This Is Islam Uncovered

Allah Couldn’t Save Muhammad

The Death That Broke the Omnipotence Claim

How a Poisoned Meal at Khaibar Exposes the Logical Collapse of Islamic Theology

Abstract

This article critically investigates the Islamic claim of Allah’s omnipotence through the lens of a specific historical incident: the poisoning of Muhammad at Khaibar. Drawing on authoritative Islamic sources—Sahih hadith, Qur’anic verses, and classical interpretations—it argues that Allah’s failure to prevent, heal, or respond effectively to Muhammad’s own prayers in this moment of mortal crisis challenges the coherence of His alleged omnipotence. The case study of Muhammad’s suffering and death provides a theological and philosophical fault line in Islamic doctrine, suggesting that Allah’s power is asserted more than demonstrated, and that this claim collapses when measured against its own prophetic standard.

1. Introduction: When Theology Meets Reality

In monotheistic traditions, divine omnipotence is a non-negotiable attribute of God. In Islam, this is taken as axiomatic—Allah is al-Qadir (the All-Powerful), al-‘Aziz (the Almighty), and al-Muqtadir (the Supremely Able). Yet omnipotence, if it is more than mere rhetoric, must withstand empirical and theological scrutiny.

This article explores one of the most underexamined yet devastating theological dilemmas in Islam: the poisoning of Muhammad at Khaibar—a moment that reveals not divine intervention, but divine absence. If Muhammad is indeed Allah’s final prophet, “the Seal of the Prophets” (Qur’an 33:40), then Allah’s apparent inability or unwillingness to save him from such an ignoble death is not a footnote. It is a doctrinal collapse.

2. The Incident at Khaibar: A Historical Overview

2.1 The Poisoned Prophet

According to multiple sahih hadith, after the Muslims’ victory at Khaibar, a Jewish woman offered Muhammad a roasted sheep, deliberately laced with poison. Muhammad consumed it. Realizing it was tainted, he stopped—but the damage was done.

Sahih Bukhari 4428:

“The Prophet said during his illness in which he died: ‘O Aisha! I still feel the pain caused by the food I ate at Khaibar, and at this time, I feel as if my aorta is being cut from that poison.’”
Sunan Abu Dawood 4512, Sahih Muslim 5840, and Ibn Sa'd also corroborate this account.

The meat spoke to warn him—according to tradition—but only after ingestion. Muhammad reportedly suffered from this poisoning for years before finally succumbing to its lingering effects.

3. Theological Implications: Omnipotence in Question

3.1 Why Didn’t Allah Intervene?

Islam teaches that Allah is not only all-powerful but also intimately involved in protecting His messengers:

Qur’an 6:61: “He sends guardian angels over you…”
Qur’an 2:106, 2:20, 3:160: Verses asserting Allah’s total control and support for the believers.

So where was that divine protection when His final messenger was being slowly killed by a poisoned meal?

If Allah could not—or would not—intervene to protect His prophet from harm, what does this reveal about His power or His priorities?

3.2 Why Were Muhammad’s Prayers Unanswered?

Muslim sources state that Muhammad prayed for healing from the effects of the poison. Yet his condition worsened over time, eventually killing him. This stands in direct contradiction to Qur’anic promises:

Qur’an 2:186:

“When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed close. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.”

If Allah answers prayers, especially from prophets, why not this one?

A response that is delayed until death is functionally indistinguishable from silence.

3.3 The Absence of Evidence Is Evidence of Absence

Divine power is not measured by declarations, but by outcomes. In the case of Muhammad’s poisoning, the outcome was public failure:

No miraculous healing
No deliverance
No divine vengeance
Just prolonged, painful suffering

Unlike biblical accounts where God rescues Daniel from lions (Daniel 6:22) or revives a child through Elijah (1 Kings 17), Allah appears absent when his most important representative needed him most.

4. Comparative Theology: The Biblical God vs. Allah

The Bible portrays a God who acts decisively to vindicate His prophets:

Daniel 6:22 — God shuts the lions’ mouths.
1 Kings 17:22 — Elijah raises the dead by calling on God.
John 10:18 — Jesus says: “No one takes my life from me... I lay it down of my own accord.”

By contrast, Muhammad dies not in triumph, but in physical agony—confessing his pain as divine silence continues.

The message is clear: the biblical God saves, the Qur'anic Allah does not.

5. Philosophical Analysis: The Omnipotence Problem

5.1 Selective or Inconsistent Power

Omnipotence implies universal, unrestricted power. But Allah's intervention appears:

Arbitrary
Inconsistent
Unverifiable

If Allah acts in hidden ways no one can see or confirm, the claim of omnipotence becomes indistinguishable from nonexistence.

5.2 Internal Contradictions Within the Qur’an

Qur’an 8:17: “It was not you who killed them, but Allah…”
Qur’an 69:44–46: “If [Muhammad] had made up something against Us, We would have severed his aorta.”

Ironically, Muhammad claims to feel his aorta severing (Bukhari 4428)—which could imply that Allah did indeed cause his death, fulfilling 69:44–46. A devastating theological irony emerges: if taken literally, Muhammad died as a false prophet under Qur’anic criteria.

6. Conclusion: A Fatal Blow to Allah’s Claim of Power

The poisoning of Muhammad at Khaibar is more than a historical curiosity. It is a theological landmine. If Allah were truly omnipotent, then:

He would have prevented the poisoning
Or miraculously healed Muhammad
Or answered the prophet’s own pleas
Or vindicated him with divine intervention

He did none of these.

Instead, Islam’s final prophet died in pain, confusion, and weakness—abandoned by the very God who claimed to be all-powerful and near.

This is not the portrait of a deity worthy of worship. It is the exposure of a claim that crumbles under scrutiny.

References

Sahih al-Bukhari 4428
Sahih Muslim 5840
Sunan Abu Dawood 4512
Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat al-Kubra
The Qur’an: 2:20, 2:106, 2:186, 3:160, 6:61, 8:17, 69:44–46
The Bible: Daniel 6:22, 1 Kings 17:21–22, John 10:18