The death of Prophet Muhammad is a very interesting event.  A Jewish lady wanted to test Muhammad’s prophethood by giving him a poisoned meal to see if God would save him.  He took the bait and eventually died from the poison.

In a hadith it states:

Anas reported that a Jewish woman brought the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, poisoned sheep. He ate from it and she was brought. It was asked, “Should we not kill her?” “No,” he replied. (Adab al mufrad)
Note: In the version in Abu Dawud she is ordered to be killed

Here is the story. After the battle of Khaibar he was invited to eat some food, and a Jewish lady cooked a poisoned sheep for them.
The first companion to eat swallowed the food and died, and then Prophet Muhammad who had already taken a bite warned his companions that the sheep has told him its poisoned so stop eating.  Strangely the sheep only told him that after his companion died and he took a bite.

Jabir ibn Abdullah used to say that a Jewess from the inhabitants of Khaybar poisoned a roasted sheep and presented it to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who took its foreleg and ate from it. A group of his companions also ate with him.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then said: Take your hands away (from the food). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then sent someone to the Jewess and he called her.

He said to her: Have you poisoned this sheep? The Jewess replied: Who has informed you? He said: This foreleg which I have in my hand has informed me. (Abu Dawud)

Muhammad asked them:

He asked, “Have you poisoned this sheep?” They said, “Yes.” He asked, “What made you do so?” They said, “We wanted to know if you were a liar in which case we would get rid of you, and if you are a prophet then the poison would not harm you.” (Bukhari)

Three years later he had not died but was suffering now..

Narrated ‘Aisha: The Prophet in his ailment in which he died, used to say, “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.” (Bukhari)

Then Prophet Muhammad tried to cure himself using his methods that he had including pouring seven skins of water:

Narrated `Aisha:
When the Prophet entered my house and his disease became aggravated, he said, “Pour on me seven water skins full of water (the tying ribbons of which had not been untied) so that I may give some advice to the people.” So we made him sit in a tub belonging to Hafsa, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ) and started pouring water on him from those water skins till he waved us to stop. (Bukhari)

Also one of his companions tried to get him medicine from Ethiopia.

He also tried cupping:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had himself cupped on his shoulder on account of that which he had eaten from the sheep. AbuHind cupped him with the horn and knife. He was a client of Banu Bayadah from the Ansar. (Abu Dawud)

Also, he did the duas:

Whenever Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) became ill, he used to recite the Muawidhatan (i.e. the last two surahs of the Qur’an) and blow his breath over himself (after their recitation ) and rubbed his hands over his body. So when he was afflicted with his fatal illness. I started reciting the Muawidhatan and blowing my breath over him as he used to do and then I rubbed the hand of the Prophet (ﷺ) over his body. (Bukhari)

And angel Gabriel used to pray for him too

When Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) fell ill, Gabriel used to recite this: “In the name of Allah, may He cure you from all kinds of illnesses and safeguard you from the evil of a jealous one when he feels jealous and from the evil influence of eye.” (Muslim)

It didn’t work. In regards to his suffering, he explained it to companions that every prophet is given double the fever and test than normal men:

Narrated Ibn Mas`ud:
I visited the Prophet (ﷺ) while he was having a high fever. I touched him an said, “You have a very high fever” He said, “Yes, as much fever as two me of you may have.” I said. “you will have a double reward?” He said, “Yes No Muslim is afflicted with hurt caused by disease or some other inconvenience, but that Allah will remove his sins as a tree sheds its leaves.” (Bukhari)

When he realized he was dying, he explained to his companions that he actually chose to die, because all prophets are given a choice.

Narrated `Aisha:
When the Prophet (ﷺ) was healthy, he used to say, “No soul of a prophet is captured till he is shown his place in Paradise and then he is given the option.” When death approached him while his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious and then recovered his consciousness. He then looked at the ceiling of the house and said, “O Allah! (with) the highest companions.” I said (to myself), “Hence, he is not going to choose us.” Then I realized that what he had said was the application of the narration which he used to mention to us when he was healthy. The last word he spoke was, “O Allah! (with) the highest companion.” (Bukhari)

Now the most startling fact from all this.. The Quran says:

[It is] a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.
And if Muhammad had made up about Us some [false] sayings,
We would have seized him by the right hand;
Then We would have cut from him the aorta.
(Quran 69:43-49)

Prophet Muhammad used the same words to describe his death, that his aorta vein was being cut off.

The Prophet in his ailment in which he died, used to say, “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.” (Bukhari)

Different people have given different theories as to why he used the same words.  Was it a common expression? Was it an indication of guilt?  Was it just a chance coincidence?  An ironic death?  Who knows…

What do you think?

You can find more details at: http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/mo-death.htm