"Whoever Worshipped Muḥammad"

And now the news was spreading around Madīnah like fire. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and al-Mughīrah rushed into the room, and ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has lost consciousness; this is a deep faint. And when they were walking out, al-Mughīrah told ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is dead; this is not unconsciousness; the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is dead.

We cannot imagine how this news fell upon the Companions, because we do not have that same love: we did not live with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) for years. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was everything to them. He was their leader; he was like a father to them; he was an adviser to them; he was their teacher; he was everything. So ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, when he heard al-Mughīrah say that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had died, said: you are a man of fitnah; you are a man who wants to bring dissension into the ummah. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has not died, because he will not die until he wipes out the munāfiqūn. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb understood that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would not die until all of the munāfiqūn were killed.

And then ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb rushed out to the masjid. And the people were starting to come into the masjid in crowds, and there was weeping everywhere; everyone was crying. And ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb drew his sword and said: there are some munāfiqūn who are claiming that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has died. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has not died; the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is unconscious, as Mūsā became unconscious, and he will come back, and he will kill all of the munāfiqūn. And whoever says that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is dead, I am going to cut off his head with this sword of mine.

The news reached Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, and he came back from al-Sunḥ on his horse, and he did not speak to anyone. And he went into the room of ʿĀʾishah, where the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) lay covered with a cloth. Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq uncovered the face of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and when he saw him, he wept. And then he kissed the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said: you were pure in life, and you are pure in death (al-Bukhārī 3667). By Allah, Allah will not make you die twice; the death that was prescribed for you — the death ordained for you and for everybody else — you have gone through it. So now that is it: you have gone through the death that was prescribed for you.

And then Abū Bakr came out of the room of ʿĀʾishah and went to the masjid, and ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was shouting and yelling and threatening. So Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq told ʿUmar: sit down, ʿUmar. ʿUmar ignored Abū Bakr. He told him: sit down, ʿUmar — a second time. And ʿUmar carried on. So Abū Bakr then started speaking, and the people just left ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and came to listen to what Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq had to say. Abū Bakr said: whoever used to worship Muḥammad, let him know that Muḥammad is dead; and whoever used to worship Allah, let him know that Allah is alive and will never die. And then he recited the ayah: Muḥammad is not but a messenger; other messengers have passed on before him; so if he were to die or be killed, would you turn back on your heels to unbelief? And he who turns back on his heels will never harm Allah at all; but Allah will reward the grateful.

ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: is this ayah in the Book of Allah? ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb already knew the ayah; but, subḥān Allāh, it was as if he were hearing it for the first time. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: I realised that Muḥammad (peace be upon him) was dead (al-Bukhārī 4454). ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb collapsed, and said: my feet cannot carry me any more. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — the strong, powerful man — could not bear the news: it was like an arrow that struck his heart, and he fell down, because his knees could not carry him any more. And the narrator says: fa-mā yusmaʿu basharun min al-nāsi illā yatlūhā — everyone was reciting this ayah, as if they were hearing it for the first time.