Is it true that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), was bewitched? If it is true, then how was he cured?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds.  I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

In an authentic Hadeeth on the authority of ‘Aa’ishah she said that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was bewitched to the extent that he used to imagine that he did things that he had not done. He supplicated to Allaah The Almighty consistently to cure him and as a result, two angels came to him. One sat at his head and the other at his feet and one of them asked the other about the reason behind his sickness. The answer was that he was bewitched and the man who had cast that spell on him was called Labeed Ibn Al-A‘sam. He had put the spell in a comb with some hair stuck to it and had hidden it in a skin of pollen of a male date-palm tree. He kept it in a well called Thi Arwaan. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

The story of how the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was cured was mentioned in a Hadeeth on the authority of Abu Sa‘eed Al-Khudri . Jibreel (Gabriel) came to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and recited the following Ruqyah (incantation) on him: “Bismillaahi arqeek min kuli shay’in yu’theek wa min shari kulli nafsin aw ‘ayn haasidin Allaah yashfeek, bismillaahi arqeek. (I perform Ruqyah over you with the name of Allaah to protect you from whatever harms you and from the evil of every soul or eye or envier, may Allaah grant you recovery. I perform Ruqyah over you with the Name of Allaah).” [Muslim]

When the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, recovered, he went to the well and when he returned, he told ‘Aa’ishah that the color of the water in the well had become like that of dissolved Henna. She asked him to take that spell out and burn it. However, he filled in the well instead  for fear that if he took the spell out and burnt it, it might spread evil among people  (i.e., that they would remember magic and try to learn it).  [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Allaah Knows best.