Final Illness of the Prophet

# The Final Illness of the Prophet

The Beginning of the End

The Prophet ﷺ began to show signs of illness in Safar 11 AH — approximately two months after his return from the Farewell Pilgrimage. He had visited the cemetery of Baqi at night, praying for its inhabitants, and when he returned his head was aching with an intensity that exceeded what he had experienced before. The illness that followed — a fever of severe headache that the narrations describe as the Prophet ﷺ wrapping his head with a cloth against the pain — lasted approximately thirteen days before his death.

The fever was high throughout. Aisha, whose turn it was to host the Prophet ﷺ, described feeling his forehead and being struck by the heat. A narration in Sahih al-Bukhari records her saying she could feel the fever through the cloth he wore. The Prophet ﷺ at one point sat in a large vessel and the companions poured water over him from seven waterskins — a cooling treatment — until he said: "Enough, enough." Even during the illness, his characteristic care for those around him was present: he asked about the companions, gave instruction, and continued to attend to the community's needs when he was able.

The Days of the Illness

As the illness progressed, the Prophet ﷺ asked to be moved to Aisha's chamber — with the permission of his other wives — and spent the last days of his life there. The narrations describe him being carried between two companions, his feet dragging, to Aisha's room. He was cared for by Aisha throughout, and the relationship between them during the illness is documented in the hadith literature with rare intimacy: she describes him leaning against her when he was weak, her arm behind his head, his last conscious moments.

During the illness, the Prophet ﷺ continued to lead the prayer as long as he was able. When he became too weak, he told the companions to ask Abu Bakr to lead the prayer in his place. Aisha requested twice that Umar lead instead — she later said she knew that people would take an ill omen from Abu Bakr's weeping during prayer. The Prophet ﷺ declined both requests and insisted: "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the prayer." Abu Bakr led the prayer for the remaining days of the illness. On one day — described in multiple narrations — the Prophet ﷺ felt well enough to come to the mosque himself. He sat next to Abu Bakr, who stepped back to give him the position, but the Prophet ﷺ gestured for Abu Bakr to remain in place and prayed seated beside him while Abu Bakr led standing. This was the last time the Prophet ﷺ prayed in the mosque with the community.

The Final Instruction

During the illness, the Prophet ﷺ made several statements that the companions preserved with particular care, knowing they were among the last. He said: "Let the cursed people of graves not be taken as temples for worship — I forbid you from this." He said: "Prayer, and what your right hands possess" — emphasizing justice toward those under one's authority. He said: "Expel the polytheists from the Arabian Peninsula." He spoke of a matter he wished he had clarified earlier and hoped he would be forgiven for having delayed. He spoke of the companions who prayed at night and fasted during the day and their reward.

The Prophet ﷺ also freed all his slaves during the illness, distributed seven dinars that remained to charity, and disposed of whatever property remained. He had come into the world without material possessions and left it the same way.

The Weakness and the Request

In the final days, the Prophet ﷺ asked for the scribal materials to write something that would prevent the community from going astray. The companions were gathered around him, some of them arguing. Umar ibn al-Khattab said: "The Prophet of Allah is overcome by pain — the Book of Allah is sufficient for us." The disagreement and noise in the room distressed the Prophet ﷺ. He told them to leave. The request was not fulfilled.

Classical scholars have debated this moment extensively. Umar's position was that the Quran was sufficient and that a written document from the Prophet ﷺ while in a state of severe illness might create confusion. The Prophet ﷺ himself, in the end, did not insist — some scholars read his willingness to let the matter go as indicating the community had already received what it needed through the Sunnah. The question of what the Prophet ﷺ would have written has been a subject of discussion across scholarly traditions.

The Last Days

In the final hours, the Prophet ﷺ was in Aisha's arms. He asked for his siwak, and Aisha softened it with her saliva and gave it to him. He brushed his teeth with it and then laid back. Aisha reports his lips moving — he was saying: "With the highest companions. O Allah, with the highest companions. O Allah, with the highest companions." The phrase referred to the prophets and the righteous who had preceded him and who now waited in the highest realm. He was choosing: not the return of health and the continuation of the earthly life, but the elevated companionship of the next. His hand went limp in Aisha's. The Prophet ﷺ had died.

The Companions' Response

When the news spread in Medina that the Prophet ﷺ had died, the community was shattered. Umar ibn al-Khattab — among the strongest and most resolute of companions — drew his sword and said that anyone who said the Prophet ﷺ had died would have his head cut off. He insisted the Prophet ﷺ had not died but had gone to his Lord as Musa had gone and would return. Abu Bakr came, entered Aisha's chamber, uncovered the Prophet's ﷺ face, kissed his forehead, and said: "You are beautiful in life and beautiful in death." Then he went out and addressed the people: "Whoever worshipped Muhammad — Muhammad has died. Whoever worshipped Allah — Allah is alive and does not die." He recited Surah Al Imran 3:144: "And Muhammad is no more than a messenger; the messengers have already passed away before him." Umar said: "By Allah, it was as if I had never heard this verse before. My legs went out from under me and I fell to the ground. I knew the Prophet ﷺ had died."

Sources: Sahih al-Bukhari (Kitab al-Maghazi, Kitab al-Jana'iz, Kitab al-Marda); Sahih Muslim; Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah; Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra