari, Vol. 9, H. 111. He also said that in the Bible only those possessed by demons commit suicide, thus he labelled Islam as a religion of Satan and the Holy Prophet (pbuh) as demon possessed. How should I answer this Christian?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
This misconception that states that the Prophet 
tried to commit suicide at the beginning of the revelation is not true.
Firstly, this addition which is mentioned in the narration, which is the statement of Az-Zuhri 
''…the Prophet became very sad according to what was conveyed to us to an extent that he wanted many times to throw himself from the top of the mountain.'' This addition is not authentic as stated by Ibn Hajar .
Secondly, even if we presume that this addition is correct, it is not a condemnation of the Prophet as he did not really do so, but rather only intended to do so. This is similar to what happened to Prophet Yoosuf (Joseph) 
; as Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And indeed she did desire him and he would have inclined to her desire, had he not seen the evidence of his Lord.} [Quran 12:24]
Ibn Taymiyyah said, "It is for this reason that Yoosuf was not said to have repented from the story of the wife of the Al-'Azeez (the minister), and the story was evidence that Yoosuf was not sinful in principle in this story."
Thirdly, the story relates to the beginning of Islam, and the prohibition of suicide was not yet revealed to him at that time, but it was revealed later. Therefore, how can he be condemned for it?
Fourthly, Allaah The Almighty protected him from such evil just as He protected him from consuming intoxicants and other ill conduct in the pre-Islamic era of ignorance.
Therefore, there is nothing to blame the Prophet for in what is mentioned, as he is free from every evil and from the influence of demons. Whoever describes him to be possessed by demons is the one who is really possessed by demons. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {For he who makes you angry (O Muhammad ) - he will be cut off (from every good thing in this world and in the Hereafter).} [Quran 108:3]
For more benefit on the conditions of calling Christians to Islam, please refer to Fatwas 84349 and 91563.
Finally, it should be noted that one should be careful in calling the people of falsehood like the Christians and others to Islam unless he is well-grounded in religious knowledge as it is not safe for a common person to start having doubts about his religion or possibly apostate due to their misconceptions.
Allaah Knows best.
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