Seerah · Chronology

Passing Away

632 · 10 events

Passing Away

632

Mayıs 632 (Safer) Expeditions and campaigns #123

The preparation of Usamah’s army

Hijri 11 age 62 Madinah

The Prophet ﷺ appointed Usamah, the eighteen- to twenty-year-old son of Zayd ibn Harithah, the martyr of Mu’tah, as commander of the army to be sent to the Byzantine frontier; great Companions such as Abu Bakr and Umar were also in that army. To those who criticised the young Usamah’s command he replied, “His father was worthy of command, and so is he.” While the army was being readied at al-Jurf, the Prophet’s illness grew worse and the expedition was postponed; as soon as Abu Bakr became caliph, he sent this army on its way.

632 Society #124

The false prophets: Musaylimah and al-Aswad al-Ansi

Hijri 11 age 62 Yamamah – Yemen

In the last months of the Prophet’s life, Musaylimah in Yamamah and al-Aswad al-Ansi in Yemen came forward claiming prophethood. Musaylimah wrote a letter saying, “Let us divide the earth between us”; the Prophet ﷺ replied, “The earth belongs to Allah; He gives it to whom He wills,” and called him “Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab” (the liar). Al-Aswad was killed in Yemen one day before the Prophet’s death; the news reached Madinah after his passing. Musaylimah was killed in the time of Abu Bakr at the Battle of Yamamah by Wahshi, the killer of Hamza who had since embraced Islam.

Mayıs 632 (Safer sonu) Passing away #125

The beginning of his illness

Hijri 11 age 62 Madinah

After visiting the cemetery of al-Baqi‘ and praying for the Companions who had passed away, the Prophet ﷺ fell ill with a severe headache and fever; he said that he also felt the effect of the poisoned meat from Khaybar. His illness lasted about thirteen days. With the consent of his wives, he was cared for in Aisha’s room. Even while ill he tried to come out for the prayers, and he had his debts settled and the few dinars he had with him given away as charity.

Haziran 632 (Rebiülevvel başı) Worship #126

Abu Bakr appointed to lead the prayer, and the last sermon

Hijri 11 age 62 Madinah – the Prophet’s Mosque

When he became too weak to come out for the prayer, he said, “Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer”; he insisted despite Aisha’s objection that her father would not be able to bear it. Abu Bakr led seventeen prayers. One day the Prophet ﷺ climbed the minbar with his head bandaged; he prayed for the martyrs of Uhud, enjoined that the Ansar be treated well, and said, “Allah gave one of His servants the choice between this world and what is with Him, and that servant chose what is with Allah.” Only Abu Bakr understood the farewell in these words, and he wept.

Haziran 632 Passing away #127

The last counsels

Hijri 11 age 62 Madinah – Aisha’s room

In his final days the Prophet ﷺ counselled the ummah again and again: “Prayer, prayer! Be mindful of the rights of those under your authority (slaves and servants).” Criticising the Jews and Christians for turning the graves of their prophets into places of worship, he asked that his own grave not be made into a place that was worshipped; he said that two religions should not be left together in the Arabian Peninsula and that visiting delegations should be treated generously. He whispered into the ear of his daughter Fatimah that she would be the first of his family to join him; Fatimah smiled at this news.

8 Haziran 632 (12 Rebiülevvel, Pazartesi) Passing away #128

The passing of the Prophet ﷺ

Hijri 11 age 63 Madinah – Aisha’s room

On the morning of the day he died, at the dawn prayer, he drew back the curtain and looked for the last time, smiling, at the congregation praying behind Abu Bakr. In the late morning his condition worsened; with his head on Aisha’s chest, he dipped his hand into a vessel of water, wiped it over his face and said, “La ilaha illallah; death too has its agonies.” His last words were, “O Allah, to the Highest Companion (al-Rafiq al-A‘la).” He died on 12 Rabi‘ al-Awwal in the year 11 of the Hijrah, on a Monday, the day of his birth, at the age of sixty-three. In his twenty-three years of prophethood he had united the Arabian Peninsula in the faith of tawhid and left his ummah the Quran and his Sunnah.

8 Haziran 632 Society #129

Abu Bakr’s address

Hijri 11 Madinah – the Prophet’s Mosque

The news of his death shook Madinah; Umar could not accept it, going so far as to say, “Whoever says Muhammad has died, I will strike off his neck.” Abu Bakr, coming from his house at Sunh, kissed the Prophet ﷺ on the forehead and said, “May my father and mother be your ransom; you are beautiful in death as you were in life,” and then climbed the minbar: “Whoever worshipped Muhammad, let him know that Muhammad has died; whoever worships Allah, let him know that Allah is alive and does not die.” Then he recited verse 144 of Surah Al Imran: “Muhammad is only a messenger; messengers came before him. If he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels?” Umar said, “It was as if I had heard this verse for the first time.”

8–9 Haziran 632 Society #130

The pledge to Abu Bakr at the Saqifah

Hijri 11 Madinah – the Saqifah of Banu Sa‘idah

While the Ansar were gathered in the shelter (saqifah) of the Banu Sa‘idah discussing the election of Sa‘d ibn Ubadah as caliph, Abu Bakr, Umar and Abu Ubaydah went there. Abu Bakr praised the merits of the Ansar, but said that the Arabs would obey none but the Quraysh, and put forward Umar and Abu Ubaydah as candidates; Umar stepped forward and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr, and everyone followed him. The next day the general pledge was taken in the Prophet’s Mosque. In his first sermon Abu Bakr said, “I am not the best of you; if I do right, help me, and if I do wrong, set me straight.” Thus began the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.

9–10 Haziran 632 (Çarşamba gecesi) Passing away #131

The funeral and burial

Hijri 11 Madinah – Aisha’s room (al-Rawdah al-Mutahharah)

The body of the Prophet ﷺ was washed by Ali, Abbas and his sons, and Usamah, and wrapped in three layers of white cloth. The Companions entered the room in groups and performed the funeral prayer without an imam: first the men, then the women, then the children. On the basis of the hadith related by Abu Bakr, “Prophets are buried where they die,” his grave was dug in Aisha’s room, where he had died; Abu Talhah dug it in the form of a niche grave (lahd). He was buried between Tuesday night and Wednesday. Today this room is visited inside the Prophet’s Mosque as al-Rawdah al-Mutahharah; Abu Bakr and Umar lie beside him.

Kasım 632 (Ramazan) Passing away #132

The death of Fatimah

Hijri 11 Madinah – al-Baqi‘

About six months after the death of the Prophet ﷺ, his daughter Fatimah died; her father’s glad tidings, “you will be the first of my family to join me,” thus came true. She was the only one of the Prophet’s children still alive after him. In accordance with her will she was buried at night; Ali (according to one report, Abbas) led her funeral prayer, and she was buried in the cemetery of al-Baqi‘. The line of the Prophet ﷺ continued through Fatimah’s sons Hasan and Husayn; her descendants were called “sayyid” and “sharif.”

About this chronology

The events are ordered by the dates widely accepted in the classical Seerah sources (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham, al-Waqidi, Ibn Sa’d) and in the Encyclopedia of Islam of the Turkish Diyanet Foundation (TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi). The year of some events in the Meccan period differs by a year or two between sources; in such cases the most common date is given, marked “civarı” (circa) where needed. Hijri years are shown for events of the Medinan period; ages follow the lunar calendar.

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Passing Away

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