Prophet's Death

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet's wives were sitting with him when Fātimah (may Allah be pleased with her) came to visit him in his final illness. Fātimah came in walking exactly like the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). It was the Prophet's habit to stand up for his daughter, kiss her, and let her sit in his place. So he welcomed her and let her sit next to him. ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) then mentioned that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) talked secretly to Fātimah (may Allah be pleased with her), who therefore wept heavily. When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saw that she was very sad, he talked once again secretly to her, so she laughed. ‘Ā’ishah asked Fātimah why she wept although she had such a privilege of being told a secret by the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) apart from his wives. Fātimah said that she would not divulge the Prophet's secret. However, when the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) died, ‘Ā’ishah adjured Fātimah to tell her what the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) had told her. Fātimah agreed to tell her this time. She said that she cried the first time because the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) told her that Jibrīl used to study the Qur'an with him once or twice every year, but that time it was twice. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) believed this was an indication that his life was coming to an end. He asked Fātimah to adhere to piety and have patience, and told her that the honor of being the Prophet's descendant would compensate the grief of separating from him by his death. So Fātimah cried and was very sad. Then, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) told her another secret; he assured her that she is the cream of Muslim women, so she laughed. As this Hadīth reports, Fātimah laughed because the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informed her that she would be the chief of the women of Paradise. However, there are other narrations stating that in the second time he talked secretly to her, she laughed for the following reasons: 1. He told her that she would be the first of his family to die after him. 2. He told her that she would be the chief of the women of Paradise. This, along with the first, is the preponderant opinion. 3. He told her that Jibrīl told him that no Muslim woman has more excellent offspring than her, and asked her not to be the least patient. It remains that ‘Ā'ishah's keenness for knowledge pushed her to ask Fātimah what secret the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) confided to her. But the Prophet's daughter said that she would not disclose the Prophet's secret. This is the point of the Hadīth. When the restriction ended by the Prophet's death, she told her about the secret speech. Finally, this Hadīth tells something about the future, and this thing happened as described. It is agreed that Fātimah (may Allah be pleased with her) was the first of the Prophet's family to die after him, even before his wives (may Allah be pleased with them).

بهجة الناظرين شرح رياض الصالحين لسليم الهلالي، ط1، دار ابن الجوزي، الدمام، 1415ه. تطريز رياض الصالحين للشيخ فيصل المبارك، ط1، تحقيق: عبد العزيز بن عبد الله آل حمد، دار العاصمة، الرياض، 1423 هـ. رياض الصالحين للنووي، ط1، تحقيق: ماهر ياسين الفحل، دار ابن كثير، دمشق، بيروت، 1428 هـ. رياض الصالحين، ط4، تحقيق: عصام هادي، وزارة الأوقاف والشؤون الإسلامية القطرية، دار الريان، بيروت، 1428هـ. كنوز رياض الصالحين، مجموعة من الباحثين برئاسة حمد بن ناصر العمار، ط1، كنوز إشبيليا، الرياض، 1430هـ. شرح رياض الصالحين للشيخ ابن عثيمين، دار الوطن للنشر، الرياض، 1426هـ. صحيح البخاري، تحقيق: محمد زهير بن ناصر الناصر، ط1، دار طوق النجاة (مصورة عن السلطانية بإضافة ترقيم: محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي)، 1422ه. صحيح مسلم، تحقيق: محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي، دار إحياء التراث العربي، بيروت. نزهة المتقين شرح رياض الصالحين لمجموعة من الباحثين، ط14، مؤسسة الرسالة، 1407هـ. فتح الباري شرح صحيح البخاري، لابن حجر العسقلاني، الناشر: دار المعرفة - بيروت، 1379 شرح العقيدة الواسطية، لابن عثيمين، دار ابن الجوزي، الطبعة السابعة، 1422ه.

This Hadīth highlights the patience that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) exhibited during his last moments alive. When his illness became severe, he would sometimes pass out due to the severity of the pain he was suffering. The pain was so severe that he was elevated in the levels of Paradise due to his patience. When his pain became intense, Fātimah (may Allah be pleased with her) called out: “O father, what a severe agony.” This is because she was a woman and women cannot exercise patience. The Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Your father will suffer no more agony after this day.” This is because he was moving from this world to his Higher Companion. The Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say in his last moments: “Oh Allah, the Highest Companion! Oh Allah, the Highest Companion!” And he would look at the ceiling of the house. When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, Fātimah began to mourn him and her mourning was allowed as it did not contain any sign of being displeased with the decree of Allah. When she said: “He answered the call of his Lord”, she meant that he responded to the call of Allah, Who has dominion over everything and in whose hands is the destiny of every human being. He died like any other believer dies and his soul ascended all the way, until it rests between Allah's Hands, above the seventh heaven. When she said: “and the Garden of Firdaus is his abode,” she meant that her father would be in the highest level of Paradise, because he was the best of the believers. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "Beseech Allah to grant me Al-Wasīlah, which is a high rank in Paradise, fitting for only one of Allah's slaves. And I hope that I will be that man." There is no doubt that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) will reside in the highest part of Paradise, Firdaus, and above its roof is the throne of Allah, the Exalted. She then said: “We announce your death to Jibrīl,” as Jibrīl was the one who brought down the revelation and would no longer carry it due to the passing of the Messenger. Then, when the Messenger was carried to the graveyard and buried, Fātimah said to the Companions: “Did you feel comfortable to put dust over Allah's Messenger!” She asked this question due to her severe anguish resulting from the death of her father and her knowledge that the hearts of the Companions were full of love for him. Allah, the Exalted, is the Just Judge and to Him is our return. He said in His Book: {Indeed, you are to die, and indeed, they are to die.} [Sūrat Az-Zumar: 30]

بهجة الناظرين شرح رياض الصالحين، لسليم الهلالي، ط1، دار ابن الجوزي، الدمام، 1415هـ. رياض الصالحين للنووي، ط1، تحقيق: ماهر ياسين الفحل، دار ابن كثير، دمشق، بيروت، 1428 هـ. رياض الصالحين، ط4، تحقيق: عصام هادي، وزارة الأوقاف والشؤون الإسلامية القطرية، دار الريان، بيروت، 1428هـ. كنوز رياض الصالحين، مجموعة من الباحثين برئاسة حمد بن ناصر العمار، ط1، كنوز إشبيليا، الرياض، 1430هـ. شرح رياض الصالحين، للشيخ ابن عثيمين، دار الوطن للنشر، الرياض، 1426هـ. صحيح البخاري، تحقيق: محمد زهير بن ناصر الناصر، ط1، دار طوق النجاة (مصورة عن السلطانية بإضافة ترقيم: محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي)، 1422هـ. نزهة المتقين شرح رياض الصالحين، لمجموعة من الباحثين، ط14، مؤسسة الرسالة، 1407هـ.

‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) recalls a story that demonstrates how much the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) loved the tooth-stick and how attached he was to it. That is to say that ‘Ā'ishah's brother ‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn Abi Bakr visited the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) when he was near death. He had a fresh tooth-stick in his hand, which he was brushing his teeth with. When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saw ‘Abdur-Rahmān with it, the sickness and pain he was experiencing did not distract him, because he liked it so much. He stared at the tooth-stick in ‘Abdur-Rahmān's hand as if he wanted it. ‘Ā'ishah realized that. So she took the tooth-stick from her brother, clipped off the top of the tooth-stick with her teeth, cleaned it and freshened it up and gave it to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) so he brushed his teeth with it. ‘Ā'ishah said that she had never seen anyone brush their teeth more beautifully than the way the Prophet did then. After he finished brushing his teeth, he raised his finger, affirming the oneness of Allah, and chose to go and meet his Lord, the Most High. Then, he passed away. ‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) was proud, and rightfully so, that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) passed away while his head was upon her chest.

الإلمام بشرح عمدة الأحكام، إسماعيل بن محمد الأنصاري، دار الفكر، دمشق، الطبعة: الأولى 1381هـ. تأسيس الأحكام، أحمد بن يحيى النجمي، دار علماء السلف، الطبعة: الثانية 1414هـ. تيسير العلام شرح عمدة الأحكام، عبد الله بن عبد الرحمن البسام، تحقيق: محمد صبحي حلاق، مكتبة الصحابة، الأمارات، مكتبة التابعين، القاهرة، الطبعة: العاشرة 1426هـ. تنبيه الأفهام شرح عمدة الأحكام، محمد بن صالح العثيمين ، مكتبة الصحابة، الإمارات، الطبعة: الأولى 1426هـ. عمدة الأحكام من كلام خير الأنام -صلى الله عليه وسلم- لعبد الغني المقدسي، دراسة وتحقيق: محمود الأرناؤوط، مراجعة وتقديم: عبد القادر الأرناؤوط، دار الثقافة العربية، دمشق، بيروت، مؤسسة قرطبة، الطبعة: الثانية 1408 هـ. صحيح البخاري، محمد بن إسماعيل البخاري الجعفي، تحقيق: محمد زهير الناصر، دار طوق النجاة (مصورة عن السلطانية بإضافة ترقيم: محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي)، الطبعة: الأولى 1422هـ.

When the last illness of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) became more intense, he was not able to lead the people in prayer, so he ordered those who were with him to tell Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) to lead the prayer. Abu Bakr used to weep much whenever he recited the Qur’an, so ‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) made an excuse for him on account of his weeping. However, in the Hadīth mentioned here, her real intention was not that Abu Bakr should not lead the prayer because of his weeping while reciting the Qur'an; rather, she feared that people would regard her father, Abu Bakr, as a bad omen for taking the place of the Prophet in leading the prayer (i.e. heralding his imminent death). So she did not show what she was hiding in her heart. In a narration in Sahīh Muslim, ‘Ā'ishah said: "By Allah, there is nothing disturbing in it for me but the idea that people may see a bad omen in the first person to take the place of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him)." She said: "I tried to dissuade him twice or thrice (from appointing my father as Imām in prayer), but he ordered Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer and said: 'You women are like the women who surrounded Yūsuf.'" He intended by saying "the women who surrounded Yūsuf" that they are like those women in the story of Prophet Yūsuf in showing outwardly what was contrary to what is in their hearts. Although he used the plural form, he intended only one woman, which is ‘Ā'ishah, just as he intended by saying "those women who surrounded Yūsuf" only one woman, which is Zulaykha, wife of the ruler of Egypt at the time of Yūsuf. The aspect of similarity between the two women is that Zulaykha invited the women and outwardly showed them hospitality, but her inward intention behind inviting them was to make them look at the beauty of Yūsuf so that they would excuse her for loving him. Likewise, ‘Ā'ishah outwardly expressed that the reason she wanted her father to be exempted from leading the prayer was that the worshipers would not hear his recitation of the Qur’an because of his weeping, whereas her real intention was her fear that people would find a bad omen in him, as explicitly mentioned in other narrations of the Hadīth, where she said: "... the only reason that I argued with him (about this matter) was that I did not feel in my heart that after him (the Prophet) the people would ever love a man who had taken his place.”

رياض الصالحين من كلام سيد المرسلين؛ للإمام أبي زكريا النووي، تحقيق د. ماهر الفحل، دار ابن كثير-دمشق، الطبعة الأولى، 1428ه. - بهجة الناظرين شرح رياض الصالحين؛ تأليف سليم الهلالي، دار ابن الجوزي- الطبعة الأولى1418ه. - نزهة المتقين شرح رياض الصالحين؛ تأليف د. مصطفى الخِن وغيره، مؤسسة الرسالة-بيروت، الطبعة الرابعة عشر، 1407هـ. - صحيح البخاري عناية محمد زهير الناصر، دار طوق النجاة، الطبعة الأولى، 1422هـ. - صحيح مسلم؛ حققه ورقمه محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي، دار عالم الكتب-الرياض، الطبعة الأولى، 1417هـ. نيل الأوطار- محمد بن علي الشوكاني -تحقيق: عصام الدين الصبابطي- دار الحديث، مصر- الطبعة: الأولى، 1413هـ - 1993م.

As the time for the death of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) drew near, he reclined on the Mother of Believers ‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) asking his Lord to join him with the companions and they are the prophets, the virtuous people, the martyrs, and the righteous

صحيح البخاري, ترقيم محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي, دار طوق النجاة, الطبعة الأولى، 1422هـ. صحيح مسلم, ترقيم محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي, دار إحياء التراث العربي, بيروت. شرح رياض الصالحين لابن عثيمين, دار الوطن للنشر، الرياض, الطبعة: 1426هـ. بهجة الناظرين شرح رياض الصالحين لسليم الهلالي, دار ابن الجوزي. نزهة المتقين شرح رياض الصالحين، لمجموعة من الباحثين, مؤسسة الرسالة, الطبعة الرابعة عشر, 1407ه. الاستذكار لابن عبد البر, ت: سالم محمد عطا، محمد علي معوض, دار الكتب العلمية, الطبعة الأولى، 1421ه.

‎‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) tells that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and ‎blessings be upon him) died while leaning against her chest, and that when his soul departed his ‎body, it smelled like the best scent she has ever smelled.‎

- مسند الإمام أحمد بن حنبل، تحقيق: شعيب الأرنؤوط - عادل مرشد، وآخرون، نشر: مؤسسة الرسالة، الطبعة: الأولى، 1421هـ - 2001م. - النهاية في غريب الحديث والأثر، لابن الأثير، نشر: المكتبة العلمية - بيروت، 1399هـ - 1979م، تحقيق: طاهر أحمد الزاوى - محمود محمد الطناحي. - تاج العروس من جواهر القاموس، للزبيدي، نشر: دار الهداية. - معجم اللغة العربية المعاصرة، للدكتور أحمد مختار عبد الحميد عمر بمساعدة فريق عمل، الناشر: عالم الكتب، الطبعة: الأولى، 1429 هـ - 2008 م.

When ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) washed the body of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) he went on looking for things that are usually looked for on the deceased like urine, excrement, and the like. Such things usually come out of the corpse as a result of joints’ relaxation. Nevertheless, ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) found nothing. So, he said: May my father be sacrificed for you, you are the pure one; you were pure when alive and you are pure when dead.

- سنن ابن ماجه، تحقيق: محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي، نشر: دار إحياء الكتب العربية - فيصل عيسى البابي الحلبي. - حاشية السندي على سنن ابن ماجه، لمحمد بن عبد الهادي التتوي نور الدين السندي، الناشر: دار الجيل – بيروت. - معجم اللغة العربية المعاصرة، للدكتور أحمد مختار عبد الحميد عمر بمساعدة فريق عمل، الناشر: عالم الكتب، الطبعة: الأولى، 1429 هـ - 2008 م. - صحيح وضعيف سنن ابن ماجه, محمد ناصر الدين الألباني , برنامج منظومة التحقيقات الحديثية - من إنتاج مركز نور الإسلام لأبحاث القرآن والسنة بالإسكندرية.

The last time Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) saw the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was when he uncovered the curtain separating his house from the mosque. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saw the people praying in rows behind Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Upon noticing this, Abu Bakr thought that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to come out to lead the people in prayer. Therefore, he was about to step back to join the rows and make room for the Prophet. However, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gestured to the people, ordering them to stay as they were and to complete their prayer. Then he let the curtain fall and died at the end of that day, which was Monday.

- صحيح مسلم، تحقيق: محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي، نشر: دار إحياء التراث العربي – بيروت. - السنن الصغرى للنسائي "المجتبى"، تحقيق: عبد الفتاح أبو غدة، نشر: مكتب المطبوعات الإسلامية – حلب، الطبعة: الثانية، 1406ه – 1986م. - حاشية السندي على سنن ابن ماجه، لمحمد بن عبد الهادي التتوي نور الدين السندي، الناشر: دار الجيل – بيروت. - شرح سنن النسائي المسمى «ذخيرة العقبى في شرح المجتبى»، المؤلف: محمد بن علي بن آدم الإثيوبي الوَلَّوِي، الناشر: دار المعراج الدولية للنشر - دار آل بروم للنشر والتوزيع, الطبعة الأولى, 1416- 1424.