When Islam reached the pinnacle of perfection, these words were sent down by Allah: ‘Today I have perfected your religion for you, and I have completed my blessing on you, and I have approved Islam for your religion.’[1] The Messenger of Allah (SAW) had conveyed the message truthfully, he had fulfilled the trust placed in him and had striven for Allah as he should. Allah had delighted His Prophet when people entered Islam in throngs. At this stage, Allah gave His Prophet permission to leave this world and the hour of meeting drew near. Allah announced:
‘When comes the help of Allah and victory and you see people entering into the religion of Allah in throngs, then glorify the praise of your Lord and ask His forgiveness. He is Ever-turning.’ [2]
As the Easter Vacation approaches many Muslims will have questions regarding the holiday’s significance. Thankfully, information regarding Christian perspectives on the prophet Isa’s (pbuh) death are widely and readily available for the public to access. Although the story of Isa (pbuh) is an incredibly noble and inspiring story, we should still be able to look beyond the supposed events that occurred when Christian’s allege Isa’s death. As Muslims we have the example of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) which guides our perspectives on events like Easter. So, what lessons can we learn from one of the most monumental moments in the history of mankind, the death of the prophet Muhammad? (SAW)
The Messenger (SAW) of Allah was taken ill shortly before the end of Safar. During the night he had been to Baqi’ al-Gharqad, a cemetery in Madinah now called al-Baqi’, to pray for the dead. The following morning he became ill.
His pain increased. Then, in the house of Maymunah, he called his wives and asked them to permit him to be nursed in A’ishah’s house. All of them agreed. He came out walking between two men of his family, Fadl ibn Abbas and Ali ibn Abi Talib. His head was bandaged and his feet were dragging as he entered A’ishah’s house.The Messenger (SAW) of Allah had ordered Usamah ibn Zayd ibn Harithah to lead an expedition to Syria, commanding him to take the cavalry to the borders of al-Balqa’ and ad-Darun in Palestine.Many of the leading Muhajirun and Ansar were in his army, the most eminent being Umar ibn al-Khattab. The Prophet’s illness took a serious turn when the army was at the border of al-Jurf. After his death, Abu Bakr (R.A.) sent forward the army under Usamah (R.A.) in order to carry out the Prophet’s last wishes and to fulfill what he had wanted.
During his illness, the Messenger (SAW) of Allah told the Muslims to offer hospitality to the delegations in the way that he had and to be generous with their gifts to them. They should not allow two religions to co-exist but should expel the idol-worshippers from the Arabian Peninsula.
One day while he was ill, a group of Muslims gathered in A’ishah’s house. The Messenger (SAW) of Allah welcomed them and prayed for their guidance on the right path, their victory and their success. He said,
‘I advise you to fear Allah and I pray for Allah to watch over you. I am a clear warner to you from Him. Do not be arrogant where Allah’s servants and habitations are concerned. Allah has said to me and to you, “That is the Last Abode; We appoint it for those who desire not exorbitance in the earth, nor corruption. The ultimate issue is to the God-fearing.’[3]
and
‘is there not in Jahannam a lodging for those who are proud!’ [4]
The pain was hard for the Messenger (SAW) of Allah to bear. He asked, ‘Have the people prayed? Those with him answered, ‘No, they are waiting for you, Messenger (SAW) of Allah.’
He said, ‘Pour some water into a basin for me.’ When they took it to him, he washed and tried to get up, but he fainted. When he regained consciousness, he asked, ‘Have the people prayed?’ ‘No, they are waiting for you, Messenger (SAW) of Allah. ‘Pour some water into a basin for me. He washed again and tried to get up, but once again he fainted. When he regained consciousness, he asked, ‘Have the people prayed?’ Once more he was told, ‘No, they are waiting for you, Messenger (SAW) of Allah. He again said, ‘Pour some water into a basin for me. He washed and struggled to get up, but once more he fainted. When he came to he asked, ‘Have the people prayed?’ ‘No, they are waiting for you, Messenger (SAW) of Allah.
The people were sitting quietly in the mosque waiting for the Messenger (SAW) of Allah to lead the ‘Isha’ prayer. However, he sent for Abu Bakr to lead it instead. Abu Bakr, a tender-hearted man, said, “Umar, you lead the prayer!’
Umar replied, ‘You are more qualified to do it.’ So Abu Bakr led the people in prayer during that period.
When the Messenger (SAW) of Allah felt better he went out for the Zuhr prayer supported by two men, al-Abbas and Ali ibn Abi Talib. When Abu Bakr saw him arrive, he began to move back but the Messenger (SAW) of Allah motioned to him not to move. He asked al-Abbas and Ali to seat him by Abu Bakr who prayed standing while the Messenger (SAW) of Allah prayed sitting.
Sitting on the mimbar with his head bandaged the Messenger (SAW) of Allah said, ‘Allah gave one of His slaves the choice between this world or that which is with Him. His Slave chose that which is with Allah.’ Abu Bakr realised that the Messenger (SAW) of Allah was referring to himself and broke into tears, saying, ‘We will ransom you with ourselves and our sons.
Abu Bakr led the Muslims in prayer until the Monday morning. While the Muslims performed the Fair prayer, the Prophet lifted up the curtain of A’ishah’s door and gazed at them standing before their Lord. He saw the fruits of his efforts to call people to Islam and jihad and Allah knew how happy he was. His face was beaming with joy.
The Companions Said, ‘He lifted the curtain of A’ishah’s room and stared at us while he was standing there. It was as if his face was an open page of the Qur’an; he smiled and we were put to the test by getting carried away with our delight. We thought he might be coming out to the prayer but he indicated to us to finish it. He then pulled the curtain down. That was the day on which he died.’
One of the last pronouncements of the Messenger (SAW) of Allah was, ‘May Allah fight the Jews and Christians! They turned the graves of their Prophets into places of worship. Two religions should not remain in the land of the Arabs.’
A’ishah and Ibn Abbas said, ‘When the Messenger (SAW) of Allah was ill, he drew up his cloak over his face. When he was distressed, he uncovered his face and while he was like that, he said, “May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians who turned the graves of their Prophets into places of worship.” He was warning the Muslims against that practice.’
When the Messenger (SAW) of Allah was close to death, he repeated, ‘Be careful of prayer and those in your charge.’ Then his breast began to heave and his speech became inaudible.
Ali said, ‘The Messenger (SAW) of Allah commended the prayer and zakat to Muslims and to be generous to those in their charge.’ A’ishah said: ‘When he had his fatal illness I started reciting al-Mu’awwidhatayn as he used to do when he was ill. He raised his eyes to the Heaven and said: “With the Highest Companion, with the Highest Companion”.’
She added: ‘just at that moment, Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr came in with a small, green, freshly-cut twig in his hand. The Messenger (SAW) of Allah looked at it and I thought that he wanted to use it as a miswak. I took it and chewed it to make it soft and pliable, then I handed it to him. He rubbed his teeth with it thoroughly. Then just as he tried to hand it back to me it fell from his hand.’
She also said, ‘In front of him was a small pot of water. He dipped his hand into it and wiped his face, saying, “There is no god but Allah. Verily there are pangs of death.” Then he raised his forefinger and began to say, “The Highest Companion, the Highest Companion!” until he died and his hand slipped into the water.’
A’ishah described his last moments: ‘The Messenger (SAW) of Allah was ill and his head rested on my thigh. He fainted and then regained consciousness and looked up at the ceiling. He said, “O Allah, the Highest Companion.” Those were the last words that the Messenger (SAW) of Allah spoke.’
When the Messenger (SAW) of Allah left this world, he controlled the entire Arabian Peninsula and kings feared him. Yet he left not a dinar or dirham, not a male or female slave, nothing except his white mule, some weapons and a piece of land he had already given away as sadaqah, charity.
His armour had been pawned with a Jew for thirty sa’s of barley. He had been unable to find anything with which to redeem it before he died. During his illness, the Messenger (SAW) of Allah set free forty slaves. He asked A’ishah to give away as sadaqah the six or seven dinars she was keeping for him.
A’ishah has related, ‘When the Messenger (SAW) of Allah died, there was nothing in the house that a living creature could eat except a little barley on a shelf. It lasted for a long time until I weighed it and then it finished.’
The Messenger (SAW) of Allah died on Monday, 12 Rabi’ al-Awwal, 11 A.H. in the heat of the afternoon. He was sixty-three years old. It was the darkest, hardest and most difficult day for the Muslims and an affliction for mankind just as his birth had been the happiest day on which the sun ever rose.
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Well I never!
I’m shocked by the tone and harshness of the reactions from commentors of this article. Its shocking that fellow Muslims would react in such a way at an effort from another Muslim! Its one thing to disagree with the article or give your own view but to speculate on ones level of eman and suggest the writer is leading us up the wrong path is shocking! I think we all need to revert back to the mannerisms and teachings of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalaam, because when he advised others, he did so in a way that they would want to take his advice and change. Most of the comments above are just offensive. If you think you can write a better article-submit one. Wasalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu. A shocked sister in Islam
wrong title?
I have often found emails in my inbox with incorrect headings, whether they are done purposely or not, it needs to be sorted out! if the heading is Easter Good Friday then please make sure the article is actually in relation to that!
Easter
You really should have proved with quranic quotations, about the true story of Prophet Isa (a.s.) When God says he was not crucified, how can he rise and therefore there is no sense in Easter. Have you read Ahmed Deedat’s article on ‘crucifixtion or crucifiction’. If you havent you should and then you can write more on the topic of easter, rather than taking your readers on a ride. We expected better from such a good site. Easter is a huge pagan festival and you are talking about the noble prophet being dragged to aisha’s house. Two strong men would have been able bodied to carry him if need be.
Easter
You really should have proved with quranic quotes the true story about Isa (a.s). Instead you led the readers up the wrong path. According to Quran, Prophet Isa was never crucified, so where does the question of rising come up and easter. You really brother are in a sorry state of imaan.
Quran says that Jesus was not killed nor crucified, but it follows conjectures. The sentence structure is like that there is no god but god. The meaning is that the killing/crucification that admittedly happened had followed conjectures. To understand the conjectures, please refer to the Bible, which says that the killing on behalf of human beings had the effect of following sacrificial goats to save the child from the hell of fire as defined in al-aqeequh in Islam. In one translaion put forth by Ahmediya Community, , it reads that the Jews could not convert the conjectures into the reality (which is true till date, as they could not understand the effects of God’s sacrifice behind the killing/crucification.) Surah 10:94 says that people should refer to the People of the Book (Torah and Gospel) to clarify any doubts/conjectures.
Disappointed
I expected an article about Easter. Instead, I just got a sugar-coated and biased retelling of the last moments of Prophet Muhammed (SAW) without any real details. The only worthwhile thing about this article is that it mentions one of the rare miracles of the Prophet in the second to last paragraph. There are many examples of such miracles from the life of the Prophet where seemingly small amounts of foodstuffs would provide indefinitely until they were measured or people got greedy/curious as to how it worked then it would finish.
I am having difficulty understanding why a person confident in his religious beliefs would find the need to mock the beliefs of several billion other inhabitants of the planet. Of course pre-Christian peoples adapted pre-existing cultural practices to their newly adopted religion. Does anyone think the same kind of thing did not happen with Islam? What are the historical origins for the Kaaba, for example?
Thank you previous reviewer
I have taken your comment above and passed it around.. thank you for teaching me something new. I always knew Easter had pagan origins but thought it had to do more with spring solstice and nawruz.. this certainly puts it all in perspective
Ashto Eth (Easter Egg) for your information. It contradicts Christian faith.
Should Christians use the ‘E’ word? What does the term Easter mean? In the Old Testament times the Bible talks about Ashtoreth and Baal worship in I Kings 11:5-6, “For Solomon went after Ashtoreth [Easter in english] the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.” Ashtoreth is the mother of Baal. The short form is Ashtar or Ishtar and the English form of the word is “EASTER”. Easter is nothing other than the mother of Baal and the celebration or worship of Ashtoreth is forbidden in the Old Testament Scriptures. Look at the Scriptures in Judges 2:13-14, “And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtoroth. And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel…” Easter is Ashtoreth (easter Egg)! Pray for the many who are deceived by this system! “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you (Matthew 24:4).