And the last words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
Question
How sound is this hadith?
“The angel Jibril entered upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: ‘The Angel of Death is at the door, and he is asking permission to enter upon you. He has never asked permission from anyone before you.’ He said, ‘Let him in, O Jibril.’
The Angel of Death entered and said: ‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah. Allah has sent me to give you the choice between staying in this world and meeting Allah.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
‘Rather the Higher Companion, rather the Higher Companion.’ So, the Angel of Death stood at the head of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as he will stand at the head of each of us, and said: ‘O good soul, the soul of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd-Allah, come out to the good pleasure of Allah and a Lord Who is pleased and is not angry.’”.
Answer
Praise be to Allah.
There are many ahadith about the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Many such reports have been narrated, but the sahih=authentic ones are mixed with the false ones, and many people are careless about quoting reports which have no basis, or which have been narrated via unsound isnaads=narrations.
The one who is seeking sound reports on this subject should refer to the sahih=authentic ahadith=statement, which are sufficient and in which he will information about the incidents surrounding the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and in which there are important lessons to be learned.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah (5/256):
Al-Waaqidi and others narrated many reports concerning the death (of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)) in which there are many strange things. We have refrained from mentioning many of them because of their weak isnaads=narrations and dubious content, especially those narrated by many storytellers, later writers, and others.
Many of them are undoubtedly fabricated. In the sahih and Hasan ahadith which are narrated in the well-known books there is sufficient information, and we have no need of lies and reports whose isnaads=narrations are unknown. And Allah knows best.
End quote.
After researching the reports about the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), we could not find the hadeeth mentioned by the questioner in this version, but there are ahadith about the Angel of Death asking the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for permission, in wording similar to that mentioned by the questioner. But these are Weak=da’eef ahadith which the scholars judged to be false and fabricated. For example:
There is a hadeeth narrated by ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn from his father, telling a long story in which the Angel of Death asks for permission to enter upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and speaks with him.
This story was narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer (3/129) and in Kitaab al-Du’aa’ (1/367).
Al-Haythami said in Majma’ al-Zawaa’id (9/35): Its isnaad=narration includes ‘Abd-Allah ibn Maymoon al-Qaddaah, whose reports are worthless.
He was also judged as such by al-Haafiz al-‘Iraaqi in Takhreej al-Ihya’ (4/560); al-Haafiz ibn Hajar in Ajwabah Ba’d Talaameedhatihi (1/87) and Ibn Kathir in al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah (5/290).
Al-Albani said in al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah (5384): it is mawdoo’=Fabricated.
There is another hadith which was narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), in which it mentions the Angel of death seeking permission to enter upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) during his final illness.
This was narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer (12/141).
Al-Haythami said in Majma’ al_Zawaa’id (9/36): its isnaad=narration includes al-Mukhtaar ibn Naafi’, who is da’eef= Weak
Al-‘Iraaqi said in Takhreej al-Ihya’ (4/560): It isnad=narration includes al-Mukhtaari ibn Naafi’, whose hadeeth is rejected.
Regarding the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) being given the choice between death and staying in this world, and his saying, “Rather the Higher Companion,” this is proven in al-Saheehayn in the hadeeth of ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her).
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about the story of the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): it is mentioned in some books of history that the Angel of Death came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the form of a Bedouin and asked for permission to enter upon him. How true is this?
He (may Allah have mercy on him) replied:
This is not correct. The Angel of Death did not come to him or ask permission to enter upon him, rather the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) delivered a speech at the end of his life in which he said:
“Allah has given a slave the choice between immortality in this world for as long as Allah wills, or meeting his Lord, and he has chosen to meet his Lord.” This is what he said at the end of his life.
Abu Bakr wept, and the people were surprised that Abu Bakr wept at these words. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the one who was given the choice, and Abu Bakr knew the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) better than any of the people.
This is what has been narrated. As for the idea that the Angel of Death came to him and asked him for permission, this is not correct. End quote from Liqa’ al-Baab il-Maftooh (2/340)
Anyone who wants to read more sahih ahadith about the story of the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) may refer to the book al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah by Ibn Kathir (5/248), the chapter of the last days and death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
And Sahih al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah by Ibrahim al-‘Ali, chapter 6: The illness and death of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
The last words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
Question
What were the last words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) before he bade farewell to this world?
Answer
Praise be to Allah.
The last words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) – before he bade farewell to this world – were: “O Allah, (with) the higher companions’ ‘. This is the title that al-Bukhari gave to a chapter in Kitaab al-Maghaazi in his Sahih=Authentic: “
The last words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)”, where he quoted the hadeeth of ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) who said: When the Prophet was healthy, he used to say, “No soul of a Prophet is taken until he has been shown his place in Paradise and then he is given the choice.”
When death approached him while his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious and then recovered consciousness. He then looked at the ceiling of the house and said, “O Allah! (with) the highest companions.” I said (to myself).
“He is not going to choose (to stay with) us.” Then I understood what he meant when he said that to us when he was healthy. The last words he spoke were, “O Allah! (with) the highest companions.”
Narrated by al-Bukhari, 4463; Muslim, 2444.
There is a report narrated by Ahmad (1691) from the hadeeth of Abu ‘Ubaydah, who said that the last words that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) spoke were, “Expel the Jews of the Hijaaz and Najraan from the Arabian Peninsula and know that the most evil of people are those who took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.” This was classed as sahih by al-Albani in al-Saheehah, no. 1132.
Abu Dawood (5156) and Ibn Maajah (2698) narrated that ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The last words that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) spoke were, “The prayer, the prayer! And fear Allah with regard to those whom your right hands possess.”
This was classed as sahih by al-Albani in Sahih Abi Dawood. And there are other similar ahaadeeth. What is meant by these reports is that these are some of the last things that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, or they were the last pieces of advice that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave to his family and companions, and those who would be in authority after he was gone.
These ahadith are among the last things he said, but the hadeeth of ‘A’ishah is the last of all.
See Fayd al-Qadeer by al-Manaawi, 5/250 – 251.
Note: al-Suhayli said: the reason why these – “O Allah, (with) the higher companions” – were the last words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is because they refer both to Tawhid=monotheism and to dhikr in the heart.
It offers comfort to those who are unable to speak (when dying), because some people may not be able to speak out loud for some reason, but that does not matter if their hearts are steadfast in remembering Allah.
Quoted by al-Hafiz in al-Fath, 8/138.
Allah knows best.
Almighty Allah is the highest and most knowledgeable, and the attribution of knowledge to him is the safest.
Right from Almighty Allah and wrong from me and Satan
Prepared by Mohamad Mostafa Nassar- Australia.
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Arrogance is not only a sign of insecurity, but also a sign of immaturity. Mature and fully realised persons can get their points across, even emphatically without demeaning or intimidating others.