Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 101 - The Death of Prophet Muhammad ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 24th Jan 2015

 Alhamdulillah, we have reached the last episode of the seerah, the finale. We will continue from where we left off in the last seerah episode, and that is the return of the Prophet PBUH to Madinah from the Hajj.

 

Return to Madinah

 

Our Prophet PBUH did not stay in Makkah, after he finished Hajjat al-Wada'. Quite literally the very last day of Hajj, the 13th day, he performed the Tawaf al-Wada' (Farewell Tawaf), and in the same evening he began the journey back to Madinah. So our Prophet PBUH returned to Madinah, in the month of Hajj, Dhu al-Hijjah, in the 10th year of the Hijrah. And this was his final journey. Once he entered Madinah, he would never leave it after this until he passed away.

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Sending Out Expedition to the Lands of the Romans

He stayed in Madinah throughout Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram (11th year Hijri), and then in Safar towards the very end, he decided to send out an expedition to the lands of the Romans. The Byzantine Empire, and in particular al-Sham and Palestine. So he decided to send a group of sahaba, including amongst them Abu Bakr and Umar RA, and many of the senior sahaba, in order to conquer Palestine. And he made this decision a few weeks before he passed away, and he announced to the sahaba to gather together their arms. He would not go, but he sent the other sahaba. And he chose, Usama ibn Zayd ibn Harithah to lead them. (Tangent: This is the same Zayd that once upon a time he PBUH adopted, but Islam abolished that adoption. This is the same Zayd that we said that the sahaba said, the day the Prophet PBUH passed away, "If Zayd had still been alive no one would have thought of anyone other than Zayd to take over after the Prophet PBUH." Zayd was married to Zaynab initially, and then Ummi Ayman. Who is Ummi Ayman? She was one of the very very few people still alive who knew the mother and father of the Prophet PBUH; she was the servant of Aminah. And she had taken care of the Prophet PBUH as a baby. So Ummi Ayman is like a mother figure to the Prophet PBUH. Note obviously when Zayd marries Ummi Ayman she is not elderly. So Ummi Ayman is close to the Prophet PBUH, and Zayd is close to the Prophet PBUH. And their child Usama is born in the house of the Prophet PBUH, and raised in his house. So he was like a child but not obviously his child. Because of this the Prophet PBUH loved him so much that, Usama had a title "Hib Rasulullah [the Love of the Messenger]." Subhan'Allah.) This was Usama ibn Zayd.


Now when did Zayd pass away? The Battle of Mu'tah when he became a shaheed. And his son Usama is now 17-18 years old and the Prophet PBUH assigns him to become the leader of the expedition to al-Sham. In that group are the senior most sahaba, Abu Bakr and Umar and others. Yet he chooses Usama to be the leader of the expedition. Rumors began to spread, people began to mumble, "Why should this boy be in charge of us?" And they criticized that, "He's not a Qureshi." Now, no doubt Islam came to abolish this (tribalism/racism), but our Prophet PBUH himself prophesied, "Four things from Jahiliyyah shall remain in my ummah until the day of Judgement in my ummah: The first among them is racism." So there was still racism; no doubt they weren't public about this but murmurs spread. They were saying, "He is not a Qureshi, his father was a mawla (freed slave)." So there is this notion among the people - of course not among the senior sahaba, but there was this general talk in the city. And they said, which was a legitimate challenge, that simply, "He is too young to lead us: He is only 17-18 years old."

At this the Prophet PBUH called all the sahaba, and he criticized them and said, "If you dislike his leadership, then remember you also criticized the leadership of his father before him." He's reminding them of the conquest of Zayd; what he did and how be paved the way for the Muslims. They criticized Zayd back then, but look at the legend Zayd became. They criticized Zayd back then, and now they are criticizing his son. The Prophet PBUH said, "By Allah he is worthy of being a leader, and this man Usama is the most beloved of people to me after his father (Zayd)." It was indeed a very wise choice for many reasons. Of them, Usama's father had been killed by the Romans. Thus who better to choose than someone who wants to extract his vengeance. In one version in fact he told Usama, "Go to where your father was killed," even though Usama wasn't going to go to Mu'tah: He was going beyond to Syria.

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Laying Foundation for Future Conquests

So Usama left on the very last day of Safar. When they were 1 or 2 days outside the city, a messenger came running saying, "Wait the Prophet PBUH has fallen ill, so just wait until he is feeling better." The Prophet PBUH did not send the messenger; the people became concerned so they sent a messenger to Usama. At this, Usama camped outside of Madinah for a few days and eventually came back to Madinah and visited the Prophet PBUH on the day of his death. So after the Prophet's PBUH death, they had to decide what to do with the army of Usama. Eventually this force became the very first Muslim army to win against the Roman empire, and it paved the way for the conquest for Syria and Palestine.

The symbolism here is obvious: Allah chose the Prophet PBUH to pass away right after this decision. Everything is qadr. What was the symbolism of telling the sahaba to go al-Sham and yet he himself dies before they actually go? The symbolism and profundity is very clear: Our Prophet PBUH does not want to stop the spread of Islam at the borders of Arabia. Islam is not just an Arabian phenomenon. It is a global phenomenon, and he wanted the sahaba to go forth and he especially wanted them to go to the holiest of places after Makkah and Madinah, and that is Jerusalem. This is why the first conquest in reign of Abu Bakr RA began to take place against the Roman empire, and as we know the Muslims conquered Jerusalem on the first day of Umar's khilafa. The point is, this opened up the way for all future conquests. The Prophet PBUH is laying the foundation for the future: The Sassanid Empire, North Africa, Egypt, Algeria all the way to Morocco and Spain. He's telling the sahaba to go forth and spread Islam far and wide. With regards to this specific expedition, it was halted for the time being and the Prophet PBUH fell sick.

 

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Signs in the Qur'an and Sunnah That Foretold the Death of the Prophet PBUH Would Come

We now discuss the final sickness of the Prophet PBUH, and before we begin let us point out there were many signs in the Qur'an and sunnah this time would come. There are many signs that are easy for us to look back and say, "Oh, here he said this," but when he said it, it didn't register with anybody. And when the Qur'an was revealed, nobody read it in that manner. Why? It is human nature that we do not think about death. We don't think about our death, and especially the death of our loved ones. The more we love them, the less we can bear the thought of them dying. So how about the Prophet PBUH? How can anyone imagine he would ever go away? The thought isn't coming to their heads. Even though when we read the ayat and hadith we might think it's so obvious. But some of these ayat when Abu Bakr recited them on the day of the death of the Prophet PBUH, in one version Umar RA asks him, "Are these verses from the Qur'an?" He can't even imagine it. In another version he said, "It was as if I never heard these verses before," meaning he didn't understand it in that context. What are these verses?

Surah al-Zumar, verse 3:

إِنَّكَ مَيِّتٌ وَإِنَّهُم مَّيِّتُونَ

"You are going to die, and they as well will die." [39:30]

It's singular directed to the Prophet PBUH himself.

Surah Ali-Imran Verse 144:

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ ۚ أَفَإِن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَىٰ أَعْقَابِكُمْ ۚ وَمَن يَنقَلِبْ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ فَلَن يَضُرَّ اللَّهَ شَيْئًا ۗ وَسَيَجْزِي اللَّهُ الشَّاكِرِينَ

"Muhammad is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him. So if he was to die or be killed, would you turn back on your heels [to unbelief]? And he who turns back on his heels will never harm Allah at all; but Allah will reward the grateful." [3:144]

So Allah is preparing the people for the death of the Prophet PBUH. This verse was revealed in Uhud when many thought he had actually died. And that's why Allah says, "Or is killed." The rumor at the Battle of Uhud was that he'd been killed. So here Allah revealed, "When he dies or he is killed." So there is a matter of, "When."

Surah al-Anbiya, verse 34:

وَمَا جَعَلْنَا لِبَشَرٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ الْخُلْدَ ۖ أَفَإِن مِّتَّ فَهُمُ الْخَالِدُونَ

"And We did not grant to any man before you eternity [on earth]; so if you die - would they be eternal?" [21:34]

This again is as explicit as possible. It's so explicit that, if anybody were to have been given eternal life, who would it be? The Prophet PBUH of course. So Allah is saying to the Prophet PBUH even he will die. If he is going to die, do the people think they'll live forever?

Therefore clearly the Qur'an is giving the indication. Not only the Qur'an, but even the hadith of the Prophet PBUH. In Ramadan 10th Hijrah, two months before he left for Hajj, the first perhaps premonition began. What was that? Jibril AS would come to the Prophet PBUH every Ramadan and recite the Qur'an to him once. But this year, Jibril came and recited it twice. Without telling him the reason or giving anything away, but the premonition came that something is different. This caused the Prophet PBUH to think. This shows us that Allah did not tell the Prophet PBUH, "You are going to die at this stage." So the Prophet PBUH did not know explicitly, but there was premonition and intuition. Allah is indirectly suggesting.

Yet another indication is Surah al-Nasr:

إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ

110:1. When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest,

وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا

110:2. And you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes,

فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا

110:3. Then exalt [Him] with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.

This is a reference to the conquest of Makkah, that, 'When the big conquest comes and the help of Allah comes, and all of mankind enters Islam by the armies, what should you do? Start praising Allah and asking forgiveness, indeed Allah forgives.' This of course is indicating the end is about to come. Umar RA in his khilafa, he quizzed the sahaba, "What does this Surah mean?" None of them understood, but ibn Abbas said, "This was an indication to the Prophet PBUH that the end of his time is about to come, and he should prepare to meet Allah."

Also the Prophet PBUH himself hinted this to some of his beloved sahaba: Of them is the famous hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal. When Mu'adh left for Yemen to be the governor, and the Prophet PBUH loved Mu'adh with a very strong love. And Mu'adh was of the most noble of the sahaba; the Prophet PBUH privately walked with him alone and he actually walked while Mu'adh was on the donkey. Mu'adh insisted but the Prophet PBUH said, "No I want to walk with you like this" - that was his love for Mu'adh. And he told him, "I love you oh Mu'adh, oh Mu'adh perhaps you shall not see me after this, and perhaps when you come back to Madinah, you will find my masjid and my qabr (grave)." So he's telling Mu'adh, "You might not see me again," and of course at this Mu'adh began to cry.

Of the signs he is giving to the people is of course the entire Hajjat al-Wada'. Why is it called this? Because he was saying goodbye to the people. Wad'a means literally 'to say goodbye to.' And he was telling the people, "It is very likely I won't see you after this year: Follow everything from me right now because I don't know if you will be able to follow from me next year." So he is telling them this might be the end, but of course the Prophet PBUH is not 100% sure. But there is an indication there and he's somewhat certain. During the month of Safar in the 11th year, right before he fell sick, at the end of the month he visited the site of Uhud. And he made a special du'a for the people that had passed away at Uhud. And he said, "Wait for me at the Hawd (al-Kawthar), I will meet you at the Hawd. And I will be the one there before you come." So he is telling the shaheed that, "I will meet you," which of course means he is about to go to the next world. Of course foremost amongst the people of Uhud was his uncle Hamzah RA and we know the love he had for him.

It is narrated that, perhaps on the last day of Safar, if not the first day of Rabi al-Awwal, he woke up in the middle of the night and he knocked on the door of his servant Abu Muwayhiba. And Abu Muwayhiba came out to which the Prophet PBUH said, "Jibril has commanded me to go to Baqi' (late at night)." So they went to Baqi' (graveyard of Madinah) - note this is at the very end of his life and is the last time he visited Baqi'. And he made a beautiful du'a for the people of Baqi', and on the way back he said to Abu Muwayhiba that, "Do you know Allah has given me the choice of the keys to this world, and everlasting life, then Jannah. Or to meet Allah right now and be in Jannah?" Subhan'Allah both end in Jannah but there is one difference: The Prophet PBUH can live in this world until the end of days and then be in Jannah. Or he can leave right now and be in Jannah. So Abu Muwayhiba said, "May my mother and father be given in ransom for you, ya Rasulullah. Choose this whole world for all of eternity and then get Jannah." And our Prophet PBUH said, "No I have already chosen." And so quite clearly, but again one needs to realize although he is saying these hadith the sahaba are not thinking, "This is going to happen right now." They are just thinking, "It's some time in the future." This reality is still not registering with them, and that is why to the very end the sahaba did not actually think he would pass away. Because they simply could not imagine life without the Prophet PBUH.

 

This also shows us that our Prophet PBUH would regularly go to the graveyards, and he made du'a for the dead. This is of the wisdoms of going; why did Jibril tell him to go to Baqi'? One of the reasons is that it reminds us of our own mortality and death. Even our Prophet PBUH went to the graveyard before his own death to remind himself.

 

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The Final Sickness of the Prophet PBUH

He returned to the house of Aisha, and the next day it was the day of Maymuna. And he went to her house on the 1st or 2nd of Rabi al-Awwal and it was in Maymuna's house that the fever began. And the first few days he attempted to still be fair and equitable, and went from house to house. Until finally when he became very weak, he asked permission from his wives to not go to each house and just rest in the house of Aisha. And obviously all of the wives agreed. Even though technically our sharia says he does not have to ask permission, but still to be fair to the very end he asks their permission. Of course this was to be his final days in the house of Aisha.

 

(We note a quick footnote before proceeding: The incidents in the last 10-11 days of his sickness are many. And they are mentioned in the books of hadith and seerah. As is typical, we have one problem and that is chronologically of piecing them together. There are various interpretations and in honesty it is insignificant when events happened on what day. At the end these events happened and that is what's important.)

On one of these days, the Prophet PBUH simply started staying in the house of Aisha. We are talking about a time wherein there was no medicine for curing the fever. Our Prophet PBUH said, "Fever is one of the punishments of Jahannam in this world." For us we take these painkillers and paracetamols for granted: Realize, these are a modern phenomena. Before even this century there was nothing to diminish the pain and symptoms of a fever. And it was so painful people would die from the sheer pain of it. There's no medicine and not a single painkiller during the time of the Prophet PBUH. There is no medicine and it's just a case of bearing it. So as our Prophet PBUH fell sick in the house of Aisha, she would regularly recite ruqya and blow on him Surah al-Falaq and Surah al-Nas, and recite the du'as the Prophet PBUH himself taught her. She would also have a bucket next to him and sometimes pour water on him. This is one of the techniques they would use to lower the temperature. At least a week he is in the house of Aisha; at one point Aisha herself had a severe headache. So she enters in the bed of the Prophet PBUH and is holding her head and she is saying, "O my head oh my head," and the Prophet PBUH smiles. Subhan'Allah look at this: No matter what his pain is, he wants to still joke and tease Aisha.

So he smiles and says, "No, O Aisha. Rather MY pain," i.e. 'my pain is much worse.' And then he said, "O Aisha, what do you lose? If you were to die...." Subhan'Allah he is about to die but he's making a joke with her so she can calm down. Of course she didn't realize why he is joking with her, it's only later on. But he's making it easier for her for he understands the inevitability of what's coming. So he's giving a friendly reminder and says, "O Aisha, what do you lose if you were to die now? And I'm still alive. And I will wash your body (what a honor). I will put you in the grave and I will pray over you. What better thing is there?" So in this state of pain he is easing the tension and also gently reminding her of death. Of course she doesn't understand at all and immediately her jealousy kicks in, "I'm sure you're waiting for that, ya Rasulullah, because then you could go to your other wives and no one would monitor you." Of course she's teasing back and does not realize this joke is very serious and is meant to make her prepare mentally for the Prophet's PBUH death. This shows even to the very end he is laughing and joking with his wife Aisha RA.

Around the 5th day of his sickness, so he has six days left to live, he commanded the sahaba to bring buckets of water out from a particular well known for its cool water. So he asked for a well that was known to contain cool and beautiful water. And they poured this water on him over his head, and he wrapped a turban tight around his head. Why would he do that? To minimize the pain because his head is throbbing. And then he is carried between two men, Abbas and Ali RA. Why them? Because they are without a doubt the internal Ahl al-Bayt. There's no denying this. Abbas is his uncle and Ali is his son-in-law and cousin. So they both carry him; at this stage even though he is talking he cannot even walk. So they carry him to the masjid, and they put him on the mimbar. By this stage, because of his sickness and because everyone has seen his state, the people of Madinah are getting increasingly worried. Already he's been sick 3-4 days, they have seen this. He's coming for the salah as of yet, but these are shorter salah. He's not spending time with them, he is going back to his house quickly, etc. So the news spread, and note he has never been sick for his whole life in this manner. He's never had a fever that caused him to not pray the way he used to pray. Or to not be with the sahaba. So news spread and people begin to camp inside the masjid. Abu Bakr, Umar, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, of course Ali RA is already living next door. Ali and Fatima had a house next to Aisha's house. But the sahaba who don't have houses nearby, what did they do? They began sleeping in the masjid, just because of concern for the Prophet PBUH.

 

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Advice (Possibly Friday Sermon) of the Prophet PBUH

Therefore by this time the masjid is jam packed and people are sitting, waiting for news of the Prophet PBUH. So he walks outside with Abbas and Ali carrying him; he sits on his mimbar (he cannot stand anymore) and gives the people some advice. Various books of hadith give various lines. Of the things he said:

1. "May Allah's curse be on the Jews and Christians because they took the graves of their prophets as masjids, and he forbade the sahaba from doing so."

Now the sahaba don't understand the connection yet, but he's already thinking, "What will happen to my grave? I don't want it to become a masjid where people come to do sajdah to and worship." So he's telling them, "Allah's curse is on those who take their prophets' graves as masjids."

2. "If there is anybody who has any obligation or right I've not fulfilled, or any debt I haven't paid, come now and ask me before the Day of Judgement."

3. (Bukhari), "If I have hit anybody unjustly in my whole life, then here is my back; come and hit me now before the Day of Judgement."

And he kept on asking until some versions say some very trivial things: One of them said, "O messenger of Allah you owe me three dinars." So the Prophet PBUH said, "What is that and how?" The person said, "Ya Rasulullah I would not have said so but you're insisting so many times I felt if I didn't say something I would be guilty. So one day there was a beggar passing and you said, 'Who would give him money on my behalf?' and I gave him but you didn't pay me back. Wallahi if you did not keep on asking and asking I would not have mentioned this." In other words the sahaba himself is embarrassed and thought, "If I'm quiet maybe I am sinful," otherwise three dinars is very trivial. So it's mentioned certain trivial things such as this happened. Otherwise obviously nothing of major significance.

4. "There is a servant from amongst the servants of Allah, Allah has asked him to choose between this world and his Lord and he has chosen his Lord."

This is the same thing he told his servant but here he is speaking generically. So we know by now the choice has been given. Because the Prophet PBUH was speaking in the third person, the sahaba were happy that, "Wow, what a lucky man!" and only one person in the audience began to sob loudly, and that was Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. Because Abu Bakr understood this is nobody other than the Prophet PBUH. And people were not understanding why Abu Bakr is crying; and the Prophet PBUH looks at Abu Bakr and says, "Do not cry for you are the one I trust the most in my companionship and family. And were I able to take a close friend (khalil) in this world, my khalil would have been Abu Bakr. But I cannot take you because Allah has chosen me as a khalil. But, O Abu Bakr, between us is the brotherhood of Islam." Of course Ibrahim AS and the Prophet PBUH are the two khalils of Allah.

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Transferring of Salah From the Prophet PBUH to Abu Bakr RA

Then the Prophet PBUH made an announcement, "Let all of the doors of the masjids that go in from the private houses be closed." Note back then houses weren't separate - where one wall/door finished another house was right behind it. So every one of the sahaba that had built their house next to the masjid, they would have their own personal doors inside the masjid. And it was halal up until that point in time for those who lived next to the masjid to just walk in through that personal door. Of course our Prophet PBUH had his personal door from the house of Aisha. But from this point on the Prophet PBUH made his decree that, "Let all of these doors be shut, except for the door of Abu Bakr," and indeed they were never opened after that. This was an honor the Prophet PBUH gave him. This clearly has a symbolism that Abu Bakr has been chosen and preferred amongst all of the sahaba.

So after all of the doors were closed, this probably was taking place on a Wednesday. The next day, maybe Thursday or Friday, note there is a big controversy as to when the next event happened. The Prophet PBUH passed away on a Monday. According to the majority opinion, it happened on a Thursday, but in Sh. YQ's opinion, it happened on a Friday (minority opinion). What is this event? The transferring of the salah from the Prophet PBUH to Abu Bakr RA. When did it take place? Many scholars said Thursday night. A minority of scholars said Friday night, and we are following the minority here. For one simple reason: On Friday afternoon what happens? The khutbah. And if anybody other than the Prophet PBUH had given the khutbah, this would have been remarked and reported (in Sh. YQ's opinion). But the fact that no one indicated anything of this nature indicates the Prophet PBUH most likely gave the khutbah that day, and perhaps even this very, "Talk" mentioned was the Friday khutbah. The 'talk' being that, "Allah has given a choice and his servant has chosen his Lord." But Allah knows best.

In any case we will follow Friday theory, and so the Prophet PBUH led the Maghrib salah on a Friday, and this was to be the final salah he led in the masjid publicly. And he recited as we know from the hadith of Bukhari, Surah al-Mursalat. So the last surah he recited publicly was Mursalat. After Maghrib salah, he comes back and lies down on his head. Isha comes, Bilal comes knocking on the door asking permission, "Ya Rasulullah, it's time for Isha." This was Bilal's custom and habit, that before he gave the iqama, the Prophet's PBUH door was right next to masjid so he would go and say, "Ya Rasulullah, it's time for Isha." So the Prophet PBUH stood up to lead them in salah but he fainted on his bed and lost consciousness. At this Bilal ordered water to be poured on him and he stood up again. But he lost consciousness again and this was longer than the first time. Then he became conscious and asked, "Have the people prayed yet?" They said, "No we are waiting for you ya Rasulullah." So he tried once again to stand up, but once again his knees simply couldn't take the pressure and he falls down. According to one report, seven times he is attempting to get up and lead the sahaba in Salah al-Isha. Wallahi how many times is the salah emphasized even in his final days? It is shameful and pathetic for any one of us to read these stories and not be motivated to pray on time. Over and over again to the very end he is telling the sahaba to pray. He's trying to pray and lead them in salah. He physically falls down seven times one after the other.

So, when he realizes he cannot lead the people in salah, Aisha is around him so he says to her, "Go command Abu Bakr, he will lead them in salah." This is the first, explicit indication that the person who must take over after the Prophet PBUH is Abu Bakr. Realize for 10 years in Madinah, nobody has led the salah while the Prophet PBUH is in Madinah. This is a complete given. It once happened the Prophet PBUH was outside and Abu Bakr began the salah, and the Prophet PBUH returned in the middle so Abu Bakr noticed this and he swapped places. But the Prophet PBUH did not appoint him to lead; the sahaba feared the Prophet PBUH might not be back in time. However, never in the 10 years of Madinah has the Prophet PBUH been in Madinah around the masjid and someone else is leading. So the command to Abu Bakr is a clear indication, "When I'm not here, when I am gone, who will take charge? Abu Bakr al-Siddiq."

 

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Aisha RA Does Not Want Her Father to Lead

 

Now the Prophet PBUH has told Aisha, and she is of course the daughter of Abu Bakr. And Aisha does not want her father to lead. Why? She gave an excuse which wasn't a lie but not a real excuse. She said, "Ya Rasulullah my father has a soft heart, when he stands in salah he will sob and people won't like it, why don't we find someone else?" But the Prophet PBUH said to Aisha again, "Go command Abu Bakr to lead them." Note it just so happened at that time Abu Bakr wasn't in the vicinity at the time. So Aisha can stall; she brings Hafsa in and says, "Why don't you convince him?" Aisha did not want Abu Bakr to lead. Why? For multiple reasons:

1. She did not want anybody to think that Abu Bakr is taking advantage of the situation to push himself forward.

2. She was scared in case the Prophet PBUH does indeed pass away that people will associate Abu Bakr's leading the salah with the Prophet's PBUH death.

So she did not want Abu Bakr to lead, and says to Hafsa, "Why don't you try as well?" So Hafsa tries, and on his deathbed in his fever he realizes what his wives are trying to do. And he says, "Go and find Abu Bakr, for Allah will not allow anyone other than Abu Bakr; all of you are acting like the women around Yusuf." Meaning what? The women in the story of Yusuf conspired to do a plot and plan, and they thought no one realized their plot. But the Prophet PBUH knows so he compared them to the women of Yusuf. According to one report when Abu Bakr was not found immediately, Umar RA started the salah. But when our Prophet PBUH heard Umar's voice, he said, "Go and find Abu Bakr for Allah and His Messenger will not allow anybody other than Abu Bakr." So they found Abu Bakr and he was the one who led the prayer up until the end.

 

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Abu Bakr Led the Salah

When our Prophet PBUH heard Umar's voice, he said, "Go and find Abu Bakr for Allah and His Messenger will not allow anybody other than Abu Bakr." So they found Abu Bakr and he was the one who led the prayer up until the end.

 

Of course this was really the most public announcement. From our perspective, the Prophet PBUH did not want to explicitly say, "The person in charge after me is Abu Bakr." Why not? Because he did not want to establish the custom or routine of kings and politicians naming their successors. If he had done it, it would have become wajib. He didn't want to do that. He wanted to leave it open to multiple ways which is exactly what happened: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, etc. were all chosen in various manners. If our Prophet PBUH had chosen Abu Bakr what would he have done? He would have had to narrow the choice of khilafa down to him. What's the alternative? To indicate as much as possible without being that explicit and that is what he did. He didn't want to say, "The person after me is..." but he gave every other indication possible.

Recall this is taking place on a Friday; perhaps on a Saturday or Sunday before he passed away, he managed to regain a little bit of strength, and went outside right before (or during) Zuhr. This was the final time the Prophet PBUH prayed in a jama'ah with the sahaba. It is said that the sahaba had already started praying Zuhr, and the Prophet PBUH walks out while they are in salah. And there was a commotion in the audience. That everyone was making way for the Prophet PBUH to come. And Abu Bakr hears the commotion, and he automatically understands there is only one reason there could be this commotion. So he looks to his left and sees the Prophet PBUH coming on the shoulders of Abbas and Ali. But the Prophet PBUH motions to him, "Stay where you are." But Abu Bakr does not obey him out of respect for him. It's a unique situation where Abu Bakr is disobeying to show obedience. And Abu Bakr insists the Prophet PBUH sits down in the place of the imam and he stands next to him. Now this is very symbolic.

So the Prophet PBUH leads Zuhr seated down, and Abu Bakr is standing. Who are the people seeing? Abu Bakr. Who is the real imam? The Prophet PBUH. This is the most explicit symbolism that the Prophet PBUH is the imam, but from the eyes of the people Abu Bakr is the imam. This is the most profound symbolism that Abu Bakr is internally taking the Prophet PBUH as an imam, but externally the people are following Abu Bakr. For us this is one of the clearest indications, it's a public announcement that indeed Abu Bakr is the one who is the next leader.

 

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The Last Public Lecture of the Prophet PBUH

 

After Salah al-Zuhr, he was lifted onto the mimbar and this was to be the last lecture he gave in public. Some scholars say Saturday, others say Sunday. So this all happens a day or two days before he passes away. Of the things he said:

1. He praised the Ansar and said, "I command you to take care of the Ansar for they have been my best advisers. And they have fulfilled the duties upon them."

This is very profound; when you are commanding the people to take care of the Ansar, this shows you that the Prophet PBUH is subtly saying the Quraysh should be in charge. He is telling one group to take care of the other group; thus automatically between the Muhajirun and Ansar, without a doubt the Muhajirun have a higher status. So this is a subtle way of saying this, but how does he do it? By praising the Ansar. That, 'They have done their job and fulfilled their promise to protect the Prophet PBUH.' They've done a perfect job and role, but they don't have the next job of leading the ummah. Of course after the death of the Prophet PBUH, one or two Ansari have the notion that they should be khalifa.

2. He commands the people to purify the Arabian Peninsula from all types of paganism. To rid all pagans from Jazira al-Arab i.e. the lands of Arabia.

So this was of the final fiqh commands he gave: There should be no idolatry in this land. The land of Arabia is a special land for us, and so we do not allow idols to be worshiped or public displays of idols. This is from our fiqh. That is why to this day especially in the Hejaz in Makkah and Madinah, you cannot even enter as we know unless you are a Muslim.

3. He also said, "Treat delegations that will come to you with the same hospitality that I have shown to the other delegations."

Now all of this he is saying to prepare the people for when he dies; but the sahaba are hoping the Prophet PBUH will get better. The point here is, "Make sure you treat the future converts the same way I have treated them."

4. Of the last things he said, narrated by a number of sahaba, "You should have good thoughts of Allah when you are about to die."

This is a hadith by the Prophet PBUH, that we should not die until we have good thoughts of Allah. So the Prophet PBUH himself is telling them something, but there's an internal indication, but again the sahaba are hoping this is just a hadith and he will be fine. So this is one of the last things he said.

5. The very last phrase he said in that khutbah was, "As-salah, al-salah, and fear Allah with regards to the weak and oppressed of society, the slaves and servants: Fear Allah, for they will have a chance to complain on the day of Judgement."

He is sitting on his mimbar and the very last thing he tells them in his very last public khutbah. In Arabic there's a missing phrase here, it means, "Guard the salah, protect the salah: I am reminding you of the salah." So the last piece of advice he gives is of the salah, and to fear Allah, have Taqwa, with regards to the weak and oppressed. Whoever does wrong to them, on the day of Judgement they will get recompense for this.

Most likely this took place on Saturday Zuhr, and this is the final salah he prays in public with the sahaba.

 

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Material Possessions of the Prophet PBUH

On the next morning on Sunday, the day before he passes away, he asks Aisha, "How much money do I have?" And so Aisha finds the wallets/pouches and pulls out seven silver dirhams. Now, silver is extremely cheap even to this day. Realistically it's equal to around 2-3 dollars. This is silver not gold; he only had seven silver coins and it's around 20 or so dollars. This is the entire possession he has on the last day of his life. That's the maximum he has in his life. And he holds these seven dirhams in his hands, and he's putting them in one hand and the other, and he says, "What will I say to Allah, if I meet him with these coins?" And he gives it back in Aisha's hands and says, "Go give it to the poor now," and he falls unconscious again. When he wakes up he says to Aisha, "Have you given it to the poor?" Of course it's not on her priority list, taking care of the Prophet PBUH comes first but again he faints and again he wakes up saying, "Have you given it to the poor?" And he continues to ask throughout Sunday until Aisha realizes the Prophet PBUH will not be content until she gives the coins away. Thus she gets rid of everything in the house of money.

Therefore we can say quite literally our Prophet PBUH passed away without owning a single penny. Aisha herself says, "When the Prophet PBUH died there was nothing in his house of gold or silver; the only thing left were some morsels of barley (wheat) in a small cup. And I would continue using from this cup for a long period of time until it occurred to me that it's never finishing. So I measured it one day and within a short time it finished." Aisha also narrated when the Prophet PBUH passed away, "The only possession he owned was his mule. And he also had an armor which happened to be with a Jew of Madinah who had lent them 30 quantities of barley, and this was being used as collateral by that Jew. He also had a land he had given to the poor. That was all the possessions of the Prophet PBUH." In fact the night the Prophet PBUH passed away, she ran out of oil for her lamp. And there was nothing in her house to use as oil, so she had to borrow a little bit of oil from their Ansari neighbor lady. Quite literally the house had literally nothing in it. This was the death of the Prophet PBUH. Imagine the man who controlled the entire Arabia Peninsula, the man who was getting the income from Bahrain, Yemen, Khaybar, etc. And he dies without a single penny to his name.

 

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The Last Time the Sahaba Saw the Face of the Prophet PBUH

On the next day, the Monday 12th Rabbi al-Awwal, at Fajr time, he was too weak to lead them in salah, and he is still on the bed of Aisha. And Abu Bakr RA is leading them in salah. Our Prophet PBUH asked to sit up in his bed. So he sits up, being held, and he lifts the curtain which separates his house from the masjid. And the sahaba have not seen him for two days, but when they saw his face, Anas ibn Malik said, "We were about to break our salah in happiness." And the commotion begins in the masjid; Abu Bakr is obviously in the front, and so he assumes the Prophet PBUH is coming. So Abu Bakr steps back and turns/looks, but of course the Prophet PBUH is inside his house and he isn't coming for he is too weak. So he motions to Abu Bakr, "Stay where you are." Anas says, "The last time we saw the face of the Prophet PBUH was when he had lifted the curtain." The is the Fajr of Monday, 12th Rabi al-Awwal in the 11th year of the Hijrah. He lifts the curtain and sees his ummah praying the salah, and his face was beaming with joy; that smile was the last memory that the sahaba had of our Prophet PBUH. And indeed what a fitting end, because again the issue of salah comes. Again our Prophet PBUH goes happy. Why? Because he sees his ummah praying Fajr in the masjid, all lined up in rows, all of them praying to Allah. This is what is making him happy.

Wallahi again, how can we listen to these incidents and not be moved to pray? How can we possibly give up our salah when we know the emphasis of salah?

 

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Conversation With Fatima RA

In the early morning, the fever of the Prophet PBUH increased, and he began to go in and out of consciousness again and again. Fatima RA his daughter came to visit him, and we know the special bond he had for Fatima. The amount of love and respect he had for her is narrated in the books of hadith, that every time she would come, he would stand up to kiss her and would put her in the seat he was sitting in, inside his house. Fatima was the last of his family to be alive, everyone of his family had passed away by this point in time. His mother, uncle, father, grandfather, etc. Every one of his children had also passed away, wallahi all of this we are glossing over. But imagine Allah is testing him with the most painful of tests. How painful is it to lose one child? Our Prophet PBUH lost all of them but Fatima. And she sees her father in that pain and she begins to cry, "Oh my father how painful is your suffering." The Prophet PBUH says to her, "Oh Fatima, your father will not suffer after today." And he called Fatima close to her and spoke to her something privately and she began to cry. To console her, he called her again and whispered something in her ear, and she smiled and laughed. It is narrated that when she wanted to go out, Aisha said, "Tell me what did he tell you?" but Fatima said, "No I cannot tell the secret of the Prophet PBUH." A few months later when the had Prophet PBUH passed away, Aisha says, "Now tell me," and Fatima says, "Now I can tell you: When I went to the Prophet PBUH to visit him, he whispered that Jibril had come to me that year twice during Ramadan and every year he would come once. And he said, "There is no other explanation except that my time has come." So I began to cry. He then whispered, "You shall be the first of my family to meet me and be the leader of the women of Jannah" so I smiled out of joy." Indeed this was true as Fatima passed away just 6 months later. Imagine, being told you are going to die yet laughing out of happiness. Why? Because Fatima didn't care about life; she cared so much about the Prophet PBUH. When she heard she will be without him she begins to cry. Then the Prophet PBUH says, "Don't worry, you will die," and she laughs at this. What type of love is this? That you don't want life, but you want the Prophet PBUH.

 

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The Pangs of Death

And the fever and pain of the Prophet PBUH had increased, and they put a jar of water next to him; he would put his hand in the bucket and wipe his forehead. It is said the fever was so hot, al-Abbas and others asked, "How is the Prophet PBUH bearing this pain?" One of the sahaba remarked, "The fever of the Prophet PBUH is like the fever of 10 of us." And during this time, the final day, the Prophet PBUH is wiping the sweat and putting water on his forehead, he said continuously, "Verily death has its pangs." If he PBUH is feeling the pangs, don't you think that you and I will feel the pangs? And he kept on saying, "There is no God but Allah, death has its pangs." And he made du'a, "O Allah, help me to overcome the pangs of death." So these were of the last phrases: He is saying the kalimah and asking Allah to ease his transition from this life to the next. Eventually the pain becomes so severe that he cannot even speak anymore. This is now Monday morning, and his fever is so hot and his pain so severe he is going in and out of consciousness.

 

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Usama ibn Zayd Comes Back to Visit the Prophet PBUH

And it is at that point in time Usama ibn Zayd comes back in. Of course he doesn't want to disobey the Prophet PBUH, but the situation is so bad he actually comes back to Madinah to visit him. So Usama was of the very last people to visit him. And the Prophet PBUH was so weak he could not say anything, all he could do was point weakly up and then to Usama. The point being that, "Allah has blessed you," or, "I am making du'a for you." In other words he still wants Usama to go and this will come back to the first decision of Abu Bakr, and he said, "How can I tell him to come back when the Prophet PBUH told him to go?" So the Prophet PBUH is saying to Usama, "Go" and he is making du'a with his finger.

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Doing Miswak

 

And when the fever becomes even more difficult, Aisha does not know what to do, so she sits cross legged, picks him up from his pillow and puts the Prophet PBUH on her own shoulder. This is indeed what you do with those you love; that physical touch calms both us and the person down. Aisha is holding onto the Prophet PBUH not knowing what to do. This is when her brother Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr comes in to visit. And Abd al-Rahman had a miswak that he was using to brush his teeth. The Prophet PBUH weakly looks at the miswak, so she asks, "Do you want the miswak?" And our Prophet PBUH motions, "Yes," so she gets it from Abd al-Rahman, turns it around, loosens the other side and she hands it to the Prophet PBUH. So he wants to freshen his mouth before meeting Allah, to the very end he wants a good appearance and smell. So she gave him the miswak and Aisha said, "He held onto it with a vigor that shocked me and did miswak like I've never seen before." Meaning the vigor and enthusiasm to fulfill this sunnah was there to the very end.

 

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"Allow Me to Be With the Rafiq al-A'la": The Death of Prophet Muhammad PBUH

Slowly but surely the fever increased and he's losing consciousness again and again. At the point the Prophet PBUH raised his eyes up, and he's moving his lips very softly saying something. Aisha leans in to hear and says, "I heard the Prophet PBUH say, "[I want to be] with the nabiyyin, and the siddiqin, and the shuhada, and the salihin" and three times, 'O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, and allow me to be with the Rafiq al-A'la.'" And Aisha says the last thing the Prophet PBUH said was "al-Rafiq al-A'la." That was when our Prophet PBUH left this world.

What does this mean? Some of the scholars have said it means, "The company of the prophets and the highest," but there's another opinion that seems more plausible, "al-Rafiq al-A'la" is none other than Allah Himself. And he is saying, "I want to be in the Company of al-A'la," and "al-A'la" is one of the names of Allah. Of course both meanings overlap, but here Allah knows best, the reference is directly, "I want to be with you oh Allah." Aisha says, "At that time I remembered the hadith of the Prophet PBUH, that he once told me, "Never does the angel (of death) come to a prophet, except that he asks the prophet, 'Can I take your soul or not?' And the prophet has to agree and then his soul is taken. So when I heard "al-Rafiq al-A'la," I knew that he had chosen Allah over us," and that's when it hit her that indeed the Prophet PBUH was gone.

And the Prophet PBUH passed away slightly after the Zuhr salah, on a Monday, on the 12th Rabi al-Awwal in the 11th year of the Hijrah. And Fatima RA was right next door and she comes rushing in and says, "O my father, you have answered the call of your Lord. O my father, you will end up in Jannat al-Firdaws; O my father, who can we give the news of your death other than Jibril? We give the news of your death to Jibril himself."

 

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Aisha RA, Abu Bakr RA, Umar RA, and the Muslims Upon the Death of the Prophet PBUH

Aisha would say, "Of the greatest blessings Allah gave me was that the Prophet PBUH died in my house on my day between my neck and chest, with my saliva in his mouth (from the miswak)." And the news spread across the city, and the people did not know what to do. The books of seerah mention that the sahaba were running around like 'headless chickens.' They were completely in shock. Some of them sat down, others were in a daze, others had no clue what to do. In that chaos, wallahi when we lose a loved one we go into shock; imagine the sahaba are losing the one person they cannot imagine life without. It is in that daze that Umar RA who was the senior most person in the masjid. Why? When the Prophet PBUH lifted the curtain and saw him smile everyone thought he was feeling better. And Abu Bakr had not gone to his own wife and children for a week. He's camping in the masjid but when he sees the smile he tells Aisha, "Okay I'm going home for now," because he thought the situation was better. It so happened that Abu Bakr therefore was not next to the masjid, he was further away in his own home. The senior most sahabi in the masjid was none other than Umar RA.

So the rumors began to spread the Prophet PBUH had passed away, and Umar ibn al-Khattab out of love could not think straight. And it is said that, he started screaming in the masjid that, "These are the munafiqun spreading these lies. Whoever says the Prophet PBUH has passed away, I shall chop his neck off! I don't want to hear anyone tell me this!" In his emotional shock he could not accept the news. And he said, "It's not possible, he will not die. Musa went to Allah for 40 days, this is just our Prophet PBUH as well going to Allah." And he said, "Anyone who says otherwise has my sword to deal with." Everyone is terrified. The rumors are spreading, Umar is screaming in the masjid, there is mass confusion. Abu Bakr RA hears the news, he rides his horse galloping as fast as possible, he doesn't even enter the masjid, he goes straight to his daughters house because he wants to see if it's true. This is the wisdom of Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr rushes back to Aisha's house and there he finds the body of our Prophet PBUH covered up completely. And he lifts the cover from the face of the Prophet PBUH and he begins to cry. And he kisses the Prophet PBUH on the forehead and said, "How I would give my mother and father for you ya Rasulullah." And then he says, "Allah has spoken the truth, you shall taste death but once and this is your death ya Rasulullah. How beautiful are you in life and in death, ya Rasulullah." And he hears the commotion in the masjid, so he exits from the house of Aisha. And the sahaba are all sitting there confused. Umar RA is the one walking around, as if he is brandishing his sword (but he wasn't), screaming, "Nobody should say anything!" And that is when Abu Bakr says, "O Umar sit down!" The only person who has the audacity and courage to tell Umar to sit down is Abu Bakr. But even then Umar does not sit down, he just stares at Abu Bakr not registering.

So when Umar doesn't sit down, Abu Bakr rises the mimbar and he does not rise to the top. Subhan'Allah even from now his love is there, nobody ever stood at the top where the Prophet PBUH stood. Nobody from the day he passed away up until the mimbar finished its use, they all gave the khutbah from the bottom step. They never had the audacity to climb to the top. Even now, with high emotions and with the sudden shock of everyone from the Prophet's PBUH passing, he is conscious that, "I cannot go to the top." So he stands on the lower level, praises Allah and says the ever famous line which wallahi shows us the wisdom and knowledge over all of the other sahaba. He says, "Verily whoever used to worship Muhammad PBUH, let him know that Muhammad PBUH has died. But whoever used to worship Allah, know that Allah is the One who never dies." And then he recited the verse of Surah Ali-Imran:

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ ۚ أَفَإِن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَىٰ أَعْقَابِكُمْ
"Muhammad is just a messenger, just like those before him. When he dies or is killed, will you go back to your old ways?" [3:144]

This is when Umar RA collapsed to the floor. This is when it finally hits him. This man Umar RA, the mountain, the giant whom everyone was terrified of, the one who when he did Hijrah from Makkah what did he do, when everyone was scared of the Quraysh he marches to the Ka'bah and says, "I am making Hijrah to Madinah, and anybody who wants his mother to cry for him, meet me outside the valley right now!" This is that Umar. This mountain of a man, when it finally strikes him that the Prophet PBUH is gone, he collapses straight to the floor. And he says, "It was as if I heard the verse for the very first time."

 

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The Ritha' of Hassan ibn Thabit RA

So the news began to spread that indeed the Prophet PBUH has passed away. So many beautiful poems were written. These are called rithā' which is a genre of poetry talking about those who have passed away and praising them. So much has been narrated by Ibn Hisham, and here we quote a beautiful poem from none other than Hassan ibn Thabit, the poet of the Prophet PBUH. The greatest poet of early Islam. He says:

1. Why is it that my eyes cannot go to sleep, it is as if the rivers of crying have become permanent as dark as kohl.

2. This is because of my loss and sadness at the one who has gone on. The best human to ever walk on the face of this earth.

3. How I would give my own face to save yours, how I wish I was buried in Baqi' before they buried you.

4. My mother and father be given for you: Whose death did I see on that Monday, none other than the rightly guided prophet.

5. As soon as he passed away for the rest of that time, I stayed after his death, confused and grief stricken, woe to me how I wish I was never born to suffer this pain.

6. Am I supposed to live in Madinah when you are not here? Woe to me, why didn't someone just give me poison?

7. Why doesn't Allah's end come today or tomorrow so that I can finally meet the one whose characteristic was nothing other than generosity.

8. O beautiful son of Aminah, the one you gave birth to, the one who was the best of all and purest of pure. The Prophet PBUH was a light for this whole world, whoever took that light would indeed be rightly guided and blessed.

9. O Allah combine me with the Prophet PBUH in Jannat that are so beautiful, even the eyes of the jealous people will be averted.

10. Reunite me with the Prophet PBUH in Jannat al-Firdaws.

11. O Allah the majestic the mighty. I swear by Allah as long as I live I shall not cry for anyone who has died, except for the crying for the Prophet Muhammad.

12. Woe to us, the Ansar of the Prophet PBUH, and his companions. Woe to us after he has been buried, how will we live?

13. The whole land has become tight (referring to Ansar), their faces have become dark.

14. We were the ones who gave birth to him (the Prophet's PBUH great-grandmother was from Madinah), yet we ended up burying him in his grave.

15. And the blessings he showed us, nobody can deny.

16. Allah blessed us with him, and guided us through him at every point in time.

17. May Allah have salat and salutations upon him, and the angels around His Throne.

There are many other poems as well; Abu Bakr gave poetry and the other sahaba gave their poems.

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Funeral Rights of the Prophet PBUH

 

We have to also quickly talk about with regards to funeral rights of the Prophet PBUH.

The next day, on Tuesday, they gathered together asking, 'How will we wash the Prophet PBUH?' On Tuesday, they gathered together: Who is going to wash the body? The immediate family. Al-Abbas, his two sons, al-Fadl and al-Quthum, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and some say Safina, the freed slave of the Prophet PBUH. The Prophet PBUH as we know freed all of his slaves but they remained on because they loved him so much. So these were the people who gathered and discussed how they were to do the ghusl of the Prophet PBUH. It is said as they were wondering, all of them fell asleep and they heard a voice that said, "Wash him with the clothes on." And they awoke and they all remembered the voice: It was Jibril AS. And so they washed him with his clothes on because that is befitting.

And the Prophet PBUH was shrouded in three white garments from the land of Suhul, one of the cities of Yemen known for good garments. They did not put on any turban; then the question came, "Where shall we bury the Prophet PBUH?" Some said Baqi', others said under the mimbar, others said where he used to pray in the masjid. Until finally Abu Bakr said, "I remember hearing that he told me, 'Allah never takes a soul from a prophet except at the place where Allah wants them to be buried.'" So all the prophets were buried where they died. So he was buried under the place where he slept - the grave was dug right there and he was buried. Because there was no khalifa or leader, no one led the salah. So the entire city of Madinah plus the surroundings tribes prayed individually. All of Tuesday and Wednesday they kept on coming in one by one. Tens of thousands of people all prayed individually in the room of Aisha. And the Prophet PBUH was then buried on a Wednesday evening.

 

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Emptiness That the Sahaba Felt

When Fatima entered the room again, and she saw the grave where the bed used to be, and Anas ibn Malik was there (remember Anas was the volunteered servant of the Prophet PBUH), she asked, "How could your souls have allowed you to throw sand on the Prophet PBUH?" Obviously she is still in distress and she is being a bit harsh, understandably. It was none other than Anas who said many years later, "The day the Prophet PBUH entered Madinah was the brightest of our lives. The day he was buried was the darkest day of our lives." In one hadith reported by al-Bayhaqi, Anas ibn Malik said, "After we buried the Prophet PBUH, Madinah became dark for us. If one of us would extend our hand, we could not see it." Note this was not a physical darkness, it's a darkness of depression and complete shock. "And by the time we buried him, we could not recognize who we were (We felt so empty, we didn't know who we were)."

 

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No Musiba Is Bigger Than the Death of the Prophet PBUH

And it is reported in Ibn Majah as sahih, narrated by Aisha as one of the final hadith the Prophet PBUH said during his final days, "O people, whoever in my ummah suffers a calamity, let him take consolation for that calamity, from the calamity from the pain that befell him because of me, for there is no musiba that anyone shall experience that is greater than the musiba experienced because of me." Meaning what? It means the biggest calamity that ever afflicted the ummah was the death of the Prophet PBUH. This is the biggest disaster ever. Think about it. You have a Rasul in your ranks and all of a sudden he is gone. Who will be in charge? What will you do? Who will guide the way? Who will you turn to? Who who who? Nobody. There is no calamity greater than losing the Prophet PBUH. That is what the Prophet PBUH is saying: Think about the death of the Prophet PBUH, and still Allah protected the ummah. It still went on. Take consolation from this. Nothing compares to this. No musiba that we experience compares to the loss of the Prophet PBUH.

 

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The Brothers of the Prophet PBUH

The final hadith as we wind out the seerah and reach the conclusion, is a hadith that is optimistic for us but also scary. It is a hadith we should always remind ourselves of. The Prophet PBUH said, "How I wish that I could meet my brothers." So the sahaba were shocked. They said, "Ya Rasulullah are we not your brothers?" He PBUH said, "No, you are my as'hab (i.e. companions), you are not my ikhwan (i.e. brethren). My ikhwan are those who come after you, and they have never seen me, yet they still believe in me without ever having seen me. And one of them would wish to give up all of his wealth and all of his family and children if he could just see me once." So the Prophet PBUH is saying he wants to see that group of people. He was eager to meet even (can I even dare say) us: Because would we really give up our wealth and family for the Prophet PBUH? Would we really change our lifestyles for the Prophet PBUH, just to see him one time? Do we really love him PBUH with an immense love? That group he is saying, that group is his brothers.

We need to make du'a, our goal and hope is to see the Prophet PBUH. We weren't given the honor to see him or be with him, that was for the sahaba as Allah chose them. But there is still some hope for us; that is if we really truly love the Prophet PBUH with a REAL love, he might not be with us, but his sunnah is with us. His seerah is with us. His actions are with us. If we truly love him, let us follow his sunnah, embody who he was and let us demonstrate his mercy. If we do that, perhaps we will be raised to the level of being his brothers, his ikhwan, if we truly have that desire to see him PBUH.

 

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Conclusion & Du'a

Here we come to the conclusion of the seerah. We've talked about nothing other than the Prophet PBUH. The blessings he had, the trials he faced. He is the greatest human to ever walk this earth. This is a man that Allah chose from the entire creation, and He blessed me and you by making us from his ummah. We thank Allah for making us from the ummah of the Prophet PBUH, and ask Allah to allow us to see him on the Day of Judgment, to seek his intercession on the Day of Judgment. We want to go to him physically. We want the Prophet PBUH to invite us on the Day of Judgement, whom the Prophet PBUH sees and recognizes and allows us to drink from his Fountain. We ask Allah to be with the Prophet PBUH in Jannat al-Firdaws. Because of our love for him we ask Allah to forgive us and make us from those who practice his sunnah. We ask Allah because of our love of the Prophet PBUH to raise us to be with him and the sahaba and to forgive us our sins. And we ask Allah to accept our efforts and good deeds and forgive us for any shortcomings. Make us amongst those who are with the Prophet PBUH in Jannat al-Firdaws.

Ameen.

Even though our lectures have finished, the Seerah lives on, the Sunnah lives on. The example of the Prophet PBUH lives on. Our series might have finished, but we keep going back, we keep studying and learning about his life, to increase our Iman, and to let people know about this amazing man. If one were to truly study this man's life without any bias, they would have nothing but love for him PBUH.

O Allah, let Your Blessings come upon Muhammad (PBUH) and the family of Muhammad (PBUH), as you have blessed Ibrahim and his family. Truly, You are Praiseworthy and Glorious. Allah, bless Muhammad (PBUH) and the family of Muhammad (PBUH), as you have blessed Ibrahim and his family. Truly, You are Praiseworthy and Glorious. 

Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 102 - The Mosque & Grave of Muhammad ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 4th Feb 2015