The Life of Prophet Muhammad - by Sheikh Azhar Nasser

This lecture covers various events that occurred on the day of the prophet's passing and the day after, up until his burial. This lecture includes: - The Prophet consoling Fatima by telling her she would be the first of his family to join him in paradise. - Ali ibn Abi Talib and Hasan and Hussain being by his side during his final moments. - The Prophet's final words, "Prayer, praye...

Everyone knows the prophet died of illness, and many say it was due to poison. Some say it was poison he consumed during te Battle of Khaybar three years earlier, but there are some serious doubts about that theory. Another theory suggests Aisha may have poisoned him. This lecture digs into the evidence for and against these theories, focusing primarily on sunni sources. Lecture notes available at...

In his last days, knowing death was imminent, Prophet Muhammad called his uncle Abbas and Imam Ali. He asked his uncle to carry out his will and settle his affairs after the prophet's death. When the uncle demured, the prophet asked Imam Ali, who accepted. The Prophet also gave Imam Ali his sword, battle gear, and ring. Three days before his passing, the prophet went to the masjid and asked i...

In these last few days, many of the companions explicitly disregarded the prophet's instructions in order to secure political power after his demise. The prophet had attempted to prevent their schemes by instructing many of the senior companions to leave Medina with Usama ibn Zayd, so that Imam Ali could assume leadership without interference, but many delayed and made excuses. Some hypocrite...

The Prophet's death was impending, and he had commanded all his companions to join Usama ibn Zayd's army to go fight the Romans. Usama was a young man, and many companions chaffed at being put under the leadership of something that age. The prophet, while sick, had to rebuke them to send them back to the army. Despite his illness, the Prophet would still go lead prayer at the masjid. Aft...

With the success of Islam, now multiple people started popping up and claiming to be Prophets. They included: - Musaylimah al-Kazzab: a Yemeni who had accepted Islam in the year 10AH. He claimed to have been sent revelation giving him dominion ofer half the earth while (as per him) Prophet Muhammad was supposed to rule the other half. Tribal fanaticism in his area granted him a following, with sup...

After Prophet Muhammad declared Ali ibn Abi Talib's successorship, the angel Gabriel descended with an extension of the verse Quran 5:3, adding "today I have perfected your religion for you, and I have completed my blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam as your religion", showing that there's a version of Islam that's perfected and a version that's incomplete. A...

Prophet Muhammad was worried about people rebelling against him if he announced Imam Ali as his successor, so he delayed following the message to formalize his succesorship as long as he was allowed to. The wisdom of this showed by how during the hajj. Some companions of the Prophet had suspected the Prophet would announce Imam Ali as his successor at hajj and whenever the prophet would give a ser...

In the last months of the prophet's life, Gabriel descended to the prophet conveying a message from Allah: "There remain two obligations that you must convey to your people: the obligation of Hajj, and the obligation of Wilayah (the guardianship and succession) after you. For indeed, I have never left My earth without a proof, and I will never leave it without one." The Prophet had...

Prophet Muhammad sent a mission to Yemen to invite them to Islam. The first mission was led by Khalid ibn Al-Walid, who was a harsh man who had fought against the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud, but he had an aristrocratic background and by making him feel valued Prophet Muhammad had hoped to turn him into a productive member of the Muslim community. However once in Yemen, instead of following the...

After the Conquest of Makkah, the prophet dispatched tax collectors to different Bedouin tribes, aiming to consolidate an Islamic state and establish a system of governance that would ensure stability, support the needed, and fund state activities. Some tribes like the Tribe of Bnau Tamim resisted paying taxes however, potentially because thought the prophet was giving women too many rights. After...

Prophet Muhammad wanted to eradicate polythiesm and all practices associated with it, such as doing tawaaf around the kaaba naked. Surah Tawbah was revealed, which included a message that the idolaters should not be allowed near the kaaba after this year. The Prophet first sent Abu Bakr to share this news with the Meccans, but then God instructed him to send Ali instead. The message was that the p...

Among the delegations that came to Prophet Muhammad was on e from the Christians of Najran after their chief chief bishop and his people were invited to Islam. They came to negotiate a truce with the Prophet. They offered terms that were unacceptable to the Prophet, and he invited them to a Mubahila, a prayer for divine curse upon the liars. The Prophet accepted, and a verse from the Quran was rev...

The Expedition of Tabuk demonstrated to Arabs the strength of the Muslims. Over the next year, the various tribes responded by sending the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) delegations to accept Islam and pledge their allegiance. Prophet Muhammmad welcomed them & forgave past conflicts. He focused on: - Renouncing idolatry & polytheism - Spreading Islamic knowledge - Building strong alliances and go...

Masjid ad Zarar, the Mosque of Harm, was a mosque built by the hypocrites of Madinah to coverty oppose the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). They completed it just before Prophet Muhammad departed on the Expedition of Tabuk. Upon his return, Allah revealed their hypocracy in the Quran and the Prophet ordered the mosque to be destroyed. Soon after, Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, the leader of the Munafiqeen...

Allah had warned Prophet Muhammad in the Quran (64:4) that his companions contained hypocrites so skilled at deceit that the prophet himself was pleased by their speech and appearance. Only revelation could expose them. Later, during the return from the Tabuk expedition, while Prophet Muhammad went through a mountain pass while instructing his army to pass from below, some of these hypocrites trie...

When leaving for Tabuk, the Prophet (s) appointed Imam Ali (as) as his deputy in Madinah to protect against any uprising led by the Munafiqeen. Explaining it's significance, he said to Imam Ali "You are to me as Harun was to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me." There were at least 7 occasions that Prophet Muhammad made such a statement during his life. One such occasion...

This lecture covers the prelude to the Battle of Tabuk. Key topics include: - Birth of Ibrahim: Upon returning to Medina, the Prophet’s wife Mariya the Coptic gave birth to a son, named Ibrahim. The Angel Gabriel congratulated the Prophet on becoming a father. - Expedition of Tabuk: This was the last military campaign led by the Prophet. It aimed to preempt a rumored Roman invasion and also test t...

After victory against Banu Thaqif at Hunayn, Prophet Muhammad marched his army to Ta'if, where Banu Thaqif had retreated to and barricated themselves inside with enough food and water to last them for a year. The Prophet declared any slaves who joined Islam and left the fortress would be granted freedom, and many took him up on the offer. As the siege extended, the prophet decided a military...

Banu Thaqif had been long standing rivals of the Quraysh. They saw the Quraysh's defeated as an opportunity to attack and seize control of Mecca for themselves. In response, Prophet Muhammad called all Muslims to battle and led an army of 12,000 against them. Banu Thaqif's side had over 20,000. Banu Thaqif setup an ambush in the Valley of Hunain, making most Muslims flee. However, Prophe...

After the conquest of Mecca, hundreds of thousands of Arabs came to the prophet to convert and pledge their allegiance. This lecture covers why they joined now and reflects the verses of Surah An-Nasr which predicted this. The Prophet also sent various small expiditions to the surrounding tribes to invite them to Islam. The last of the pagan tribes decided to attack the Muslims in a final stand, s...

Prophet Muhammad destroys all the idols in the Kaaba with Imam Ali's help and washes the images that had been drawn inside. He then introduced Islam to the Meccans, discarding their ideas of nationalism and tribalism, and offered a general amnesty regardless of if they convert to Islam. Prophet Muhammad told Bilal to climb on top of the Kaaba to give the Azaan. Ikrima bin Abu Jahl saw that an...

Prophet Muhammad had promised safety to any Meccan who either remined in their own home during the invasion or went to Abu Sufyan's home. After seeing the Muslim's strenght, Abu Sufyan saw the futility of struggle and urged the Meccans to surrender. Some Meccans remained defiant, notably his wife Hind and Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahl. After taking over Mecca, Prophet Muhammad granted gen...

Prophet Muhammad kept the attack on Mecca a closely guarded secret. However Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah sent a letter to the Quraysh warning them of the attack. The Prophet was informed of this by revelation and he sent Ali and Zubayr to retrieve it. The Muslim army eventually marched to Mecca, where they were instructed to spread out and display their numbers. Under the cover of night, Abu Sufyan...

The Treaty of Hudaybiyya had included a vow of there being no fighting between the Quraysh and the Muslims. However, when the tribe of Banu Bakr asked the leaders of Quraysh for help in a raid against their long time foe Banu Khuza'ah, a tribe with many Muslims and who were longtime allies of Prophet Muhammad, the Quraysh joined in. The raiders killed 23 members of Banu Khuza'ah. The tri...