A strange scene
Meanwhile a strange scene was
being enacted at the Mosque. Shortly after the Prophet’s death, Omar
entered the apartment and raising the sheet that covered the body, gazed
earnestly on the Prophet’s features, which looked as of one peacefully
sleeping. Softly replacing the covering, he started up and exclaimed:
“The Prophet is not dead, he hath gone to his Lord as aforetime Moses
did and remained forty days absent. He will yet return among us again.”
Brandishing his sword he exclaimed, “I will cut off the head of him who
dares to say that the Prophet is dead.” He was haranguing the people in
a similar strain when Abubakr appeared. He listened to the words of Omar
for a moment and passed on to see the Prophet. He entered, and, lifting
the sheet that covered the body, stooped down and kissed the forehead.
Then taking the head upon his hands, he slightly lifted it ‘and minutely
scanned the features. Replacing the head gently on its pillow, he
exclaimed: “Yes! Sweet thou were in life and sweet thou art in death.
Alas, my Master! Thou art dead indeed.” Covering the body, he issued
forth and proceeded at once to the spot where Omar was brandishing his
sword and haranguing the people. “Be quiet Omar! Sit thee down,” cried
Abubakr. But Omar would not listen to him. Turning therefore to the
assemblage, he addressed them thus: “Do ye forget already the verse
which was revealed to the Prophet after the battle of Ohad?”
‘Muhammad is but a man with a
Mission, verily other Apostles died before him; what then! If he were to
die or to be killed, would ye turn upon your heels?’ Again, know ye not
the verse revealed to the Prophet, ‘Verily O Muhammad! Thou shall die,
and verily they shall die; Verse XXXIX-3 1; continuing he said:
‘whosoever worshippeth Muhammad, let him know that Muhammad is indeed
dead; but whosoever worshipeth God, let him know that God is immortal,
He liveth and dieth not. The truth now being known, the assemblage
sobbed aloud. Omar on hearing these verses, trembled and dropped down,
and then he knew of a certainty that the Holy Prophet was indeed dead.
In the afternoon there
appeared a friend who came running hastily to Abubakr and Omar, and
informed them that many a chief of Media had assembled at Saqifa Bani
Sa’da and that they were proceeding to choose Sa’d b. Obada as their
leader. “If ye have a desire to secure the Supreme Authority,” said he,
“ye should not lose a minute to reach thither before the matter is
settled and opposition becomes dangerous.” Receiving the intelligence,
Abubakr and Omar hurried to Saqifa, in company with Abu Obeida and
several others.
Meanwhile Ali, regardless of
the movement outside was busy inside the apartment with preparation for
the bathing of the Prophet’s body, in company with Abbas, his two Sons
Fazl and Qutham, Osama and Saleh. Having closed the door of the
apartment they took the body in for bathing. 5Ali was the
only man named by the Prophet to bathe his body, (as predicted by him
while he was giving the first bath to Ali at the time of his birth) as
he had said that any one, other than Ali that looked upon his nakedness
would forthwith turn-blind. So Ali bathed the body and others helped him
with their eyes bandaged.
After bathing the body, they
laid it out, putting on it the garments in which he died. Two sheets of
fine white cloth were wound over the garment, and then it was wrapped in
a sheet of striped Yemen. Then came the parties for praying over the
dead body. First the relations and next to them the followers and
companions of the Prophet entered the apartment in batches of ten at a
time and prayed over him. Thus the body remained till the time of
burial.
Opinions
differed as to where the burial should take place! Ali settled the
matter, who said that he had heard the Prophet saying, that at
whatsoever spot a Prophet dies, he should be buried there. Accordingly
the grave was dug, and the burial took place on the night of Tuesday or
early in the morning on Wednesday. The body was lowered into its last
resting place by the same near relations who had bathed and laid it out.
Ali was the last person to leave the interior of the grave, weeping
bitterly. He was never seen to cry like that before or after that
occasion. When he came out of the grave, he lifted his hands in
supplication and said, “Lord! He was Thy first creation, his apparent
death is not a sign of his mortality, he lifted the gloom prevailing
before creation started, he was the proof of Thy Glory, and was our
guide towards that Realm. His soul was the Emblem of Thy Supreme Might,
his body was a master-piece of Thy Creation and his mind was Thy
Treasure House.” |