Everyone knows the prophet died of illness, and many say it was due to poison. Some say it was poison he consumed during te Battle of Khaybar three years earlier, but there are some serious doubts about that theory.
Another theory suggests Aisha may have poisoned him.
This lecture digs into the evidence for and against these theories, focusing primarily on sunni sources.
Podcast version: podcast.lifeofprophetmuhammad.com
In his last days, knowing death was imminent, Prophet Muhammad called his uncle Abbas and Imam Ali. He asked his uncle to carry out his will and settle his affairs after the prophet’s death. When the uncle demured, the prophet asked Imam Ali, who accepted. The Prophet also gave Imam Ali his sword, battle gear, and ring.
Three days before his passing, the prophet went to the masjid and asked if anyone had a grievance against him, and offered to let them seek retribution. A man stepped forth saying that the prophet had accidentally hit him on the stomach once. The prophet said he could seek whatever retribution eh wanted. The man asked the prophet to remove his shirt and then kissed the prophet on his stomach.
At one point Ammar bin Yasir asked the Prophet how his ghusul and burial should be conducted, and the propeht replied that it would be done by “Ali ibn Abi Talib, for no part of my body will he touch without the angels aiding him in doing so”
Another time, when the prophet was weak, he woke up from sleep and asked for “my brother and companion.” Aisha said to summon Abu Bakr, when when the prophet woke up again saw him sitting there he turned away from the man. After Abu Bakr’s departure the prophet again asked for “my brother and companion.” Usman’s daughter Umm Salma had Usman summoned, yet he received the same treatment fromt the prophet. When the prophet called for “my brother and companion” a third time, Imam Ali was summoned and the Prophet spoke to him privately for a long time.
When asked what they spoke about, Imam Ali replied “He taught me a thousand doors (of knowledge) and each door opens a thousand more. He also entrusted me with responsibilities that, God willing, I will fulfil”
Podcast version: podcast.lifeofprophetmuhammad.com
In these last few days, many of the companions explicitly disregarded the prophet’s instructions in order to secure political power after his demise. The prophet had attempted to prevent their schemes by instructing many of the senior companions to leave Medina with Usama ibn Zayd, so that Imam Ali could assume leadership without interference, but many delayed and made excuses.
Some hypocrites were known, but others were skilled at hiding their hypocrisy as proven by the failed assassination attempt.
In the even known as “The Calamity of Thursday”, while Prophet Muhammad lay on his death bed he decided to take an extra step to explicitly document the his successor and asked for something to write to leave a message “after which you’ll never go astray.”
However, a group of companions who were around him at the time, including Umar, realized that the prophet was planning to document his succession plan and started to strongly object and shout, prompting Prophet Muhammad to order them to leave.
The lecture analyzes the various Sunni sources which indicate that the opposition group, which Umar was part of, started saying prophet was “going insane.”
The fact that these people were willing to sling mud on the prophet’s sanity showed to the prophet the futility of writing down his will later. If he were to do so, those people would cast the same aspersions on the prophet’s will, casting doubts on his sanity during every instance where he designated Imam Ali as his successor. This could be potentially stretched back all the way to revelation, and the spread of such slander would put people’s belief in Islam itself at risk.
Podcast version: podcast.lifeofprophetmuhammad.com
The Prophet’s death was impending, and he had commanded all his companions to join Usama ibn Zayd’s army to go fight the Romans. Usama was a young man, and many companions chaffed at being put under the leadership of something that age. The prophet, while sick, had to rebuke them to send them back to the army.
Despite his illness, the Prophet would still go lead prayer at the masjid. After the prayer he summoned some sahaba who were supposed to have left with Usama, including Abu Bakr and Umar asking “Why have you delayed obeying my order?” and heard back feeble answers in response. He scolded them, repeatning the instruction to join the army.
Another day, the Prophet was too ill to lead salaat, and Aisha and Hafsa each suggested their fathers, Abu Bakr and Umar, lead the salaat instead. The Prophet realized those men were still in town and that these two women were eager to promote their own fathers. He scolded the two saying “Stop, for you are like the female companions of Yusuf”
The Abu Bark and Umar containued to stay in Medina until the Prophet’s demise, ignoring his orders to leave.
Podcast version: podcast.lifeofprophetmuhammad.com
With the success of Islam, now multiple people started popping up and claiming to be Prophets.
They included:
– Musaylimah al-Kazzab: a Yemeni who had accepted Islam in the year 10AH. He claimed to have been sent revelation giving him dominion ofer half the earth while (as per him) Prophet Muhammad was supposed to rule the other half. Tribal fanaticism in his area granted him a following, with supporters saying “A liar from [us] is more beloved to us than a truthful man from the [the Prophet’s tribe].” He was killed during the Riddah wars during Abu Bakr’s reign, continuing to be a threat to Muslims until then.
– Al Aswad ibn Ka’b Al-‘Ansi: A magician used to captivating and manipulating people. After Imam Ali had left Yemen for hajj he took advantage of the power vacuum to promte himself as a leader and even claimed prophetic authority to the new converts. Some of the prophet’s companions, seeing the threat he posed, organized a plan to eliminate him. He was killed on the eve of the Prophet’s death.
– Tulayha ibn Kuled bin Nufal al Asdi: A tribal leader from Banu Asad who saw a chance to claim prophethood. His declaration appealed to those who didn’t want to be under the authority of someone from Quraysh. He lived past the Prophet’s death and his movement became very strong, lasting til the reign of Umar.
Lessons from the rise of false prophets:
– **Jealousy blinds**: Musaylima nd Tulayha rose because of tribal jealousy instead of a genuine belief in their message. This can happen at individual or community levels, when we fell tribal about our masjid/community, and can cloud our judgement and make us violate basic Islamic teachings
– **Chasrima can be deceptive**: Al-Aswad used his skills as a magician to captivate and manipulate people. Charismatic individuals can amass large followings and wield influence that threatens established social structures. We must evaluate leaders based on their character.
– **Fight deception with clarity**: The Prophet rejected Musaylima’s proposition (to rule half the earth) and labeled him “the liar”, making his stance clear to the community. Unambiguous responses like this are crucial when dealing with false claims or deceptive individuals who can mislead others
– **Beware opportunists during crises**: Power hungery people take advantage of a community’s moment of vulnerability. They exploted this to assert themselves, hoping to get the uncertain followers. In times of crisis, be aware of opportunists emerging.
Podcast version: podcast.lifeofprophetmuhammad.com
After Prophet Muhammad declared Ali ibn Abi Talib’s successorship, the angel Gabriel descended with an extension of the verse Quran 5:3, adding “today I have perfected your religion for you, and I have completed my blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam as your religion”, showing that there’s a version of Islam that’s perfected and a version that’s incomplete.
After the kutba, the people were commanded to pledge allegiance to Imam Ali, and the prophet instructed them to greet him with the title Commander of the Faithful.
The Prophet instructed Ali to sit in a tent across from his own tent and ordered the Muslims to enter in groups to congratulate him and refer to him with the new title. This process took three days, and included the Muajirun, Ansar, outling Arab tribes, and the prophet’s wives.
By requiring the Muslim community to personally greet Ali with the new title, the Prophet legitimized Imam Ali’s position and left no room for doubt in the mind of anyone present.
Many sources say the companions of the prophet came to Imam Ali and congratulated him on the leadership. The first to address him was Umar ibn Al-Khattab, saying “O Ali, you have become my master and the master of every momin and momina”
After the three days had passed in Ghadir, a man from the tribe of Banu Makhzum (a staunch enemy of the prophet) arrived and said “O Muhammad, I wish to ask you about three matters…” and he asked if the shahadah, if the laws of islam, and if Ali’s successorship was from the prophet or from Allah. When the prophet replied that they were all from Allah, the man became very angry and said “Oh Allah, if Muhammad is truthful then blast me with fire” and within minutes he was struck by lightning.
Podcast version: podcast.lifeofprophetmuhammad.com
Prophet Muhammad was worried about people rebelling against him if he announced Imam Ali as his successor, so he delayed following the message to formalize his succesorship as long as he was allowed to.
The wisdom of this showed by how during the hajj. Some companions of the Prophet had suspected the Prophet would announce Imam Ali as his successor at hajj and whenever the prophet would give a sermon that veered towards this topic, they would become agitative and make noise in order to derail the announcement.
After the hajj, the Muslims started travelling back towars their home towns, with the Yemenis going south, and the Meccans remaining behind in Mecca, while the prophet and others went north to Medina. At this time Gabriel once again conveyed Allah’s command to the Prophet to announce his successor and this time also promised His protection. Perphaps after the groups had split the munafiqeen were in too small a number to cause any trouble, and Prophet Muhammad announced Imam Ali as his successor.
Podcast version: podcast.lifeofprophetmuhammad.com
In the last months of the prophet’s life, Gabriel descended to the prophet conveying a message from Allah: “There remain two obligations that you must convey to your people: the obligation of Hajj, and the obligation of Wilayah (the guardianship and succession) after you. For indeed, I have never left My earth without a proof, and I will never leave it without one.” The Prophet had often spoken about Imam Ali’s unique rank, but hadn’t formalized his succession in front of a large audience.
Prophet Muhammad ordred all who could to join him in his Hajj, about 70-124,000 people joined, and sent a message to Imam Ali, who was still in Yemen, to also join with his men.
When nearing Mecca, Imam Ali rushed ahead to meet the Prophet, leaving Abu Rafi al-Qibti in charge of the men. When Imam Ali returned he saw that for their Ihram those men had put on the fine Yemeni fabrics, a khums collected from Yemen. Imam Ali reprimanded them and ordered them removed and repacked immediately. While this was the just course of action, this disciplining would natrually lead to tension being created between him and his troops.
After the they all returned to Mecca, Imam Ali was praying in the sacred mosquen when a begger entered and asked for charity. Without interrupting his prayer, from ruku Imam Ali extendeded his hand and offered his ring to the beggar. At this moment some companions were with the prophet as the verse was revealed “Your guardian is only Allah, his Prophet, and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give charity while bowing down.”
During hajj, the prophet often emphasized the two weightly things he was leaving behind: the Quran and the Ahlul Bayt. During this time Allah repeatedly instructed the prophet to make his succession announcement, but concerns about the potential backlash from some companions kept Prophet Muhammad from doing so until Allah sent a promise of protection.
The Prophet’s concern about backlash from his companions foreshadowed the opposition Imam Ali would later encounter.
Podcast version: podcast.lifeofprophetmuhammad.com
Line breaks no longer need an extra gap
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Podcast version: podcast.lifeofprophetmuhammad.com
Prophet Muhammad sent a mission to Yemen to invite them to Islam. The first mission was led by Khalid ibn Al-Walid, who was a harsh man who had fought against the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud, but he had an aristrocratic background and by making him feel valued Prophet Muhammad had hoped to turn him into a productive member of the Muslim community.
However once in Yemen, instead of following the prophetic principles of dawah Khalid hastily resorted to violence. The Tribe of Numayr, feeling threatened, sent a delegation to the Prophet in Medina to ask for protection from Khalid.
The Prophet sent Imam Ali to Yemen to do damage control and instructed Khalid’s men to follow him instead. While sending Imam Ali he gave him various bits of advice, emphasizing the need to display wisdom, to soften people’s hearts, and to remain upright.
The prophet emphasized the importance of avoiding bloodshed if possible, to the point where he said to not even engage in battle unless they kill one of your men first, and to even then first give them a chance to repent.
Podcast version: podcast.lifeofprophetmuhammad.com