Is it true that the Angel of Death came to Our Master Musa, and Musa gouged out his eye and refused to die, as it was mentioned in a Hadith said to be in Sahih Al-Bukhari?
The hadith is authentic, narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, and its wording states that the Angel of Death was sent to Musa (Moses). When he came to him, Musa struck him and gouged out his eye. The Angel of Death returned to his Lord, and Allah restored his eye and said: "Return to him and tell him to place his hand on the back of an ox, and he will have a year for every hair." Musa said: "O my Lord, then what?" He said: "Then death." Musa said: "Now," and he asked Allah to bring him closer to the Holy Land by a stone's throw.
Some innovators have denied this hadith, but the responses to that denial are that Allah the Almighty did not send the Angel of Death to Musa at that time to take his soul, but rather as a test. Musa struck him because he saw a human enter his house without permission and did not know that he was the Angel of Death. Islamic law permits gouging out the eye of someone who gazes into a Muslim's house without permission. Indeed, the angels came to Ibrahim and Lut in human form, and they did not recognize them initially. Also, Musa pushed him away due to his inherent intensity. Allah restored the Angel of Death's eye so that Musa would know he came from Allah, and thus surrendered at that point. It is not impossible for Allah to permit Musa this strike as a test for the one struck.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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