Boreal
FAREWELL POSTINGS
Muhammad
INVESTIGATING A TARDY DEMISE
November 6, 2024
In 2017 I was diagnosed with a rising aortic aneurism. Every eight months or so I went in for an echocardiogram to check if it had expanded to a size where surgery to cut off the damaged portion to be replaced by some type of polyethylene tubing was called for. After Lucette passed away on July 5, 2019 I cancelled any further measurements and decided to let nature take its course.
I will now have my first thoracic echocardiogram in more than five years. It was my doctor’s idea. In the event that the size of the aneurism warrants surgical intervention, she still hopes to convince me to have the operation to replace the damaged portion with some kind of polyethylene tube. Not going to happen! Maybe, like Muhammad, it will be an unfortunate accident that will lead to my demise.
A few years back, I read the more than fourteen thousand authenticated sayings and deeds of Muhammad, the so-called hadiths that are part of the Sunni cannon, and arrived at my own conclusion as to the cause of his death. The results I published in a posting that is also a chapter of 1001 Sayings and Deeds of the Prophet Muhammad which I include here as part of my Farewell Postings. This will be the first time, and definitely not the last, that I will quote Muhammad in my postings. Therefore, before we proceed, an introduction into hadith literature is definitely in order.
Islam is not so much a religion as a way of life, with thousands of indelible rules to instruct every waking moment of a believer’s existence. First, there are the Koran’s more than six thousand revealed truths, i.e., immutable facts communicated to a mortal by a god and then there are the hadiths whose importance cannot be overstated.
The authenticated sayings and example of the Prophet Muhammad, along with Koran, are the basis of Sharia law. Given the fact that [hadiths are] often used as the lens through which to interpret the Koran, many Muslim jurists consider [them] to be even a greater authority on the practice of Islam.
Sam Harris, The End of Faith - Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason, 2004, W. W. Norton & Company.
In Islam: A Short History (2002), Karen Armstrong, former nun and unabashed fan of Muhammad, explains why hadiths were made necessary and how they transformed Islam:
The Quran contains very little legislation, and what laws there were had been designed for a much simpler society. So some of the jurists began to collect reports about the Prophet and his companions to find out how they had behaved in a given situation… Thus they believed they would gain true ilm, knowledge of what was right and how to behave... (p.49)
The Prophet, the Perfect Man, became the person to imitate. (p. 60)
DEATH OF THE PROPHET
(Abbreviated from 1001 Sayings and Deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, Boreal Books)
Prophets are granted the right to decide when it is their time to die.
Narrated Aisha (the wife of the Prophet):
When Allah's Apostle was in good health, he used to say, "No prophet's soul is ever captured unless he is shown his place in Paradise and given the option (to die or survive)." So when the death of the Prophet approached and his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious for a while and then he came to his senses and fixed his eyes on the ceiling and said, "O Allah (with) the highest companions."
I said, "Hence he is not going to choose us." And I came to know that it was the application of the narration which he (the Prophet) used to narrate to us.
And that was the last statement of the Prophet (before his death) i.e., "O Allah! With the highest companions."
Bukhari 76.516
Muhammad spent his last days on Earth in the house of his favourite wife and confidante, Aisha.
Narrated Aisha:
When the ailment of the Prophet became aggravated and his disease became severe, he asked his wives to permit him to be nursed (treated) in my house. So they gave him the permission.
Then the Prophet came (to my house) with the support of two men, and his legs were dragging on the ground, between 'Abbas, and another man.
Ubaid-Ullah (the sub narrator) said, "I informed 'Abdullah bin Abbas of what Aisha said. Ibn Abbas said: 'Do you know who was the other man?' I replied in the negative. Ibn Abbas said, 'He was Ali (bin Abi Talib)."
Aisha further said, "When the Prophet came to my house and his sickness became aggravated he ordered us to pour seven skins full of water on him, so that he might give some advice to the people. So he was seated in a Mikhdab (brass tub) belonging to Hafsa, the wife of the Prophet. Then, all of us started pouring water on him from the water skins till he beckoned to us to stop and that we have done (what he wanted us to do). After that he went out to the people."
Bukhari 4:197
Muhammad disliked taking medicine.
Narrated Aisha:
We poured medicine in one side of the Prophet's mouth during his illness and he started pointing to us, meaning to say, "Don't pour medicine in my mouth."
We said, "(He says so) because a patient dislikes medicines."
When he improved and felt a little better, he said, "Didn't I forbid you to pour medicine in my mouth?"
We said, "(We thought it was because of) the dislike, patients have for medicines."
He said, "Let everyone present in the house be given medicine by pouring it in his mouth while I am looking at him, except Abbas as he has not witnessed you (doing the same to me)."
Bukhari 59.735
During his last days, Muhammad asked Abu Bakr, who would succeed him as leader of the believers, to lead his flock in prayer:
Narrated Al-Aswad:
"We were with Aisha discussing the regularity of offering the prayer and dignifying it. She said, 'When Allah's Apostle fell sick with the fatal illness and when the time of prayer became due and Adhan was pronounced, he said, 'Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer.'
He was told that Abu Bakr was a soft-hearted man and would not be able to lead the prayer in his place.
The Prophet gave the same order again but he was given the same reply.
He gave the order for the third time and said, 'You (women) are the companions of Joseph. Tell Abu Bakr to lead the prayer.' So Abu Bakr came out to lead the prayer.
In the meantime the condition of the Prophet improved a bit and he came out with the help of two men one on each side.
As if I was observing his legs dragging on the ground owing to the disease. Abu Bakr wanted to retreat but the Prophet beckoned him to remain at his place and the Prophet was brought till he sat beside Abu Bakr.'"
Al-A'mash was asked, "Was the Prophet praying and Abu Bakr following him, and were the people following Abu Bakr in that prayer?"
Al-A'mash replied in the affirmative with a nod of his head. Abu Muawiya said, "The Prophet was sitting on the left side of Abu Bakr who was praying while standing."
Bukhari 11.633
As his condition deteriorated, Muhammad could only watch the believers at prayer.
Narrated Anas:
The Prophet did not come out for three days. The people stood for the prayer and Abu Bakr went ahead to lead the prayer. (In the meantime) the Prophet caught hold of the curtain and lifted it.
When the face of the Prophet appeared we had never seen a scene more pleasing than the face of the Prophet as it appeared then.
The Prophet beckoned to Abu Bakr to lead the people in the prayer and then let the curtain fall. We did not see him (again) till he died.
Bukhari 11.649
The last two chapters of the Koran, 113 and 114, are known as the Muawidhatan (also spelled Mu'awwidhatayn) the Verses of Refuge. When he feared his time had come, Muhammad repeated over and over these two short surahs.
Narrated Aisha:
Whenever Allah's Apostle became ill, he used to recite the Muawidhatan and blow his breath over himself (after their recitation) and rubbed his hands over his body. So when he was afflicted with his fatal illness. I started reciting the Muawidhatan and blowing my breath over him as he used to blow and made the hand of the Prophet pass over his body.
Bukhari 59.723
THE DAYBREAK
113 Al-Falaq
In the Name of Allah,
the Compassionate, the Merciful
113:1 Say: “I seek refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak,
113:2 “From the evil of what He has created,
113:3 “And the evil of the darkness when it gathers,
113:4 “And the evil of those who blow into knotted reeds (witches or sorceresses),
113:5 “And from the evil of the envious when he envies.”
THE PEOPLE
114 An-Nâs
In the Name of Allah,
the Compassionate, the Merciful
114:1 Say: “I seek refuge with the Lord of the People,
114:2 “The King of the people,
114:3 “The God of the people,
114:4 “From the evil of the slinking whisperer [Satan],
114:5 “Who whispers in the breasts of people,
114:6 “Both jinn and men.”
In Muhammad’s time, witches were thought to blow into knots to cast spells, another superstition from the Dark Ages that found its way into the Koran. Surah 113 as a choice for a last appeal to a higher power before the darkness closes in is revealing, not only in its reference to witches, but in Allah admitting He is the source of evil.
113:1-2 Say: “I seek refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak, From the evil of what He has created,”
The Prophet's last orders:
Narrated Said bin Jubair:
That he heard Ibn Abbas saying, "Thursday! And you know not what Thursday is?"
After that Ibn Abbas wept till the stones on the ground were soaked with his tears. On that I asked Ibn Abbas, "What is (about) Thursday?"
He said, "When the condition (i.e. health) of Allah's Apostle deteriorated, he said, 'Bring me a bone of scapula, so that I may write something for you after which you will never go astray.'
The people differed in their opinions although it was improper to differ in front of a prophet,
They said, 'What is wrong with him? Do you think he is delirious? Ask him (to understand).'
The Prophet replied, 'Leave me as I am in a better state than what you are asking me to do.'
Then the Prophet ordered them to do three things saying, 'Turn out all the pagans from the Arabian Peninsula, show respect to all foreign delegates by giving them gifts as I used to do.'"
The sub-narrator added, "The third order was something beneficial which either Ibn Abbas did not mention or he mentioned but I forgot."
Bukhari 53.393
A bad attempt at cheering up a dying man:
Narrated Aisha:
When the Prophet became ill, some of his wives talked about a church which they had seen in Ethiopia and it was called Mariya.
Um Salma and Um Habiba had been to Ethiopia, and both of them narrated its (the Church's) beauty and the pictures it contained.
The Prophet raised his head and said, "Those are the people who, whenever a pious man dies amongst them, make a place of worship at his grave and then they make those pictures in it. Those are the worst creatures in the Sight of Allah."
Bukhari 23.425
Bickering among those around him prevented Muhammad from writing down his last instructions.
Narrated Ubaidullah bin Abdullah:
Ibn Abbas said, "When Allah's Apostle was on his deathbed and there were some men in the house, he said, 'Come near, I will write for you something after which you will not go astray.'
Some of them (i.e. his companions) said, 'Allah's Apostle is seriously ill and you have the (Holy) Quran. Allah's Book is sufficient for us.'
So the people in the house differed and started disputing. Some of them said, 'Give him writing material so that he may write for you something after which you will not go astray.' while the others said the other way round.
So when their talk and differences increased, Allah's Apostle said, 'Get up.'"
Ibn Abbas used to say, "No doubt, it was very unfortunate (a great disaster) that Allah's Apostle was prevented from writing for them that writing because of their differences and noise."
Bukhari 59.717
Perhaps he wanted to make out a will, which the Koran had made mandatory for adult males.
2:180 It is prescribed for you that when death is imminent for one of you and he leaves wealth, he should equitably make a testament in favour of the parents and the near of kin. This in incumbent upon the righteous.
The fact that he ignored this Divine Ordinance surprised some people.
Narrated Talha bin Musarrif:
I asked Abdullah bin Abu Aufa "Did the Prophet make a will?"
He replied, "No."
I asked him, "How is it then that the making of a will has been enjoined on people, (or that they are ordered to make a will)?"
He replied, "The Prophet bequeathed Allah's Book (i.e. quran)."
Bukhari 51.3
The passing of Muhammad:
Narrated Aisha:
It was one of the favors of Allah towards me that Allah's Apostle expired in my house on the day of my turn while he was leaning against my chest and Allah made my saliva mix with his saliva at his death.
Abdur-Rahman entered upon me with a Siwak in his hand and I was supporting (the back of) Allah's Apostle (against my chest). I saw the Prophet looking at it (i.e. Siwak) and I knew that he loved the Siwak, so I said (to him), "Shall I take it for you?"
He nodded in agreement. So I took it and it was too stiff for him to use, so I said, "Shall I soften it for you?"
He nodded his approval. So I softened it and he cleaned his teeth with it.
In front of him there was a jug or a tin containing water. He started dipping his hand in the water and rubbing his face with it, he said, "None has the right to be worshipped except Allah. Death has its agonies."
He then lifted his hands (towards the sky) and started saying, "With the highest companion," till he expired and his hand dropped down.
Bukhari 59.730
Narrated Aisha:
I heard the Prophet and listened to him before his death while he was lying supported on his back, and he was saying, "O Allah! Forgive me, and bestow Your Mercy on me, and let me meet the (highest) companions (of the Hereafter)."
Bukhari 59.715
Muhammad’s first meal after he died?
Narrated Qatada:
We were in the company of Anas whose baker was with him. Anas said, The Prophet did not eat thin bread, or a roasted sheep till he met Allah (died).
Bukhari 65.297
On his death bed Muhammad cursed both Christian and Jews.
Narrated Aisha and Ibn Abbas:
On his death-bed Allah's Apostle put a sheet over his-face and when he felt hot, he would remove it from his face. When in that state (of putting and removing the sheet) he said, "May Allah's Curse be on the Jews and the Christians for they build places of worship at the graves of their prophets."
(By that) he intended to warn (the Muslim) from what they (i.e. Jews and Christians) had done.
Bukhari 56.660
Bukhari 11.657
The last gathering:
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
Once the Prophet ascended the pulpit and it was the last gathering in which he took part. He was covering his shoulder with a big cloak and binding his head with an oily bandage.
He glorified and praised Allah and said, "O people! Come to me."
So the people came and gathered around him and he then said, "Amma ba'du." "From now onward the Ansar (i.e. Helpers, mainly Medinan Muslims) Muhammad will decrease and other people will increase. So anybody who becomes a ruler of the followers of Muhammad and has the power to harm or benefit people then he should accept the good from the benevolent amongst them (Ansar) and overlook the faults of their wrong-doers."
Bukhari 13.49
The probable cause of Muhammad's fatal affliction:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) fell down from a horse and his right side was either injured or scratched, so we went to inquire about his health.
The time for the prayer became due and he offered the prayer while sitting and we prayed while standing.
He said, "The Imam is to be followed; so if he says Takbir, you should also say Takbir, and if he bows you should also bow; and when he lifts his head you should also do the same and if he says: Sami'a-l-lahu Liman Hamidah (Allah hears whoever sends his praises to Him) you should say: Rabbana walakal-Hamd (O our Lord! All the praises are for You.").
Bukhari 20.215
The last example of Muhammad:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Once Allah's Apostle rode a horse and fell down and the right side (of his body) was injured. He offered one of the prayers while sitting and we also prayed behind him sitting.
When he completed the prayer, he said, "The Imam is to be followed. Pray standing if he prays standing and bow when he bows; rise when he rises; and if he says, 'Sami a-l-lahu-liman hamida", say then, 'Rabbana wa Lakal-hamd' and pray standing if he prays standing and pray sitting (all of you) if he prays sitting."
Humaid said: The saying of the Prophet "Pray sitting, if he (Imam) prays sitting" was said in his former illness (during his early life) but the Prophet prayed sitting afterwards (in the last illness) and the people were praying standing behind him and the Prophet did not order them to sit. We should follow the latest actions of the Prophet.
Muhammad's death shroud:
Narrated Aisha:
When Allah's Apostle died, he was covered with a Hibra Burd (green square decorated garment).
Bukhari 72.705
Muhammad’s death agony and its impact on Aisha:
Narrated Aisha:
The Prophet died while he was between my chest and chin, so I never dislike the death agony for anyone after the Prophet.
Bukhari 59.726
And chatter ensued:
Narrated Ibn Umar:
During the lifetime of the Prophet we used to avoid chatting leisurely and freely with our wives lest some Divine inspiration might be revealed concerning us. But when the Prophet had died, we started chatting leisurely and freely (with them).
Bukhari 62.115
Muhammad's age when he died and why it is important.
Narrated Aisha:
The Prophet died when he was sixty three years old.
Bukhari B 56.736
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "Allah will not accept the excuse of any person whose instant of death is delayed till he is sixty years of age."
Bukhari 76.428
The last Prophet!
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "The Israelis used to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be Caliphs who will increase in number."
The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What do you order us (to do)?"
He said, "Obey the one who will be given the pledge of allegiance first. Fulfil their (i.e. the Caliphs) rights, for Allah will ask them about (any shortcoming) in ruling those Allah has put under their guardianship."
Bukhari 56.661
One possible reason why Ali lost the caliphate upon the death of his father-in-law:
Narrated Abdullah bin Abbas:
Ali bin Abu Talib came out of the house of Allah's Apostle during his fatal illness. The people asked, "O Abu Hasan (i.e. Ali)! How is the health of Allah's Apostle this morning?"
Ali replied, "He has recovered with the Grace of Allah."
Abbas bin 'Abdul Muttalib held him by the hand and said to him, "In three days you, by Allah, will be ruled (by somebody else), And by Allah, I feel that Allah's Apostle will die from this ailment of his, for I know how the faces of the offspring of Abdul Muttalib look at the time of their death. So let us go to Allah's Apostle and ask him who will take over the Caliphate. If it is given to us we will know as to it, and if it is given to somebody else, we will inform him so that he may tell the new ruler to take care of us."
Ali said, "By Allah, if we asked Allah's Apostle for it (i.e. the Caliphate) and he denied it us, the people will never give it to us after that. And by Allah, I will not ask Allah's Apostle for it."
Bukhari 59.728
Another is Aisha who was no friend of Ali and vice versa.
Narrated Al-Aswad:
It was mentioned in the presence of Aisha that the Prophet had appointed Ali as successor by will. Thereupon she said, "Who said so? I saw the Prophet, while I was supporting him against my chest. He asked for a tray, and then fell on one side and expired, and I did not feel it. So how (do the people say) he appointed Ali as his successor?"
Bukhari 59.736
Kind words for the next leader of the believers:
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
Allah's Apostle in his fatal illness came out with a piece of cloth tied round his head and sat on the pulpit. After thanking and praising Allah he said, "There is no one who had done more favor to me with life and property than Abu Bakr bin Abi Quhafa. If I were to take a Khalil (friend), I would certainly have taken Abu-Bakr but the Islamic brotherhood is superior. Close all the small doors in this mosque except that of Abu Bakr."
Bukhari 8.456
MY PASSING MAY MIMIC MUHAMMAD’S OFFICIAL CAUSE OF DEATH
December 1, 2024
Unless I get hit by a bus, or suffer some other misfortune before the blessed event, my official cause of death will be a ruptured aorta, not unlike what Muhammad believed was happening to him. The Prophet thought he was dying from a type of aorta busting poison he ingested a few years earlier from eating a leg of lamb prepared by a Jewish cook.
Narrated Aisha:
The Prophet in his ailment in which he died, used to say, "O Aisha! I still feel the pain caused by the food I ate at Khaibar, and at this time, I feel as if my aorta is being cut from that poison."
Bukhari 59.713
Muhammad's Official Cause of Death
A HUNDRED YEARS OF NOTHING
(Abbreviated from From Merchant to Messenger, Boreal Books)
When Muhammad allegedly died nestled in Aisha's lap in Medina in 632, he not only left this mortal realm but history altogether. I say allegedly because, with the possible exception of the letter of Caliph Umar II (717-720) to the Byzantine emperor Leo III in which he brags about how Muhammad led his followers out of Arabia "to fight against the largest empires", there is no contemporary Muslim account of how and when he died or what came after for about one hundred years even if Medina, at the time, was known for its scribes. None of the many citizens of the city who could read and write and on whom Muhammad depended, including the indispensable Zaid bin Thabit Al-Ansari, it would seem, could be bothered to note the passing of its most illustrious resident; unless, of course, this is not where and when he died.
The first written text on the life of Muhammad appeared in the first half of the 8th century from a few Muslim clerics such as the Kitâb al-saqîfa (the book of saqîfa) by Shiite author Sulaym Ibn Qays al-Hilâl, one of the oldest such texts to have survived to this day. Saqîfa is Arab for refuge or a large covered space. Saqîfa Banî Sâ’ida was such a place, a large covered veranda in Medina where a group of people gathered in secret following the death of Muhammad, according to Shiite sources, and named Abu Bakr as his successor, thereby depriving his son-in-law Ali of the caliphate. On the Sunni side, the first clerics to have written on the life of Muhammad are Urwa Ibn al-Zubayr (d. 712) and his disciple al-Zuhrî (d. 741), who lived during the Umayyad caliphate.
Urwa is alleged to have written about different parts of Muhammad's life at the request of Caliph Abd al-Malik (685-705) in the form of letters addressed to his patron. None have survived. We only know of his writings because they are cited by subsequent authors such as Ibn Ishaq (b. 704 d. 767), whose teacher was none other than al-Zuhrî. Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad, which he wrote at the request of Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur (754-775) for his son, has much to say about his military expeditions. Like the letters of Urwa, Ishaq's biography has not survived to this day. We know some of what he wrote because he is quoted in later works by 9th and 10th century authors and from reworked fragments such as those found in the seminal Sirat al-Rassûl, Example of the Prophet or Life of the Prophet by ibn Hisham (d. 832).
Ibn Ishaq was a controversial figure, in part because he approached his subject in much the same way a modern historian would: by considering all information available, including the testimonies of Christians and Jewish converts whom his detractors dismissed out-of-hand as unreliable compared to those of Arab converts or those born into the faith. Ishaq's most vocal critic was renowned authority on the sayings and deeds of Muhammad (the so-called hadiths), Malik ibn Anas (b. 711 d. 795).
The methodology pursued by Ibn Ishaq was, first and foremost, that of an historian and biographer while Malik was steeped in Islamic Jurisprudence. The main reason why Malik and others questioned Ibn Ishaq's reliability as a hadith narrator was due largely to the fact that he had obtained information about the Prophet's military campaigns (including that of the Battle of Khaibar) from both Jewish and Christian converts to Islam.
Muhammad Mojlum Khan, The Muslim 100 - The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of the Most Influential Muslims in History, Kube Publishing, 2008.
Ibn Hisham transformed what Ishaq wrote about Muhammad into a panegyric. Hisham's plagiarized biography has achieved canonical status and the immunity from criticism that comes from being elevated to the equivalent of holy writ.
Thanks to its success the Sira of Ibn Ishaq (as redacted by Hisham and others) is practically our one source for the life of Muhammad preserved within the Islamic tradition. The work is late; written not by a grandchild, but a great great-grandchild of the Prophet's generation, it gives us the view for which classical Islam had settled. And written by a member of the "ulema" the scholars who had by then emerged as the classical bearers of the Islamic tradition, the picture which it offers is one-sided: how the Umayyad caliphs remembered their Prophet we shall never know. That it is unhistorical is only what one would expect, but it also has an extraordinary capacity to resist internal criticism, a feature unparalleled in either the Skandhara [the life of the Buddha] or the Gospels, but characteristic of the entire Islamic tradition, and most pronounced in the Koran: one can take the picture presented or one can leave it, but one cannot work with it.
Stephen Shoemaker, The Death of a Prophet - The End of Muhammad's Life and the Beginnings of Islam, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, cf. Patricia Crone, Slaves on Horses
Professor Shoemaker on the early biographies of Muhammad:
The manifold shortcomings of the early Islamic traditions, particularly with respect to the period of origins, invite the strong possibility that the beginnings of Islam differed significantly from their representation in the earliest biographies of Muhammad. Not only were the narratives composed at only an arresting distance from the events they describe, but modern scholarship on the traditional biographies of Muhammad has repeatedly found them to be unreliable sources... their failings as historical sources almost required that we look elsewhere to supplement our knowledge about the beginnings of Islam.
The Antichrist in Palestine
Christian, Jewish, Egyptian, Persian, Spanish… sources quoted in Professor Shoemaker's book as to the whereabouts of Muhammad before he died:
1 Doctrina Iacobi nuper Baptizati (July 634 CE)
2 The Apocalypse of Rabbi Shim`ōn b. Yohai (635-45?)
3 The Khurzistan Chronicle (ca. 660 CE)
4 Jacob of Edessa, Chronological Charts (691/692 CE)
5 The History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria: The Life of Patriarch Benjamin (before 717 CE)
6 The Spanish Eastern Source (ca. 741 CE)
7 The Syriac Common Source: The Chronicle of Theophilus of Edessa (ca. 750 CE)
8 The Short Syriac Chronicle of 775 (ca. 775 CE)
9 The Zuqnin Chronicle (ca. 775 CE)
10 A Report from the Continuation of Abū l-Fath's - Samaritan Chronicle (7th century)
11 An early Islamic witness: `Umar's letter to Leo (8th century)
Some of these impartial accounts, such as the Doctrina Iacobi, describe a doomsday prophet—of which the Dark Ages abounded —alive and well leading military incursions into Palestine up to two years after Muhammad's purported death in Medina. Since the invention of the clay tablet, people have exchanged information, e.g., letters, about what is happening in their neck of the woods. Because such letters are often written by individuals who have no particular axe to grind, they are invaluable to historians as unbiased eyewitness accounts of what may be later revealed to be historically significant events. This is the case with a letter gleaned from the Doctrina by a fellow by the name of Justus to Jacob about Saracens in Palestine. The letter begins with Justus informing Jacob about a correspondence he has received from his brother Abraham regarding a Roman official in Palestine killed by Arabs led by a man who should have been dead.
My brother Abraham wrote to me that a false prophet has appeared. Abraham writes, "When the canditatus was killed, I was in Caesarea, and I went by ship to Sykamina. And they were saying 'The canditatus has been killed,' and we Jews were overjoyed.
"And they were saying, 'A prophet has appeared, coming with the Saracens and he is preaching the arrival of the anointed one who is to come, the Messiah.'[28]
"And when I arrived in Sykamina I visited an old man who was learned in the scriptures, and I said to him, 'What can you tell me about the prophet who has appeared with the Saracens?'
"And he said to me groaning loudly, 'He is false, for prophets do not come with the sword and a war-chariot. Truly the things set in motion today are deeds of anarchy, and I fear that somehow the first Christ that came, which the Christian worship, was the one sent by God, and instead of him we will receive the Antichrist. Truly Isaiah said that we Jews will have a deceived and hardened heart until the entire earth is destroyed. But go, master Abraham, and find out about this Prophet who has appeared.'
"And when I, Abraham, investigated thoroughly, I heard from who had met him that one will find no truth in the so-called prophet, only the shedding of human blood. In fact, he says that he has the keys of Paradise, which is impossible." These things my brother Abraham has written from the East.
Stephen Shoemaker, The Death of a Prophet - The End of Muhammad's Life and the Beginnings of Islam, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.
It would seem that Muhammad was intent on making his way north—Dabiq being the most likely destination—with the idea of fulfilling his own prophecy of a Muslim victory over the Romans, which would be the signal for Allah to bring an end to His Creation and begin the process of settling scores in an end-of-times extravaganza for the ages.
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour would not come until the Romans would land at al-A'maq or in Dabiq. An army consisting of the best (soldiers) of the people of the earth at that time will come from Medina (to counteract them). When they will arrange themselves in ranks, the Romans would say: Do not stand between us and those (Muslims) who took prisoners from amongst us. Let us fight with them; and the Muslims would say: Nay, by Allah, we would never get aside from you and from our brethren that you may fight them.
They will then fight and a third (part) of the army would run away, whom Allah will never forgive.
A third (part of the army) which would be constituted of excellent martyrs in Allah's eye, would be killed and the third who would never be put to trial would win and they would be conquerors of Constantinople.
And as they would be busy in distributing the spoils of war (amongst themselves) after hanging their swords by the olive trees, the Satan would cry: The Dajjal has taken your place among your family. They would then come out, but it would be of no avail.
And when they would come to Syria, he would come out while they would be still preparing themselves for battle drawing up the ranks.
Certainly, the time of prayer shall come and then Jesus (peace be upon him) son of Mary would descend and would lead them in prayer.
When the enemy of Allah would see him, it would (disappear) just as the salt dissolves itself in water and if he (Jesus) were not to confront them at all, even then it would dissolve completely, but Allah would kill them by his hand and he would show them their blood on his lance (the lance of Jesus Christ).
Sahih Muslim 041.6924
In Muhammad's doomsday scenario, which largely mimics that of the Christians, Jesus returns shortly before the onset of Judgement Day to render the Earth and its people more to Allah's liking.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts)."
Bukhari 43.656
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said "How will you be when the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you and he will judge people by the Law of the Quran and not by the law of Gospel."
Bukhari 55.658
The Muslims would be in possession of Dabiq within a decade of Muhammad's death, but still no Judgement Day.
When Muhammad died before the eschaton's (the end of the world) arrival and the Hour continued to be delayed, the early Muslims had to radically reorient their religious vision. The Hour was thus increasingly differed into the distant future, and in less than a century Islam swiftly transformed itself from a religion expecting the end of the world to a religion that aimed to rule the world.
Stephen J. Shoemaker, The Death of a Prophet - The End of Muhammad's Life and the Beginnings of Islam, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012
OF SCRIBES AND LAWYERS
December 2, 2024
With my mortality coming into focus I decided to simplify my will.
Mon 2024-11-25 8:30 AM
To: Lawyer
The following changes will greatly simplify my will:
...
Thu 2024-11-28 1:31 PM
To: Lawyer
When can I expect a revised will to review?
Mon 2024-12-02 8:28 AM
To: Me
Given current work load, will do what I can to get this done before the holidays.
Not unlike Muhammad during the negotiations that would lead to the Treaty of Hudaibiyah, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Mon 2024-12-02 9:50 AM
To: Lawyer
I understand. I am somewhat concerned about my durability; therefore, if you could send me the Word copy of my will, I will make the changes myself then have them notarized.
Muhammad rewrote a section of the treaty, to which the Meccans objected, after his scribe refused to make the modification. This raises the question as to whether the successful merchant was actually an illiterate.
PROPHETIC MEDICINE AND NOT BLEEDING INTO MY RISOTTO
December 3, 2024
Should I have an aortic graph to extend my life for maybe five years I will, for the rest of my life, be on blood thinners; this, after a five hour operation under general amnestic and being put on and off a heart-lung machine which will probably leave me somewhat stupider than when I agreed to the procedure. My sister tells me I have brain cells to spare so I should not worry about that. She is being kind.
What I worry about is a quality of life that now hinges on going out for dinner without having to worry about my nose bleeding into my food because of blood with a viscosity approaching that of water. Of course, if I followed Muhammad’s medical advice for whatever ails you the idea of surgery would never come up.
At one time, there was talk of setting up a school of Prophetic Medicine. A concerted effort was made to set up such a school based on the sayings and the example of Muhammad and his Companions.
An attempt was made to create an alternative system of medical science, 'prophetic medicine' (tibb mabawi). This represented a reaction against the tradition which came from Galen. Its system was built upon what the Hadith recorded of the practices of the Prophet and his companions in regards to health and sickness. It was not created by medical men, however, but by lawyers and traditionalists who held the strict view that the Qur'an and Hadith contained all that was necessary for the conduct of human life. It was the view of a minority, even among religious scholars, and a critical opinion was expressed, with his robust good sense, by Ibn Khaldun. This kind of medicine, he asserted, could occasionally and accidentally be correct, but it was based on no rational principle.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab People, Harvard University Press, 1991, p. 203
The idea was dropped when it became clear that much of it was nonsense. Examples:
Narrated Abu Sa'id al-Khudri:
I heard that the people asked the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him): Water is brought for you from the well of Buda'ah. It is a well in which dead dogs, menstrual clothes and excrement of people are thrown.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) replied: Verily water is pure and is not defiled by anything.
Abu Dawud 1.0067
Narrated Anas:
The climate of Medina did not suit some people, so the Prophet ordered them to follow his shepherd, i.e. his camels, and drink their milk and urine (as a medicine).
Bukhari 71.590
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "If a fly falls in the vessel of any of you, let him dip all of it (into the vessel) and then throw it away, for in one of its wings there is a disease and in the other there is healing (antidote for it) i.e. the treatment for that disease."
Bukhari 71.673
Narrated Maimuna:
Allah's Apostle was asked regarding ghee (cooking butter) in which a mouse had fallen.
He said, "Take out the mouse and throw away the ghee around it and use the rest."
Bukhari 4.236
Hadiths, sayings of Muhammad, like to above, along with the Koran, make up the immutable laws of Islam, if not the universe. When it comes to treating what ails you, it is a law that is often broken with impunity. The reason that Saudi Arabia, until recently, was ruled by a gerontology was more the result of modern medicine, especially advances and innovations in the treatment of coronary and heart disease, than whatever Muhammad prescribed.
Muhammad’s understanding of human anatomy, and the cause of diseases, was on par with the god for whom he spoke who could not even accurately describe conception that is the fertilization of the ovum of a female by male sperm, giving the sperm all the credit. He even got the length of the gestation period wrong.
According to Ya'qubi, an Arab historian and geographer, Muhammad once said that his first wet nurse was the nastiest of women and that she would burn for all eternity in the fires of Hell. To quench her thirst she would only have the small amount of milk she allowed him to suckle in the days following his birth. The revelations on how long a mother or wet-nurse must suckle a child, and what the parents must do if they choose to shorten the weaning period decreed by Allah, may have had something to do with God’s awareness that His Messenger had not been adequately breastfed as a baby.
2:233 Mothers shall suckle their children for two whole years; [that is] for those who wish to complete the suckling. Those to whom the children are born (the fathers) shall maintain and clothe them kindly. No soul is charged beyond its capacity. No mother should suffer on account of her child and he to whom a child is born should not suffer on account of his child. The same [duties (the maintenance and clothing of divorced women)] devolve upon the [father’s] heir (if the heir is a child and has a guardian the latter would be charged with those duties). But they commit no offence if by mutual agreement and following consultation they choose to wean the child. You also commit no offence if you engage wet-nurses, provided that you give them what you promised to give kindly. Fear Allah and know that Allah has knowledge of what you do.
If the decreed suckling period is 24 months then Allah, in the following verse where He reveals a gestation and weaning period totaling 30 months, has underestimated the gestation period of the human fetus by three months (30 - 24 = 6 months in the womb).
46:15 We have commanded man to be kind to his parents; his mother bore him painfully and delivered him painfully, his gestation and weaning totalling thirty months. When he is fully grown and turns forty, he will say: “Lord, inspire me to be thankful for the favour, with which You have favoured me and favoured my parents; and to do a righteous deed, well-pleasing to You. Grant me righteousness in my progeny; I have truly repented to You and one of those who submit.”
Suckling an non-relation adult male rendered him the equivalent of a close relation.
Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hadhaifa, lived with him and his family in their house. She (i. e. the daughter of Suhail) came to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and said: Salim has attained (puberty) as men attain, and he understands what they understand, and he enters our house freely, I, however, perceive that something (rankles) in the heart of Abu Hudhaifa, whereupon Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said to her: Suckle him and you would become unlawful for him, and (the rankling) which Abu Hudhaifa feels in his heart will disappear. She returned and said: So I suckled him, and what (was there) in the heart of Abu Hudhaifa disappeared.
Sahih Muslim 8.3425
WHAT'S IN A NAME
December 6, 2024
Muhammad was the top choice for parents naming their baby boys in England and Wales in 2023.
BBC Dec. 5, 2024
Islam divides the world into two major areas: the Land of Peace where Islamic Law is the law of the land; and the Land of War where it isn’t.
Just like in the Land of Peace —the land where wars are never-ending—Muhammad has become the most popular boys name in England and Wales, proving once again that, you can take the boy out of the Land of Peace but you can’t take the Land of Peace out of the boy, starting with his parents.
The less deserving a religious icon’s reputation for propriety the louder will be the call to silence his critics.
Most Common Lies Told About Muhammad
I DREAM OF LUCETTE, HE DREAMT OF THE KORAN
February 20, 2025
More than five years after her passing I still dream about her all the time. In my dreams she is alive and well, except for last night. In last night’s dream I am looking for her in our old neighborhood, which in my dreams we have never left. A neighbour shouts “isn’t that her over there?” I walk towards to where she is pointing and a sort of billboard, not unlike like the whiteboard in my home office on which I wrote notes to myself, comes into view. As I get closer I notice that someone is pinned to that white surface, it is Lucette. As I struggle to remove her lifeless body from whatever is holding her up, I wake up.
For Muhammad dreams where not only omens but how God in Paradise communicated to him much of the content of His book, the Koran.
The Koran is all over the place as to when it was revealed. In one instance, it is during one night, the night of power (97:1); in another, it is over an entire month, the month of Ramadan (2:185); and in still another instance, it was revealed “piecemeal” (17:106). Nowhere in His Book does Allah mention revealing what He revealed of His Koran in dreams, yet this is how Muhammad’s companions remember him receiving many of God’s communications.
Narrated Safwan bin Ya'la bin Umaiya from his father who said:
"A man came to the Prophet while he was at Ji'rana. The man was wearing a cloak which had traces of Khaluq or Sufra (a kind of perfume). The man asked (the Prophet), 'What do you order me to perform in my Umra (the lesser pilgrimage)?' So, Allah inspired the Prophet divinely and he was screened by a place of cloth.
I wished to see the Prophet being divinely inspired.
Umar said to me, 'Come! Will you be pleased to look at the Prophet while Allah is inspiring him?'
I replied in the affirmative.
Umar lifted one corner of the cloth and I looked at the Prophet who was snoring. (The sub-narrator thought that he said: The snoring was like that of a camel).
When that state was over, the Prophet asked, "Where is the questioner who asked about Umra? Put off your cloak and wash away the traces of Khaluq from your body and clean the Sufra (yellow color) and perform in your Umra what you perform in your Hajj (i.e. the Tawaf round the Ka'ba and the Sa'i between Safa and Marwa)."
Bukhari 27.17
Communications from Paradise sent while Muhammad slept would explain the horrific descriptions of Judgement Day and Hell, which mere words could not have conveyed. Aisha remembered her husband receiving “the Divine Inspiration” in what she refers to as “true dreams” while he slept.
Narrated Aisha:
The commencement (of the Divine Inspiration) to Allah's Apostle was in the form of true dreams in his sleep, for he never had a dream but it turned out to be true and clear as the bright daylight. Then he began to like seclusions, so he used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he used to worship Allah continuously for many nights before going back to his family to take the necessary provision (of food) for the stay.
Bukhari 60.478
Dreams, Muhammad explained, convey religious knowledge. What is the Koran, if not religious knowledge?
Narrated Ibn Umar:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "While I was sleeping, I was given a bowl full of milk (in a dream), and I drank of it to my fill until I noticed its wetness coming out of my nails, and then I gave the rest of it to Umar."
They (the people) asked, "What have you interpreted (about the dream) O Allah's Apostle?"
He said, "It is Religious) knowledge."
Bukhari 87.134
Why you did not dare wake up a sleeping Muhammad.
Narrated Imran:
Once we were traveling with the Prophet and we carried on traveling till the last part of the night and then we (halted at a place) and slept (deeply). There is nothing sweeter than sleep for a traveler in the last part of the night. So it was only the heat of the sun that made us to wake up and the first to wake up was so and so, then so and so and then so and so (the narrator 'Auf said that Abu Raja' had told him their names but he had forgotten them) and the fourth person to wake up was Umar bin Al-Khattab.
And whenever the Prophet used to sleep, nobody would wake him up till he himself used to get up as we did not know what was happening (being revealed) to him in his sleep.
Bukhari 7.340
It was in a dream that Muhammad was given the keys to the treasures of the Earth.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "I have been given the keys of eloquent speech and given victory with awe (cast into the hearts of the enemy), and while I was sleeping last night, the keys of the treasures of the earth were brought to me till they were put in my hand."
Bukhari 87.127
Another hadith expressing more succinctly what inspires terror in the name of Allah to this day:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror, and while I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world (the booty) were brought to me and put in my hand."
Bukhari 52.220
In his dreams Muhammad was served food and drink.
Narrated Abu Sa'id:
That he had heard the Prophet saying, "Do not fast continuously (practise Al-Wisal), and if you intend to lengthen your fast, then carry it on only till the Suhur (before the following dawn)."
The people said to him, "But you practice (Al-Wisal), O Allah's Apostle!"
He replied, "I am not similar to you, for during my sleep I have One Who makes me eat and drink."
Bukhari 31.184
It was in dreams that Muhammad was first shown the baby that was destined to be his bride. Aisha was as pretty as a picture. Considering Allah and Muhammad’s aversion to lifelike reproductions of people and animals, the following hadith is quite extraordinary.
Narrated Aisha:
That the Prophet said to her, "You have been shown to me twice in my dream. I saw you pictured on a piece of silk and someone said (to me), 'This is your wife.'
When I uncovered the picture, I saw that it was yours. I said, 'If this is from Allah, it will be done.'"
Bukhari 58.235
In another hadith, it is Aisha in the flesh wrapped in silk, and the disembodied voice has been identified as that of a man.
Narrated Aisha:
Allah's Apostle said (to me), "You were shown to me twice in (my) dream. Behold, a man was carrying you in a silken piece of cloth and said to me, 'She is your wife, so uncover her,' and behold, it was you."
I would then say (to myself), "If this is from Allah, then it must happen."
Bukhari 87.139
The difference between a dream and a nightmare is its source.
Narrated Abu Qatada:
The Prophet said, "A true good dream is from Allah, and a bad dream is from Satan."
Bukhari 87.113
If that is the case, I have to wonder what Satan is trying to tell me by what He showed me last night. If I don’t live to publish Farewell Postings, you will have your answer.