The Farewell Pilgrimage
The Prophet ﷺ left Medina for the pilgrimage on 25 Dhu al-Qa’da 10 AH (22 February 632), according to Aisha’s account (Ibn Hisham, II, 601); Ibn Kathir deduces that it was a Saturday (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 509). The long account of this pilgrimage, by Jabir, is in Muslim (Muslim 1218).
He ﷺ delivered several sermons during it, on the day of Arafa and on the day of sacrifice, and their words overlap: blood and property are sacred, usury is abolished, and “perhaps I shall not see you again after this year” (Ibn Hisham, II, 603; Bukhari 1739; Muslim 1218).
On the Friday of Arafa, 9 Dhu al-Hijja 10 AH (March 632), this verse came down (Bukhari 45; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 354):
﴿ حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةُ وَٱلدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ وَٱلْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَٱلْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَٱلْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَٱلنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَآ أَكَلَ ٱلسَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى ٱلنُّصُبِ وَأَن تَسْتَقْسِمُوا۟ بِٱلْأَزْلَٰمِ ذَٰلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ ٱلْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَٱخْشَوْنِ ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَٰمَ دِينًا فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ فِى مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴾“Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, that over which any other than God has been invoked, the strangled animal, the animal beaten to death, the animal killed by a fall, the animal gored to death, and what a beast of prey has eaten, except what you have slaughtered; and what has been sacrificed on the standing stones, and the drawing of lots by arrows. That is transgression. Today those who disbelieved have despaired of your religion: so do not fear them, and fear Me. Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and approved Islam for you as your religion. If anyone is compelled by hunger, with no inclination to sin, God is Forgiving, Merciful.”
A Jew once told Umar that, had this verse come down to them, they would have made that day a festival; it is in Umar’s reply that al-Bukhari preserves the day it came down (Bukhari 45).
The last expedition
At the end of Safar 11 AH, the Prophet ﷺ prepared the army of Usama ibn Zayd for Palestine (Ibn Hisham, II, 606, 642; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 351). It was, Ibn Hisham writes, “the last expedition he sent out” (Ibn Hisham, II, 642); it set out in the days of Abu Bakr (Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 351).
The illness
The illness began at the end of Safar or the start of Rabi’ I, 11 AH (Ibn Hisham, II, 642). The day is debated: a Saturday, twenty-two nights into Safar; a Wednesday, eleven nights before the end of Safar; or a Wednesday, two nights before the end of Safar (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 506-507). It lasted thirteen nights according to Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, thirteen days according to Muhammad ibn Qays, whom Ibn Kathir quotes (Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 409; Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 507).
The Prophet ﷺ told Aisha that he still felt the pain of the poisoned food he ate at Khaybar (Bukhari 4428). Al-Bukhari reports this saying without a complete chain: he introduces it with “Yunus said”.
The last day
On the last morning, a Monday, the Prophet ﷺ watched the faithful praying behind Abu Bakr. Anas, who was there, tells of it, in the transmission of al-Zuhri (Ibn Hisham, II, 652-653).
His last words ﷺ, reported by Aisha, were: “O God, the Highest Companion” (Bukhari 4463).
The date and the age
The day of the week and the month are agreed: a Monday in Rabi’ I, 11 AH. Al-Salihi quotes al-Suhayli, Ibn Kathir and Ibn Hajar: on this point, “there is no disagreement” (al-Salihi, XII, 305). Depending on the day adopted, the date falls in May or June 632.
The day of the month, however, varies (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 506-508):
- the new moon (Urwa, Musa ibn Uqba, al-Zuhri);
- the 1st, which is the same view (al-Layth; Abu Nu’aym al-Fadl ibn Dukayn);
- the 2nd (Sa’d ibn Ibrahim al-Zuhri; Abu Ma’shar);
- the 10th (Sayf ibn Umar);
- the 12th (Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi, Ibn Sa’d).
The 12th is “the well-known view” (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 508), and the most widespread. Some scholars have nonetheless disputed it. Al-Suhayli objects that it is impossible: the day of Arafa in 10 AH was a Friday, so 1 Dhu al-Hijja was a Thursday; and however the following months are counted, full or short, 12 Rabi’ I cannot fall on a Monday (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 509; al-Salihi, XII, 306). Ibn Kathir sees only one answer: a difference in the sighting of the new crescent between Mecca and Medina (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 509).
The age, by contrast, is established: sixty-three years, according to Aisha, Ibn Abbas and Anas (Bukhari 3536; Bukhari 3903; Muslim 2348). Two other figures circulate: sixty, from Anas through Rabi’a (Bukhari 5900), and sixty-five, from Ibn Abbas through Ammar (Muslim 2353). Ibn Kathir accounts for them. Sixty-three is “the best-known view, and that of the majority” (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 514); “sixty” is a round figure, for the Arabs often drop the units (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 511); and al-Bayhaqi judges more authentic the version that most transmitters report from Ibn Abbas: sixty-three (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 515).
“God is living”
That same day, Abu Bakr addressed the believers: “Whoever worshipped Muhammad ﷺ, Muhammad ﷺ is dead; whoever worships God, God is living.” Then he recited two verses (Bukhari 3668):
﴿ إِنَّكَ مَيِّتٌ وَإِنَّهُم مَّيِّتُونَ ﴾“You will die, and they will die.”
﴿ وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ ٱلرُّسُلُ أَفَإِي۟ن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ ٱنقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَعْقَٰبِكُمْ وَمَن يَنقَلِبْ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ فَلَن يَضُرَّ ٱللَّهَ شَيْـًٔا وَسَيَجْزِى ٱللَّهُ ٱلشَّٰكِرِينَ ﴾“Muhammad is only a messenger; messengers have passed away before him. If he were to die, or be killed, would you turn back on your heels? Whoever turns back on his heels will not harm God in the least, and God will reward those who are grateful.”
Ibn Hisham gives only the second verse (Ibn Hisham, II, 656); in al-Bukhari, Abu Bakr recites 39:30 first, then 3:144 (Bukhari 3668).
He ﷺ was buried on the Tuesday according to Ibn Sa’d (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 507), in the night before Wednesday according to Ibn Ishaq, on the authority of Abd Allah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hazm (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 508; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 409).
How this page connects to the others
- The milestones before: From Badr to Tabuk.
- The objection of power and wealth: “He wanted power, or wealth”.
- His prophecies ﷺ, from his lifetime to our day: part 4.
- The whole part: The message and the Hijra.
Sources for this page
- Qur’an: Tanzil text (Uthmani); translation of the meaning by the site.
- Hadiths: Bukhari 45, Bukhari 1739, Bukhari 3536, Bukhari 3668, Bukhari 3903, Bukhari 4428, Bukhari 4463, Bukhari 5900, Muslim 1218, Muslim 2348, Muslim 2353.
- Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, ed. al-Saqqa, al-Abyari and Shalabi, Cairo, 1955, II, 601-656.
- Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, Uyun al-athar, Beirut, 1993, II, 351, 354, 409.
- Ibn Kathir, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, ed. Mustafa Abd al-Wahid, Beirut, 1976, IV, 506-515.
- Al-Salihi al-Shami, Subul al-huda wa-l-rashad, Beirut, 1993, XII, 305-306.
- Research file “The message and the Hijra”, v1.0, 2 November 2026, section 7 and “The date of his death”.