The Final Sermon: Context
The words of our beloved Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) are full of rich lessons. Among them is his address during the farewell Hajj. This is the first in a series of articles on The Prophet’s Last Sermon, Lessons for Humanity.
Every believer should know that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) only performed pilgrimage (Hajj) once in Islam. This was also the farewell pilgrimage. There are wisdoms in that.
Much of the time during the message of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), he was opposed by the Makkans. The obligation of Hajj came late, even though it was from the established rights of the Muslims.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did tawaf (Circumambulation) around the Kaaba and did Umra before this. After the opening of Makka, people started entering Islam in droves. This was due to the wisdom of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in his conveying the message and in his dealing with the Makkans (who previously had stopped him from performing pilgrimage).
Hudaybiyya
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) agreed at Hudaybiyya to a treatise in which they were in peace with one another. As part of that, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the believers were given permission to come the following year for Umra, which they did perform.
There is much wisdoms in this. It gave the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the believers a time of peace to continue to call the tribes to Islam without the immediate threat of war. Also, it gave Quraysh cause for great remorse. How could we prevent worshippers of Allah when we, Makkans, call ourselves the people of Allah? How can we prevent them from pilgrimage?
When the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the companions performed that pilgrimage after Hudaybiyya, the Makkans left Makka. The Quraysh were as yet disbelievers, but they had been reflecting on the beauty, excellence and perfection of the Prophetic call for so long.
When they observed the believers performing Umra that year, it further weakened their resolve to oppose the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and many hearts changed. Then some of the final events of the prophetic biography happened. The opening of Makka took place, after which came the farewell pilgrimage.
The Opening of Makka
Before that, Allah had revealed Sura al-Nasr. In it Allah says:
إِذَا جَاۤءَ نَصۡرُ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡفَتۡحُ
وَرَأَيْتَ ٱلنَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِى دِينِ ٱللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًۭا
وَرَأَيْتَ ٱلنَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِى دِينِ ٱللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًۭا
“When the victorious Help of Allah is come, and the signal Conquest; you see people entering the religion of Allah in swift successive multitudes; Then glorify the limitless perfection of your Lord in praise, and ask His forgiveness: Verily was He ever forgiving.”[Quran, 110:1-3; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]
With this revelation a number of companions, amongst them our masters Ibn Abbas, Abu Bakr and others, realized that the fulfillment of the Prophetic message is upon us.
The opening of Allah referred to here is the treaty of Hudaybiyya when they signed it. The victory of Allah came first at Hudaybiyya. Then, the manifest victory was the opening of Makka.
During this farewell pilgrimage, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had revelation. Allah says:
ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمَ دِينًۭا ۚ
“This day have I wholly perfected for you your religion, and completed upon you My blessing: I please that Islam be your religion.” [Quran, 5:3; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]
Multiple Sermons
The completion of religion is related to the purpose of the Prophetic message. The Messengers (upon them be peace) were sent with guidance for their people. That is the role of a Messenger. A Messenger is an honored human being whom Allah sends with a message of guidance, which they embody, exemplify and convey.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) conveyed this message. The Companions saw from the guidance of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and what he was telling them about what religion was. They saw all the building blocks of guidance in place.
In the farewell pilgrimage (Hajj) of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) gave a series of sermons. They were delivered at various points during the rites, at the various gathering places at Arafah, Mina, by the Kaaba, at Muzdalifa, and elsewhere.
Multiple sermons were given by the beloved Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace). There are multiple wisdoms in this. Among them is the reality that the number of believers at the farewell pilgrimage by the standards of those times was great.
Revealing Repetition
There were well over 100,000 people on the pilgrimage. The numbers differ, 100,000, 110,000, 120,000. Some say 140,000 were there with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). Nobody was doing a formal count. These are estimates. In this way, people were given the opportunity to hear the central heartening messages of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
Another wisdom of the many wisdoms mentioned by the scholars is emphasis. We know from the teachings of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) that he only spoke purposefully. If he spoke, he would frequently repeat what he had to say because he said what mattered and it was worthy of repetition.
Shaykh Abu al-Yusr Abidin has a treatise in which he states that although there are many themes, stories, and teachings mentioned in multiple places in the Quran, in reality, there is no repetition because every time a matter is mentioned again, there are distinct lessons of guidance in it, either in the actual expression or in the context in which it is said.
Repetition reinforces and reminds. That is, purposeful suitable repetition. He (Allah bless him and give him peace) was not repetitive. This was with benefit just like in the Quran.
