THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD'S (PEACE BE UPON HIM) LAST SERMON;
HIS FAREWELL MESSAGE TO MUSLIMS;
A UNIQUE DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS WHAT BETTER MESSAGE A MUSLIM CAN OFFER TO
HIS/HER BROTHER/SISTER ON THIS AUSPICIOUS OCCASION THAN THE ONE PROPHET
MUHAMMAD (PEACE BE UPON HIM) DELIVERED TO THE GATHERING AT ARAFAT MORE THAN 14
CENTURIES AGO.
On the eighth day of Dhul Hijja, the Day of Tarwiyah, the Prophet (peace be
upon him) went to Mina and spent the day and night there. There he performed
all the prayers incumbent during the period.
The following day he performed his Fajr prayers and at sunrise proceeded on his
camel Al-Qaswa to Arafat followed by all the pilgrims. As he ascended the
mountain he was surrounded by thousands of his companions reciting talbiyah and
takbir.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) naturally heard their recitation but made no
attempt either to stop them or to encourage them. He commanded some of his
companions to put up a tent for him on the east side of the Mount of Mercy at a
spot called Namirah. When the sun passed the zenith he ordered his camel to be
saddled and rode on it until he reached the Valley of Uranah.
There he, while sitting on his camel, delivered his sermon in a load voice to
his people. Rabi'ah Bin Umayyah Bin Khalaf repeated the sermon after him word
by word.
"All praise be to Allah. We glorify Him and seek His help and pardon; and we
turn to Him. We take refuge with Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the
evil consequences of our deeds. There is none to lead him astray whom Allah
guides aright, and there is none to guide him aright whom He leads astray. I
bear witness that there is no god but Allah; having to partner with Him, and I
bear witness that Muhammad is His bondsman and His messenger. I admonish you, O
bondsman of Allah! To fear Allah and I urge you to His obedience and I open the
speech with that which is good.
"Ye people! Listen to my words: I will deliver a message to you, for I know not
whether, after this year, I shall ever be among you here again. O people!
Verily, your blood, your property and your honor are sacred and inviolable
until you appear before your Lord, as this day and this month is sacred for
all. Verily, you will meet your Lord and you will be held answerable for your
actions. Have I not conveyed the message? O Allah! Be my witness.
"He who has any trust with him should restore it to the person who deposited it
with him. Beware; no one committing a crime is responsible for it but himself.
Neither the son is responsible for the crime of his father, nor the father is
responsible for the crime of his son.
"O people! Listen to my words and understand them. You must know that a Muslim
is the brother of the Muslim and they form one brotherhood. Nothing of his
brother is lawful for a Muslim except what he himself allows willingly. So you
should not oppress one another. O Allah! Have I not conveyed the message?
"Behold! All practices of paganism and ignorance are now under my feet. The
blood revenges of the days of ignorance are remitted. The first claim on blood
I abolish is that of Ibn Rabi'ah Ibn Hearth who was nursed in the tribe of Sa'd
and whom the Hudhayl killed.
"Usury (interest) is forbidden, but you will be entitled to recover your
principal. Do not wrong and you shall not be wronged. Allah has decreed that
there should be no usury and I make a beginning by remitting the amount of
interest which Abbas Ibn Abd Al-Muttalib has to receive. Verily, it is remitted
entirely.
"O people! Fear Allah concerning women. Verily, you have taken them on the
security of Allah and have made their persons lawful unto you by words of
Allah! Verily you have got certain rights over your women and your women have
certain rights over you. It is incumbent upon them to honor their conjugal
rights and, not to commit acts of impropriety which, if they do, you have
authority to chastise them, yet not severely. If your wives refrain from
impropriety and are faithful to you, clothe and feed them suitably.
"Behold! Lay injunctions upon women but kindly.
"O people! Listen and obey though an Abyssinian slave is your amir if he
executes (the ordinance of) the Book of Allah among you.
"O people! Verily, Allah has ordained to every man the share of his
inheritance. The child belongs to the marriage-bed and the violator of wedlock
shall be stoned. He who attributes his ancestry to other than his father or
claims his clientship to other than his masters, the curse of Allah, that of
the angles, and of the people be upon him. Allah will accept from him neither
repentance nor righteousness.
" O people! Verily, the Satan is disappointed at never being worshiped in this
and of yours, but if he can be obeyed in anything short of worship he will be
pleased in matters you may be disposed to think is of little account, so beware
of him in your matters of religion.
"Verily, I have left among you the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Apostle
which if you hold fast, you shall never go astray. And if you were asked about
me, what would you say?"
They replied: "We bear witness that you have conveyed the message, and
discharged your ministry."
The Prophet addressed the assembly again the next day (Dhul Hijja 10) and
besides repeating some of the important points if the previous address, he
threw a good deal of light on some new questions.
As usual, he opened his oration with praising Allah and expressing his
gratitude to Him.
"O people! Verily, the intercalation (of a prohibited month) aggravates
infidelity. Thereby the unbelievers are led to wrong. For they make it lawful
one year and forbid it in another year to be in conformity with the number (of
months) which Allah declared unlawful so they consider violable that which
Allah declared to be inviolable and they consider inviolable what Allah
declared to be violable.
"Verily, the time has revolved in its own way from the day when the heavens and
the Earth were created. The number of months to Allah is twelve of which four
are sacred; three are consecutive: Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijja, Muharram, and Rajab
which is between Jumadah Thani and Sha'ban.
"O people! Do you know what day it is, what territory it is, what month it is?
To this the people answered: "The day is the day of sacrifice; and the
territory is the sacred territory, the month is the sacred month."
At each reply the Prophet said: "So I apprise you that your lives, your
property and your honor must be as sacred to one another as this sacred day, in
this sacred month, in this sacred town.
"And your slaves! See that you feed them with such food as you eat yourselves;
and clothe them with the cloth that your yourselves wear. And if they commit a
fault which you are not inclined to forgive, then part with them for they are
the servants of Allah and are not be chastised.
"Behold! Listen to me. Worship your Lord: Offer prayers five times a day;
observe fast in the month Ramadan; make pilgrimage to the House (Ka'aba); pay
readily the Zakah on your property and obey whatever I command you, only then
you will get into the heaven.
"Let him that is present convey it unto him who is absent. For happily, many
people to whom the message is conveyed may be more mindful of it than the
audience."
The Prophet took upon the thread of his oration the next day and added:
"O people! Verily, your Lord is one and your father is one. All of you belong
to one ancestry of Adam and Adam was created out of clay. There is no
superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab; nor
for white over the black nor for the black over the white except in piety.
Verily, the noblest among you is he who is the most pious. (49:13)
"Behold, the nearer ones of you should convey the message to the remoter ones.
I have conveyed the message."
Then looking up to the heaven, he said: "O Lord! I have delivered the message
and discharged my ministry."
"Yes," cried all the people crowding round him, "Yes, verily, you have."
"O Lord! I beseech Thee bear Thou witness unto it." And with these words, the
Prophet concluded his address
He alighted from his camel and performed the Dhuhar (noon) and Asr (afternoon)
prayers together. It was at this time that the verse regarding the completion
of religion was revealed to him:
"Today, I have completed for you your religion, and granted you the last of My
blessing. Today, I have accepted for you Islam as the religion."
The Prophet immediately recited this verse to all those who were present.
When Abubakr (May Allah be pleased with him) heard this verse he realized that
with the completion of the Divine message, the Prophet's (peace be upon him)
life was soon to come to a close.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) left Arafat and spent his night at Muzdalifah.
In the morning, he visited first the sanctuary of Al-Mash'ar and then Mina on
the road to which he threw pebbles against the symbol of Satan. When he reached
his tent he sacrificed 63 camels; one for each year of his life. Ali (May Allah
be pleased with him) sacrificed the rest of the animals which the Prophet
(peace be upon him) had brought with him from Madina.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) then shaved his head and declared his Haj
completed.
----------------------------------------------End------------------------------
Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) sayings:
(Hadith)
ZAKAT-UL-FITR IS BINDING ON EVERY MUSLIM:
Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger
of Allah (peace be upon him) made obligatory Zakat-ul-Fitr on people: One Sa'
of dates, or one Sa' of barley to be given on behalf of every free or slave,
male or female of the Muslims.
Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger
of Allah (peace be upon him) ordered people to give Zakat-ul-Fitr before going
to Eid prayer.
Abu Ayyub Al-Ansar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger
of Allah (peace be upon him) said: " He who observe the fast of Ramadan and
then follows it with fasting six days of Shawwal, would be considered as if he
fasted for lifetime."
The Holy Qur'an says:
O you who have believed, when (the Adhan) is called for the prayer on the day
of Jumu'ah (Friday), then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave trade.
That is better for you, if you only knew.
And when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from
the bounty of Allah, and remember Allah often that you may succeed.
(Surah Al-Jumu'ah, Ayah 9,10)
DU'A (Supplications)
Oh Allah whatever blessing has been received by me or any one of Your creation
is from You alone, You have no partner. You we praise and You we thank.
Oh Allah, preserve for me my health. Oh Allah, preserve for my hearing. Oh
Allah, preserve for me my sight. There is no God but You. Oh Allah, I seek
refuge in You from disbelief and poverty and I seek refuge in You from the
punishment of the grave. There is no God but You.
Oh Allah, I ask You for knowledge that is of benefit, a good provision, and
deeds that will be accepted.
Oh Allah, I have greatly wronged myself and no one forgives sins but You. So
grant me forgiveness and have mercy on me. Surely You are Forgiving, Merciful.
Oh Allah, I ask You, Owner of praise, there is no God but You alone, You have
no partner. You are the one the heart longs for. Oh, Creator of the Heavens and
the Earth, Owner of majesty and honor. Oh Everlasting one, I ask you for
Paradise and I seek refuge in You from the Fire.
Oh Allah, I submit myself to You, entrust my affairs to You, turn my face to
You, and lay myself down independence upon You, in longing and in dread. There
is no refuge, and no escape, except by You. I believe in Your Word revealed by
You to the prophet You sent.
Oh Allah, we ask for your peace and blessing upon our Prophet Muhammad.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Assalamualaikum wa Rahamathullahi wa Barakataho.
Eid Mubarak to you.
Please read above message, it is a perfect gift of a lifetime, give it to your
near and dear ones. Jaza'ak Allah Khair.
Khateeb Jaleel Haroon Basha.
[log in to unmask]
http://www.kjharoonbasha.com
http://www.fridaysermon.com
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