The death of Prophet Muhammad
وفاة الرسول الكريم محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم – The death of the prophet
By Imaam Hamzah Kafrawi, Adelaide.
The last thing that the prophet did before his passing away was the performance of Hajj which was later known as the farewell Hajj. When he was in the field of Arafat doing Wooqoof, a revelation came down to him which read as follows:
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا (المائدة:3)
“Today I have perfected your religious law for you, and have bestowed upon you the full measure of my blessings, and willed Islam as the way of life for you. (5:3).
When the prophet conveyed this verse to the congregation, Abu Bakr cried upon listening to it which made the prophet ask him:
ما يبكيك فـي الآيـة؟ فـقـال أبو بكر : هذا نعي رسول الله عليه الصلاة والسلام .
“What of the verse made you cry? He replied: “The verse is indirectly giving an announcement that the prophet’s death is near.”
Having performed the Hajj, the prophet then returned to Medina. And nine days before his death, the last revelation came down to him:
وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا تُرْجَعُونَ فِيهِ إِلَى اللَّهِ ۖ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ (البقرة:281)
“And be conscious of the Day on which you shall be brought back to Allah, whereupon every human being shall be repaid in full for what he has earned, and none shall be wronged.” (2:281)
After his return to Medina, an illness which would worsen daily started to overtake him. One day when he was ill, he said to some of his companions:
أريـد أن ازور شـهـداء أحـد
“I want to visit the graves of the martyrs of Uhud, hence, they took him there. Upon arrival at their graveyard, he stood among their graves and greeted them saying:
الـسـلام عـليكم يا شهداء أحد انتم السابقون ونحن إن شاء الله بكم لاحقون وإني بـكـم أن شـاء الله لاحـق .
“Peace be upon you O martyrs of Uhud, you have preceded us in the return to Allah, and undoubtedly we will follow you (in return to Him), and I in particular will follow you”
On the way back, the prophet cried and was asked:
ما يبكيك يا رسول الله ؟
“What has made you cry O messenger of Allah?
قـال : اشـتـقـت لأخـواني
“I am longing for my brothers!”
قالوا : اولسنا إخـوانـك يا رسول الله ؟
The people who were with him then said: “Aren’t we your brothers?”
قـال : لا, انتم أصحابي, أمـا أخـوانـي فـقـوم يـأتـون مـن بـعـدي يـؤمـنـون بـي ولا يـرونـي .
He replied: “No, you are my companions. My brothers are those who will come after you and will believe in me, although they have not seen me”
Three days before his passing away, his illness intensified greatly. At that time he was staying at the house of his wife, Maemoona. He requested the rest of his wives to gather at Maemoona’s house. When they all came, he said to them:
أتأذنون لي أن أمـرض ببيت عائشة ؟
“Will you all allow me to spend my ill days at Aisha’s house?”. “Yes” they all replied.
He then tried to stand up but couldn’t. Ali bin Abi Talib and Fadal bin Abbas ( علي بن أبى طـالب والفضل بن العباس ) then came to help him stand up and took him to Aisha’s house. When other companions saw the prophet walking to Aisha’s house with the help of Ali bin Abi Talib and Fadal bin Abbas, they became worried about the condition of the prophet. They then began to gradually gather in his mosque until it was full of people. When he heard their noise, he asked Aisha: ما هذا؟what is that noise?’ She replied:
أن الـناس يخافون عـلـيـك يا رسـول الله
‘people are worried about your condition O Prophet and so they have gathered in the Mosque.’
فـقـال : احـمـلـوني إلـيهم فـأراد أن يـقـوم فـمـا استـطاع .
He then said: “Take me to them”. He tried to stand up but he couldn’t and so he was then brought to the mosque. Sitting on his pulpit, he then delivered his farewell speech to his companions and his Ummah whom he loved wholeheartedly. He said:
أيها الناس كأنكم تخافون علي .
“It seems that you are worried about me”
قـالـوا : نعم يا رسول الله .
“Yes” they all replied.
فـقـال الرسول صلى الله عـلـيـه وسـلـم :أيـهـا الـنـاس, مـوعـدكـم مـعـي لـيـس الـدنـيـا, مـوعــدكــم مـعـي عـنـد الــحــوض , والله ولـكـأنـي انـظـر إلـيـه مـن مـقـامـي هـذا . أيـهـا الـنـاس, وَاللَّهِ لَا الْفَقْرَ أَخْشَى عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَكِنْ أَخَشَى عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ تُبْسَطَ عَلَيْكُمْ الدُّنْيَا كَمَا بُسِطَتْ عَلَى مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ, فَتَنَافَسُوهَا كَمَا تَنَافَسُوهَا, وَتُهْلِكَكُمْ كَمَا أَهْلَكَتْهُمْ .
He then said: “O people, your everlasting meeting with me is not in this world, but rather at my pond on the day of Judgement. By Allah, it is as if I can see my pond from here.
O people, by Allah, it is not poverty that I fear for you, rather what I fear for you is, that worldly riches may be given to you as they were given to those who came before you, and you will compete for them with one another just as they competed for them with one another, and as a consequence, your unity and strength will be destroyed by your competition for worldly riches just as it destroyed the nations who came before you..”
ثـم قـال صلى الله عـلـيـه وسـلـم : أيـهـا الـنـاس, الله الله بـالــصـلا ة, الله الله بـالــصـلاة, تـعـني (حـلـفـتـكـم بـالله حـافـظـوا عـلى الـصـلاة ), فــظـل يـرددهـا ثـم قـال : أيهـا الـناس اتـقـوا الله في الـنـساء, أوصـيـكـم بالـنسـاء خـيـراً ، ثــم قــال : ( أيــهــا الـــنــاس أن عــبــداً خــيـّره الله بـيـن الـدنـيـا وبـيـن مـا عـنـد الله فـأخـتـار ما عـنـد الله )
Thereafter he said, “O people, I swear by Allah, guard your prayer! Guard your prayer! He kept on repeating it for several times to show its importance. He then went on further saying, “O people fear Allah with regard to your wives! I advise you to be kind to your wives!
O people, a servant of Allah, Allah has given him a choice to choose between the pleasure of this world and that of the hereafter, and he has chosen the latter.
What the prophet meant by a servant of Allah here was himself. Abu Bakr understood clearly the indication of the message which hinted at the closeness of the prophet’s death. He could not control his sadness and started to cry bitterly and said:
فـديـناك بـآبـائـنـا يـا رسـول الله, فـديـنـاك بـأمـهـاتـنـا يـا رسـول الله , فــديـنـاك بـأولادنـا يـا رسـول الله, فــديــنــاك بـأزواجــنـا يـا رســول الله, فـديـنـاك بـأمـوالــنــا يـا رســول الله .
“We sacrifice our fathers for you O messenger of Allah! We sacrifice our mothers for you O messenger of Allah! We sacrifice our children for you O messenger of Allah! We sacrifice our wives for you O messenger of Allah! And we sacrifice our wealth for you O messenger of Allah!
فــقــال الــرســول صلى الله عليه وسلم أيــهــا الـنـاس, فــمــا مـنـكـم مـن أحــد كـان لـه عــنــدنـا مـن فــضــل إلا كــافــأنـاه بـه إلا أبـو بـكـر فـلـم اسـتـطـع مـكـافـأتـه فـتـركـت مـكـافـأتـه إلـى الله تـعـالـى عـز وجـل , كــل الأبـواب إلـى الـمـسـجـد تـسـد إلا بـاب أبـو بـكـر لا يـُسـدّ أبـدا .
The prophet then said, “O people, whoever among you might have done good to me, I think that I would be able to repay him in full except (for) Abu Bakr whom I will not be able to repay in full and so, I leave his full repayment to Allah the exalted. All the doors to the mosque might be shut; however, Abu Bakr’s door would always remain open.
ثـم بـدأ يـدعـي لـهـم ويـقـول أخـر دعـوات قـبـل الـوفـاة : (أراكـم الله, حـفـظـكـم الله, نـصـركـم الله, ثـبـتـكـم الله , أيـدكـم الله, حـفـظـكـم الله ) .
He then began to pray for them: “May Allah take care of you! May His aid be with you! May He make you firm in your struggling for His religion!
وأخـر كـلـمـة قـبـل أن يـنـزل عـن الـمـنـبـر مـوجـه لـلأمـه مـن عـلـى منبره :
أيها الناس أقرئوا مني السلام على من تبعني من أمتي إلى يوم الـقـيامة!
The last words he uttered before he descended (from) the pulpit were, “O people, convey my salam to any of my followers till the dooms day arrives! He then descended (from) the pulpit and was brought back to Aisha’s house.
After a while, Abdurrahman bin Abu Bakr (عـبـد الـرحـمـن ابـن أبـو بـكـر) came into the house with a Miswaak in his hand. The prophet could no longer speak and so he looked at the miswaak in a way which indicated that he wanted it. Aisha understood what the prophet wanted and so she took the miswaak from her brother and put it into her mouth to soften it and then gave it to the prophet, thus, the last thing that went into the mouth of the prophet was the saliva of Aisha. She said in this respect:
كان من فـضل ربي عليّ انـه جـمع بـيـن ريـقـي وريـق الـنـبـي قـبـل أن يـمـوت .
“It was the grace of Allah upon me that He allowed it to happen that my saliva and that of the prophet mixed just before his passing away”.
After a while, Fatima the prophet’s daughter came into the house and cried as it was usual that whenever she came to see her father, he would stand up and kiss her on the head. However, due to his illness, the prophet could no longer express this love towards his daughter. Instead, he hinted at her to come near him and then whispered to her which made her cry even more. He then whispered to her again which made her laugh.
Later on, she informed people that the first whisper that made her cry was because he told her that he would soon die. And the second whisper which made her laugh was because he told her that she would be the first one of the family to meet him.
After whispering to Fatima, the prophet then asked Aisha to come near, he then placed his head on her chest and raised his hand towards the sky and said:
الى الرفيق الأعلى , الى الرفيق الأعلى.
To Allah I return! To Allah I return! His hand then fell down. The news of his death then came out to the mosque where his companions were gathering. The news of his death was received by his companions with tears as you could imagine how sad they must have been.
الخطبة الثانية
الحمد لله رب العالمين, واشهد ان لا اله الا الله ولي الصالحين , واشهد ان سيدنا ونبينا وحبيبنا محمد رسول الله خاتم الأنبيا والمرسلين.
The prophet struggled and suffered very much for the mission of Islam and in order to pass it down to us.
He encountered countless hostilities for our sake and even trod (walked) the most dangerous path without taking anything from us. He sacrificed everything only for the supremacy of Islam and the well-being of his followers (Ummah), making every part of our being indebted to him. And for this indebtedness, no compensation that we can possibly pay will be adequate. We therefore, pray to Allah to accept our gratitude to him and to shower his blessings on the Prophet’s soul, and raise it to the highest honour and status and give further life to his message and mission.
May Allah make us among those who truly love the prophet by following in his footsteps and by bringing up our children in accordance to his teachings.
هَذَا وَصَلُّوْا وَسَلِّمُوْا عَلَى إِمَامِ الْمُرْسَلِيْنَ، وَقَائِدِ الْغُرِّ الْمُحَجَّلِيْنَ، فَقَدْ أَمَرَكُمُ اللهُ تَعَالَى بِالصَّلاَةِ وَالسَّلاَمِ عَلَيْهِ فِي مُحْكَمِ كِتَابِهِ حَيْثُ قَالَ عَزَّ قَائِلاً عَلِيْماً: (( إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلاَئِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّوْنَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ آمَنُوْا صَلُّوْا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوْا تَسْلِيْمًا ))
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى سَيِّدِنا إِبْرَاهِيْمَ وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنا إِبْرَاهِيْمَ، وَبَارِكْ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا إِبْرَاهِيْمَ وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنا إِبْرَاهِيْمَ، فِي العَالَمِيْنَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيْدٌ مَجِيْدٌ، وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنْ خُلَفَائِهِ الرَّاشِدِيْنَ، وَعَنْ أَزْوَاجِهِ أُمَّهَاتِ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِيْنَ، وَعَنْ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ وَالمُؤْمِنَاتِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّيْنِ، وَعَنَّا مَعَهُمْ بِرَحْمَتِكَ يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِيْنَ.
اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ جَمْعَنَا هَذَا جَمْعاً مَرْحُوْماً، وَاجْعَلْ تَفَرُّقَنَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ تَفَرُّقاً مَعْصُوْماً، وَلا تَدَعْ فِيْنَا وَلا مَعَنَا شَقِيًّا وَلا مَحْرُوْماً.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ الْهُدَى وَالتُّقَى وَالعَفَافَ وَالغِنَى.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ أَنْ تَرْزُقَ كُلاًّ مِنَّا لِسَاناً صَادِقاً ذَاكِراً، وَقَلْباً خَاشِعاً مُنِيْباً، وَعَمَلاً صَالِحاً زَاكِياً، وَعِلْماً نَافِعاً رَافِعاً، وَإِيْمَاناً رَاسِخاً ثَابِتاً، وَيَقِيْناً صَادِقاً خَالِصاً، وَرِزْقاً حَلاَلاً طَيِّباً وَاسِعاً، يَا ذَا الْجَلاَلِ وَالإِكْرَامِ.
اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلاَمَ وَالْمُسْلِمِيْنَ، وَوَحِّدِ اللَّهُمَّ صُفُوْفَهُمْ، وَأَجمع كلمتهم عَلَى الحق، وَاكْسِرْ شَوْكَةَ الظالمين، وَاكْتُبِ السَّلاَمَ وَالأَمْنَ لِعَبادك أجمعين.
عِبَادَ اللهِ :
((إِنَّ اللهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيْتَاءِ ذِي القُرْبَى وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُوْنَ.))
-End- The Death of Prophet Muhammad
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Courtesy-
This article is a transcript of Jumah sermon delivered by Imaam Hamzah Kafrawi, Adelaide.