Praying for the dead

Sirat p. 678

While matters were thus, Muhammad began to suffer from the illness by which Allah took him to what honour and compassion He intended for him. 'Matters were thus' refers to a series of raids and assassinations described in the preceding pages of the Sirat. It began when he went to Baqiul-Gharqad in the middle of the night and prayed for the dead. Then he returned to his family, and in the morning his sufferings began. Muhammad, as we saw also after the battle of Badr, had an inclination to speak with the dead. Let us see how this unfolds. Abu Muwayhiba related: "In the middle of the night, Muhammad sent for me and thold me that he was ordered to pray for the dead in this cemetery, and that I was to go with him. I went; and when he stood among them, he said: "Peace be upon you, Oh people of the graves! Happy are you that you are so much better off that men here." The founder of Islam was not a happy person, even after two decades of teaching. If one thinks that the purpose of Islam is to bring happiness, it's actually a mistake. Islam is about the following:

Belief in Allah and Muhammad as his messenger
Daily prayer
Fasting
Pilgrimage to Mecca
Payment of Zakat tax

Allah has already predetermined who will be good and who will be bad, who will suffer in Hell and who will enter Paradise. While that might make prayer and peity seem pointless, all good Muslims perform the above rituals. "Dissensions have come like waves of darkness, one after another, the last being worst than the first." Muhammad had tried for 20 years to make people obey the commands of Allah and himself. This did not work out very well, and he considered the ongoing dissensions a sign of failure. This causes mortal unhappiness for Muhammad. For comparison, chapter 13 of Pauls 1st letter to the Corinthians reads:

      If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, 
      I have become a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal.
      And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; 
      and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 
      If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, 
      but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 
      Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous. 
      Love does not brag and is not arrogant; it does not act unbecomingly. 
      Love does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 
      does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in truth. 
      Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 
      Love never fails.

Then he turned to me and said: "I have been given the choice between the keys fo the treasuries of this world, and long life followed by Paradise, and meeting my Lord and Paradise (at once)." I urged him to chose the former, but he said that he had chosen the latter. Interesting. The prophet who refrained from participating in Jihad and gaining martyrdom because he was needed by the Muslims, now reverses this decision in spite of pleas to remain alive. Suffering apparently has overcome him. Then he prayed for the dead there and went away. Then it was that the illness through which Allah took him began.

A proposal for Aisha

Sirat p. 678

Aisha said: Muhammad returned from the cemetery to find me suffering from a severe headache and I was saying: "Oh, my head!" He said: "Nay, Aisha, Oh my head." [emphasis in the original] Having spent his prayers for others on the dead, Muhammad pitches his pain as more important than that of his wife. This is different from what we would expect from Jesus etc., who were more concerned with the suffering of others than their own. Then he said: "Would it distress you if you were to die before me so that I might wrap you in your shroud and pray over you and bury you?" This is a pretty weird suggestion for his wife who had just turned 18. Why should she prefer death? I said: "Methinks I see you if you had done that, returning to my house and spending a bridal night therein with one of your wives." Score one for Aisha! Earlier, she had not hesitated to pinpoint hypocrisy on the side of Muhammad, and she goes right to the core of the matter. She sees nothing particular attractive in the idea, and - presumably from experience - gives a rather blunt predition of what Muhammad would do after burying her. Muhammad must have been extraordinaly distressed to come up with a suggestion like this. Muhammad smiled, and then his pain overcame him, as he was going te round of his wives, unti he was overpowered in the house of Maymuna. He called his wives and asked their permission to be nursed in my house, and they agreed. The muted prophet appears a bit humbled by the situation. Aisha said: Muhammad went out walking between two men of his family. His head was bound in a cloth and his feet were dragging as he came to my house.

Illness and preaching

Sirat p. 679

Then Muhammads illness worsened and he suffered much pain. He said: "Pour seven skins of water from different wells over me so that I may go out to the men and instruct them." We made him sit down in a tub, and we poured water over him until he cried: "Enough, enough!" A millenium before the coming of meaningful medicine, superstition will have to do. Doesn't work too well, though. Muhammad went out with his head bound up and sat in the pulpit. The first thing he uttered was a prayer over the men of Uhud asking Allah's forgiveness for them and praying for them a long time; It appears that what nags Muhammad the most from his entire life is the fact that a large part of the Muslims retreated before the battle of Uhud, contributing to the defeat they suffered. The idea of asking Allah's forgiveness contradicts the strict fatalism of Islam expressed elsewhere. then he said: "Allah has given one of his servants the choice between this world and that which is with Allah, and he has chosen the latter." Interesting wording. Since Allah never was described as being in Paradise, one may wonder where Muhammad will be spending his eternity. Abu Bakr perceived that he meant himself, and he wept, saying: "Nay, we and your children will be your ransom." He replied: "Gently, Abu Bakr," adding "See to these doors that open on to the mosque and shut them except one from Abu Bakr's house, for I know no one who is a better friend to me than he." Perceptive as always, Abu Bakr correctly guesses that Muhammad talks about himself. The issue of successing Muhammad was delicate. Muhammad didn't explicitly appoint anyone, but quite a few hints that his father-in-law had the favorite role. Ibn Ishaq, being Sunni and sponsored by the Sunni caliph, did remember to include the appropriate hadith about this.

Directing the raids

Sirat p. 679

Muhammad found the people tardy in joining the expedition of Usama b. Zayd while he was suffering, so he went out with his head bound up, until he sat in the pulpit. Now people had criticized the leadership of Usama, saying: "He has put a young man in command of the best of the emigrants and the helpers." After praising Allah as is His due, he said: "Oh men, dispatch Usama's force, for though you criticize his leadership as you criticized the leadership of his father before him, he is just as worthy of the command as his father was." Then he came down and the people hurried on with the preparations. Even approaching death, Muhammad still sends raiding parties out. Muhammad's pain became severe, and Usama and his army went as far as al-Jurf, about a stage from Medina, and encamped there, and the men gathered to him. When Muhammad became seriously ill, Usama and his men stayed there to see what Allah would decide about his messenger. Muhammad said on the day he asked Allah's forgiveness for the men of Uhud: "Oh Muhajirs, behave kindly to the Ansar, for other men increase, but they in the nature of things cannot grow more numerous. They were my constant comfort and support. So treat their good men well, and forgive those of them who were remiss." Here we have the reason why the men of Uhud needed a special forgiveness from Allah so many years later: Laxness in duty. The foregiveness is asked for those who chose not to fight at Uhud. Not for all the raids and other offensive battles Muhammad and the Muslims had conducted over the last decade.3 Then Muhammad asks his holy warriors to be kind to the Ansar (Medina Muslims). Some may think that the emigrants (original Meccan Muslims) had been his most important support, but here it seems not.

Choice of a prophet

Sirat p. 680

Apparently, Muhammad thought he had the ability to decide over his death. The Jewish prophets didn't see it this way, and Jesus left the decision over his cruxifiction and death to God. When he was at the point of death, the last word I [Aisha] heard Muhammad saying was: "Nay, rather the Exalted Companion of paradise." Ibn Ishaq refers to Sura 4:71 at this point. Other Quran editions differ slightly in numbering. It would be this verse: Quran 4:69: And who so obeys Allâh and the Messenger (Muhammad), then they will be in the company of those on whom Allâh has bestowed His Grace, of the Prophets, the Siddiqûn (those followers of the Prophets who were first and foremost to believe in them, like Abu Bakr As-Siddîq), the martyrs, and the righteous. And how excellent these companions are! This shall not deter us from having a segway at Quran 4:71 onwards, which elucidates some central issues: Quran 4:71: O you who believe! Take your precautions, and either go forth (on an expedition) in parties, or go forth all together. Quran 4:72: There is certainly among you he who would linger behind (from fighting in Allâh's Cause). If a misfortune befalls you, he says, "Indeed Allâh has favoured me in that I was not present among them." Quran 4:73: But if a bounty (victory and booty) comes to you from Allâh, he would surely say – as if there had never been ties of affection between you and him – "Oh! I wish I had been with them; then I would have achieved a great success (a good share of booty)." Quran 4:74 Let those (believers) who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter fight in the Cause of Allâh; and who so fights in the Cause of Allâh, and is killed or gets victory, We shall bestow on him a great reward. The problem of Muslims unwilling to fight is a recurring theme. Here the envy towards those who fought and captured booty is used as a motivation to get the Muslims to participate more willingly in future raids. As we have seen before, fighting Muslims are promised either 'a good share of booty' or, if they get killed, a reward in paradise. It's a win-win situation, and obviously attractive to the relatively poor Arabs. Quran 4:75: And what is wrong with you that you fight not in the Cause of Allâh, and for those weak, ill-treated and oppressed among men, women, and children, whose cry is: "Our Lord! Rescue us from this town whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from You one who will protect, and raise for us from You one who will help." A stab at those hypocritical Muslims who became Muslims to protect their lives and property, but refuse to take part in battle. Quran 4:76: Those who believe, fight in the Cause of Allâh, and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Tâghût (Satan). So fight you against the friends of Shaitân (Satan); ever feeble indeed is the plot of Shaitân (Satan). We must assume that fighting for Allah is better than fighting for Satan. It's an ongoing war in any case. Back in the hadith, we find Aisha telling: I said to myself: "Then, by Allah, he is not choosing us! And I knew that that was what he used to tell us, namely that a prophet does not die without being given a choice.

Final words

Sirat p. 681

After some debate over who should oversee the prayers, we come to the succession issue: Muhammad said when he died: "If I appoint a successor, one better than I did so; and if I leave them (to elect my successor) one better than I did so." So the people knew that he had not appointed a successor, and Umar was not suspected of hostility towards Abu Bakr. This final vaugeness had profound implications. With successorship cast into doubt, and no method for choosing one, the door was open to all kinds of intrigue. The main conflict stood between the (adopted) son Ali and the main allies of Muhammad (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman etc.) Eventually the allies of Muhammad won out over his bloodline, but the schism was so deep that it evolved into the Sunni<->Shia conflict which is very much alive today, with significant bloodshed as the result. Aisha said: Muhammad died in my bosom during my turn [among the wives to be with Muhammad]; I had wronged none in regard to him. It was due to my ignorance and extreme youth that the messenger died in my arms. Then I laid his head on a pillow, and got up beating my breast and slapping my face along with the other women. So, this is the end for Muhammad. Given his fondness of women, it is fitting that he dies with his favorite wife. The issue of his admission to Paradise should be resolved with his statement above. Interesting that Aisha takes the blame for his death. He was, after all, over 60, quite an age to reach in ancient Arabia. The wailing is customary in the Islamic world. It is practiced most extensively in the Shia branch of Islam, where lamenting the death of various imams have become public holidays, even over a millenium after they lived.

Handling the situation

Sirat p. 682

Umar got up and said: "Some of the disaffected will allege that the messenger is dead, but by Allah, he is not dead; he hs gone to his Lord as Moses b. Imran went, and was hidden from his people for forty days, returning to them after it was said that he died. By Allah, the messenger will return as Moses returned and will cut off the hands and feet of men who alleged the messenger is dead. The risk for the community was acute. Telling that Muhammad would return 40 days later to chop off the hands and feet of the rebellious serves a double purpose. First, Muhammad is put in line with Moses and the Jewish prophets. And, on a more practical level, the threat connected with his return helps to avert a stampede from Islam. That it had little chance of actually happening was another matter. Abu Bakr went to Muhammad, who was lying covered by a mantle of Yemenite cloth. He went and uncovered his face and kissed him, saying: "You are dearer than my father and mother. You have tasted the death which Allah had decreed; a second death will never overtake you." Again we see that Islam supercedes the family bonds that used to be the glue of Arab society earlier. This notion of loving Muhammad higher than anything else is alive and well in the Islamic world today. Abu Bakr said to the people: "Oh men, if anyone worships Muhammad, Muhammad is dead; if anyone worships Allah, Allah is alive, immortal." This is peculiar. Apparently, some of the Muslims were worshipping Muhammad directly? This can be the only cause for a statement like this. Then he recited the verse: Quran 3:144: And Muhammad is no more than a Messenger, and indeed Messengers have passed away before him. If he dies or is killed, will you then turn back on your heels? And he who turns back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allâh; and Allâh will give reward to those who are grateful. In other words: "Leaving is pointless, as it doesn't hurt us the least. Staying has a great reward." Keeping the community together was tricky at this critical point. And Abu Bakr had just discounted what Umar said about Muhammad returning 40 days later. Quoting an appropriate Quran verse at this time was probably the ideal choice. And people took heed: By Allah, it was as though the people did not know that this verse had come down until Abu Bakr recited it that day. Of course, Abu Bakr being one of the closest allies of Muhammad, and thus witness to much Quran revelation, one could not suspect him anymore than Muhammad of inventing 'situational' scripture to deal with difficult situations. However, the verse served its purpose: The people took it from him and it was (constantly) in their mouths. Umar said: "By Allah, when I heard Abu Bakr recite these words, I was so dumbfounded so that my legs would not bear me, and I fell to the ground knowing that Muhammad was indeed dead." The truth hurts, not least when you had just contradicted it squarely. No permanent harm was done to Umar's reputation, though, and he went on to become the second caliph (after Abu Bakr).

The truth. Nothing but the truth

The last days of Muhammad