—and he remained, on that very course, leaving no indispensable step toward the most perfect and most complete way undone—until the call to faith shone forth across the whole of Arabia, a land that had been saturated with idol-worship, the tales of soothsayers, obedience to created beings in disbelieving in the Creator, the spilling of forbidden blood, and the severing of family ties. They had known nothing of the Hereafter or the Resurrection, yet they became the most learned, the most devout, the most just, and the foremost people on earth. Indeed, when the Christians beheld them upon their arrival in al-Shām, they declared, “The companions of the Messiah were no better than these men.” Such are the marks that their knowledge and deeds have left on the earth, and any intelligent observer can discern the difference between their legacy and that of others.

Despite the prominence of his mission, people’s obedience to him, and their willingness to put him ahead of their own lives and wealth, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—passed away leaving neither a single dirham nor dinar, neither sheep nor camel, but only his mule and his weapons. His coat of mail was left in pledge with a Jew for 30 sâʿs of barley he had purchased for his household. He did possess a piece of land from whose yield he supported his family, but whatever remained he spent for the welfare of the Muslims. He ruled that none of it was to be inherited and that his heirs were not to take anything from it.