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  Question: As-Salamu Alaykum, Dear Scholars. I was wondering about the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) death. I have heard stories that a Jewish woman gave him poison and he died from this poison and that it was a test that she gave it to him to see if he (peace be upon him) was a real prophet. If he lived, then he was a prophet and if he died, then he was not. What is the true story about the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and does this story have any truth? I have always read that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) died from an illness and that when Gabriel recited the Quran with him twice during Ramadan of that year, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) knew that his death was near. I have also seen some hadiths that talk about the Prophet being poisoned by a Jewish woman from Khaybar. Please explain. Also, if possible, what are some great links about the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him)? Thank you. Dino     Answer: Salam Dear Dino, Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam. You are referring to a story that is narrated in several Hadith books with different narrations. Please refer to Al-Bukhari (number 2474), Muslim (number 2190), Al-Mustadrak (numbers 4967 and 7090), Abu Dawud (numbers 4508, 4509, and...

In his well-known book, Al-Hikam (Words of Wisdom), sheikh Ahmad Ibn `Ataa’illah As-Sakandari says: “Postponing good deeds until you have free time is an indication of an immature soul.” In other words, there is nothing called “I do not have time.” The deeds we are talking about such as prayers, remembering God, reflection, all need time. However, sometimes one postpones them and says “I will do them tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, or next Ramadan.” Ibn `Ata’illah describes this attitude as an indication of an immature soul, i.e. this person is demonstrating a folly of the self because you can do everything you want to do if you have a strong will and time will help you a lot. However, it is a matter of priorities. You leave home in the morning and you have a specific number of hours to do a certain number of tasks. You will do what is important first, then what is less important. Then you decide to postpone the remaining tasks until tomorrow saying that: {God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear.} (Al-Baqarah 2:286) If you have ten minutes, for example, and you have many things to do including the prayer, then you have to perform the prayer first. Sometimes worldly affairs take priority today, tomorrow, next week, next month, and religious affairs are...