On a Monday morning, in the city of his Hijrah, in the small chamber of A'ishah, the most exalted being created by Allah took his leave of this world. That moment is the deepest wound the Ummah has ever borne. It was also the moment of its first great trial of tawhid — the test of whether the believers worshipped Muhammad himself or the Lord who had sent him. This sermon traces, in solemn reverence, the closing days of the Prophet's life: the signs at the Farewell Hajj, the final illness, the parting words to A'ishah, the return to the Highest Companion, and the address by Abu Bakr that held the Ummah together.
Every Soul Shall Taste Death
The death of the Prophet (peace be upon him) brings us first to a single truth: Allah granted no permanence in this world even to the most beloved of His creation. As the Qur'an declares:
كُلُّ نَفۡسࣲ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۗ وَنَبۡلُوكُم بِٱلشَّرِّ وَٱلۡخَيۡرِ فِتۡنَةࣰۖ وَإِلَيۡنَا تُرۡجَعُونَ
— Surah Al-Anbiya 21:35Every soul shall taste death. We test you with evil and with good as a trial. To Us you shall return.
In Mecca, the polytheists had once consoled themselves with the thought: "Muhammad will soon die, and his cause will be finished." In response, Allah revealed:
وَمَا جَعَلۡنَا لِبَشَرࣲ مِّن قَبۡلِكَ ٱلۡخُلۡدَۖ أَفَإِيْن مِّتَّ فَهُمُ ٱلۡخَٰلِدُونَ
— Surah Al-Anbiya 21:34We granted no human being before you perpetual life. If you die, will they live forever?
إِنَّكَ مَيِّتࣱ وَإِنَّهُم مَّيِّتُونَ
— Surah Az-Zumar 39:30Indeed, you will die, and they will die.
The implication is clear: if any human being on earth had been granted immortality, it would surely have been the Prophet. Yet the unchanging law of Allah applied to him as it does to all. The believer learns from this that nothing in this world endures; only Allah is permanent.
The Farewell Hajj — Knowing It Was a Farewell
In the tenth year of Hijrah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed his first and only pilgrimage, the Farewell Hajj. At the close of his great sermon on the plain of Arafah, he turned to the people: "O people, I shall be asked about you — what will you say?" The Companions answered with one voice: "We will say that you delivered the message and discharged the trust." The Prophet then raised his index finger toward the heavens and said three times: "O Allah, bear witness! O Allah, bear witness! O Allah, bear witness!"
In that very moment one of the last verses of the Qur'an was revealed:
ٱلۡيَوۡمَ أَكۡمَلۡتُ لَكُمۡ دِينَكُمۡ وَأَتۡمَمۡتُ عَلَيۡكُمۡ نِعۡمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلۡإِسۡلَٰمَ دِينࣰا
— Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:3This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you, and I have approved Islam as your religion.
When the Prophet recited the verse, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) wept. Those around him wondered at his weeping; but the loyal Companion and friend of the cave had understood, before everyone else, what the message contained: the mission was complete; the departure was near. Indeed, the Prophet lived only eighty to eighty-two days after this verse.
During the same Hajj, while teaching the Ummah the rites of pilgrimage, the Prophet said: "Learn the rites of Hajj from me — I do not know whether I shall perform Hajj again after this." The sentence was a public announcement: the Farewell Hajj was a farewell indeed.
On his return, the Prophet visited the martyrs of Uhud and prayed for them. Late one night he went to the Baqi' cemetery in Medina, stood among the graves, and prayed for those who lay there. These visits revealed a Prophet who was, one by one, taking leave of everyone he loved — both the living and the dead.
The Final Illness — Toward Monday Morning
On his return from the cemetery on a Wednesday night, the Prophet fell ill. He spent that night with his honoured wife Maymunah, for it was her turn. Despite his illness he did not forget his strict justice between his wives; he spent the first five days of his sickness with them as the rotation required.
By Monday his illness had grown severe, and he asked his other wives' permission to stay with A'ishah. Not wishing to wound any heart, he did not say so plainly — he only asked: "Where shall I be tomorrow?" They understood and replied: "Stay wherever you wish." His illness was a fever so consuming that he could no longer walk alone. Ali and al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) supported him under each arm and carried him to A'ishah's chamber. There he spent the last eight days of his illness.
As long as he could, the Prophet continued to lead the prayer. His final congregational prayer was Maghrib. When the time of Isha came, he asked whether the prayer had been performed; he was told the people were still waiting for him. He tried to rise to wash, but he fainted. He revived, asked again, washed again, and fainted again. This happened a third time. When he revived the fourth time he said:
— "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer."
A'ishah, his daughter, pleaded: "My father has a soft heart; he weeps when he recites the Qur'an; he cannot stand in your place. Send someone else." The Prophet repeated the same command: "Let Abu Bakr lead the prayer." For several days thereafter Abu Bakr led the congregation. This was a silent indication to the Ummah: the man who would lead them after their Prophet had been pointed to by the Prophet himself.
The Final Address — A Choice Between This World and the Next
Five days before his death, on a Thursday around noon, the Prophet's illness lifted briefly. He ordered seven skins of water to be poured over him. Then, supported by Ali and al-Abbas, he came out to the mosque. Abu Bakr was leading the prayer. When he sensed the Prophet's arrival, he tried to step back, but the Prophet motioned him to stay and sat beside him. The congregation followed the prayer, hearing the takbirs amplified by Abu Bakr's voice since the Prophet was too weak to project his own.
After the prayer, the Prophet addressed the people. It would be his last address to the congregation. After praising Allah, he said:
— Sahih al-Bukhari, Fada'il al-Sahabah, no.Allah has given one of His servants the choice between this world and the rewards that are with Him; the servant has chosen what is with Allah.
When Abu Bakr heard these words, he wept. Those nearby were puzzled. But the companion of the cave had understood before everyone else that the Prophet was speaking of himself.
The Prophet continued:
The one whose companionship and generosity I owe the most is Abu Bakr. If I were to take a friend from this Ummah, that friend would be Abu Bakr. But the bond of Islam has made us all brothers. Let every door opening into the mosque be closed — except the door of Abu Bakr.
In the same address the Prophet warned the Ummah against turning his grave into a place of worship:
— Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Jana'iz, no.May Allah's curse be upon the Jews and Christians, for they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship.
This warning was a safeguard. Earlier nations had so venerated the graves of their prophets that they had fallen into idolatry. Yet Islam had come, above all, to dismantle idolatry; the Prophet would not permit his own grave to undo that work.
The Return to the Highest Companion
As Monday wore on, the Prophet suffered several consecutive fainting spells. His daughter Fatimah, grieving to see her father's pain, wept: "O the sorrow of my father!" Even in his final breaths he consoled her:
— "My daughter, after this day your father will know no more sorrow."
He raised his hand, pointed upward, and from his blessed lips came the words:
— Ar-Rafiq al-A'la — the Highest Companion!
With those last words, his noble soul returned to its Lord. A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said he passed at sixty-three years of age.
Ar-Rafiq al-A'la — "the Highest Companion" — is a name of Allah. In his last breath the Prophet's tongue held the name of his Lord. The mouth that had recited "Guide us upon the straight path" a thousand times closed with the prayer of arriving at the end of that path — at the Highest Companion Himself.
The First Shock of the Ummah — and Abu Bakr's Historic Address
The news of the Prophet's death spread through Medina in waves. Those who heard it stood stunned; a deep mourning settled over the city. The words attributed to his daughter Fatimah on that day carry the weight of mountains: "The horizons of the sky darkened that day, the sun's light dimmed at midday, by mid-afternoon the universe was in darkness. After my father's passing, the earth itself became a heap of sand from sorrow."
Some refused to believe the news. Foremost among them was Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Out of his fierce love for the Prophet he denied his death, walking the courtyard of the mosque with his sword drawn:
— "Whoever says Muhammad has died — I will strike off his head!"
It was at this most fragile moment that Abu Bakr came swiftly from his home in the Sunh quarter. He entered A'ishah's chamber, uncovered the blessed face of the Prophet, kissed his forehead between the eyes, and wept: "May my father and mother be ransomed for you, O Messenger of Allah! Allah will not visit you with a second pang of death. The death that was inevitable for you, you have now passed."
Then he came out to the mosque and delivered the address that held the Ummah together at the moment of its greatest danger:
— "O people! Whoever was worshipping Muhammad — let him know that Muhammad has died. Whoever was worshipping Allah — let him know that Allah is ever-living, never dies."
He then recited:
وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولࣱ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِن قَبۡلِهِ ٱلرُّسُلُۚ أَفَإِيْن مَّاتَ أَوۡ قُتِلَ ٱنقَلَبۡتُمۡ عَلَىٰٓ أَعۡقَٰبِكُمۡۚ وَمَن يَنقَلِبۡ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيۡهِ فَلَن يَضُرَّ ٱللَّهَ شَيۡـࣰٔا
— Surah Al-Imran 3:144Muhammad is no more than a messenger; messengers have passed away before him. If he dies or is slain, will you turn back on your heels? Whoever turns back on his heels does Allah no harm at all.
Umar later said: "By Allah, until Abu Bakr recited that verse, it was as if it had never been revealed to me. The moment I heard it, my knees gave way and I sank to the ground. Then I knew, with certainty, that the Prophet had truly died."
This was the Ummah's first great test of tawhid. To worship Allah, not a person; to cling to a faith that belongs to the living, not the dead — Islam, on the day of its Prophet's death, secured this principle in the soul of every believer.
The Funeral and the Burial
The Prophet died on a Monday and was washed and prayed over the following day, on Tuesday. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) performed the washing; his uncle al-Abbas and al-Abbas's sons Abdullah, Fadl, and Qutham assisted. His blessed body was laid on a couch in the very room where he had died. The funeral prayer was performed not in congregation but one by one — each person entered, prayed, and left — so that the prayers continued until evening. Finally the Prophet was buried in that same room — the room of A'ishah. The place we know today as Rawdah al-Mutahharah, visited by pilgrims from every land, is that very chamber.
Stories — Two Witnesses of the Passing
A'ishah's Account — His Last Moments
A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) was the closest witness of his final hour. She relates: "During his last illness, his head was resting on my chest. He was so close to me that I held a piece of tooth-stick. I softened it and gave it to him; he ran it over his teeth with as much energy as he could find."
She continues: "Then his eyes turned toward the ceiling, and I heard him say: 'O Allah, the Highest Companion.' His hand fell, and his soul returned to his Lord. By Allah, had I known beforehand how easy death can be for a servant of Allah, and known too that the Prophet himself felt the pang of death, I would have wished never to have been born."
The meaning of this narration is deep. The Prophet was a servant whose reward Allah had made visible in this world; even his death was the very gate through which he entered the company of the Highest Companion.
Umar's Denial and Abu Bakr's Steadfastness
On the day of the Prophet's death, Umar was striding through the courtyard of the mosque with his sword drawn. His overwhelming love had pushed him to denial. He threatened those who entered: "The hypocrites are saying Muhammad has died — whoever says such a thing, I will strike off his head! He has only gone to meet his Lord as Musa did — and he will return!"
When Abu Bakr entered the mosque, he tried first to silence Umar; failing, he turned to the congregation and recited Al-Imran 3:144. Umar's knees gave way. He later said: "By Allah, it was as though the verse had never been revealed to me until Abu Bakr recited it. Then I knew the Prophet had truly died, and I sank to the ground."
The characters of these two Companions teach the Ummah two distinct lessons. Umar's denial shows how deep a believer's love for the Prophet can run; Abu Bakr's composure shows how that love must be guided by faith and intellect. Love itself is subject to the boundaries Allah has set.
The Midnight Visit to Baqi'
A'ishah relates that not long before his final illness the Prophet quietly left her room at night. Worried, she followed and found him in the Baqi' cemetery. He stood in the middle of the graves, hands raised, and addressed the dead aloud in greeting and prayer: "Peace be upon you, O people of the graves. May Allah forgive us and forgive you. You have preceded us, and we — God willing — will follow you."
In the morning when A'ishah asked, he answered: "Jibril ordered me to come to this cemetery and pray." This night-visit was among the signs that the Prophet was preparing for his own departure. To take leave of the dead as much as of the living — this is among the most elevated lessons the seerah leaves with us.
What His Passing Leaves Us
The Prophet died. Yet the religion he brought will live as long as this world endures, and the Qur'an he left will continue to illuminate humanity. His death leaves us with two abiding truths:
- The only thing permanent in this world is Allah. The Prophet's passing planted that truth in the heart of the Ummah. Persons depart, institutions fall, worlds end — Allah is ever-living, never dies.
- The boundary of love is tawhid. What Umar slipped into at first, Abu Bakr corrected with one verse. The love we hold for the Prophet is sound only when it does not eclipse the responsibility we owe to his Lord.
Putting Love of the Prophet Into Practice With VAAZ
The dua archive in the VAAZ app gathers the salawat and blessings sent upon the Prophet (peace be upon him). Within the 99 Beautiful Names of Allah collection, the name Al-Hayy — "the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting" — keeps Abu Bakr's historic sentence alive in our memory: whoever worships Allah, let him know that Allah is ever-living and never dies.
For a fuller view of the Prophet's life, see the Sermon on the Mawlid of the Prophet; for the burden carried by the Companions after his passing, see the Sermon on the Companions.
References
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:3.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Imran 3:144.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Anbiya 21:34-35.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Az-Zumar 39:30.
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Fada'il al-Sahabah — the final illness and last address.
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of al-Jana'iz — prohibition of taking graves as mosques.
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Fada'il al-Sahabah — A'ishah's narration of his passing.
- Ibn Hisham, as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah — the Farewell Hajj and final illness.
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra — Abu Bakr's speech.
- al-Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra — the visit to Baqi'.