Chapter: The Prophet’s Illness

Yunus ibn Bukayr narrated from Ibn Ishaq, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn Rabiʿah related to me, from ʿUbayd, the freedman of al-Hakam, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs, from Abū Muwayhiba, the servant of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ awakened me during the night and said, ‘O Abū Muwayhiba, I have been commanded to seek forgiveness for the inhabitants of this Baqīʿ.’ I went out with him until we came to al-Baqīʿ. He raised his hands and prayed for their forgiveness for a long time, then said, ‘Rejoice in the state you now enjoy compared to what people are waking up to today. Tribulations are advancing like segments of a pitch-black night, each following the other; the last of them will be worse than the first. O Abū Muwayhiba, I have been given the keys to the treasuries of the world and everlasting life therein, followed by Paradise, and I was offered the choice between that and meeting my Lord and entering Paradise.’

“I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you—take the keys to the treasuries of the world and everlasting life therein, and then Paradise.’ He replied, ‘By Allah, O Abū Muwayhiba, I have chosen to meet my Lord and (enter) Paradise.’ Then he returned, and that very morning the ailment began from which Allah took him.”

This report was also transmitted by Ibrahim ibn Saʿd from Ibn Ishaq, and by ʿUbayd ibn Jubayr, the freedman of al-Hakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀs.

Maʿmar related from Ibn Tawus, from his father, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I was given the choice between remaining to witness what will be opened up for my community or hastening (death), and I chose the hastening.”