In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
An Abridgment of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah),
Authored by Sheikh Musa Rashid al-Azimi,
May Allah preserve him.
The Farewell Pilgrimage.
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said:
"There is no scholarly disagreement that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
Never performed Hajj after his emigration
To Medina
Except for a single Hajj,
Which was the Farewell Pilgrimage;
Nor is there any dispute that it
Took place in the tenth year of the Hijrah."
The two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) recorded in their Sahihs
On the authority of Zayd ibn Arqam,
May Allah be pleased with him, who said:
"The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
Took part in nineteen
Military expeditions,
And he performed Hajj after he had emigrated
Only once, never performing another after it:
The Farewell Pilgrimage."
Imam al-Nawawi stated:
"Its meaning is that
After the Hijrah, he did not perform Hajj
Except for a single pilgrimage,
Which was the Farewell Pilgrimage
In the tenth year of the Hijrah."
The two Shaykhs also recorded
In their Sahihs
On the authority of Qatadah, who said:
"I asked Anas: 'How many times did
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, perform Hajj?'
He replied:
'Only one Hajj.'"
Imam al-Sindi commented:
"His inquiry, 'How many times did he perform Hajj?',
Refers to after the Hijrah."
I say: and that was
The Farewell Pilgrimage.
The author notes in the margin:
Imam al-Nawawi said
In his commentary on Sahih Muslim:
"It was named thus—
That is, the Farewell Pilgrimage—
Because the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
Bade farewell to the people during it,
Instructed them in his sermon,
And enjoined upon them the transmission of
Sacred law proclaimed therein
To those who were absent from it;
For the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah
Be upon him, declared:
'Let those present among you convey it
To those who are absent.'"
Announcing the Hajj of the Prophet,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to the People.
When
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah
Be upon him, resolved to perform Hajj,
He informed the people that he intended to make the pilgrimage,
Prompting them to prepare for departure.
Those dwelling around Medina heard of this,
And arrived eagerly wishing to perform Hajj
Alongside the Messenger of Allah,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Multitudes joined him along the route,
In numbers that could not be counted,
Stretching before him,
Behind him,
And to his right and left,
As far as the eye could see.
Imam Muslim recorded
In his Sahih
On the authority of Jabir ibn 'Abdullah,
May Allah be pleased with both of them, who said:
"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
Remained in Medina for nine years
Without performing Hajj.
Then, in the tenth year, it was announced among the people
That the Messenger of Allah,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was going for Hajj.
Thereupon, a great multitude
Of people arrived in Medina,
All of them seeking
To follow the lead of the Messenger of Allah,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
And emulate his rituals."
Jabir continued: "I looked ahead,
And as far as the eye could see before him,
There were riders and pedestrians;
And likewise to his right,
Likewise to his left,
And likewise behind him."
In the narration of Imam al-Nasa'i
In al-Sunan al-Kubra,
With an authentic chain of transmission,
On the authority of Jabir ibn 'Abdullah,
May Allah be pleased with both of them, he said:
"No one remained
Who was capable of coming,
Whether riding or on foot,
But had arrived."
The Departure of the Prophet, Peace and Blessings of Allah Be upon Him,
From Medina.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, set out
From the City of the Prophet (Medina)
Heading toward Mecca—
May Allah ennoble it—
On a Saturday,
When five nights remained
Of Dhu al-Qi'dah.
This took place after he had prayed
Four rak'ahs for the Zuhr prayer in Medina.
The two Shaykhs recorded
In their Sahihs
On the authority of 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
Who said:
"We set out with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
When five nights remained
Of Dhu al-Qi'dah,
Envisaging nothing other than Hajj."
Ibn Ishaq relied upon
The account of 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
Regarding the date of
The departure of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
From Medina,
And did not adopt any other view.
Imam al-Bukhari recorded in his Sahih
On the authority of Ibn 'Abbas,
May Allah be pleased with both of them, who said:
"The Prophet,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, set out from Medina
After he had combed his hair,
Applied oil,
And donned his waist-wrapper and upper cloak,
He and his Companions.
He did not forbid any type
Of cloak or waist-wrapper from being worn
Except those dyed with saffron,
Which leave marks on the skin"—
Meaning whose dye rubs off
Onto the body, staining it
With its color.
"By morning, he reached Dhu al-Hulayfah,
Mounted his riding-camel until
He and his Companions entered the state of ihram,
And marked his sacrificial camel with a garland;
And that was when five nights remained
Of Dhu al-Qi'dah."
The Departure of the Prophet's Wives,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
Along with Him.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, set out
Accompanied by all of his wives,
May Allah be pleased with them.
Imam Ahmad recorded
In his Musnad with a good (hasan) chain of transmission
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah,
May Allah be pleased with him, who said:
"The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
Said to his wives
In the year of the Farewell Pilgrimage:
'This is the pilgrimage for you,
And after it you must remain upon the mats of your homes.'"
The author notes in the margin:
Ibn al-Athir stated
In al-Nihayah:
"That is, you should not venture
Out of your houses again,
But rather keep to the mats (husur),
Which is the plural of hasir:
The woven reed mat spread out in homes."
Al-Sindi remarked in his commentary:
"Perhaps what was meant by this
Was to comfort their hearts
Regarding foregoing Hajj thereafter
If it proved too difficult to undertake,
Or that it was permissible for them to forgo it,
Not that they were strictly forbidden from performing Hajj;
For it is firmly established that they performed Hajj after his death,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
I say:
'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, granted them permission to perform Hajj
During his caliphate,
In the final Hajj
That he himself performed,
As recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari.
It was reported that all of them
Used to perform Hajj,
Except Zaynab bint Jahsh
And Sawdah bint Zam'ah,
Who both used to say:
"By Allah, no riding-beast shall ever
Carry us again after we heard
That instruction from the Prophet,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
The route of the Prophet,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
to the miqat of Dhu al-Hulayfah
and his entering into ihram.
The Messenger of Allah,
peace be upon him, set out
toward the miqat of Dhu al-Hulayfah,
taking the route of al-Shajarah,
until he reached it
before praying the 'Asr prayer.
He prayed it there shortened to two rak'ahs,
and then stayed overnight there
until morning came.
He prayed Maghrib, 'Isha',
Fajr, and Zuhr there;
thus he performed at Dhu al-Hulayfah
five prayers in total.
The two Shaykhs [al-Bukhari and Muslim] narrated in their Sahihs
from Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both,
who said:
"The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
used to leave by way of
al-Shajarah and enter [back]
by way of al-Mu'arras."
And the two Shaykhs narrated in their Sahihs
from Anas ibn Malik,
may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
"The Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, prayed
— while we were with him in Medina —
four rak'ahs for Zuhr,
and two rak'ahs for 'Asr at Dhu al-Hulayfah.
Then he stayed the night
until morning."
And Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih
from Ibn 'Abbas,
may Allah be pleased with them both, who said:
"The Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
prayed Zuhr at Dhu al-Hulayfah."
And the Messenger of Allah,
peace be upon him,
went round that night to his wives,
all nine of them, may Allah be pleased with them.
For indeed, the two Shaykhs narrated
in their Sahihs
from 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
that she said: "I perfumed the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him;
then he went round among his wives,
and in the morning entered
the state of ihram."
And there came to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
during that night,
a visitor sent from his Lord, Glorified is He,
in that very place —
which is the valley of al-'Aqiq —
conveying an order from his Lord,
Glorified is He, that he declare
in this pilgrimage of his:
"An 'Umrah within a Hajj."
For indeed, Imam al-Bukhari narrated
in his Sahih
from 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
"I heard the Prophet,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
saying in the valley of al-'Aqiq:
'A visitor came to me tonight
from my Lord and said:
"Pray in this blessed
valley, and say:
'An 'Umrah within a Hajj.'"'"
Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said:
"What is apparent is that
his being commanded, peace be upon him,
to pray in the valley of al-'Aqiq
was a command to remain
there until he had prayed
the Zuhr prayer,
because the command only came to him
at night, and he informed them of it
after the Fajr prayer.
Thus, none remained except the Zuhr prayer,
so he was commanded to pray it
there and to enter
ihram immediately after it."
An abridgment
of the Prophetic biography (Seerah):
"If the yearning
of people
for one another grows long,
the yearning toward you
has bounds that cannot be measured.
May Allah send blessings
upon you whenever the call [to prayer]
is raised,
and whenever lips
move in praise
of the Everlasting."