The Farewell Hajj: A Prophetic Legacy Of Sincerity And Simplicity

The Farewell Hajj of the Prophet ﷺ

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ. اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِيْنَ، وَعَلَى عَاقِبَةٍ لِلْمُتَّقِيْنَ. وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُوْلِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِيْنَ. أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَأَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ، بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ.

Brothers, mothers and sisters — in the 10th year after Hijrah, after the migration of the Prophet ﷺ from Mecca to Medina, the Prophet ﷺ announced that he would be departing for the blessed journey of Hajj. This was the one and only Hajj that the Prophet ﷺ performed post the migration to Medina. This Hajj was known as Hajjatul Wada' — the Farewell Hajj of the Prophet ﷺ. And the reason why it was called the Farewell Hajj was because the Prophet ﷺ was bidding farewell to his Ummah, as he explicitly mentioned during this Hajj:

"O my dear Companions, learn the rituals of Hajj from me now — learn as much as you can — for there is a great possibility that after this year you won't see me again."

And it happened exactly as the Prophet ﷺ prophesied. It was only approximately 90 days after he returned from Hajj — he returned towards the end of the month of Dhul Hijjah in the 10th year, and in Rabi'ul Awwal, which is the third month of the next year, the Prophet ﷺ passed away.

The hadith is very lengthy, wherein Jabir radiyallahu anhu describes this journey of the Prophet ﷺ when he embarked on the journey of Hajj. We don't have the time to go through the entire hadith, but just a few things that I wish to highlight.

One point is that as the Prophet ﷺ was departing, the Sahabi says:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 7, Hadith 2803 — Hadith of Jabir radiyallahu anhu describing the Farewell Hajj)

The Prophet ﷺ had a very old camel that he was riding on this journey of Hajj, and the clothing that he had with him was very simple — it wasn't worth more than 4 dirhams. Very, very simple. And despite that, the Prophet's ﷺ du'a throughout the journey of Hajj was:

"Oh Allah, allow this to be a Hajj in which there is no riya' and no sum'a." Riya' refers to a person doing actions with the hope that other people will see him, acknowledge him, and praise him for doing it. And sum'a refers to a person performing actions with the hope of other people hearing about it and then praising him. So Nabi ﷺ was seeking protection from both — ya Allah, keep my Hajj free from both riya' as well as sum'a.

And yet, subhanAllah, it wasn't like he had some luxury Hajj or some VIP package. Such a simple conveyance that he was riding, such simple clothing that he had — but yet this was the concern of our beloved Nabi ﷺ. There were no selfies, there were no live streams, there was no "let me inform everyone that I am here." No — Nabi ﷺ wanted to remain as unknown as possible. He didn't want people to be speaking about his Hajj and about the ibadah and the actions that he was doing throughout.

The Day of Nahar — The 10th of Dhul Hijjah

As the Prophet ﷺ got to Mecca and performed his Umrah, he remained there for a few days, and then the days of Hajj came. I want to move forward and highlight the part of the hadith which speaks about the Day of Nahar — the 10th of Dhul Hijjah — the day of Eid, which is the day that we are currently in.

This is that day when the Hujjaj are very busy and have a number of things that they have to do. They wake up in the morning in Muzdalifah, wherein they perform their Salatul Fajr. After Salatul Fajr, you have the wuquf of Muzdalifah, and then after the wuquf, the du'a which takes place in Muzdalifah. Then the Hujjaj proceed to Mina wherein they pelt the big jamara — the big shaitan. After that they have their animals slaughtered, they have their heads shaved, then they proceed to Mecca Mukarramah wherein they perform their Tawaf al-Ifadah — Tawaf al-Ziyarah — then they perform the Sa'i of Hajj, and then they make their way back to Mina. So there is a lot going on on this day for the Hujjaj on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah.

The Prophet ﷺ on this day — Abdullah ibn Qurt radiyallahu anhu says — that he addressed us in Mina and he said: the greatest of days in the sight of Allah is this day, the Day of Nahar, the 10th of Dhul Hijjah.

You may ask: how about the Day of Arafah? Isn't the Day of Arafah the most virtuous of days? The scholars of hadith have written extensively on this — what is the greatest, the best, the most virtuous of days in the year? And primarily there are three different opinions. One is that it is the day of Jumu'ah, as the Prophet ﷺ mentions: "the best day upon which the sun rises." Other scholars of hadith say that it is the Day of Arafah, as it comes in one riwayah: "There is no day more virtuous in the sight of Allah than the Day of Arafah." And yet some others have argued that no, it is actually the Day of Nahar — this is also one opinion — that this is the greatest of days, based upon this hadith of Abdullah ibn Qurt radiyallahu anhu when the Prophet ﷺ told him: "The greatest of days is this Day of Nahar."

And then Abdullah ibn Qurt radiyallahu anhu very beautifully goes on to say:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 11, Hadith 1765; also recorded in Musnad Ahmad)

He says: thereafter, there were five or six camels which were being brought to the Prophet ﷺ and he was going to slaughter them. And he says these camels were racing with one another to get to the Prophet ﷺ first, because each one of the camels wanted the sharaf — they wanted the honor of the Prophet ﷺ slaughtering them first. SubhanAllah! This is one of the miracles of our beloved Nabi ﷺ — that even the camels recognized that this is the Nabi of Allah, this is the paragon of Allah's creation. It is an honor for us to be slaughtered by his hands ﷺ.

The Khutbah on the Day of Eid — The Sanctity of Blood, Wealth, and Honor

Then on this Day of Nahar — the 10th of Dhul Hijjah — as the Prophet ﷺ was in Mina, he gave one of the khutbahs of Hajj. There were multiple khutbahs which took place throughout the journey. One took place on the 7th of Dhul Hijjah, another one took place on the 9th — on the Day of Arafah — that's the famous khutbah, many people have it printed and posted in their homes. But there was also a khutbah which took place on this day — on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah — on the day of Eid.

Wherein the Prophet ﷺ told the companions that now time has reset. What he was referring to is that in the days of Jahiliyyah, they had this practice wherein they would play around with the months. Because you had four months — Rajab, Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijjah and Muharram — which Allah Ta'ala had declared sacred, and even in the days of Jahiliyyah they would respect the sanctity of these four months. So when these four months would come around they would refuse to fight. But what they started doing is they said: you know what, let's just change the order of the months. So it's Dhul Qa'dah — we're not allowed to fight — so what we'll do is we'll postpone Shawwal and we'll bring Dhul Qa'dah first. We'll have Dhul Qa'dah and then we'll have Shawwal after that, so that way we'll be able to fight. So they would play these tricks, they would change the order of the months around, and as a result the entire calendar ended up getting messed up.

But it so happened — it was the divine planning of Allah Ta'ala — that the year the Prophet ﷺ performed his Hajj in the 10th year, the calendar had reset and now you had the proper calendar from Muharram all the way to Dhul Hijjah with all the months in order.

Then the Prophet ﷺ went on to ask the companions which month it is — so they were quiet, they didn't respond. He said: Alaysa Dhul Hijjah? — "Is it not the month of Dhul Hijjah?" They said, "Yes, of course it's the month of Dhul Hijjah." Then he asked them which city they were in right now — the companions were silent. He said: "Are we not in Mina?" They said, "Yes, yes, we are in Mina." He said: Ayyu yawmin hadha? — "What day is it?" The companions were silent. The Prophet ﷺ said: Alaysa yawman nahar? — "Is it not the Day of Nahar, the 10th of Dhul Hijjah?" They said, "Yes, this is the 10th of Dhul Hijjah."

Some of the shurah — some of the commentators — say the reason the Prophet ﷺ did this was to draw the attention of the Sahaba. Many times you just start speaking and people don't pay attention or they forget what you're talking about, but if you preface it with a question — something which just grabs the person's attention — then you give them the advice, they actually remember it a lot better.

So after asking them these questions, after getting their attention, the Prophet ﷺ gave them one of his final messages. You would think the final message would be about Iman, would be about Salah, about Zakah, Siyam — something of that nature. But listen to what one of the final messages of the Prophet ﷺ was. He said:

"Oh people, note and understand — your blood, your wealth, your honor is sacred, just like how this month, this land, and this day is sacred." Just like we understand the sanctity of the month of Dhul Hijjah, we understand the sanctity of Mina and the places of Hajj, we understand the sanctity of this day — the best day of the year — likewise the Prophet ﷺ is telling us: the more important than that is that we maintain respect for the blood of our fellow believers, for their wealth, as well as for their honor.

One day the Prophet ﷺ looked at the Ka'bah — in the narration of Ibn Majah — he said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3932)

"How amazing you are, O Ka'bah! How beautiful you are, O Ka'bah! I swear by Allah — the honor of a believer is more precious than you, O Ka'bah." So much importance the Prophet ﷺ attached to honoring, to respecting the wealth, the blood, the honor of our fellow believers — not usurping their rights, not usurping their wealth.

"Hal Ballaght?" — Have I Conveyed the Message?

The Prophet ﷺ gave a number of other advices. I want to highlight one of them — towards the end of his khutbah on the Day of Nahar, he asked the Sahaba: Hal ballaght? — "O my companions, have I adequately conveyed the message to you?"

This is now after years and years of effort, years and years of sacrifice — 13 years in Mecca, another 10 years in Medina. This is 23 years that have passed. Day in and day out, every day the Prophet ﷺ is calling, is inviting his companions towards Allah Ta'ala, inviting humanity towards Allah Ta'ala. After giving so much time, so much energy, so much sacrifice — here, towards the end, he is asking his companions: Hal ballaght? Is there anything else that I can do for you? Any more sacrifice that I can give for you? Anything else that I need to teach you that I didn't already teach you?

The companions immediately responded: "We testify on your behalf, O Prophet ﷺ — you have adequately discharged the message. Whatever was due upon you, you have discharged that. Don't worry — we testify for you."

Nabi ﷺ then raised his hands and said:

"Oh Allah, You bear witness to what they are saying. Oh Allah, You bear witness to what they are saying. Oh Allah, You bear witness to what they are saying."

And then he gave them his final piece of advice. He said:

"O my companions — those of you who are present here today, it is your duty, it is your responsibility to take this message and to go and convey it to the rest of the world. The millions that are not here today — O my companions, please take this message and go and give it to them."

And hence the Sahabah ran all over the globe, taking the message, taking the vision, the legacy of the Prophet ﷺ forward.

The Sahaba's Devotion and the Legacy That Reached Us

The day the Prophet ﷺ left this world, Abdullah ibn Umar radiyallahu anhu says: every single one of us had this desire — we wished we had passed away before the Prophet ﷺ so we didn't have to experience, we didn't have to witness this sad day. "I wish the Day of Qiyamah had coincided with the passing of the Prophet ﷺ, for it is simply just too painful for me to live past the demise of my Habib ﷺ."

But there was one Sahabi by the name of Ma'an ibn Adi radiyallahu anhu who stood up and said: "As far as I am concerned, I do not wish what all of you are wishing. I am happy that Allah has given me life past the demise of the Prophet ﷺ." Everyone was shocked — why would you want to outlive the Prophet ﷺ? You know what he said? He said: "I want to live past the Prophet ﷺ so that I can carry on his message, I can carry on his legacy. That deen that he came with — I want to live past his demise so that I can take it and go and convey it to others."

And alhamdulillah, it was through the efforts of the Sahabah — generation after generation — we see that this deen has been passed down until it has come to us. No generation left the ilm, left the knowledge that Allah had given them. If they had done so, then perhaps we would not have been Muslims here today. But because they realized the responsibility that rested on their shoulders, we see that alhamdulillah this deen — despite the challenges, despite the circumstances, despite the various fitan which came in the previous centuries — this deen continued to survive and it made its way all the way down to us today.

Our Responsibility: Raising the Next Generation on Islam

And now that it has come to us, it is our duty, it is our responsibility to take it forward — to pass it on to the next generation, to teach our children what are the tenets of our deen, what are the Islamic values that we have been taught.

Earlier today I had highlighted in the morning the importance of us having these open conversations with our children with regards to the challenges that we are surrounded with — be it atheism, be it the LGBTQ movement, be it pornography, be it drugs. These are difficult conversations for us to have with our children. But our children need to be educated with regards to this, otherwise I'm afraid that they will fall into these traps. And it's not just a fear — rather it is happening right before us, it is happening all around us.

Recently one of my friends told me: "I don't know what to do. I walked into the bedroom the other day and I saw my 10-year-old brother sitting there watching pornography." If we as parents — as older siblings — don't take it upon ourselves to educate our children, our younger siblings, what can you expect from them? When they are going to school and they are being exposed to all sorts of shaitaniya, all sorts of unprecedented fitnas online — the entire internet is full of this junk, and this is what they are seeing, this is what they are being fed daily. If we don't instill Islamic values within them, then they will be indoctrinated by these liberal values of the West.

Hence, we need to take it seriously. And if we ourselves are unable to do so, if we are not aware of these challenges, then we need to find places, we need to find institutions where we can send our children and they can be educated. Just like we take it upon ourselves to teach them math, to teach them science, to teach them English, to teach them history — if a son or daughter is failing in school, the mother and the father will have sleepless nights. But unfortunately, when our children are failing with regards to their surah, with regards to their Islamic knowledge, how many of us have sleepless nights? How many of us have that same concern, that same pain — what is happening to the deen of my child?

Dunya a little bit goes down and we are still worrying. How about the deen? There has to be a balance. Definitely it is important for them to be educated in the worldly sciences, for them to get their college degrees — I am not saying no. But as they do that, there also has to be a balance where they also take out time to study the sciences of deen. Otherwise, what answer are we going to give to Allah on the Day of Qiyamah? If we don't take out that time to send them to institutions of deen, to send them to programs where they can benefit, then how do we expect for them to continue to remain as proud Muslims and to continue this legacy of our Prophet ﷺ forward?

Announcements — Darul Salaam Summer Programs

Alhamdulillah, this summer here at Darul Salaam we will be offering our summer intensive six-week program, which is split up into two three-week sessions. We have our Deen Intensive, which will be taking place starting very soon — June 25th — and it will go on inshallah for three weeks. And then we have the Arabic Intensive, which will start from the 23rd of June and go on for three weeks up until August 7th.

I kindly request all the parents who are here who have children who are high school or college age — please send your children. Allow them to benefit. The summer time is time that they have off. If we don't give them productive things to do, I'm afraid their time will be wiled and wasted away on the internet, on social media, watching movies, and what not. So let us invest their time wisely so that inshallah this break can become productive for them, and Islamic values and Islamic teachings can be instilled within them. By us doing that, at least on the Day of Qiyamah we can say: ya Allah, we did our part — whatever little we were able to do, O Allah, we tried. The rest is in the hands of Allah Ta'ala.

May Allah Ta'ala allow us to understand. May Allah protect us from all the fitnas and the challenges that we face. Ameen, ya Rabbal Alameen.

Upcoming Programs at Darul Salaam

Tarbiyah for Ta'at (T4T) — for boys and girls, ages 4 and 5. You can register at our website: masjidsds.org/t4t

Quran, Islamic Studies and Sports Camp — for kids, boys and girls, ages 6 to 13. You can register at our website: masjidsds.org/summer

The Tamheed Program — for both brothers and sisters, ages 14 and above. This is a transformative journey to understand and appreciate the core principles of Islam. The program consists of two components: the Deen Intensive as well as the Arabic Essentials. For more information, please visit our website: masjidsds.org/summer. There are also flyers that will be handed out as you're leaving, so you can pick those up as well.

Please join us for our 5th Annual Khatam of Sahih al-Bukhari. This will be taking place Sunday, June 22nd after Salatul Dhuhr.

Weekly Programs: We have our weekly Tuesday Tafsir, which takes place Tuesday after Salatul Maghrib. We are currently covering Surah al-Fajr. Additionally, we have the Thursday Salawat as well as the Urdu Seerah Dars — also on Thursday after Salatul Maghrib.

Tomorrow there will be no Team Fajr. Once again, tomorrow there will be no Team Fajr — inshallah we'll continue from next week.

Sisters' Programs: We have the bi-weekly Seerah and Salawat with Alimah Khadijah — the next session will be June 1st from 12:00 PM to 1:45 PM. The weekly Urdu Tafsir takes place with Alimah Nikkah and is currently on pause, but inshallah it will continue soon.

The World Ijtema will be held June 27th, 28th and 29th at the Rosemont Convention Center. Everyone is kindly requested to join.

Du'a Requests

Please make du'a for the brothers and sisters of Palestine, of Lebanon, Syria, as well as the rest of the Ummah. We make du'a that wherever the Muslims are suffering, Allah grants them ease and relief. May Allah grant shifa kamilah to all those who are sick. May Allah grant Jannatul Firdaus to all the marhumeen.

On behalf of Darul Salaam, we would like to wish everyone and everyone's families Eid Mubarak. May Allah make it a joyous and a blessed day for all. Ameen, ya Rabbal Alameen.

Second Portion of the Khutbah

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ. If you could kindly pass the donation boxes from right to left — please donate generously. Sadaqah given on the day of Jumu'ah is greater in reward than any other day.

"O you who have believed, fear Allah. And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow. And fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Aware of what you do." Sadaqallahul Azeem.

May Allah bless us and you in the Great Quran, and benefit us and you from what is in it of the verses and the Wise Remembrance. Ask forgiveness of Allah for me and you and the Muslims. Ask forgiveness of Him — indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Closing Du'as

"Indeed, Allah commands justice, goodness, and giving to relatives, and forbids immorality, evil, and hatred. He warns you that you may remember." Remember Allah — He will remember you. Call on Him — He will respond to you. And the remembrance of Allah is the highest. And Allah knows what you do.