The Mission of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, his migration and death.
By Sheikh Mohammed Al-Saaleh Al-Uthaymeen.

The Sermon (Khutbah)

In what is to follow: O people, fear Allah and Praise the Lord for what He bestowed upon you in the mission of this noble Prophet, through whom Allah brought you out of darkness into the light and guided you from erring, and restored your sight from blindness and led you out of error, so Praise is due to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.

Allah sent him after a break in the series of apostles, in his early forties, so revelation came to him while meditating inside the cave of Hera, that is the cave which is on the top of the mountain called the Mountain of Light, north-east of Mecca on the right hand side. The first of what was revealed to him, His saying: “Recite in the name of your Lord who created, created man from a clot of blood. Recite and your Lord is Most Bountiful, He Who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not [Al Alaq:1-5]. Khadija then went in his company to Waraqa bin Nawfal, who had embraced the religion of the Christians and knew the Gospel. The Prophet informed him of what had happened to him from the revelation. Waraqa then said: Would that I be young, would that I be still alive when your people expel you from it [the city of Makkah], the Prophet said: (expelling me, they are?); he ruled out that his people may oust him from his country. He added: Yes, no man has ever come up with what you came up with, but made enemies, and if reaches me your day, I will surely support you to your irrefutable victory.


Then Allah Almighty sent down revelation to His Messenger following a period of discontinuity: " O you wrapped up (in the cloak), arise and deliver your warning, and your Lord do magnify, and your garments keep free from stain, and all abomination shun”. [AL Muddaththir :1-5]. So he heeded his Lord’s order; he preached and warned, and among the first respondent from outside his household was Abu Bakr, who was a friend of his before his prophecy, so when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called him, he took the initiative of putting his trust in him, and said: by my father and my mother, you are worthy of trust, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah, and became from among the advocates of Islam at that time, then at his hands Othman bin Affan, Zubair bin Awam, Abdul Rahman bin Auf, Saad bin Abi Waqas, Talha bin Obeid-Allah, Allah bless them, all embraced Islam.

He waited on to call the people in secret until the word of Allah came down: “Therefore expound openly what you art commanded, and turn away from the idolaters”. So he heeded the command of Almighty Allah and called out openly. The Quraish set upon mocking him, ridiculing him and offending him in words and deeds. The harshest of people in harassing and mocking him his uncle Abu Lahab, in whom Allah said: “Perish the hands of Abu Lahab and perish he” [Al Masad: 1]... to the last of the Chapter. They kept on harming him to the point of throwing camel’s dung and afterbirth on him while prostrating. No one dared to remove them, so he remained prostrating until his daughter Fatima came and threw them away. When the Prophet saw the contempt of the Quraish and the severity of abuse to him and his companions, he went out to the people of Taif to call them [to the religion]. He met their leaders and proposed to them. They gave an ugly response to his proposal and sent their servants and those of weak understanding to stand in his face and pelted him with stones, until they caused his heel to bleed. He fled from their onslaught and extended his hands in prayer to his Lord, uttering the famous Taif supplication:


(O Allah, to you I complain of the feebleness of my strength, of my lack of resources and of my being unimportant in the eyes of people. O most Merciful of all those capable of showing mercy, you are the Lord of the weak, and you are my own Lord. To whom are you to entrust me; to an unsympathetic folk who would sullenly frown at me, or to an alien to whom you have given control over my affairs? Not in the least do I care for anything except that I may have your protection for myself. I seek shelter in your light - The light that illuminates the heavens and dispels all sorts of darkness, and which controls all affairs in this work as well as in the hereafter. May it never be that I should incur your wrath, or that you should be displeased with me. I must remove the cause of your displeasure until you are pleased, and there is no strength nor power but through you."),


Then Allah brought about the Ansar (the supporters) and they gave him their allegiance to worship Allah alone with no partner to him and to protect him if he came to them, from what they would protect their wives and their children. So Allah gave His permission to His Messenger to emigrate to them. So he emigrated in the month of Rabiaa Al-Awwal after thirteen years of the beginning of his mission. Abu Bakr was in his company, and the two hid in the cave Thor for three days, while the idolaters were seeking them at all levels, until they came closer to the cave sheltering the Messenger of Allah and Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr says: "O Messenger of Allah, if someone looked down to his foot he would see us; the Messenger of Allah then says: (do not despair, Allah is with us! What is your thought about two, when Allah is their third?). When the Ansar heard of the news of his coming, they made out everyday to an exposed rocky spot in Medina to receive the Messenger of Allah, until the heat of the afternoon disperses them. The day the Messenger of Allah came to them was the brightest and noblest day. They gathered surrounding the Messenger of Allah brandishing out their swords. Women and children came out to gather, and everyone taking the she camel of the Messenger of Allah by the leads, wanting to host him, while he says: make way for her the she-camel, she is under command. When the she-camel came to the site of his Mosque today, she kneeled. He mentioned that he did not dismount, so she stood and walked not far, then went back to her previous kneeling ground and kneeled, then moved slightly and finally stayed comfortably stretching down her neck. The Messenger of Allah then dismounted and stayed at the house of Abu Ayub Al-Ansari until such a time when he built a Mosque and his dwellings. Then Allah authorised him to fight his enemies, those who would hinder people from the path of Allah and would seek in it something crooked: these were they who denied the hereafter".

So, Allah granted him prevail over them and supported him with His victory and to the believers, and when Allah completed through him the Religion and achieved through him grace on the believers, Allah chose him to be at His side; to join the Supreme Companion, among the Prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the righteous.

His illness started in the last month of Safar and the first month of Rabiaa Al-Awwal, he went out to the people head-banded, went up the rostrum and pronounced the declaration of faith. The first thing he spoke of, after that, was seeking forgiveness for the martyrs who were killed in Uhud, and then said: (A servant from among the servants of Allah was given a choice between this world and what Allah has, he chose what Allah has), Abu Bakr understood this statement; he wept and said: by my father and my mother, we redeem you with our fathers, our mothers, our children, ourselves and our money. The Prophet said: take it easy, O Abu Bakr, then said: "The one with most favours on me among people, through his companionship and wealth, is Abu Bakr, and if I were to take a close friend apart from my Lord, I would have taken Abu Bakr, but only the close friendship of Islam and its love.”, after which he ordered Abu Bakr to lead people in prayer. When it was Monday the twelfth or thirteenth of the month of Rabiaa Al-Awwal of the eleventh year of emigration (11 A.H.), the Prophet met his Creator (i.e he passed away). When death came near, he began plunging his hand in water at his side, wiping his face and saying: There is no god but Allah! Truly, death does have throes, then raised his gaze towards the sky and said: "O Allah, with the Supreme Companion."

People went into unrest following that, and rightly so, until Abu Bakr came and went up the pulpit. He glorified Allah and praised him, then said: In what is to follow; whoever used to worship Mohammad, Muhammad has died and those who worshiped Allah, Allah is alive and does not die, then recited: “Muhammad is no more than an apostle: many were the apostle that passed away before him. If he died or were slain, will you then turn back on your heels?” [Al-Imran: 144]. “Truly you will die (one day), and truly they (too) will die (one day)”. [Al-Zumar: 30]. People’s weeping became more `honour, shrouded and people prayed on him in groups without an Imam, and then buried on Wednesday eve, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan: “Muhammad is no more than an apostle: many were the apostle that passed away before him. If he died or were slain, will you then turn back on your heels? If any did turn back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah. But Allah (on the other hand) will swiftly reward those who (serve Him) with gratitude.” [Al-Imran: 144]. “Nor can a soul die except by Allah's leave, the term being fixed as by writing. If any do desire a reward in this life, We shall give it to him; and if any do desire a reward in the Hereafter, We shall give it to him. And swiftly shall We reward those that (serve us with) gratitude.” [Al-Imran: 145].

May Allah bless me and you by virtue of the Holy Quran.

 

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