It would be better if the contingent leaves after you recover from your illness!

It would be better if the contingent leaves after you recover from your illness!” He replied, “No! You must start forthwith without any delay!” Usamah got up to go and prepare for the departure of the contingent. On the other side, the Prophet’s ailment increased and he swooned. When he recovered slightly he asked if the Contingent had left or not.

When he was told that the preparations for the departure were under way, he folded his brow and said, “Send the Contingent of Usamah urgently and Allah’s curse on those who do not join it”[1] With repeated exhortations of the Prophet (a.s) the Contingent moved out of al-Madinah, but it halted at a distance of three miles in Wadi al-Jurf. Someone came to them and gave the tiding that the Prophet (a.s) was in his last throes. Hearing this Usamah, `Umar and Abū-`Ubaydah came back to al-Madinah.

When the Prophet (a.s) demised, the rest of the Contingent returned to al-Madinah. For the Muslims every Command of the Prophet (a.s) is the Command of Allah. Going against his commands is tantamount to disobeying Allah. Despite the repeated exhortations by the Prophet (a.s), the persons nominated to be a part of the Contingent were hesitant in proceeding on the campaign.

When the Prophet (a.s) asked for paper and pen to dictate his will, they said that he was in a state of delirium and not in his senses. But when they refused to obey the Command for proceeding on the Campaign what excuse they were offering for disobeying the Orders of Allah’s Prophet (a.s)? To understand the reasons for the behavior of the at that time, we shall have to go into the scenario of the event.

History points out that after the Hijjat al-Wada`; the Prophet (a.s) started keeping indifferent health. This illness was the forerunner of his death. The Prophet (a.s) had hinted in his Sermons of the Hijjat al-Wada` and Ghadir Khumm that the time for his departure was nigh. After returning from the H ijjat al-Wada, ` he hinted about it. The understood that this sun was about to set after giving his radiance for twenty-three years!

`Abdullah ibn Mas`ūd says: [1] Al-Milal wan-Nihal, Page 8 “Our Prophet (a.s) gave the tiding of his death a month before he died.”[1] On the one hand, the Prophet (a.s) was talking about his imminent demise and on the other; he was expressing concern about mischief by some people in the Ummah.