بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
Aisha, Allah be very pleased with her, said: my head hurts! my head hurts! Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, responded to that: "Rather it is me who should say my head hurts." The Prophet was having a severe headache and a severe fever. When one of the companions put his hands on the Prophet, he had to withdraw his hands because of the intense heat and it was very uncomfortable to touch the body of the Prophet because of the fever. He said: "You are going through very severe illness", and the Prophet said: "Yes that is because we the Prophets suffer double the suffering than everyone else." Allah put them through tougher tests because Allah loves them and because they are stronger, greater and better.
One day the Prophet wanted to go to the masjid to give covenant to the people. So he asked to gather 7 different buckets of water from 7 different wells. The water was poured on his body to cool him down from the heat of the fever. He was then carried to the masjid, his head was wrapped because of the headache; he had to lean on one of the sons of al-Abbas and Ali, Allah be very pleased with fathers and sons, to take him to the masjid. His feet was dragging on the ground because he could not lift them up. He went to the masjid and gave nasiha and mentioned the shuhada of Uhud and asked Allah to forgive them. Just prior to his illness, he went to al Baqia cemetery to ask Allah to forgive those who died in alBaqia. This shows the loyalty, love and remembrance he had for them. His du'a also showed his concerns for his ummah.
He was still going around to the houses of his wives but then eventually it was becoming difficult for him. He was carried to the house of Aisha and the other wives agreed to allow him to remain in Aisha's house and Aisha tended to him.
Usama ibn Zayd (son of Zayd, Prophet's beloved "son" and Umm Ayman, the Abyssinian lady who took care of the Prophet's mother and remained in the Prophet's household for most of his life from his birth), Allah be very pleased with them all, and the Muslims were camping outside of Madina and when they heard the news of the Prophet, they came back. Usama narrated that the Prophet was too ill that he could not speak but he raised his hands up and pointed towards him and he understood that he was making du'a for him. This shows how much the Prophet loved Usama and even in times of his suffering he remembered to make du'a for him.
The Prophet was too sick and could not go out and lead the salat. He ordered Abu Bakr to lead the salat. Narrated by Anas, it was Monday when the Muslims were lining up for salat, the Prophet took a look at us and he was standing up as if his face was a page out of a book, as if his face was part of the moon and then Prophet smiled laughing, it was almost going to be a fitnah for us because of our happiness of seeing the Prophet (they thought he was getting better)--it was so much joy and Abu Bakr was almost coming back but the Prophet asked Abu Bakr to pray in his place. This was the last thing the Prophet saw of his ummah--they were in salatul jama'ah. This is the sight that pleases the Prophet. When he uncovered that curtain he saw the fruits of his efforts--the Muslims were lining up in salat, the most important deed in Islam, and he smiled in happiness!
Then the Prophet's condition declined rapidly. He has been ill for about 13 days, and he started going through the agony of the final moments of death (sakaratul maut). Aisha would soak a piece of cloth and he would wipe his face and said that there is agony in death. Prophet, the best of creation had to go through this. He was on her lap.
Aisha said: When the Prophet was in good health, he used to say, "Never does a prophet die unless he is shown his place in Paradise ( before his death ), and then he is made alive or given option." When the Prophet became ill and his last moments came while his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious, and when he came to his senses, he looked towards the roof of the house and then said, "O Allah! (Please let me be) with the highest companion." Thereupon I said, "Hence he is not going to stay with us? " Then I came to know that his state was the confirmation of the narration he used to mention to us while he was in good health."
Then the Prophet's head turned towards Aisha and she screamed. Aisha said, because of her foolishness, she screamed and yelled. Now the news was spreading around in Madinah like wildlfire. Omar and alMughirah, Allah be very pleased with them both, rushed into the room. Omar said the Prophet was unconscious but alMughirah said the Prophet is dead. When Omar heard that he said "You are a man of fitnah who wants to bring dissension. He will not die until he exterminated the hypocrites.
People crowded the masjid and everywhere was weeping. We cannot imagine how the news was felt by the companions because we didn't live with him. To the companions, the Prophet was the leader, father, advisor, teacher, everything. Omar said to them that the Prophet did not die and that he was unconscious like Musa became unconscious and that he will come back and he will kill all the hypocrites. He said, Whoever said he is dead I am going to cut off his head with the sword of mine. When the news reached Abu Bakr, Allah be very pleased with him, who was outside of Madinah at the time, he rushed back on his horse, did not speak to anyone. He came into the room of Aisha, uncovered the face of the Prophet. When he saw him he cried and he kissed him. He said: "You are pure when alive and you are pure when dead. Then he went to the masjid and told Omar to sit down and made the famous statement. Whoever used to worship Muhammad, Muhammad is dead and whoever used to worship Allah you know He is alive and will not die. He recited the verse:
"Muhammad is naught but a Messenger; Messengers have passed away before him. Why, if he should die or is slain, will you turn about on your heels? If any man should turn about on his heels, he will not harm God in any way; and God will recompense the thankful." Qur'an AleImaran 3:144
Omar realized that Prophet has indeed died. He collapsed. His feet could not carry him anymore. Omar, the strong and powerful man could not bear the news. The news was like an arrow that struck his heart. Everyone was reciting this ayah as if they heard it for the first time.
Umm Salamah, Allah be very pleased with her, said the women of the Prophet gathered in the house crying continuously but we had a little comfort that we could see the body of the Prophet until late night on Wednesday when we heard the digging of the grave of the Prophet. We all broke down and screamed and all of Madinah was in uproar. Now they know the body was going into the grave! When the body of the Prophet was descended into the grave, al-Mughirah threw his ring intentionally in the grave and asked to go down the grave to retrieve his ring. He went in to touch the body of the Prophet--he was the last person to touch the body of the Prophet. When the burial was done, Fatimah, Allah be very pleased with her, asked Anas, Allah be very pleased with him: Did your heart allowed you to throw dirt on the Prophet when he was buried?" Everything was very difficult on the ummah--the death, the washing, the burial.
That's why the Prophet said that when calamity befalls upon one of you remember the calamity of my death. The greatest calamity that can befall on the Muslims had already happened and whatever happened after that is small compared to the fact that the Prophet is not with us. When time of Fajr, Bilal, Allah be very pleased with him, made the adhan. When it came to "I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah," he could not continue.
The Prophet lived and died for his ummah. The Prophet was not attached to world. The world was so small in the eyes of the Prophet and it is also so small in eyes of Allah and he left it without leaving behind anything except a mule, weapons (used in jihad) and a piece of land for the benefit of the travelers. He left a lot of the enjoyment of the world for the sake of Islam coming to us. Everything that we know about Islam came to us through him and so how much do we owe to the Prophet? The least we could do in recognition for what he did for us is that we follow him and make salat and salawat upon him.
One day Abu Bakr and Omar decided to visit Umm Ayman. She started to cry and when they asked her why, she said because the revelation has stopped. SubhanAllah, how much do we treasure the Qur'an!
The best of all creation has died but his legacy remains--the Qur'an and his sunnah. While we probably can never feel the loss that the companions went through, we should at least try to love the Prophet by striving to embody his sunnah. Learn and review his seerah often and be concerned about the ummah like the Prophet concerned about us.
May Allah make us of those who truly love the Prophet, those who will follow his sunnah, those who will be raised up with him on Day of Judgment, those who will drink from his blessed hands and those who He will admit with him into Paradise. Ameen.
Wassalaam
