Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammad's Death: Difference between revisions

{{Quote|Ibn Ishaq, p. 516|When the apostle had rested, Zaynab d. al-Harith, the wife of Sallam b. Mishkam prepared for him a roast lamb, having first inquired what joint he preferred. When she learned that it was the shoulder '''she put a lot of poison in it and poisoned the whole lamb'''. Then she brought it in and placed it before him. '''He took hold of the shoulder and chewed a morsel of it''', but he did not swallow it. Bishr b. al-Bara b. Ma’rur who was with him took some of it as the apostle had done, but he swallowed it, while the apostle spat it out, saying, ‘This bone tells me that it is poisoned.’ Then he called for the woman and she confessed, and when he asked her what had induced her to do this she answered: ‘You know what you have done to my people. I said to myself, '''If he is a king I shall ease myself of him''' and if he is a prophet he will be informed (of what I have done).’ So the apostle let her off. Bishr died from what he had eaten.}}

 

{{Quote|Ibn Ishaq, p. 516|Marwan b. Uthman b. Abu Sa’id b. al-Mu’alla told me: The apostle had said in his illness of which he was to die when Umm Bishr d. al-Bara came to visit him, ‘O Umm Bishr, this is the time in which '''I feel a deadly pain from what I ate with your brother at Khaybar'''.’}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|8|pp. 124-125}}|When the Messenger of God rested from his labor, Zaynab bt. al-Harith, the wife of Sallam b. Mishkam, served him a roast sheep. She had asked what part of the sheep the Messenger of God liked best and was told that it was the foreleg. So '''she loaded that part with poison, and she poisoned the rest of the sheep, too. Then she brought it. When she set it before the Messenger of God, he took the foreleg and chewed a bit of it''', but he did not swallow it. With him was Bishr b. al-Bars' b. Ma'rur, who, like the Messenger of God, took some of it, Bishr, however, swallowed it, while the Messenger of God spat it out, saying, "This bone informs me that it has been poisoned ." Then he summoned the woman, and she confessed. '''He asked, "What led you to do this?" She said: "How you have afflicted my people is not hidden from you. So I said, `If he is a prophet, he will be informed; but if he is a king, I shall be rid of him.'''" The Prophet forgave her. Bishr b. al-Bars' died of the food he had eaten. According to Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Muhammad b. Ishaq- Marwan b. 'Uthman b. Abi Said b. al-Mu'alla,513 who said: '''The Messenger of God said during the illness from which he died-the mother of Bishr b. al-Bara' had come in to visit him-"Umm Bishr, at this very moment I feel my aorta being severed because of the food I ate with your son at Khaybar." The Muslims believed that in addition to the honor of prophethood that God had granted him the Messenger of God died a martyr'''.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|pp. 177-178}}|Ibn I iumayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq (in an account we have quoted from him [see Tabari, above, I, 11800]) on the authority of al-Zuhri-`Ubaydallah b. 'Abdallah-'A'ishah: Then the Messenger of God came down [from the pulpit], entered his house and the pain came, all of it, until he was exhausted. Some of his wives, Umm Salamah, Maymunah, and some of the wives of the Muslims, among whom was Asma' b. 'Umays, gathered round him, while his uncle al-'Abbas b. 'Abd al-Mullalib was with him. They agreed to force him to take medicine. Al-'Abbas said, "Let me force him," and [the Messenger of God] was forced. After the Messenger of God recovered he asked who had done that with him. They said that it was his uncle al-'Abbas. Pointing in the direction of Abyssinia, the Prophet said, "This is a medicine brought by women from that country." When he asked why they had done it, al-'Abbas replied, "O Messenger of God, we were afraid that you might have pleurisy (dhat al-janb)." He replied, "That is a disease with which God would not afflict me. Let no one remain in the house until he is forced to take this medicine except my uncle." Although Maymunah had fasted, she was forced to take it because of the Messenger of God's oath as a retribution for what they had done [to him].}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 181}}|Muhammad b. 'Abdallah b. 'Abd al-Hakam-Shu'ayb b. al-Layth-al-Layth-Yazid b. al-Had- Musa b. Sar-jis -al-Qasim-'A'ishah : Before the Messenger of God died, I saw a bowl of water near him. He used to put his hand in the bowl and then wipe his face with it, saying, "O my Lord, help me [to overcome] the severity of the agony of death (sakrat almawt)."}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|pp. 182-183}}|Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq-Ya'qub b. `Utbah-al- Zuhri-'Urwah-'A'ishah: That day, after the Messenger of God had gone to the mosque, he returned and lay down in my lap. A man from the family of Abu Bakr came to me, and he had a fresh siwak in his hand. The Messenger of God looked at it in such a way that I knew [that] he wanted it. I took it, chewed it until I had softened it and gave it to him. He rubbed his teeth with it more energetically than I had [ever] seen him doing it before. Then he put it down, and I found him getting heavy in my lap. When I looked into his face his eyes were fixed while he was saying, "Nay, the most Exalted Companion is that of paradise." I said, "By Him who sent you with the truth, you were given the choice, and you have chosen," and he died.<BR><BR>Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Muhammad b. Ishaq-Yahya b. 'Abbad b. al-Zubayr-his father 'Abbad: I heard 'A'ishah saying, "The Messenger of God died on my bosom during my turn, and I did not wrong anyone in regard to him. It was because of my ignorance and youthfulness that the Messenger of God died while he was in my lap. Then I laid his head on a pillow and got up beating my chest and slapping my face along with the women.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|pp. 184-185}}|Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq-al-Zuhri-Sa'id b. al-Musayyib-Abu Hurayrah: 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, but has gone to his Lord as Moses b. 'Imran went and remained hidden from his people for forty days. Moses returned after it was said that he had died. By God, the Messenger of God will [also] return and will cut off the hands and feet of those who allege that he is dead."<BR><BR>When the news [of the Prophet's death] reached Abu Bakr, he came and dismounted near the door of the mosque [where] 'Umar was speaking to the people. He paid no attention to anything and went [straight] to the Messenger of God in 'A'ishah 's house where he was lying in a comer covered by a striped garment of the Yemeni fabric. Abu Bakr went close [to the Prophet], uncovered his face, kissed him, then said, "With my father may you be ransomed, and with my mother! Indeed, you have tasted the death which God had decreed for you. No [other] death will ever overtake you." Then he replaced the cloth on [the Prophet's] face and went out as 'Umar was speaking to the people. He said, "Gently, O'Umar, [and] be silent!"'Umar refused [to be silent] and kept on speaking. When Abu Bakr saw that he would not listen, he went forward to the people [speaking]. When they heard his words, they came to him and left `Umar. After praising God and extolling Him, he said, "O people, those who worshipped Muhammad, [must know that] Muhammad is dead; those who worshipped God, [must know that ] God is alive [and] immortal." He then recited the verse: "Muhammad is only a messenger; and many a messenger has gone before him. So if he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels ? He who turns back on his heels will do no harm to God; and God will reward the grateful." By God, it was as if the people did not know that this verse was revealed to the Messenger of God until Abu Bakr recited it that day. The people took it from him, and it was [constantly) in their mouths. 'Umar said, "By God, as soon as I heard Abu Bakr recite it, my legs betrayed me so that I fell to the ground , and my legs would not bear me. I knew that the Messenger of God had indeed died."}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|pp. 202-203}}|Abu Ja'far [al-Tabari]: After the oath of allegiance was rendered to Abu Bakr, people came to prepare the Messenger of God's burial. Some [of the authorities] state that the burial took place on Tuesday, that is, the following day of the Messenger of God's death, while the others state that' he was buried three days after his death. The report of some of those authorities has already preceded.<BR><BR>Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Muhammad b. Ishaq-'Abdallah b. Abi Bakr, Kathir b. 'Abdallah, and others who relate from `Abdallah b. 'Abbas: 'All b. Abi Talib, al-'Abbas b. 'Abd al- Muttalib, al-Facll b. al-'Abbas, Qutham b. al-'Abbas, Usamah b. Zayd, and Shugran, freedman of the Messenger of God, were the ones who took charge of the washing of the Prophet. Aws b. Khawli, one of the Banu 'Awf b. al-Khazraj, said to 'Ali, "I adjure you by God, 0 'Ali, [where is] our share in regard to the Messenger of God?" Aws was one [of the companions of the Messenger of God] who had participated in Badr. 'Ali allowed him to enter, so he came in'- and was present at the Messenger of God's washing. `Ali made the Prophet's body to rest upon his breast and 'Abbas, al-Fads, and Qutham turned him over along with 'Ali. Usamah and Shugran were the ones who poured water [over him], while 'Ali washed him, having rested him against his breast. The shirt was still on the Prophet's body; 'Ali rubbed him from the outside without touching the Messenger of God's [body directly] with his hands while he was saying, "With my father may you be ransomed, and with my mother! How excellent you are in life and in death! The Messenger of God's body did not look like what an ordinary corpse would look like.}}