الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أمعين
The Prophet (S) delivered a sermon on the 9 Dhul-Hijjah in the 10th year of the hijrah in the valley of Mount `Arafah, during his final Hajj. This sermon is known as the ‘Farewell Sermon’ because it was the last speech the Prophet (S) made before he died. The contents of the message were collected from different narrations, and there are other parts of it that are not mentioned here. After praising, and thanking Allah, he said:
‘O people, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether, after this year, I will ever be among you again. Therefore, listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and take these words to those who could not be present today.’
‘O people, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed meet your Lord, and that He will indeed reckon your deeds. Allah has forbidden you to take interest; therefore, all interest obligations shall henceforth be waived. Your capital, however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer inequity. Allah has judged that there shall be no interest and that all interest due to al-`Abbas ibn `Abd al-Muttalib shall henceforth be waived.’
‘Every right arising out of homicide in pre-Islamic days is henceforth waived, and the first such right I waive is that arising from the murder of Rabi`ah ibn Al-Harith [a relative of the Prophet]. O mankind, the unbelievers indulge in tampering with the calendar in order to make permissible that which Allah forbade, and to forbid that which Allah has made permissible. With Allah the months are twelve; four of them are holy; three of these (holy months) are successive and one occurs singly between the months of Jumada and Sha`ban.’
‘O people, beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.’
‘O people, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women, but they also have rights over you. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers. And it is your right that they do not make friends with anyone of whom you do not approve, as well as never commit adultery.’
‘O people, listen to me in earnest. Worship Allah, say your five daily prayers, fast during the month of Ramadan, and give the share of Zakah in your wealth. Perform Hajj if you can afford to. All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black, nor does a black have any superiority over a white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is the brother of another Muslim and that Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim that belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.’
‘Remember, one day you will appear before Allah and answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.’
‘O people, no prophet or messenger will come after me, and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O people, and understand my words that I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the Qur’an and my example, the Sunnah, and if you follow these you will never go astray.’
All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others, and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly.
He then asked, ‘Have I not conveyed the message?’ The multitude shouted out, ‘By Allah, yes!’ The Prophet (S) ended, ‘Be my witness O Allah that I have conveyed Your message to Your people.’
Many Muslims started to shed tears, knowing that if the Prophet (S) had completed his message, and his life must be near its end. After spending the rest of the day of ‘Arafah in prayer and contemplation, the Muslims began to complete the pilgrimage by returning to Makkah with the talbiyyah prayer still on their lips.
The first night of the return journey was spent at Muzdalifah. Here they gathered pebbles, which they carried with them the next day to Mina. There they stood before a huge rock and stoned it in remembrance of Ibrahim’s meeting with the Devil in that very place. When Ibrahim received the order from Allah to sacrifice his son Isma’il as a test of his faith, the Devil had tried to convince him not to do it. He came to Ibrahim at Mina, as he was on his way to carry out Allah’s command, but Ibrahim took some stones and hurled them at the Devil to drive him away.
Since the casting of stones at Mina on the Prophet’s ‘Farewell Pilgrimage’, this has become another ritual which Muslims perform on the annual pilgrimage to remind them that they, too, must continue to drive the Devil away when he tries to prevent them from being obedient to Allah. After throwing the stones, the pilgrims sacrificed sheep and camels and gave the meat to the poor. In this way the great faith of Ibrahim was remembered, for when he had been ready to sacrifice Isma’il, Allah had sent a sheep in his place. The Muslims then completed the pilgrimage by again circling the Ka’bah seven times. They then cut their hair and nails and changed out of their white clothes to show they had returned to their daily lives.
Before returning to Madina, the Muslims spent three nights
in the valley at Madina where the final preparations were made for the journey home. As for the Prophet (S), he made one final visit before leaving Makkah. This was to the grave of his devoted wife, Khadija, who had been the first person to believe in Allah’s Revelation through him. The Prophet (S) knew that this would be the last time he would see the grave, or Makkah, because during the pilgrimage he had received the surah of the Qur’an called ‘An-Nasr’ or ‘The Help’, from which he knew that his death was not far away.
إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ (1) وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا (2) فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا (3)
“When Allah’s help and victory come; and you see people entering Allah’s religion in multitudes; then glorify your Lord with His praise and seek His forgiveness. He is always ready to accept repentance.” (an-Nasr, 110:1-3)
The Prophet’s Death
One Night, shortly after his return to Madina, the Prophet(S) woke up at midnight and asked his servant ‘Abd Allah to saddle his mule. They then left the house and went to the Baqi al-Gharqad, the burial ground of the Muslims. There the Prophet (S) stood in the front of the graves and, as though he could see the Muslims buried in them, spoke to them and prayed over them. Later, ‘Abd Allah reported, ‘The Prophet (S) told me that he was ordered to pray for the dead and that I was to go with him.’
After the Prophet (S) had prayed he turned to ‘Abd Allah and said, “I can choose between all the riches of this world, a long life and then Paradise, or meeting my Lord and entering Paradise now.’ ‘Abd Allah begged him to choose a long, rich life, followed by Paradise, but the Prophet (S) told him that he had already chosen to meet his Lord now rather than remain in the world.
The following morning the Prophet (S) awoke with a terrible headache, but despite this he had led the prayers at the mosque. From what he said afterwards to the people assembled there, they understood that his death was near. The Prophet (S) praised his best friend, Abu Bakr, who had begun to weep, and told everyone that he knew they would all meet again at a pool in Paradise. He added, however that although he was sure they would always worship Allah alone, he feared that the pleasures of the world would attract them, and they would begin to compete with one another for material possessions, forgetting spiritual things.
Soon after the Prophet (S) requested that he be moved to the room of Ayesha, one of his wives. As the days passed his fever grew worse, until one day he was so ill that he could not even get to the mosque, which was next to where Ayesha lived. The Prophet (S) told Ayesha to tell the Muslims to let Abu Bakr, her father, lead the prayer, which made them very sad for thiswas the first time anyone had taken the Prophet’s place.
Later, on the 12th day of Rabi al-Awwal, in the 11th year of Islam (June 8th 632 A.D.), the Prophet (S) heard the voices of the people in prayer. With great effort he got up and looked from his door at all the Muslims who were assembled in rows behind Abu Bakr. He smiled with great satisfaction. Abu Bakr saw him and stepped back to give the Prophet (S) his place. The Muslims were happy, thinking he was going to pray with them as before, but the Prophet Muhammad (S), who looked radiantly beautiful that day signaled to them to continue on their own. He prayed in a sitting position at the right of Abu Bakr, after which he went back inside and lay his head on ‘Ayesha’s lap. He was in such pain that his daughter Fatimah cried out in pity.
Then the Prophet (S) said, ‘There is no pain for your father after this day; truly, death has appeared to me. We must all suffer it till the Day of Judgment.’ As he lay there, Ayesha remembered that he had once said, Allah never takes a Prophet to Himself without giving him the choice.’ Then she heard the Prophet (S) speak. His last words were, ‘Nay, rather the Exalted Communion of Paradise.’ Ayesha then said to herself, ‘So, by Allah, he is not choosing us!’
When the people in the mosque heard that the Prophet (S) passed away, they were filled with grief. ‘Umar could not, and would not, believe it, and exclaimed that it was not true. Abu Bakr then went out and spoke gently to the people, saying ‘All praise belongs to Allah! O people, whoever worshipped Muhammad, Muhammad is dead. But for him who worships Allah, Allah is living and never dies.’
He then recited this verse from the Qur’an which had been revealed after the battle of Uhud:
وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ أَفَإِنْ مَاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انْقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَابِكُمْ وَمَنْ يَنْقَلِبْ عَلَى عَقِبَيْهِ فَلَنْ يَضُرَّ اللَّهَ شَيْئًا وَسَيَجْزِي اللَّهُ الشَّاكِرِينَ (144) وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تَمُوتَ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ كِتَابًا مُؤَجَّلًا وَمَنْ يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَنْ يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الْآَخِرَةِ نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَسَنَجْزِي الشَّاكِرِينَ (145)
Muhammad is no more than a messenger. Messengers have passed on before him. If he dies or gets killed, will you turn on your heels? He who turns on his heels will not harm Allah in any way. And Allah will re-ward the appreciative. No soul can die except by Allah’s leave, at a predetermined time. Whoever desires the reward of the world, We will give him some of it; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We will give him some of it; and We will reward the thankful.” (Aal ‘Imran, 3:144-145)
After this the people pledged their loyalty to Abu Bakr, whom the Prophet (S) had chosen to lead the prayer. Abu Bakr accepted and concluded what he had to say with these words: ‘Obey me so long as I obey Allah and His Messenger. But if I disobey Allah and His Messenger, you owe me no obedience. Arise for your prayer, Allah have mercy upon you!’
The people rose and asked him; ‘Where will the Prophet (S) be buried?’ Abu Bakr remembered that the Prophet (S) had said, ‘No Prophet dies who is not buried on the spot where he died.’ And so the Prophet (S) was buried in a grave dug in the floor of
Ayesha’s room in the house next to the mosque. The spot became known as the Haram al-Nabawi and Muslims from all over the world go there to pray and to give their blessings and greetings of peace the Prophet Muhammad (S).
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Resources and References:
Imam Ibn Kathir – Stories of the Prophets
Leila Azzam & Aisha Gouverneur – the Life of the Prophet Muhammad
Anwar Al-Awlaki – The Life of Muhammad (Makkan Period) & The Life of Muhammad (Medina Period): https://www.kalamullah.com/muhammad.html
Aisha Stacey – The Religion of Islam (islamreligion.com)
