Prophet Muhammad’s Last Sermon

Date delivered: 632 A.C., 9th day of Dhul al Hijjah, 10 A.H. in the ‘Uranah valley of Mount Arafat.

After praising, and thanking God, he said: “O People, listen well to my words, for I do not know whether, after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and TAKE THESE WORDS TO THOSE WHO COULD NOT BE PRESENT HERE TODAY.

O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Treat others justly so that no one would be unjust to you. Remember that you will indeed meet your LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds. God has forbidden you to take interest (riba), therefore all interest obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital , however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer inequity. God has judged that there shall be no interest and that all the interest due to `Abbas ibn `Abd al Muttalib shall henceforth be waived.

Every right arising out of murder in pre-Islamic days is henceforth waived and the first such right that I waive is that arising from the murder of Rabi`ah ibn al Harith ibn `Abd al Muttalib.

O Men, the Unbelievers indulge in tampering with the calendar in order to make permissible that which God forbade, and to forbid that which God has made permissible. With God the months are twelve in number. Four of them are sacred, three of these are successive and one occurs singly between the months of Jumada and Sha`ban. Beware of the devil, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.

O People, it is true that you have certain rights over your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under God’s trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers. It is your right and they do not make friends with anyone of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste…

O People, listen to me in earnest, worship God (The One Creator of the Universe), perform your five daily prayers (Salah), fast during the month of Ramadan, and give alms (zakah) from your wealth. Perform Hajj if you can afford to.

All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.

Remember, one day you will appear before God (The Creator) and you will answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.

O People, NO PROPHET OR MESSENGER WILL COME AFTER ME AND NO NEW FAITH WILL BE BORN. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I am leaving you with the Book of God (the QUR’AN) and my SUNNAH (the life style and the behavioral mode of the Prophet), if you follow them you will never go astray.

All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness O God, that I have conveyed your message to your people.”

Prophet Muhammad’s last sermon, contains in summary some of the main principles of Islam such as, rule of law, principled living, social justice, universal brotherhood, gender equality, respect for women.
Prophet Muhammad included an important reminder, appropriate for many today;

“Remember, one day you will appear before God (The Creator) and you will answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.”

Also interesting is the idea that people in the future, may understand the Messenger of God’s words, better than those in his own time. What could he have meant by this? Within the Holy Qur’an, and Holy Sayings (Hadith) of the Prophet, many scientific facts unknown in that time were revealed. These include;

1. The origin of the universe
2. The expansion of the universe
3. The orbit of the planets
4. The weather cycle
5. The development of the fetus in the womb
6. Air travel
7. Cars
8. Satellite TV / Radio
9. Mobile phones
10. The Internet

These are just a few, but are others. They have since been discovered by post 19th Century science. Technologies such as cars, planes, satellites etc have since become commonplace. We can now understand The Prophet’s predictions of these. Whereas those in his own time, must have wondered what he meant with his references to them.

There are many things in the mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, which couldn’t have been understood fully, until the development of modern science.

The Creation Of The Universe

…the creation of this universe from nothingness is revealed
in the Qur’an as follows:

He (Allah) is the Originator of the heavens and the earth… (Surat al-Anam:101)

Another important aspect, revealed in the Qur’an fourteen centuries before the modern discovery of the Big Bang and findings related to it is that when it was created, the universe occupied a very tiny volume:

Do those who are disbelievers not see that the heavens and the earth were sewn together and then We unstitched them and that We made from water every living thing? So will they not have faith? (Surat al-Anbiya’: 30)

There is a very important choice of words in the original Arabic whose translation is given above. The word ratk translated as “sewn to” means “mixed in each, blended” in Arabic dictionaries. It is used to refer to two different substances that make up a whole. The phrase “we unstitched” is the verb fatk in Arabic and implies that something comes into being by tearing apart or destroying the structure of ratk. The sprouting of a seed from the soil is one of the actions to which this verb is applied.

Let us take a look at the verse again with this knowledge in mind. In the verse, sky and earth are at first subject to the status of ratk. They are separated (fatk) with one coming out of the other. Intriguingly, cosmologists speak of a “cosmic egg” that consisted of all the matter in the universe prior to the Big Bang. In other words, all the heavens and earth were included in this egg in a condition of ratk. This cosmic egg exploded violently causing its matter to fatk and in the process created the structure of the whole universe.

Another truth revealed in the Qur’an is the expansion of the universe that was discovered in the late 1920s. Hubble’s discovery of the red shift in the spectrum of starlight is revealed in the Qur’an as:

It is We Who have built the universe with (Our creative) power, and, verily, it is We Who are steadily expanding it. (Surat adh-Dhariyat: 47)

Harun Yahya – The Creation of the Universe, pages 28-29

“By the Sky Full of Paths and Orbits”

While referring to the Sun and the Moon in the Qur’an, it is emphasized that each moves in a definite orbit.

“It is He Who created the night and the day, and the sun and
the moon. They swim along, each in an orbit.” (The Qur’an, 21:33)

It is mentioned in another verse, too, that the Sun is not static but moves in a definite orbit:

“And the sun runs to its resting place. That is the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing.” (The Qur’an, 37:38 )

These facts communicated in the Qur’an have been discovered by astronomical observations in our age. According to the calculations of experts on astronomy, the Sun is traveling at the enormous speed of 720,000 kilometers an hour in the direction of the star Vega in a particular orbit called the Solar Apex. This means that the sun travels roughly 17,280,000 kilometers a day.
Along with the Sun, and all planets and satellites within the gravitational system of the Sun also travel the same distance. In addition, all the stars in the universe are in a similar planned motion. That the entire universe is full of paths and orbits such as this one, is written in the Qur’an as follows:

“By the sky full of paths and orbits.” (The Qur’an, 51:7)

Harun Yahya – Miracles of the Qur’an, page 16.

Cloud Formation

“Seest thou not that Allah makes the clouds move gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a heap? – then wilt thou see rain issue forth from their midst…” Holy Qur’an 24:43

This verse describes the formation of Cumulonimbus clouds. It continues, by illustrating how hail is formed…

“…And He sends down from the sky mountain masses (of clouds) wherein is hail: He strikes therewith whom he pleases and He turns it away from whom He pleases. The vivid flash of His lightening well-nigh blinds the sight.” Holy Qur’an 24:43

It has been discovered that clouds need to reach heights of 25,000 to 30,000 ft, like mountains in the sky, to form hail. These are the same type of cloud formations that produce lightening.

Much of our knowledge of meteorology and especially lightening has only been discovered very recently. These were complete mysteries 1400 years ago.

Modern technologies

Prophet Muhammad predicted the development of many modern technologies.

Satellite TV/Radio

“A voice will call him by name … and even people in the east and west will hear it.” (Ibn Hajar Haythami, Al Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi ‘alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar)

“This voice will spread over the entire world, and every tribe will hear it in their own language.” (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-Zaman)

“A voice from the sky that everyone will hear in his own language.” (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-Zaman)

“The sign of that day: A hand will be extended from the sky, and people will look and see it.” (Ibn Hajar Haythami, Al Qawl a-Mukhtasar fi ‘alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar)

“The sign of that day is a hand extended in the sky and people stopping to look at it.” (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-Zaman)

The Arabic word for “hand” in the above hadiths is “yed”. As well as “hand,” the dictionary also provides such meanings as “power, force, strength, means etc.” It is probable that in these hadiths the word is used in those senses.

The idea of a “power, force, strength or means” extending from the sky and looked upon by people might not make much sense in the context of past ages. Yet, it sheds considerable light on equipment such as the television, camera and computer, which have become such an indispensable parts of modern life, as described in the hadiths. In other words, the “hand” mentioned in these hadiths is used in the sense of force. It clearly points to pictures coming down from the sky in waves, in other words television broadcasting.

Modern Transport

“The Last Day will not be established until… time will pass quickly.” (Sahih Bukhari Hadith)

“Great distances will be traversed in short spans of time.” (Sahih Musnad Hadith)

“The Last hour will not come before time contracts, a year being like a month, a month like a week, a week like a day, a day like an hour, and an hour like the kindling of a fire.” (Tirmidhi Hadith)

The century we are living in has seen the capability of constructing supersonic aeroplanes, and the ability, thanks to trains and other improvements in means of transport, to make journeys in a few minutes that would once have taken months, and in great comfort. What this hadith indicates is also taking place in this manner.

Mobile Phones

“The last hour will not come before the end of a man’s whip speak to him.” (Tirmidhi, Number 1450)

The whip is known as a tool used in earlier times when riding or guiding pack animals such as horses or camels. When we look closely at this hadith, we can see that the Prophet is making a comparison. Let us ask people living at the present time a question, “Is there a modern implement that talks and resembles a whip?”

The most logical reply to that question is the mobile telephone, with its long antenna, or similar communications equipment. If we bear in mind that mobile or satellite phones are comparatively recent developments, then the wisdom behind the Prophet’s description of 1,400 years ago is even clearer.

Audio Recording Equipment

“There will be no Judgment … until a person’s own voice speaks to him.” (Al-Qurtubi al-Tezkirah)