Naked Prophet

The attacks of

the enemies of Islam continue to increase in a way that confirms the depth of the danger facing the Muslim nation. Although the millstone of war on Muslims has drained a lot of their blood and honor, contemporary wars have taken on a different character based on falsifying Islamic history, distorting its facts, and attacking its men.

At the forefront of the issues that were made a target for the arrows of skeptics was our noble Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his fragrant biography. In this regard, they mentioned narrations and distorted their meaning and purpose; to delude the weak in faith that something that contradicts the perfection of good manners and morals had been issued by the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. The

narrations they mentioned deal with two incidents: one of them occurred five years before his mission, may God bless him and grant him peace - as is the case with many of the biographers - and the other occurred much later, specifically in the Medinan period. The gist of those narrations, according to them, is that they indicate that he, may God bless him and grant him peace, was stripped of his clothes.

As for what is related to the first incident, Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated that Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated on the authority of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, that he was carrying stones for the Kaaba with the Quraysh, and he was wearing his lower garment. His uncle Al-Abbas said to him: O son of my brother, why don’t you untie your lower garment and place it on your shoulders instead of the stones? He said: So he untie it and placed it on his shoulders, and he fell unconscious, and he was never seen naked after that, may God bless him and grant him peace.

And with Imam Ahmad with a strong chain of transmission on the authority of Abu al-Tufayl, may God be pleased with him, in which it says: “While the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was carrying stones from Ajyad, and he was wearing a cloak, the cloak became too small for him, so he went to put the cloak on his shoulder, and his private parts were visible because of the smallness of the cloak, so it was called: O Muhammad, cover your private parts, and he was never seen naked after that.

” And with a sound chain of transmission on his authority: “While the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was carrying them, his private parts were exposed - and in another narration: his private parts or his cloak - so it was called: O Muhammad, cover your private parts.” It was mentioned by Imam al-Dhahabi in “Siyar A’lam al-Nubala” part of the biography, and al-Hafiz al-Maqdisi in “al-Ahadith al-Mukhtara,” and al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar referred to it in “al-Fath.”

And in the narration of al-Bazzar and al-Tabari with a good chain of transmission for others on the authority of al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, may God be pleased with him, he said: When the Quraysh built the Kaaba, two men were separated to carry the stones, and it was me and my nephew, so we would take our belts and put them on our shoulders and place the stones on them, and when we approached Among the people we put on our lower garments, and while he was in front of me he was struck down, so I ran while he was staring at the sky. He said: I said to my nephew: What is the matter with you? He said: (I have been forbidden to walk naked), he said: I concealed it until Allah revealed his prophethood.

Upon contemplating the aforementioned narrations, the following facts become clear to us:

First: The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was wearing a cloak, and the cloak among the Arabs is a type of garment that they use as a lower garment or a cloak. The author of Mukhtar al-Sihah said: The cloak is also a woolen cloak worn by the Arabs.

Second: The stones were carried by men going out in pairs and not in groups, as in the narration of al-Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him: “When the Quraysh built the Kaaba, two men moved the stones separately,” and thus al-Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, was destined to be with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Third: Al-Abbas, may God be pleased with him, saw that carrying those stones without a barrier was harming them, so he asked the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, to protect himself from the harm of these stones by placing his izar on his shoulder, as in the narration of Al-Bukhari: “His uncle Al-Abbas said to him: O son of my brother, why don’t you take off your izar and place it on your shoulders instead of the stones.”

Fourth: The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his uncle Al-Abbas would re-tie their izars when they approached, and this is what was indicated by the saying of Al-Abbas, may God be pleased with him: “When we approached the people, we put on our izars.”

If we recall the above, we will be able to imagine the scene as it really was, where the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his uncle went to carry stones in pairs from Mount Ajyad. When the stones affected their shoulders, Al-Abbas suggested to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, that they should untie their belts and place them on their shoulders in order to protect themselves from harm. So each of them untie his belt and place it on his shoulder from behind, so that it would hang down over his body from behind and cover his private parts - as indicated by the context of the hadith of Abu Al-Tufayl that we mentioned previously - and when they approached the people, they put their belts back on, but the Prophet’s, may God bless him and grant him peace, belt was shorter than Al-Abbas’s, may God be pleased with him, and from here his private parts were exposed. Then God appointed an angel to order him to cover his private parts, and as a result of this call, he fell and fainted. The above indicates that when he placed his cloak on his shoulders, his private parts were not visible, meaning that he did not let it hang down on his sides without covering his back and what was below it.

What confirms this is what was mentioned in the narration of Abu al-Tufayl, may God be pleased with him, which was previously mentioned: “While the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was moving, his private parts were exposed - and in another narration: his private parts or his shirt - so it was called: O Muhammad, cover your private parts.” The narrator used the word “when” which indicates suddenness. For further clarification, we say: Let us imagine that a person has put on a piece of cloth and placed it on his shoulders. If he is level and the piece of cloth reaches the middle of his legs, then if he bends his back, there is no doubt that it will rise, because it is directly connected to the shoulders. This is exactly what happened to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. Accordingly, the exposure of the private parts was an accidental matter that was not intentional, and divine infallibility came to conceal it from the sight of his uncle, may God be pleased with him - except for that fleeting moment after he fell, may God bless him and grant him peace.

If someone objects and says: “What about his private parts in front?” The answer to that is easy, as the previous narrations indicate that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, put on the cloak in that manner only when he was far from the sight of people, and so was his uncle. When they came close, he quickly put on the izar, and Al-Abbas, may God be pleased with him, did not see the private parts of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, during that time. Because if we recall the conditions of Al-Abbas and his position with the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, we will find that he had three conditions: either he was behind the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, in which case he would not see his private parts, or he was parallel to him, in which case he would not see him, or he was in front of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and there is no doubt that seeing him would not have occurred. The previously mentioned narration of Al-Bazzar and Al-Tabarani stated that when the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was struck down, he was walking in front of his uncle, not with him or behind him.

We will leave this incident to move on to explaining their other doubt, which is what was attributed to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, of his being naked when Zayd ibn Haritha, may God be pleased with him, arrived and welcomed him in his house. Their basis for that is what was narrated by Al-Tirmidhi on the authority of Aisha, may God be pleased with her, who said: Zayd ibn Haritha came to Madinah and the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was in my house. He came to him and knocked on the door, so the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, stood up to him naked, dragging his garment. By God, I had never seen him naked before or after him. He embraced him and kissed him. “Sharh Ma’ani Al-Athar” contains something similar to this narration.

However, this narration is not proven by the balance of investigation. In its chain of transmission is Abu Yahya ibn Muhammad, about whom Al-Dhahabi said: Weak, and Al-Saji said about him: There are strange and incorrect hadiths in his hadith. There is also another defect in the hadith, which is Ibrahim ibn Yahya ibn Muhammad, who is weak in hadith, and Al-Razi said about him: Weak. The hadith was declared weak by Imam Ibn Muflih in Al-Adab Al-Shar’iyyah, and Al-Albani included it among “The Chain of Weak Hadiths.”

Even if we assume the authenticity of the narration, there is no objection to the Chosen One, peace and blessings be upon him, in it, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not meet Zayd naked, as evidenced by the statement of Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her: “He stood up to him naked, dragging his garment.” If he had met him naked, there would have been no benefit in dragging his garment; rather, he dragged his garment to cover himself while he was on his way to open the door. As for Aisha’s statement, “By Allah, I have never seen him naked before or after,” it is known that she had seen him like that because she was his wife. Rather, the meaning is that she had never seen him naked in a situation other than when he was with his family except this time, when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, stood up, out of his intense longing to meet Zayd, and pulled his garment over him while he was on his way to meet him. So where is the objection to that?

But there is no wonder in the occurrence of the previous doubt, for we are speaking to a people who are blinded by hatred and seduced by fanaticism, and Allah will perfect His light even if the disbelievers hate it.

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