Where is the Prophet’s Mysterious Will?
It is true that the Prophet exhorted the believers to write their wills in order to distribute their property amongst their inheritors. To this, the Shia ask us: how is it possible that the Prophet would command the Muslims to write a will and yet never write one for himself?
“Allah has said in His Glorious Book, addressing His revered Messenger (pbuh), “It is prescribed unto you when death approaches someone to leave something good, a will (Qur’an, 2:180 and 5:106).”
…There is no doubt in my mind that she [Aisha] must have heard him [the Prophet] saying: “No believer who knows that he is leaving something behind him should sleep even two nights without having his will written…”
It does not fit him or any other Prophet, blessings of Allah be upon all of them, to bid something without doing it himself, or forbid something while doing the opposite thereof; Allah is above selecting such individuals for conveying His message.
source:
http://al-islam1.org/murajaat/74.htm
The above was written in the famous Shia book, Al-Muraja’at. Hereby the Shia has shot himself in the foot. The Sunnis believe that the document the Prophet wished to write on Thursday was not his will at all but rather it was a piece of paper with religious advice on it. In order to prove their side, the overzealous Shia brings forth various proofs in order to convince the reader that the Prophet must have wished to write his will. To back this claim, they provide the Quranic verses and Hadiths about writing wills. One of the Hadiths they quote, as shown above, is the one in which the Prophet says:
“No believer who knows that he is leaving something behind him should sleep even two nights without having his will written…”
And this is what we meant by the Shia shooting himself in the foot! In this Hadith quoted by the Shia in their famous book Al-Muraja’at, the Prophet says that one should not sleep even two nights without having a will. Then, O Shia, please explain why the Prophet slept three nights without writing a will? After the event of Thursday, the Prophet had three more days to write that will, and yet he never did that! Why not? If this was truly a Command of Allah to write a will, then was the Prophet not sinful for abstaining from doing that? Fine, we can excuse the day of Thursday using the explanation that Umar prevented the will from being written. But what about Friday, Saturday, and Sunday?
Who was preventing the Prophet from writing the will for those three days? In fact, we know–from Shia sources–that the Prophet made a recovery during those three days and also that he was alone with Ali and Abbas during that time. We read:
Ali ibn Abi Talib went out from the Messenger of Allah during his illness in which he died. The people asked him: “O Abu Hasan, how did the Messenger of Allah wake up?”
“By the Grace of Allah he woke up [and he had] recovered [from his illness],” he replied.
(Tareekh al-Tabari, Vol.9, pp.175-176)
And so, after the incident of the pen and paper, the Prophet did recover. So why didn’t he avail that time in order to complete his obligation to Allah, as the Shia say? The Shia propagandists are the ones who insist that it was Wajib (mandatory) on the Prophet to write a will, so why didn’t the Prophet write it in those remaining days when he recovered?
On Thursday, after the incident of the pen and paper, the Prophet called Ali and Abbas back into the room, according to Shaykh Mufid. So that was one opportunity for the Prophet to have written the will and given it to Ali. Then, the very next day (i.e. Friday), the Prophet had another opportunity to write the will for Ali; the Shia cannot claim that Umar prevented the Prophet from writing the will because Ali was alone with the Prophet throughout the day of Friday! Shaykh Mufid writes:
On the next day [Friday], the people were denied access to him (the Prophet) as he was seriously ill in bed. The Commander of the Faithful (Ali) did not leave him except to fulfill some necessities. Then he had to go to attend some of his affairs. The Apostle of Allah recovered consciousness and he missed Ali. His wives were around him and he said: “Call my brother and my companion.”
…The Commander of the Faithful was summoned. When he was close to him, he indicated to him to bend down to him. Then the Apostle of Allah spoke privately to him for a long time. Then he rose and sat down beside him until the Apostle of Allah fell asleep.
(Kitab Al-Irshad, by Shaykh Mufid, p.132)
During all this time, the Prophet could have dictated to Ali a will in his name. Then, Ali could have presented the will to the people as a strong proof for his Caliphate. And yet, no Sunni or Shia account attests to such a thing
The Shia cannot provide any good explanation for why the Prophet never wrote a will, and why–to this day–no human being alive has seen a will written by the Prophet. The Shia have been relying on the argument that the Prophet was prevented from fulfilling this obligation by Umar ibn al-Khattab; but unfortunately, this argument falls apart when one considers that the event of the pen and paper took place on Thursday and there were three more days for the Prophet to write such a will. The Shia explanation can only explain why the Prophet failed to write the will on Thursday, but it doesn’t explain why the Prophet didn’t write it on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
On the other hand, the Sunnis rely on a quite simple and straightforward explanation as to why the Prophet did not write a will: the Prophet did not need to write a will because he had nothing to give as inheritance. The writing of a will is only necessary on the one who has something to give as inheritance, as clearly mentioned in the Prophetic Hadith quoted by the Shia book Al-Muraja’at:
“No believer who knows that he is leaving something behind him should sleep even two nights without having his will written…”
In fact, Sahih Bukhari has an entire section about how those who do not have anything to give do not need to write a will. The reason that the Prophet did not have anything to give as inheritance is because the property of Prophets is given away as charity. This is based on the principle that the Prophets are a very noble group and it is above them to hoard wealth but rather it is fitting their nature to give away their material possessions to charity. The Prophet said:
“We do not leave inheritance. What we leave behind is charity.”
(Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Jihad was-Siyar, no. 49)
This is confirmed in Shia Hadith:
“The Prophets did not leave dinars and dirhams as inheritance, but they left knowledge.”
(al-Kafi, vol. 1 p. 42)
If Allah truly commanded the Prophet to write a will as the Shia say, then the Prophet was sinful for not doing that. One cannot place the blame on Umar since that would only explain Thursday, but it does not explain away Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. On the other hand, the Ahlus Sunnah’s explanation makes more sense, namely that the Prophet did not write a will because he had no need to do that.
The Quran is Sufficient for Us
The Shia propagandists will then criticize Umar ibn al-Khattab for what he said (i.e. “the Quran is sufficient for us”). The Shia will say that Umar meant by this that obeying the Sunnah was not necessary. However, this is not a proper understanding of what Umar was saying. In fact, Umar–throughout his life–stressed the importance of obeying the Prophet’s Sunnah, so it would be impossible to accuse Umar of being one of the so-called “Quraniyyoon” or “Munkar-e-Hadith” (i.e. Hadith rejectors).
The people were pestering the Prophet to give them religious advice, despite the fact that the Prophet was having a difficult time talking without pain. So Umar was calling them away from that; in other words, Umar was saying “leave him alone and let him rest”. And he told them that “the Quran is sufficient”. The Shia imply that by this Umar meant that the Prophet’s words were useless or not worthy because the Quran was “sufficient”. However, this is an incorrect definition of the word; the word “sufficient” means “adequate, enough, meeting the requirement, etc.” What the Prophet would have told them would definitely be beneficial, and Umar was not saying otherwise. He was simply saying that the people had enough to survive with, to make do, etc, such that they shouldn’t bother the Prophet in his time of pain.
A proper analogy of this is if a man wants to give his sons some money. But one of his sons knows that his father is running low on money, so he says to the rest of his brothers: “Leave father alone; what we have earned from work is sufficient for us.” This does not mean that he is scorning the money from his father or that this money wouldn’t be beneficial; it simply means that what they already have is enough to get by, such that they should not bother their father for any more.
Of course, the Shia will never be silent until and unless we quiet them ourselves. They will continue to pester us, criticizing Umar for why he said that the Quran is sufficient. And they will say “what did Umar mean by that” and other such things. To end such a discussion, we refer the Shia reader to a Hadith from their own books, in which their Infallible Imam said the exact same thing that Umar did. We read:
Rayyan says I said to Imam Reza (A.S.) “What do you say about the Quran?” So he replied “It is the speech of Allah; do not exceed and move ahead of it, and do not seek guidance from other than it; otherwise, you would go astray.”
(Bihar al-Anwar, Vol.92, p.117,
http://smma59.wordpress.com/tag/hadithguidence-of-ahlulbayt/)
So if the Shia would like to criticize Umar for saying that the Quran is sufficient, then let them take even more criticism towards their Infallible Imam who said that we should not seek guidance from any other than the Quran! Umar’s comment was not exclusive, as in it did not exclude other sources of knowledge; instead, Umar simply stated that the Quran was enough to survive on. On the other hand, Imam Reza’s statement is exclusive, stating that whoever seeks a source other than the Quran has gone astray. Again, whatever blame the Shia put on Umar for his comment, let them put double blame on their Imam (may Allah be pleased with him)!
The Prophet’s Anger in Context
Before his death, the Prophet said:
“If I abused any person of my people, or cursed him in anger, then I am one of the children of Adam: I become angry as they do. He, Allah, has sent me as a mercy to the worlds. And O Allah, make my anger and abuse a blessing for them on the Day of Judgment!”
(Sunan of Abu Dawood, narrated from Amr ibn Abi Qurran)
The same speech is mentioned in Ibn Saad’s al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, with the addition of:
“I am only a human being.”
(al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Ibn Saad)
In Tareekh al-Tabari, the Prophet’s speech is recorded as:
“O people, I praise God, the only God, unto you. Now then: Your rights are dear to me…whomever I have reviled, here is my honor–let him retort! Malice is neither my nature nor characteristic of me. Indeed, the most loved of you to me is the one who claims his right from me [if he is the aggrieved party], so that he should absolve me [from it] so that I shall meet the Lord while I am content. I see that this is not enough until I stand before you several times [i.e. to emphasize the point] ” …The Messenger of Allah smiled and said: “Umar is with me and I am with him.” Referring to that man, the Prophet said: “Follow Umar after me, wherever he might be.”
(Tareekh al-Tabari, Vol.9, pp.170-171)
Appendix
Having thus discussed the event in detail, let us now analyze the Hadiths in question, one by one. The event of Thursday has been mentioned in the Sahihayn, five times in Imam Bukhari’s collection and another three in Imam Muslim’s collection. Let us examine these eight Hadiths, and comment on each of them. Our comments are in brackets:
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 288:
Narrated Said bin Jubair:
Ibn Abbas said, “Thursday! What (great thing) took place on Thursday!” [1] Then he started weeping till his tears wet the gravel of the ground. Then he said, “On Thursday the illness of Allah’s Apostle was aggravated and he said, “Fetch me writing materials so that I may have something written to you after which you will never go astray.” The people (present there) differed in this matter and people should not differ before a prophet. [2] They said, “Allah’s Apostle is seriously sick.” The Prophet said, “Let me alone, as the state in which I am now, is better than what you are calling me for.” The Prophet on his death-bed, gave three orders saying, “Expel the pagans from the Arabian Peninsula, respect and give gifts to the foreign delegates as you have seen me dealing with them.” I forgot the third (order)”
[1] The Shia wish to indicate that the “great thing” or calamity was because of Umar’s “rebellion” against the Prophet’s orders. And yet this is not the case, and the text does not at all indicate this. Ibn Abbas never criticized Umar ibn al-Khattab for refusing to bring the pen and paper; instead, Ibn Abbas’s complaint was [2] “people should not differ before a prophet.” It was the disagreement, bickering, and quarreling that was the tragedy. Both sides had legitimate arguments: on the one hand, there were those who wished to get advice from the Prophet, and there were others who felt that it would inconvenience the Prophet to do that (i.e. because he was sick and it hurt him to speak). These were both valid arguments, and the two sides should have calmly discussed the matter instead of bickering about it.
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, Number 716:
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
Thursday! And how great that Thursday was! The ailment of Allah’s Apostle became worse (on Thursday) [3] and he said, “Fetch me something so that I may write to you something after which you will never go astray.” The people (present there) differed in this matter, and it was not right to differ before a prophet. [4] Some said [5], “What is wrong with him? (Do you think) he is delirious (seriously ill)? Ask him (to understand his state).” [6] So they went to the Prophet and asked him again. The Prophet said, “Leave me, for my present state is better than what you call me for.” Then he ordered them to do three things. He said, “Turn the pagans out of the Arabian Peninsula; respect and give gifts to the foreign delegations as you have seen me dealing with them.”
[3] Notice that the Prophet’s health turned worse on this day, worse than it had ever been before. And we know that the Prophet was even having a difficult time talking:
When the Apostle’s illness became severe, he (i.e. a Sahabi) and the men came down to Medinah and he went into the Apostle(’s house) who was unable to speak. He (the Prophet) began to lift his hand towards heaven and then bring it down upon him, from which he (the Sahabi) knew that he (the Prophet) was blessing him.
(Ibn Ishaq, Seerah Rasool-Allah, p.680; a similar narration in Tareekh al-Tabari, Vol.9, pp.178-179)
So the Prophet’s condition had deteriorated to its worst at this point in time, worse even than when Abbas and Ali had attempted to force-feed the Prophet medicine against his will. So based on these two facts–namely that (a) the Prophet could not speak without intense pain and (b) Abbas and Ali had contradicted the Prophet’s wishes when he was in a better condition than he was on Thursday–we find that the Shia have really no leg to stand upon when they attack Umar who only wished that the people not burden the Prophet by causing him the pain of talking in a time when his condition was the worst it had been yet.
[4] Notice that Ibn Abbas says that it was not right to argue in front of the Prophet; this was what angered the Prophet, not the actual positions of the two sides.
[5] Once again, it says “some said”, not “Umar said.”
[6] The important point here is that the person who did ask if the Prophet was delirious was asking if this was the case, not saying that this was indeed the case. He was genuinely asking, not saying this in a sarcastic or demeaning fashion. And what he meant by delirious was if the Prophet was conscious or not.
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 53, Number 393:
Narrated Said bin Jubair that he heard Ibn Abbas saying:
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. [7] 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.”)
[7] Again, quite clearly, the “calamity” was that it was “improper to differ in front of a Prophet” (i.e. bickering with each other), and it was not that Umar refused to give the paper and pen. The refusal of Umar was no more of a calamity than it was a calamity when Abbas and Ali refused to obey the Prophet by forcing him to take medicine against his will.
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 70, Number 573:
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
When Allah’s Apostle was on his death-bed and in the house there were some people among whom was Umar bin Al-Khattab, the Prophet said, “Come, let me write for you a statement after which you will not go astray.” Umar said, “The Prophet is seriously ill [8] and you have the Quran; so the Book of Allah is enough for us.” The people present in the house differed and quarreled. Some said “Go near so that the Prophet may write for you a statement after which you will not go astray,” while the others said as Umar said. When they caused a hue and cry before the Prophet, [9] Allah’s Apostle said, “Go away!” Narrated Ubaidullah: Ibn Abbas used to say, “It was very unfortunate that Allah’s Apostle was prevented from writing that statement for them because of their disagreement and noise.” [10]
[8] Notice that Umar ibn al-Khattab only said that the Prophet was “seriously ill”, which proves that Umar was worried about the well-being of the Prophet, nothing else.
[9] It was only “when they caused a hue and cry” that the Prophet said “go away” which shows that it was the disagreement and bickering which angered the Prophet. He was angry at both sides, not just the side which opposed giving him the pen and paper. The Prophet used to have splitting headaches during his final illness, and so it is no wonder that it would annoy him when the people created “a hue and cry”. A very key point here is that the Prophet ordered both sides out of the house, not just those who opposed the writing; the Prophet could have simply scolded Umar and told him alone to leave, but instead he sent everyone out of the room. Had it been Umar’s refusal that angered the Prophet, then he would not have sent those out who wished to give the Prophet a pen and paper! The reality is that the Prophet was merely disappointed with his followers for falling into argumentation and disunity, no doubt a precursor of things to come after the Prophet’s death. On numerous occasions, the Prophet would warn against division, and even up until this day the Muslim Ummah remains fragmented and disunited.
[10] Once again, it was the “disagreement and noise” which was the calamity Ibn Abbas was referring to.
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 3, Number 114:
Narrated Ubaidullah bin Abdullah (that) Ibn Abbas said:
When the ailment of the Prophet became worse, he said, “Bring for me (writing) paper and I will write for you a statement after which you will not go astray.” But Umar said, “The Prophet is seriously ill, and we have got Allah’s Book with us and that is sufficient for us.” But the companions of the Prophet differed about this and there was a hue and cry. On that [11] the Prophet said to them, “Go away (and leave me alone). It is not right that you should quarrel in front of me.” [12] Ibn Abbas came out saying, “It was most unfortunate (a great disaster) that Allah’s Apostle was prevented from writing that statement for them because of their disagreement and noise. [13]
[11] It was “on that” (referring to the “hue and cry”) that the Prophet said “go away”. He did not say “go away” when Umar said what he said, but rather only after the people fell into argumentation.
[12] It could not get clearer than this! The Prophet’s very own words in which he specifically says why he got upset. It was because “you should not quarrel in front of me” and it was not because of anything Umar ibn al-Khattab said. The Prophet did not say “I am angry with you because you refused to bring me a pen and paper” but rather said “it is not right that you should quarrel in front of me.” The Prophet did not show anger towards those who refused to bring him a pen and paper, just as he did not show anger towards Ali when he refused to erase certain words in the Treaty of Hudaybiya.
[13] It was the “disagreement and noise” which hurt the Prophet’s head (as he had a headache) and which the Prophet found inappropriate.
Sahih Muslim, Book 013, Number 4014:
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