The Year of Sorrow

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was dealing with this tragic event when, two months later, Khadījah (may Allah be pleased with her) died. He was still dealing with the death of his uncle, and now his dear wife, the person most beloved to him, passed away. This year was called ʿĀm al-Ḥuzn, the Year of Sorrow — the tenth year after the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) received revelation. It was the most tragic time for Muhammad (peace be upon him), because he lost the two people most influential in supporting his message: Khadījah (may Allah be pleased with her), who had offered the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) psychological support as well as financial support through her business, and Abū Ṭālib, who had offered Muhammad (peace be upon him) physical protection. Suddenly these two pillars on which he had been standing collapsed.

The year is not called the Year of Sorrow only because the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) lost two dear people, but also because it was such a setback to the preaching of the message. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), who had had freedom in going around preaching the message, was now being blocked, because his uncle had passed away. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), who would go home to find comfort with his wife Khadījah, would now go home and find no one; he remained unmarried for about two or three years.^* It was a very difficult time for Muhammad (peace be upon him). Some scholars have said that there was wisdom in these two things happening at the same time, and that this was to increase the dependence of the Muslims upon Allah: rather than the message being protected by Abū Ṭālib and supported by Khadījah, there would now be more reliance on Allah (swt), because there was no one else around the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to give him that same support. This would increase the tawakkul, the trust that the Muslims have in Allah ʿazza wa jall. This is a comment given by some of the scholars.

Allah (swt) revealed a sūrah called al-Sharḥ, and in it He says inna maʿa al-ʿusri yusrā, with difficulty comes ease:

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went through the most tragic time of his life, and it was followed by one of the best blessings given to him by Allah — because of the size of the bounty that followed it, and that bounty was great.