Allah promised in the Qur’an to protect Prophet Muhammad, may Allah grant and bless him peace. This divine protection encompassed the person, his message and his mission. Following verses of the Qur’an may be referred to in this regard.
“Allah will (certainly) protect you from the people.” (5:67)
“So be patient with your Lord’s decree, for you are truly under Our (watchful) Eyes.” (52:48)
“Is Allah not sufficient for His servant?” (39:36)
“Surely We will be sufficient for you against the mockers.” (15:95)
“And (remember, O Prophet) when the disbelievers conspired to capture, kill, or exile you. They planned, but Allah also planned. And Allah is the best of planners.” (8:30)
All the above verses are self-evident. Mother of the believers, Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, reported that in the early period, after the migration to Madinah, the companions of the Prophet used to guard his house in the nights, fearing that any enemy might attack. The risk was particularly from the Makkans, who were not happy with the safe migration of the Prophet to Madinah. The fear was not unfounded as several attempts to physically harm the Prophet ﷺwere made by his enemies. However, after verse 5:67 as above was revealed by Allah ensuring protection from the people, the Prophet ﷺforbade the companions from guarding his house.
Once, in a journey, the Prophet ﷺwas taking a mid-day nap beneath a tree. He was alone at that time and a Bedouin named Ghawrah, son of Harth, came with a sword and called out to the Prophet: “Who will protect you from me?” The Prophet opened his eyes and replied calmly, “Allah the Exalted.” The Bedouin trembled and his sword fell on the ground. The Prophet ﷺforgave him.
In fact, the enemies of the Prophet ﷺand his mission tried to harm him at several occasions but they failed miserably. Allah has referred to this in a verse of the Qur’an that says: “O believers! Remember Allah’s favour upon you: when a people sought to harm you, but He held their hands back from you.” (5:11)
Many scholars of Islam have described several such stories like that of Du’thur, son of Harith, from the tribes of Ghatafan, who was in search of a suitable occasion to kill the Prophet. The occasion did come but he could not act on his intention and reported that he saw a tall white man who pushed him back.
Umm Jamil, wife of Abu Lahab, was furious when she heard that Allah has denounced her and his husband in a revelation (Chapter 111 of the Qur’an). She came out in search of the Prophet ﷺwith a stone in her hand in order to smash his face. The Prophet was sitting with his companion Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him. Umm Jamil came near them and asked Abu Bakr about the whereabouts of the Prophet ﷺ. She could not see the Prophet although he was sitting just beside Abu Bakr.
The story of migration of the Prophet ﷺwith Abu Bakr from Makkah to Madinah is replete with examples of the protection Allah provided them.
The chieftains of Makkah decided that the Prophet ﷺshould be killed by a group of men representing different tribes so that the blame of this crime is shared by all the tribes, making it impossible for the tribe of the Prophet to take revenge. A group of men encircled the house of the Prophet ﷺon the appointed night which they had secretly decided. However, Allah informed the Prophet and he walked between them reciting the verses of the Quran.
“Yâ-Sĩn. By the Quran, rich in wisdom! You (O Prophet) are truly one of the messengers upon the Straight Path. (This is) a revelation from the Almighty, Most Merciful, so that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, and so are heedless. The decree (of torment) has already been justified against most of them, for they will never believe. It is as if We have put shackles around their necks up to their chins, so their heads are forced up, and have placed a barrier before them and a barrier behind them and covered them (all) up, so they fail to see (the truth).” (36:1-9)
The men in waiting remained there in vain as Allah had planned for His servant a safe migration to Madinah. Obviously, Allah is the better planner!
Allah protected His servant when he stayed in a cave with his companion Abu Bakr. The enemies from Makkah had reached just above the cave from where they simply needed a glance beneath to see the two persons they were in hot pursuit of. Safety from Allah came in a simple manner. A spider spun its web on the face of the cave which convinced that no one had entered therein. How can someone enter without breaking the web of the spider? And they left.
The Quraysh were pursuing them and had a bounty of 100 camels placed on the Prophet’s ﷺhead. A Bedouin named Suraqa ibn Malik went out in pursuit of the caravan of the Prophet ﷺwith the intention of winning the bounty. He found them and came closer. However, the forelegs of his horse sank into the sand and he fell. He got back onto his horse and continued pursuing them. The same thing happened again! The third time also same thing happened. This convinced him the person he was pursuing was not an ordinary one, he had divine backing. He asked forgiveness from the Prophet ﷺ, who gave him a protection letter. He further prophesised that one day he (Suraqa) would wear the bracelets of Kisra, son of Harmuz, the king of Persia. Decades later, Suraqa wore the bracelets of Kisra when Muslims conquered Persia.
Once the Prophet ﷺvisited a Jewish tribe and sat down to take a rest against the wall of a fortress. The owner of the fortress sent a person above the wall, directing him to throw a millstone down on the head of the Prophet ﷺ. However, Allah informed the Prophet ﷺabout this ill-plan and he immediately stood up and moved away.
There are a number of stories of several attempts to kill the Prophet ﷺand each time he was saved by Allah. A very interesting story is that of a person named Fadalawho himself described it. He was in the audience when the Prophet was circumambulating the Ka’aba after Muslims had entered Makkah. He thought to kill him when he would come closer. The Prophet came closer to him and asked what he was thinking about. He denied. But the Prophet laughed, saying that he was thinking to kill him. The Prophet then put his hand on the chest of Fadala, gently tapping it. Fudala, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that his heart calmed and the love of the Prophet ﷺfilled it for good.