Prayer for the Welfare of the
Muslims
Some of the Prophet's Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam Sahabah came to see him during his illness
in the house of Aisha Radhi Allahu Anha. He welcomed them, prayed
for their guidance on the right path and invoked the help and
blessings of Allah for them.
Indifference to the World
Aisha Radhi Allahu Anha relates
that during his illness he asked her: "Aisha, what has
happened to those pieces of gold?" When she brought a few
dirhams he took them in his hand and said: "How shall I
face Allah with these in my possession! Give these away in charity."
(6)
Anxiety for Prayer
While the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam lay in the grip of his worsening sickness he enquired
: "Has everybody offered prayers?" Those attending
him replied : "No, 0 Prophet of Allah, they are waiting
for you." He asked for water in a pan. When it was brought
he took a bath and tried to get up, but fell unconscious. On
regaining consciousness after a short while he again asked:
"Has everybody offered prayers?" They replied: "No,
0 Prophet of Allah, they are waiting for you." All the
people were then sitting silently in the masjid for the Esha
prayer. He sent word to them asking Abu Bakr Radhi Allahu Anhu
to lead the prayer. Abu Bakr Radhi Allahu Anhu was tender-hearted,
so he asked Umar Radhi Allahu Anhu to lead the prayer. Umar
Radhi Allahu Anhu, however, declined saying that Abu Bakr Radhi
Allahu Anhu was more qualified. Abu Bakr Radhi Allahu Anhu finally
agreed and led the prayer during the period of the Prophet's Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam illness.
When the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam felt a bit better he came out with the help of Abbas
and Ali Radhi Allahu Anhuma for the Zuhr prayer. As soon as
Abu Bakr Radhi Allahu Anhu came to know of the Prophet's Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam arrival, he tried to move back, but the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam motioned him not to leave his place.
Umm al-Fadl bint al-Harith says
that she had heard Allah's Messenger reciting Surah al-Mursalaat
in the Maghrib prayer. Thereafter, he did not lead any prayer
until Allah summoned him to His presence. (7)
Of the few occasions when the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam made for the pulpit during his illness
he once said : "Allah gave one of His slaves the choice
between this world and that which is with Him, so he chose that
which is with Allah." Abu Bakr Radhi Allahu Anhu knew that
it was the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam himself who had
been given that choice. He broke into tears and exclaimed: "May
our own lives and our children be your ransom."
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
then replied: "O Abu Bakr, have patience and don't be hasty.
Indeed, of all the people, the most generous toward me in regard
to his life and property was Abu Bakr. Were I to choose anyone
to be my dearest friend, indeed I would choose Abu Bakr, but
the love and concern for Islam takes precedence over all others."
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam also said on this occasion:
"There shall be left open no door to the masjid except
the door of Abu Bakr." (8)
Last look at the Muslims in prayer
Abu Bakr Radhi Allahu Anhu continued
to lead the prayer. On Monday morning when the people were performing
the Fajr prayer, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam lifted
the curtain of his door and kept his gaze fixed on the worshippers
for some time, to see how they paid divine honours to Allah.
He perhaps wanted to see the result of his life-long mission,
training and guidance. Perhaps, he wanted to know how his followers
attached their hearts to Allah and whether they were absorbed
in prayers in his absence as they had always been in his presence.
What the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam saw was extremely
satisfying. His Sahabah related that his face was beaming with
joy. The scene before him showed him that the attachment of
his followers to Allah and His religion was strong and permanent.
"The Messenger of Allah lifted
the curtain and kept his eyes fixed upon us, standing at Aisha's
door. It seemed as if his face was an open scripture. He smiled
and then laughed. We thought that we might be seduced from our
prayers because of our joy and get carried away. We also thought
that perhaps he was coming out for prayers but he told us to
complete our prayers and pulled down the curtain. That was the
day on which he left the world." (9)
When he was about to breathe his
last, he said repeatedly: "Be careful of Salaah and of
those whom you possess or have under your charge." He continued
to repeat these words until they became inaudible, but it appeared
that he was trying to express them.
During the last moments of his
life Abdur Rahman Ibn Abi Bakr Radhi Allahu Anhu entered the
room with a Miswaak (tooth stick) in his hand. The Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam looked at it as if he wanted it. Aisha Radhi
Allahu Anha chewed it a little to make it soft and then gave
it to him. He brushed his teeth with it and tried to hand it
over to her but it fell down from his hand. (10)
Aisha Radhi Allahu Anha relates
that while she started reciting the last two Surahs of the Qur'an
in order to blow upon the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
he lifted up his eyes and said: "With the Exalted Companion!
With the Exalted Companion!" The Prophet's Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam blessed head was on her thigh. He fainted for a second
and then regaining consciousness, looked up towards the ceiling,
saying : "With the Exalted Companion!" With these
words on his lips, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam breathed
his last. (11)
How the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam left the world
When the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam left this world he had the entire Arabia in his hands.
The sovereigns and rulers were afraid of his rising power while
his Sahabah were ever willing to undergo any sacrifice to lay
down their own lives and to spend their wealth, property and
children for his sake. Yet, he left this world without a single
dinar or slave in his possession. All that he owned at the time
was one white mule, some weapons and a piece of land that had
already been given away in charity. His coat of mail had been
pawned with a Jew when he passed away and nothing was left by
him to have it retrieved. (12)
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
restored freedom to forty slaves during his illness. Only six
or seven were left with Aisha Radhi Allahu Anha but he asked
her to give them away in charity. Aisha Radhi Allahu Anha relates
that the day the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam left the
world there was nothing in her house that could be consumed
except a little barley left in a cupboard. It lasted for a few
days until she weighed it and that very day it was all used
up. (13)
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
passed away on a Monday, the 12th day of Rabi ul-Awwal in the
heat of the noon after the sun had passed the meridian. He was
then sixty three years of age. This was the darkest hour for
the Muslims and a day of gloom for the entire humanity. Abu
Sa'id al-Khudri Radhi Allahu Anhu said that when the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam came to Madinah everything looked
better and brighter but no day was worse or darker than the
day he passed away. Some of the people saw Umm Ayman weeping
when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was bed-ridden.
When they asked what had made her weep, she replied: "Of
course, I know that the Prophet of Allah will leave this world
but I am weeping because the revelation from heaven has come
to an end." (14)