Muhammad's Death

A checked version of this page, approved on 21 July 2021, was based on this revision.

This article discusses the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD and the circumstances surrounding it.

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An illustration of Muhammad on his deathbed. Taken from the book Jami' al-Tawarikh (also known as The Universal History or History of the World), by Rashid al-Din, published in Tabriz, Persia, 1307 A.D. Now at the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland.

Death

Poisoned by a Jewess

According to the hadith, Muhammad was poisoned by a Jewish woman, following the conquest of Khaibar, where he took Safiyah as a wife, and ordered the torture and beheading of her husband Kinana, the chief of the Jews at Khaibar.

Narrated Anas bin Malik: A Jewess brought a poisoned (cooked) sheep for the Prophet who ate from it. She was brought to the Prophet and he was asked, "Shall we kill her?" He said, "No." I continued to see the effect of the poison on the palate of the mouth of Allah's Apostle .

Sahih Bukhari 3:47:786

....Narrated 'Aisha: The Prophet in his ailment in which he died, used to say, "O 'Aisha! I still feel the pain caused by the food I ate at Khaibar, and at this time, I feel as if my aorta is being cut from that poison."

Sahih Bukhari 5:59:713

The reason behind her action was the killing of her people and family by Muhammad.

The apostle of Allah sent for Zaynab and said to her, "What induced you to do what you have done?" She replied, "You have done to my people what you have done. You have killed my father, my uncle and my husband, so I said to myself, "If you are a prophet, the foreleg will inform you; and others have said, "If you are a king we will get rid of you."

Ibn Sa'd p. 252

It was no secret among the wives, that Aisha was Muhammad's favorite, and he made this clear as death approached.

Narrated 'Aisha: that during his fatal ailment, Allah's Apostle, used to ask his wives, "Where shall I stay tomorrow? Where shall I stay tomorrow?" He was looking forward to Aisha's turn. So all his wives allowed him to stay where he wished....

Sahih Bukhari 7:62:144

....He came out with the help of two men and his legs were dragging on the ground. He was between Al-Abbas and another man [Ali Ibn Abi Talib]."....

Sahih Bukhari 1:11:634

Died in the Arms of Aisha

Even from his death-bed, Muhammad was issuing orders and cursing Christians and Jews.

....Then he [Muhammad] ordered them to do three things. He said, "Turn the pagans out of the 'Arabian Peninsula; respect and give gifts to the foreign delegations as you have seen me dealing with them." (Said bin Jubair, the sub-narrator said that Ibn Abbas kept quiet as rewards the third order, or he said, "I forgot it.")

Sahih Bukhari 5:59:716

Narrated 'Aisha and Ibn 'Abbas: On his death-bed Allah's Apostle put a sheet over his-face and when he felt hot, he would remove it from his face. When in that state (of putting and removing the sheet) he said, "May Allah's Curse be on the Jews and the Christians for they build places of worship at the graves of their prophets." (By that) he intended to warn (the Muslim) from what they (i.e. Jews and Christians) had done.

Sahih Bukhari 4:56:660

On the 8^th of June, 632 AD Aisha watched Muhammad finally die, slumped on her bosom.

Narrated Aisha:....In front of him there was a jug or a tin, (The sub-narrator, 'Umar is in doubt as to which was right) containing water. He started dipping his hand in the water and rubbing his face with it, he said, "None has the right to be worshipped except Allah. Death has its agonies." He then lifted his hands (towards the sky) and started saying, "With the highest companion," till he expired and his hand dropped down.

Sahih Bukhari 5:59:730

....'Aisha added: He died on the day of my usual turn at my house. Allah took him unto Him while his head was between my chest and my neck and his saliva was mixed with my saliva.

Sahih Bukhari 7:62:144

Funeral

Preparation

Ali ibn Abi Ṭalib, the fourth Rightly-guided Caliph of Islam (and also Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin) and some others took charge of washing Muhammad, but unlike others, he was washed with his cloths remaining on his body.

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

By Allah, we did not know whether we should take off the clothes of the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) as we took off the clothes of our dead, or wash him while his clothes were on him. When they (the people) differed among themselves, Allah cast slumber over them until every one of them had put his chin on his chest.

Then a speaker spoke from a side of the house, and they did not know who he was: Wash the Prophet (peace be upon him) while his clothes are on him. So they stood round the Prophet (peace be upon him) and washed him while he had his shirt on him. They poured water on his shirt, and rubbed him with his shirt and not with their hands...

Sunan Abu Dawud 20:3135

Ibn Hisham observed, “The apostle’s body did not present the appearance of an ordinary corpse.” (pg. 688) Aisha also noted that If she had known beforehand what she found out later, "none would have washed him except his wives".

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: [...]Aisha used to say: If I had known beforehand about my affair what I found out later, none would have washed him except his wives.

Sunan Abu Dawud 20:3135

Abu al-Fida (1273 – 1331 AD) was a Muslim geographer and historian. He relates that Muhammad suffered from a death erection. From Edward Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire":

Sibi robur ad generationem, quantum triginta viri habent, inesse jactaret; ita ut unicâ horâ posset undecim feminis satisfacere, ut ex Arabum libris refert Stus Petrus Paschasius, c. 2 (Maracci, Prodromus Alcoran, p. iv. p. 55. See likewise Observations de Belon, l. iii. c. 10, fol. 179, recto). Al Jannabi (Gagmer, tom. iii. p. 487) records his own testimony that he surpassed all men in conjugal vigour; and Abulfeda mentions the exclamation of Ali, who washed his body after his death, “O propheta, certe penis tuus cælum versus erectus est” (in Vit. Mohammed. p. 140).

Edward Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" Vol. 9 - Footnote 175

In English, Ali had exclaimed, "O prophet, thy penis is erect unto the sky!"

Incredulity

Tabari notes that Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Rightly-guided Caliph of Islam, initially refused to believe Muhammad had died.

When the Messenger of God died, 'Umar b. al-Khattab stood up saying, "Some of the hypocrites allege that the Messenger of God is dead. By God, he is not dead, ...

Al-Tabari, Vol. 9, p. 184

The Burial

Once cleaned, they covered him with triple shrouds.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) was shrouded in three garments made in Najran: two garments and one shirt in which he died.

Sunan Abu Dawud 20:3147

Finally, after a delay, he was buried quietly in the house in which he died, near the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina.

External Links

Was Muhammad poisoned by his two wives Aisha and Hafza? - Shi'ite viewpoint from Shaykh Yasser Al-Habib