The Quran states that the knowledge of magic was passed on by demons and two angels with Armenian names, Harut and Marut, for the express purpose of misleading mankind:  

They followed what the Shayatin (devils) gave out (falsely of the magic) in the lifetime of Sulaiman (Solomon). Sulaiman did not disbelieve, but the Shayatin (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things that came down at Babylon to the two angels, Harut and Marut, but neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) till they had said, “We are only for trial, so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us).” And from these (angels) people learn that by which they cause separation between man and his wife, but they could not thus harm anyone except by Allah’s Leave. And they learn that which harms them and profits them not. And indeed they knew that the buyers of it (magic) would have no share in the Hereafter. And how bad indeed was that for which they sold their ownselves, if they but knew. S. 2:102 Hilali-Khan

What makes this ironic is that the allegedly sound narrations admit that Muhammad came under the power of black magic, which a Jew placed on him. As a result of this bewitchment, Muhammad started hallucinating that he was doing things:

Narrated Aisha:
Once the Prophet was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact he had not done. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 53, Number 400 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=53&translator=1&start=0&number=400)

We are even told that Muhammad started hallucinating having sex with his nine wives, inncluding his child bride Aisha:

Narrated Aisha:
Magic was worked on Allah’s Apostle so that he used to think that he had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not (Sufyan said: That is the hardest kind of magic as it has such an effect). Then one day he said, “O ‘Aisha do you know that Allah has instructed me concerning the matter I asked Him about? Two men came to me and one of them sat near my head and the other sat near my feet. The one near my head asked the other, ‘What is wrong with this man?’ The latter replied he is under the effect of magic. The first one asked, ‘Who has worked magic on him?’ The other replied, ‘Labid bin Al-A’sam, a man from Bani Zuraiq who was an ally of the Jews and was a hypocrite.’ The first one asked, ‘What material did he use?’ The other replied, ‘A comb and the hair stuck to it.’ The first one asked, ‘Where (is that)?’ The other replied, ‘In a skin of pollen of a male date palm tree kept under a stone in the well of Dharwan.’” So the Prophet went to that well and took out those things and said, “That was the well which was shown to me (in a dream). Its water looked like the infusion of Henna leaves and its date-palm trees looked like the heads of devils.” The Prophet added, “Then that thing was taken out.” I said (to the Prophet) “Why do you not treat yourself with Nashra?” He said, “Allah has cured me; I dislike to let evil spread among my people.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 660 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=71&translator=1&start=0&number=659)

Here’s another version of the hadith:

XLVIII. Should the source of magic be extracted from where it is?

Qatada said, “I asked Sa’id ibn al-Musayyab, ‘If a man is bewitched or unable to come to his wife, can he seek to undo it or use nushra*?’ ‘Yes,’ he answered, ‘There is no harm in that. By it they desire to put things right. That which is beneficial for people is not forbidden.’”

[Nushra is reciting verses over water which is then used by the person afflicted.]

5432. ‘Urwa related that ‘A’isha said, “The Messenger of Allah was bewitched so that he would imagine that he had had intercourse with his wives when he had not”. (Sufyan said, “This is the worst type of magic when it does that.”) He said, “A’isha, do you know that Allah has given me a decision in what I asked Him about? Two men came to me and one of them sat at my head and the other and at my feet, and the one at my head said to the other, ‘What ails the man?’ ‘Bewitched,’ he answered. He said, ‘And who has bewitched him?’ He replied, ‘Labid ibn al-A’sam, a man of the Banu Zurayq, the allies of the Jews, who is a hypocrite.’ He said, ‘Using what?” He replied, ‘A comb and flax fibres.’ He asked, ‘Where is it?’ He said, ‘Inside a male palm spadex under a stone in the well of Dharwan.’” The Prophet went to the well to remove it. He said, “This is the well that I was shown.” Its water was the colour of henna infusion and the date palms looks like the heads of devils. He said, “It was taken out.” I asked, “Why do not use nushra?’ He replied, “By Allah, Allah has cured me. I dislike to provoke evil against anyone.” (Aisha Bewley, The Sahih Collection of al-Bukhari, Chapter 79. The Book of Medicine: source; bold italicized emphasis mine)

Other sources confirm Muhammad’s sexual hallucinations:

882– The scholars said that a Jewish lad was serving the Prophet when the Jews came to him, took the Prophet’s comb, and cast a spell on him. The one who executed the witchcraft was the Jew, Labeed Ibn A’sam. He put it in the well called Thorwan of the tribe of Zureik. Consequently, the Prophet fell ill. His hair began to fall out, and he imagined that he had HAD SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH HIS WOMEN EVEN THOUGH HE HAD NOT. He would taste something and not recognize it.

One day while he was sleeping, two angels came to him and one sat by his feet and the other by his head. One asked the other, “What is the matter with this man?” The other angel said, “HE IS BEWITCHED.” One asked, “Who has done it to him?” and the other replied, “Labeed Ibn A’sam, the Jewish man.” The first angel asked, “How did he do it?” The second replied, “With his comb and it is in the well in a leaf of palm tree wrapped around a stone in the bottom of a well.” (Imam Al-Wahidi An-Naisaburi, Reasons and Occasions of Revelation of the Holy Quran: English-Arabic Text, translated by Haythem Kreidly [Dar Al-Kotob Al-ilmiyah, Beirut, 2nd edition 2012], p. 606; bold and capital emphasis mine)

To make matters worse the Islamic references state that Muhammad’s condition lasted from six months to a year!

(Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind…) [114:1-6]. The commentators of the Qur’an said: “The Messenger of Allah had a Jewish servant boy. The Jews approached him and kept after him until he gave them some fallen hair from the Prophet as well as a few teeth from his comb. The Jews used these to cast a spell of black magic on him. The person who was behind this was the Jew Labid ibn al-A‘sam. He then put the hair in a well belonging to Banu Zurayq called Dharwan. The Messenger of Allah fell ill for a period of six months, during which the hair of his head fell off; he imagined that he slept with his wives when he did not, and was withering away without knowing the reason. As he was one day sleeping, he saw two angels coming to him. One of them sat at his head and the other at his feet. The angel who sat at his head asked: ‘What is wrong with the man?’ The second angel responded: ‘A spell of black magic was cast on him’. The first one asked: ‘And who is responsible for this sorcery?’ The second angel answered: ‘It is Labid ibn al-A‘sam, the Jew’. The first angel asked again: ‘What did he use to cast black magic on him?’ The second angel said: ‘He used a comb and fallen hair’. The first angel asked: ‘Where is it now?’ The second angel said: ‘It is inside the spadix of a palm tree beneath the stepping stone which is inside the well of Dharwan’, at which point the Messenger of Allah woke up. He said: ‘O ‘A’ishah, do you not think that this is from Allah to inform me of the cause of my illness?’ He then sent ‘Ali [ibn Abi Talib], al-Zubayr [ibn al-‘Awwam] and ‘Ammar [ibn Yasir] who drained the water of that well as one would drain the dust of henna. They lifted the stone and got the spadix out and found therein some of the hair of the Messenger of Allah as well a few teeth from his comb. (‘Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi, Asbab al-Nuzul, Q. 113-114 https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=86&tSoraNo=113&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold and capital emphasis mine)

They also found with it a string with eleven knots knitted with needles. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed Surah al-Falaq and Surah al-Nas (al-Mu’awwidhatayn). With each verse that the Messenger of Allah read one knot was untied and the Prophet felt some lightness. When the last knot was untied, the Prophet got up as if he was released from a cord to which he was tied up. Gabriel, peace be upon him, kept saying: ‘In the name of Allah I cast this incantation on you to protect you from anything that might harm you and that Allah heals you from the resentful envier and the evil eye’. Those around him said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, should we not head toward that evil person and kill him?’ He said: ‘As for me, Allah has cured me, and I dislike causing evil to other people’. This is of the forbearance of the Messenger of Allah”. Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Ja’far informed us> Abu ‘Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hiri> Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Mawsili> Mujahid ibn Musa> Abu Usamah> Hisham ibn ‘Urwa> his father> ‘A’ishah who said: “A spell of black magic was cast on the Prophet such that he used to imagine that he did things when he did not. He was at my place, one day, and he began imploring Allah in earnest. Then he said: ‘Did you not feel, O ‘A’ishah, that Allah has answered me about that which I have enquired?’ I said: ‘And what is that, O Messenger of Allah?’ He said: ‘Two angels came to me…’, and he mentioned the whole story”. The whole story is narrated by Bukhari from ‘Ubayd ibn Isma’il from Abu Usamah. The same narration has different channels of transmission in both the authentic collections of Bukhari and Muslim. The book Asbab Nuzul al-Qur’an concludes here… (Ibid. https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=86&tSoraNo=113&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&Page=2&Size=1&LanguageId=2; bold emphasis mine)

There were/are certain Muslim groups deemed heretical by sunni Islam that have been troubled by Muhammad’s bewitchment since the Quran claims that Allah would protect him and that Satan has no authority over Allah’s servants:

From B. Zurayq: Labid b. A’sam who bewitched the apostle of God so that he could not come at his wives.¹ (The Life of Muhammad, A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, with introduction and notes by Alfred Guillaume [Karachi Oxford University Press, Karachi, Tenth Impression 1995), p. 240; bold emphasis mine)

¹ In commenting on this Suhayli asserts that the tradition is sound and is accepted by the traditionists. He found in the Jami’ of Mu‘ammar b. Rashad (a work which I cannot find mentioned by Brockelmann) the statement THAT THE SPELL LASTED FOR A YEAR. He adds that the Mu‘tazila and Modernists rejected the tradition ON THE GROUND THAT PROPHETS COULD NOT BE BEWITCHED OTHERWISE THEY WOULD COMMIT SIN and that would be contrary to the word of God ‘And God will protect thee from men’ (5.71). He finds the tradition unassailable. It is properly attested and intellectually acceptable. The prophets were not preserved from bodily afflictions in which category sorcery falls. (Ibid.; bold and capital emphasis mine)

Note what the Muslim scripture itself says about this matter:

[Iblis (Satan)] said: “O my Lord! Because YOU MISLEAD ME, I shall indeed adorn the path of error for them (mankind) on the earth, and I shall mislead them all. Except Your chosen, (guided) slaves among them.” (Allah) said: “This is the Way which will lead straight to Me. Certainly, you shall have no authority over My slaves, except those who follow you of the Ghawin (Mushrikun and those who go astray, criminals, polytheists, and evil-doers, etc.). And surely, Hell is the promised place for them all.” S. 15:39-43 Hilali-Khan

[Iblis (Satan)] said: “My Lord! Give me then respite till the Day the (dead) are resurrected.” (Allah) said: “Verily! You are of those allowed respite Till the Day of the time appointed.” [Iblis (Satan)] said: “By Your Might, then I will surely mislead them all, Except Your chosen slaves amongst them (faithful, obedient, true believers of Islamic Monotheism).” (Allah) said: “The Truth is, and the Truth I say, That I will fill Hell with you [Iblis (Satan)] and those of them (mankind) that follow you, together.” S. 38:71-84 Hilali-Khan

God’s true Word, the Holy Bible, also confirms that God’s righteous servants who resist Satan and submit to God’s will can never come under the control of witchcraft, sorcery, etc. Instead, true believers are given power over the kingdom of darkness by the authority and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ:

“For there is no sorcery against Jacob, Nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob And of Israel, ‘Oh, what God has done!” Numbers 23:23 New King James Version (NKJV)

“Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.’” Luke 10:17-20 NKJV

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:7-8 NKJV

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.’” Revelation 12:9-11 NKJV

Now this raises some uncomfortable questions for Muslims to contend with.

How could a disbelieving Jew control Muhammad by using black magic on him?

Does this mean that Satan and the Jew were more powerful than Allah who failed to protect Muhammad from the influence and authority of the Devil?

Or should we assume that Muhammad wasn’t one of Allah’s truly righteous servants, since Allah would have surely protected him if he truly were?

If so, then doesn’t this prove that Muhammad actually belonged to Satan even according to the teachings of the Quran?

Moreover, why is it that even while he is hallucinating and imagining things, all Muhammad can think of is sex? Isn’t this more proof that Muhammad was from righteous, but was rather an immoral, sexual deviant that belonged to Satan?

Even more embarrassing is that, for Muhammad to have been imagining that he was sleeping with his wives he must have been simulating sexual maneuvers and doing things with/to his body during this entire period.

Again, why would Muhammad’s god allow his prophet to undergo such a shameful, humiliating process if Muhammad were truly righteous?

Is this how Allah treats his supposed messenger who is believed to be the most beloved to him, permitting him to physically stimulate himself as he imagined having sex with his wives?

Finally, since Muhammad could be deceived and controlled by Satan to imagine things, then how can any Muslim be assured that Muhammad’s entire prophetic experience was nothing more than a satanic delusion?

What convincing evidence can Muslims present to disprove that the Devil didn’t cause Muhammad to simply hallucinate having encounters with Gabriel in order to be duped into reciting scriptures from Satan so as to mislead mankind away from the only true God revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ?     

FURTHER READING

Muhammad’s Bewitchment 

Reexamining Satan’s Influence and Control over Muhammad: [Part 1], [Part 2]

Evidence for Muhammad Being Deceived

Muhammad and Contemporary Arab Criteria of Demon Possession, Round 2

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