Does the Hadith of Satan's Stab Prove Jesus Is Divine? A Full Refutation
“The devil stabs every son of Adam in the side with his finger when he is born, except for Jesus, son of Mary. He went to stab him, but he stabbed the veil.”
Grade: Ṣaḥīḥ · Bukhārī
Response
First: The Hadith Does Not Confer Divinity
This hadith does not give Jesus the right of divinity. By the same logic: the dog, the donkey, and the rest of the animals are not stabbed in the side by Satan when they are born — so is the donkey a god?
Second: The Hadith Is Not Exclusive to Jesus — His Mother Was With Him
The hadith is not unique to Jesus, son of Mary, peace be upon him. His mother was with him when she gave birth. The fuller narration makes this clear:
“There is no child of Adam who is born except that Satan touches him when he is born, so he begins to cry out from the touch of Satan — except for Mary and her son.”
Then Abu Hurayrah recited: “And I seek refuge for her and her offspring in You from Satan, the accursed.”
Grade: Ṣaḥīḥ · Bukhārī
So the hadith explicitly includes Mary alongside her son. Both were protected. If the exception from Satan’s stab proves divinity, then Mary is also divine — and this is something no Christian claims.
Third: John Was Superior to Jesus According to Their Own Sources
On the authority of Qatāda, that al-Ḥasan said:
[!scholar] Al-Ṭabarī — Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī (on Maryam 15)
Jesus and John met, so Jesus said to him: “Ask forgiveness for me — you are better than me.” John said to him: “Ask forgiveness for me — you are better than me.” So Jesus said to him: “You are better than me — I greeted myself, and Allah greeted you” — so Allah recognized his superiority.
This is what appeared in the Gospel of Matthew, revealing the difference between John and the Lord Christ. John is the one who baptized the Lord Christ, and not the other way around. So does the Christian baptize the monk, or is the monk the one who baptizes the Christian?
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. (13) But John forbade him, saying, ‘I have need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ (14) But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he permitted him.” (15)
Fourth: The Same Narrator Who Reported This Hadith Also Reported the Superiority of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
If the Christians cite this hadith about Jesus, they must accept that the same narrator — the same chain — also narrated the following:
“I have been given five things that were not given to anyone before me: I was aided by terror as far as a month’s journey; the earth was made a place of prostration and purification for me, so whenever a man of my nation is overtaken by the time of prayer, let him pray; spoils of war have been made lawful for me but they were not made lawful for anyone before me; I have been given intercession; and a prophet was sent to his people specifically, but I have been sent to all people.”
Grade: Ṣaḥīḥ · Bukhārī
“I am the master of the children of Adam on the Day of Resurrection, and I do not boast. In my hand is the banner of praise, and I do not boast. There will be no prophet on that day — Adam or anyone else — except that he will be under my banner. I will be the first from whom the earth will split, and I do not boast.”
He said: “Then the people will be frightened three times. They will come to Adam and say: ‘You are our father Adam, so intercede for us with your Lord.’ He will say: ‘I have committed a sin for which I was sent down to the earth — but go to Noah.’ So they will go to Noah and he will say: ‘I called down a curse on the people of the earth and they were destroyed — but go to Abraham.’ So they will go to Abraham and he will say: ‘I have told three lies.’ Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘None of them is a lie except that which it brought about regarding the religion of Allah — but go to Moses.’ So they will go to Moses and he will say: ‘I have killed a soul — but go to Jesus.’ So they will go to Jesus. He said: ‘I have been worshipped instead of Allah — but go to Muḥammad.’ He said: They come to me and I go with them.”*
Ibn Judʿān said: Anas said: It is as if I am looking at the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said: “I take hold of the ring of the door of Paradise and I knock on it. It is said: ‘Who is this?’ It is said: ‘Muḥammad.’ They open for me and welcome me and say: ‘Welcome.’ I fall down in prostration and Allah inspires me with praise and thanks, and it is said to me: ‘Raise your head, ask and you will be given, intercede and your intercession will be accepted, and speak and your words will be heard.’ This is the praised station of which Allah said: ‘Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station.’”
Grade: Ḥasan Ṣaḥīḥ · Al-Tirmidhī
In this hadith, Jesus himself on the Day of Resurrection will redirect the people away from himself and say: “I have been worshipped instead of Allah — but go to Muḥammad.” This is the testimony of Jesus himself, according to the hadith the Christians wish to cite against us.
Fifth: The Qurʾān Addressed Jesus Directly With Words That Would Turn Children’s Hair White
“Say: Then who can do anything against Allah if He wills to destroy the Messiah, the son of Mary, and his mother, and whoever is on the earth, all together? And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them. He creates what He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.”
The strongest one is the one who is tested and challenged — there is no advantage in protecting someone from a stab that could not have harmed him anyway. The believer is tested according to his faith; if his faith is great, his affliction is increased. The question is: if Allah had left Satan to stab Jesus like the rest, would Satan have been able to harm Jesus’ faith? Of course not — he is a prophet of Allah. So where is the proof of divinity in being protected from Satan’s stab?
Sixth: Al-Zamakhsharī’s Explanation of the Hadith
[!scholar] Al-Zamakhsharī — Al-Kashshāf (on this hadith)
If it is correct, then it means that every newborn child is desired by Satan to be misled — except Mary and her son, for they were protected from that, as well as everyone who is in their condition, as in the saying of the Most High: “I will surely mislead them all, except Your chosen servants among them” (Al-Ḥijr 40–41). And his beginning — that is, the child’s screaming from Satan touching him — is an imagining and depicting of Satan’s desire for the child, as if he touches him and strikes him with his hand and says: “This is one of those whom I mislead.” Similar to this imagining is the saying of Ibn al-Rūmī: “Because of what the world announces of its vicissitudes, the crying of the child is the moment he is born.”
And even if some people deny this interpretation of al-Zamakhsharī, what he meant by ʿiṣmah (protection) is the protection that Mary and her son would not have anything of arrogance — that is, that they would not participate in the claim that people made of them as gods.
Seventh: The Supplication of the Wife of ʿImrān and Its Scope
When the wife of ʿImrān said:
“My Lord, I have vowed to You what is in my womb, dedicated to Your service, so accept it from me. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.” (35) And I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge in You for her and her offspring from Satan, the accursed.” (36)
Whatever was ordained for Allah was devoted to Allah alone — and Allah answered this supplication for both Mary and her son, her offspring. This is also evidence that Mary did not give birth to anyone but Jesus, and no one else. In any case, if the Christians believe in this hadith, then the hadith is talking about the Jesus of Islam — the prophet and messenger — not the Jesus whom Satan raised above the temple like a chicken, as in their own scriptures. And the one who said this hadith is Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. So do they believe everything that Muḥammad ﷺ says?
The hadith of Satan’s stab proves nothing regarding divinity. The exception covers Mary alongside Jesus — and by the same logic the Christians apply, Mary would also be divine. Animals are also not stabbed by Satan, yet no one calls them divine. The hadith’s narrator is the same narrator who reported that Muḥammad ﷺ is the master of all the children of Adam on the Day of Resurrection — and that Jesus himself, on that day, will send the people away from himself and say: “Go to Muḥammad.” If the Christians accept one hadith from this chain, they must accept them all.