Signs of the End

In the month of Ṣafar, the beginning of the end was starting. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had received many āyāt and indications that he would die, just like every other human being. Allah (swt) revealed āyāt that forewarned of the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Allah (swt) says — and this was revealed in Makkah:

And the Hereafter is better for you than the first life, and your Lord is going to give you, and you will be satisfied. And therefore, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was given the choice between living in the dunyā and dying, it will be seen what his choice was — because he had had a promise from very early on in Makkah that the Hereafter is better for you, and that Allah will give you until you are satisfied. And Allah (swt) says:

Al-Zumar, 30 and 31: indeed, you are to die, and indeed they are to die; then indeed you, on the Day of Resurrection, before your Lord, will dispute. And Allah (swt) says in Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ:

And We did not grant any man before you eternity; so if you die, would they be eternal? Every soul will taste death; and We test you with evil and with good as a trial; and to Us you will be returned. So the whole of life is just a trial of good and bad, and everyone will die. And Allah (swt) revealed to Muḥammad (peace be upon him) during the Ḥajj of Wadāʿ: al-yawma akmaltu lakum dīnakum wa atmamtu ʿalaykum niʿmatī wa raḍītu lakumu al-islāma dīnā — this day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My favour upon you, and approved for you Islam as religion (5:3). Now there is nothing here that directly indicates the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), but there is an indication of the fulfilment of the mission. And Allah (swt) says:

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. And it is not possible for one to die except by permission of Allah, at a decree determined. And whoever desires the reward of this world, We will give him thereof; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We will give him thereof; and We will reward the grateful. And Allah (ʿazza wa jall) says:

When the victory of Allah has come, and the conquest, and you see the people entering the religion of Allah in multitudes, then exalt Him with praise of your Lord, and ask forgiveness of Him; indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance. Again, in these āyāt there is no direct indication of the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).

Ibn ʿAbbās used to sit with the senior Muhājirūn and Anṣār in the council of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. So some of the Muhājirūn and Anṣār said: why is this young man sitting here, when we have sons his age and they are not invited? So ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb wanted to show them the reason. So he asked them: what do you understand from this sūrah? Everyone gave an answer. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb asked Ibn ʿAbbās: what do you understand from it? He said: I understand from it the death of the Messenger of Allah. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: and that is what I understand from it (al-Bukhārī 4970). And he made the point to the Companions who were there that Ibn ʿAbbās was sitting with them because of his knowledge, because of his understanding, because of the fiqh and the deep understanding he had of Islam.

Because this sūrah says: when the victory of Allah has come, and the conquest — and the victory of Allah is the end result of the daʿwah; so it is towards the end: wa al-ʿāqibatu li-al-muttaqīn, the end belongs to the believers. And you see the people entering the religion of Allah in multitudes — and that is what was happening after Fatḥ Makkah: people were entering in multitudes. Then exalt Him with praise of your Lord, and ask forgiveness of Him. When do we usually ask Allah for forgiveness? After we do the deed, then we ask Allah to forgive us. So after the ṣalāh, what do you say? Astaghfiru Allāh. After Ḥajj, the same thing: astaghfiru Allāh. So istighfār is something that comes towards the end; and this is an indication that the end of the life of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was near. And tawbah also comes towards the end.

There are also some aḥādīth. There is the hadith, spoken of already, in which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent Muʿādh ibn Jabal to Yemen and told him: you might not meet me any more; and Muʿādh ibn Jabal wept. There is also the hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said at the Ḥajj: li-taʾkhudhū ʿannī manāsikakum, fa-laʿallī lā aḥujju baʿda ʿāmī hādhā — take your rituals from me; learn your rituals from me, because I may never make Ḥajj again after this time (Muslim 1297). The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: inna Jibrīla kāna yuʿāriḍunī bi-al-Qurʾāni fī kulli sanatin marrah, wa innahu ʿāraḍanī bihi al-ʿāma marratayn, wa mā arā dhālika illā li-qtirābi ajalī — Jibrīl used to go over the Qur'an with me once every year; they would go through the whole Qur'an; and this year he did it twice, and I see that only as a sign of the end of my life (al-Bukhārī 3624).