Farewell Sermon
Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination
| This article or section is being renovated. Lead = 3 / 4
Structure = 3 / 4
Content = 3 / 4
Language = 3 / 4
References = 2 / 4
|
The Farewell Sermon (خطبة الوداع, Khuṭbatu l-Wadā') is purported to be the Prophet Muhammad's final sermon to his followers before his death in 632 CE. However like most elements of the Islamic tradition our sources for this are late, with the earliest mention coming from Ibn Ishaq who was born 70 years after the death of the prophet. The mention of "the Sunnah of the prophet" in Ibn Ishaq’s rendition is clearly apocryphal, as Patricia Crone has shown in God's Caliph, since such a concept did not exist in actual khalifal/Islamic jurisprudence until well into the Abbassid period. Other renditions such as that of Sahih Muslim don’t mention the Sunnah of the prophet. The entirety of the supposed speech shows up in Ibn Ishaq’s and Sahih Muslim, but other sources in Hadith repeat isolated fragments of the speech, one of which reminds men to treat their wives well given that they are prisoners to their husbands. It also echoes Qur'an 4:34 in commanding beating in the case of disobedience. It should be noted that a more recent retelling of the speech which omits this injunction is a recent fabrication and not part of the attested classical tradition.
Introduction
According to Muslim historians, Muhammad’s Farewell Sermon (خطبة الوداع, Khuṭbatu l-Wadā') was delivered on the ninth day of Dhu al-Hijjah (Month of Hajj- Pilgrimage 632 CE) in the valley of mount Arafat. This area located in Saudi Arabia was, and still is, considered holy and even today non-Muslims are forbidden from entering.
The sermon took place ten years after Muhammad’s Hijra (هِجْرَة Migration) to Medina, meaning it was after conquering Mecca and wiping the infidels from the land.
Before we begin our analysis of the Farewell Sermon, we must note that as an event, it took place following this Qur'anic revelation:
Accordingly, the listeners were all strictly Muslim. Muhammad was addressing his own people, since no others were allowed to enter the area of the Sacred Mosque, which includes the Plain of Arafat.
Text of Farewell Sermon
Now then, O people, you have a right over your wives and they have a right over you. You have [the right] that they should not cause anyone of whom you dislike to tread on your beds; and that they should not commit any open indecency. If they do, then Allah permits you to shut them in separate rooms and to beat them, but not severely. If they abstain from [evil], they have the right to their food and clothing in accordance with the custom. Treat women well, for they are [like] domestic animals with you and do not possess anything for themselves. You have taken them only as a trust from Allah, and you have made the enjoyment of their persons lawful by the word of Allah, so understand and listen to my words, O people. I have conveyed the Message, and have left you with something which, if you hold fast to it, you will never go astray; that is, the Book of Allah and the sunnah of his Prophet. Listen to my words, O people, for I have conveyed the Message and understand [it]. Know for certain that every Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, and that all Muslims are brethren. It is not lawful for a person [to take] from his brother except that which he has given him willingly, so do not wrong yourselves. O Allah, have I not conveyed the message?
The correct translation of ʿawān
The sermon includes the following part:
“Treat women well, for they are ʿawān with you”.
All Hadith exegesis and classical Arabic dictionaries agree that ʿawān mentioned in this Hadith means captives or prisoners. Despite this unanimous agreement, the word is mistranslated in some English translations into one of the following:
1-“Domestic animals” which appears in Ismail K. Poonawala’s translation of Al-Tabari’s history.
This mistranslation stems from the existence of two Arabic words identical in pronunciation but different in meaning. One is singular and the other is plural:
The word ʿawān in the Hadith is a plural word since that it’s describing a plural noun (women). The sentence in the Hadith literally means “They are ʿawān at you”. The singular of ʿawān is ʿāniyah which means female captive. It’s derived from the verb ʿanā which means (he) submitted (to). [1]
There’s another ʿawān in Arabic which is a singular word so it cannot be the one meant in the Hadith. This singular ʿawān is listed in Lane’s lexicon which makes it clear the word is singular and has the plural form of ʿūn. Lane lists several meanings for ʿawān including beast or a cow.
2- Rizwi Faizer in her translation of al-Waqidi's Life of Muhammad, translated ʿawān as: “for they are bound to you and are dependent on you.”[2] This is an apologetic translation that has no basis whatsoever.
3- Another apologetic translation that appears on many websites such as the international Islamic university in Malysia.[3]
In this popular English translation of the sermon, ʿawān is translated as “partners and helpers” which has no basis whatsoever. It might have originated from the misconception that the word ʿawān is derived from the word ʿawn which means help. Whereas all classical sources affirm the word ʿawān is derived from ʿanā which means (he) submitted (to). And not a single classical source says that ʿawān has anything to do with “help”.
Related Text
Note that while translations of the following hadiths of the farewell sermon differ, the same Arabic text occurs in the line about beating without severity. In Arabic, 'beat them, but not severely' is fa-idribuhunna darban ghayra mubarrihin (فَاضْرِبُوهُنَّ ضَرْبًا غَيْرَ مُبَرِّحٍ), which literally translates to mean 'beat them, a beating without violence/severity/sharpness/vehemence[4]'.
The version of the farewell sermon in Sunan Abu Dawud was collected also in Sahih Muslim.
The translations of al-Tabari and Ibn Ishaq add that the women possess nothing for themselves or lack control over their persons, respectively.
“My father narrated to me that he witnessed the farewell Hajj with the Messenger of Allah. So he thanked and praised Allah and he reminded and gave admonition. He mentioned a story in his narration and he (the Prophet) said: “And indeed I order you to be good to the women, for they are but captives with you over whom you have no power than that, except if they come with manifest Fahishah (evil behavior). If they do that, then abandon their beds and beat them with a beating that is not harmful. And if they obey you then you have no cause against them. Indeed you have rights over your women, and your women have rights over you. As for your rights over your women, then they must not allow anyone whom you dislike to treat on your bedding (furniture), nor to admit anyone in your home that you dislike. And their rights over you are that you treat them well in clothing them and feeding them.”
"These versions of the farewell sermon all allude to a verse in the Quran in which beating of women is mandated in certain situations.
External Links
- Muhammad's Last Sermon - Staring At The View (archived), http://staringattheview.blogspot.com/2013/07/muhammads-last-sermon.html
- The Farewell Sermon - Blog post discussing the "sources" provided for this alternative Farewell Sermon (archived), http://bjhollingum.blogspot.com/2010/05/farewell-sermon.html
- Fraudulent Translation of Muhammad's 'Last Sermon' to Make It Egalitarian - T. Omar Moros, Islam-Watch, August 18, 2009 (archived), http://www.islam-watch.org/authors/89-other-authors/134-fraudulent-translation-of-muhammad-last-sermon-egalitarian.html
References
- ↑ Abū ʿubayd (d. 224 H), Gharīb Al-Ḥadīth, Dāʾirat Al-Maʿārif, vol.2 p.186
- ↑ Rizwi Faizer (2011). The Life of Muhammad: Al-Waqidi's Kitab al-Maghazi. Routledge. p. 544
- ↑ https://www.iium.edu.my/deed/articles/thelastsermon.html
- ↑ Lane's Lexicon Book I page 182