What is our position on the narration of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, being afflicted by magic, and on verse 47 of Surat Al-Isra: "We know best what they listen to when they listen to you, and when they are in secret counsel, when the wrongdoers say: 'You follow none but a man bewitched'"—especially since scholars such as Dr. Muhammad Hidayat, Al-Ghazali, and Muhammad Abduh denied the incident of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, being afflicted by magic?

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was indeed afflicted by magic, but this magic did not harm his body, mind, religion, worship, or message. This magical affliction occurred after the Hijra in Medina and after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, so it has no connection to the verse of Al-Isra, which was revealed in Mecca. The effect of magic on him, peace and blessings be upon him, does not necessitate any defect or religious impossibility, as it is among the human ailments and permissible illnesses that can afflict prophets, and it did not affect his conveyance of the message. The aforementioned verse in Surat Al-Isra is a statement from the disbelievers of Quraish and the mockers who perished before that, and Allah Almighty informs His Prophet that He knows what the polytheists secretly discussed and what they will discuss.