129. CHAPTER CONCERNING HOW THE PROPHET APPROACHED DEATH
Imam Ahmad narrated from ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ood: “I entered upon the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) while he was ill and I touched him. I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, indeed you are very ill.’ He said: ‘I feel the illness of two people from you.’ I replied: ‘You have two rewards.’ He said: ‘Yes by the One in Whose Hands is my soul, there is no Muslim on this Earth who is afflicted with hardship from illness and other than it except that Allah removes from him his sins just as a tree sheds its leaves’.”
‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: “I haven’t seen an illness of anyone more severe than the one of the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him).”
She also said: The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) died between my neck and chin, so I don’t hate the severity of death for anyone after I saw the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him).
In another Hadith it is said: The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The most severely tested of the people are the Prophets, then the righteous, then those similar to them, then those similar to them. The man is tested according to his religion, so if there is firmness in his religion then he will have a severe test upon him.”
Usamah Ibn Zaid narrated: “When the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) became ill, the people and I went to Madinah. I entered upon the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) and he became silent so he didn’t speak, then he began to raise his hands to the sky then put them on his face, I knew he was praying for me.”
Imam Malik mentioned in his Muwatta from Isma‘eel IbnAbu Hakeem that he heard ‘Umar Ibn Abdul-Aziz say that the last words which the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said were: “May Allah curse the Jews andChristians, they took the graves of their Prophets as mosques. Two religions will not remain in the land of the Arabs.” This is how he narrated it as a murasl Hadith (a Hadith which is a break in its chain between the Tabi‘ee and the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) ).
Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated from A’ishah and Ibn ‘Abbas that they said:
When death descended upon the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) he began to cast his sheet on his face. When he became grieved he removed it from his face then he said in that state: “May the curse of Allah be upon the Jews and the Christians, they took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship,” warning them from what they did (this is from the words of the narrator ‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her)).
Anas Ibn Malik narrated: The advice of the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) when death approached him was: “The prayer and that which your right hands own slaves,” to the extent that the Messenger of Allah’s (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) chest began to heave with it, and his tongue could hardly pronounce it.
Umm Salamah narrated: The advice of the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) at the time of his death was: “The prayer, the prayer and that which your right hands owns slaves,”until he would mumble itin his chest and histongue could not pronounce it.
‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) related from the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) that he said:“What truly makes it the suffering easy upon me, is that I saw the whiteness of the palm of ‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) in Paradise.” Only Ahmad narrated it and the chain is sound. This is an evidence for his strong love for ‘A’ishah (May Allahbe pleased with her), may Allah be pleased with her. People have mentioned many concepts for having strong love, and nobody reached this level. That is only because they over exaggerate with words that have no reality and these are certainly true words and there is no doubt about it.
‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) also narrated that she used to say: Verily, from the blessings of Allah upon me is that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) passed away on my day, in my house and between my chest and neck, and Allah indeed mixed my saliva with his at the time of death. She said: My brother entered upon me with a Siwak with him and I leaned the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) to my chest, then I saw him look at him. I knew that he liked Siwak, so I said: “Will I give it to you?” He nodded with his head, i.e. yes, so he placed it in his mouth. She said: And in front of him was a pot or container with water in it, then he began to place his hand into the water and wipe it on his face, then say: “There is no God deserving of worship except Allah, verily death has pains.” Then he raised his left index finger and began to say: “In the highest company,”until he was taken and his hand moved in the water.
‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: We used to say that the Prophet would never die until he was given a choice between this world and the hereafter. She said: When it was the time of the Messenger of Allah’s (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) illness that he died from, I heard him say: “And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger – those will be with the ones upon whom Allah bestowed favor of the Prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions.” (Soorah An-Nisa: 69) She said: So we thought he was given a choice between life and death.
‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) narrated: The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) used to say when he was well, “Verily, no prophet has been taken until he sees his place in Paradise then he is given a choice.” ‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: “When the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) became ill and his head was on my thigh he fell unconscious for a while. Thereafter, he recovered, then raised his eyes to the ceiling of the house and said: ‘O Allah, the high company,’ so I knew that it was the Hadith that he used to inform us of when he was well, ‘Verily, no prophet has been taken until he sees his place in Paradise then he is given a choice’.” ‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: “So I said: In that case do not choose us.” And ‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: “Those were the last words that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) pronounced: ‘O Allah, the highest companion (paradise) ’.”
‘Abbad Ibn ‘Abdullah Ibn Az-Zubair narrated that ‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) informed him that she heard the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) say, which she took heed of before he died while leaning on her chest: “Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me and add me with the presence of the Rafeeq (i.e. he yearned to meet Allah).”
‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) related: “The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) was taken while his head was between my chest and neck. She said: “When his soul exited, I never ever found a smell more pleasant than it.”
Umm Salamah narrated: “I placed my hand on the chest of the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) the day he died, then weeks passed by and I would eat and perform Wudu’ yet the smell of musk would not leave my hand.”
Abu Burdah said: “I entered upon ‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her), and she showed us a thick Izar (lower garment)which is made in Yemen and a Kisa’ (upper garment) which they call Al-Mulabbadah, then she said: “Verily the Messenger ofAllah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) was taken in these two garments.”
Yazeed Ibn Babanoos said: “My friend and I went to see ‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) and we asked permission to enter, so she threw a cushion to us and wore her Hijab. Thereafter, my friend said: ‘O Mother of the Believers, what do you say regarding Al-Irak?’ She replied: ‘What is Al-Irak?’ I hit my friend on the shoulder. She said: ‘What is this, you hurt your brother?’ and said: ‘Al-Irak is menstruation.’ Then, she said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him)
used to cover me and touch my head and between us was a garment while I was menstruating.’ Then she said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) used to pass my door and say a word that Allah would make beneficial. One day, he passed by and didn’t say anything, then he passed by again without saying anything – twice or three times – I said: ‘O maid, put a cushion for me at the door,’ and I tied my head. Then he passed by and said: ‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her), what is wrong with you?’So I replied I have a headache. He said: ‘My head,’ then he left and it was not long before he was carried in a cloth. Thereafter he entered upon me and sent to the women a message so he said: ‘Verily I am ill, and I am not able to visit you, so allow me to be with either ‘A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) or Safiyyah.’
“I had not nursed anyone before, so one day while his head was on my shoulder suddenly his head moved toward mine, I thought he wanted something from my head. His cold saliva dripped from his mouth and landed on my neck and my skin shivered from it. I thought he was unconscious so I wrapped a garment around him, then ‘Umar and Al-Mugheerah Ibn Shu‘bah came and asked permission so I allowed them to enter and put on my veil. ‘Umar looked at him and said: ‘His unconsciousness, the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him), passing out is so severe!’ Then they stood, and when they came close to the door, Al-Mugheerah said: ‘Umar, the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) has passed away.’ He replied: ‘You are mistaken; rather you are a man mixed with tribulation! Verily, the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) will not die until Allah eradicates the hypocrites.’ Then Abu Bakr came so I lifted the veil, thereafter he looked at him and said: ‘Indeed we belong to
Allah and unto him we will return, the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) has died.’ He came to his head, dropped his mouth and kissed his forehead and then he said: ‘My true friend!’ He lifted his head, lowered his mouth and kissed his forehead and said: ‘My close friend, the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) !’ He then went to the mosque while ‘Umar was addressing the people and saying: ‘Verily, the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings ofAllah be upon him) will not die until Allah eradicates the hypocrites.’ Abu Bakr then spoke by praising Allah and extolling Him, then he said: “Verily, Allah says: Indeed, you are to die, and indeed, they are to die (Soorah Az-Zumar: 30) until he completed the verse. 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 disbelief)? And he who turns back on his heels… (Soorah Aal Imran: 144) until he completed the Verse. So whoever used to worship let them know that Allah is truly Ever-Living, and whosoever worshipped Muhammad, then verily, Muhammad has indeed died.’ ‘Umar said: ‘Is it really in the Book of Allah? I did not notice that it was in the Book of Allah.’ ‘Umar then said: ‘O People, this is Abu Bakr, and he is the owner of the young Muslims, so pledge allegiance to him, so they pledged allegiance to him’.”
By: Ibn Katheer
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