Sirah

The Final Illness and the Passing

The chamber beside the Madinan mosque, Rabi' al-Awwal 11 AH

11 AH / 632 CE

Imagined 360° reconstruction of The Final Illness and the Passing

Educational historical reconstruction

Where

The chamber adjoining the Prophet's Mosque (Masjid an-Nabawi), Madinah

24.4672, 39.6111 · View on OpenStreetMap

Background

In the month of Safar and into Rabi' al-Awwal of the eleventh year after the Hijra (632 CE), the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) fell gravely ill with a fever, in the chamber of his wife 'A'isha (radiyallahu 'anha) that adjoined the mosque at Madinah. As the illness grew heavy, he directed that Abu Bakr (radiyallahu 'anhu) lead the people in the daily prayers in his place. Sahih al-Bukhari preserves the tender image of his final days: on the last morning, hearing the congregation at prayer, he drew aside the curtain of the chamber and looked out upon the rows of the believers standing in ordered worship; the narrators say his face brightened and he almost smiled at the sight, and that the people, seeing him, were nearly drawn from their prayer by joy, but he motioned them to continue and let the curtain fall (Sahih al-Bukhari 680, 681; the final-illness narrations, 4448). Later that day, a Monday of Rabi' al-Awwal, he passed away, his head resting against 'A'isha (radiyallahu 'anha), and he was buried in that same chamber where he died. The grief of the community was overwhelming; it was Abu Bakr (radiyallahu 'anhu) who steadied them, declaring that whoever had worshipped Muhammad should know that Muhammad had died, but whoever worshipped God should know that God is ever-living and never dies, and reciting the verse: 'Muhammad is but a messenger; messengers have passed away before him' (Q 3:144). With his passing the revelation was complete and the Sirah closed. This scene depicts only the place and the hush of that morning, the plain chamber, the drawn curtain, the low lamp, the rows of the faithful at prayer beyond, in the strictest reverence: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is not depicted in any form; the moment is conveyed entirely through the setting.

What you see

A small, plain mud-brick chamber opening directly onto the prayer hall of the first mosque, one of the modest rooms built against the mosque wall. Bare walls, an earthen floor, the simplicity of the earliest Madinah, with no ornament of any kind.

A curtain hangs across the threshold between the chamber and the mosque, drawn partly aside. By the report of this moment, the curtain was lifted so that the one within could look out upon the rows of the faithful at prayer, the curtain is the quiet centre of the scene.

Beyond the threshold, ranks of worshippers stand in prayer in hushed stillness, led from the front, for in these days the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had directed that Abu Bakr (radiyallahu 'anhu) lead the people in prayer. The congregation is calm, unaware this is among the last times they will be seen from that doorway.

A single low lamp lights the chamber against the dim of early day; the mood is grave and tender, a sickroom hush rather than any public event. Nothing dramatic is shown, only stillness, low light, and the drawn curtain.

The setting is unmistakably the first Prophet's Mosque in Madinah: palm-trunk columns and a frond roof over the prayer hall, the date-palms of the oasis beyond. No minaret, no dome, no later expansion, the austere mosque of the founding years.

It is the passing recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew aside the curtain, saw the community standing in ordered prayer, and was reassured; he returned within, and on that day, a Monday of Rabi' al-Awwal in the eleventh year, he passed away, and the Qur'an's words were recalled: 'Muhammad is but a messenger; messengers have passed away before him' (Q 3:144).

Primary sources

Sahih al-Bukhari (the final illness; the curtain drawn upon the praying rows, 680-681, 4448): The directing of Abu Bakr (RA) to lead the prayer, the last glimpse of the congregation through the curtain, and the passing. The primary, tender Sunni frame for the scene.

Sahih Muslim (the final illness narrations): Parallel Sunni reports of the last days, the prayer, and the passing in the chamber of 'A'isha (RA).

The Qur'an, Al 'Imran (3:144) and (3:185): 'Muhammad is but a messenger…' recalled by Abu Bakr (RA) at the passing, and 'every soul shall taste death'. Used for the meaning, not the scene.

Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (Ibn Ishaq recension): The Sirah narrative of the final illness, the passing, and the burial in 'A'isha's (RA) chamber.

Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya (14th c.): Standard Sunni harmonisation of the reports of the last days, the date (Monday, Rabi' al-Awwal 11 AH), and Abu Bakr's (RA) address.

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