Lecture Summary:
Sayed begins by discussing several assassination attempts on the Prophet, such as on the night of Hijra and during the Battle of Tabuk.
He then goes on to reinforce that, contrary to popular belief, the Prophet did not die a natural death but, rather, he was martyred. His murder is also mentioned in the Holy Quran (v. 144 of Sura Alle Imran) as well as by Imam Hassan (AS) who prophesied that he too would be killed by poison much like his grandfather.
School of Thoughts do not differ on the martyrdom of the Prophet, but only on who was the culprit. The viewpoint held by the School of Companion is that he died of the poison that he was given by Zainab bin Harith in the Battle of Khaybar. She did this in retaliation for the death of her brother who was slain by Imam Ali (AS). However, this is a relatively weak argument as the poison could not have lasted for 4 years (supposedly given in 7 AH and the Prophet died in 11 AH)! And, furthermore, it challenges the legitimacy and truthfulness of the Prophet’s Prophethood (the story goes, that the Prophet had to chew the food before realizing it was poisonous whereas, given that he is the Apostle of Allah (SWT), it is a given he would have known of it before taking the food).
The more plausible opinion is that he was given the poison by someone ‘close to him’ (Sayed uses discretion to reveal the name here). And, even though the Prophet refused the ‘medicine’, he was still given it by force. The Prophet responded that if the ‘mysterious substance’ is actually medicine, then the giver of it should have some of it also (Sahih Bukhari). Of course, that never transpired.
On his deathbed, we all know that Israel knocked at the door of Fatima (SA) to ask for permission a number of times. The same door that merely 45 days later was vandalized and in flames. The same door behind which the Chief of the Women of Paradise lay pressed against the wall, crushing her ribs and leading to the loss of her Mohsin.
The Angel of Death asked the permission to take the soul of our Beloved Prophet. However, at this time the Prophet first asked for Jibrael’s advice. When Jibrael told the Prophet that Allah is keenly awaiting his return – at first – the Prophet said he was not ready. Jibrael then came with another offer that, in return for his coming, Allah would provide shafa’at for his Ummah. The Prophet, delighted with this news, agreed to return to his Lord.
As Israel was taking away the soul, the Prophet asked him if that is how he separates the soul from the body. Israel responded that he has been given special instructions from Allah to be gentle when removing his soul. The Prophet told him “Oh, ‘Israeel take the roughness of the extraction of the souls of all Muslims – take it all together – and put it on me, so that when you take their souls, they don’t have to suffer”.
