1. The Last Khutbah of the Prophet (sws)
Edited by: Zafar-ul-Islam Khan
[The Prophet, upon whom be peace, praised and glorified Allah, and then said:]1
O people! Listen to what I say, as I do not know if I shall ever meet you at this
place after this year.
O people! Your blood and your property [and your honour]2 are sacrosanct,
until you meet your Lord, even as this day and this month are sacrosanct. You
shall meet your Lord and He shall ask you of your deeds. I have conveyed [the
message]. He who has a trust with him, let him return it to the one who has
entrusted him with it.
[Behold! Everything that is jahiliyyah’s3 is trampled under my feet].4 All usury
is abolished, but you retain your capital. Do no wrong and you shall not be
wronged. Allah has ordered that there should be no usury. All the usury of
Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib is abolished. All the (unrevenged) blood claims of
the jahilliyyah are abolished and the first claim I abolish is that of the son of
Rabi’ah ibn al-Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib; he was fostered among Banu
Layth, (where the tribe of) Hudhayl killed him. This is the first of the
jahiliyyah blood claim that I begin with.
[O people! Allah has assigned unto everyone his due. Bequest to an heir is
illegal.5 The child belongs to the bed, and the adulterer is to be stoned.
Whoever claims to be the son of one who is not his father and whoever claims
to be the client of one who is not his master,6 on him rests the curse of Allah,
the angels and all humanity. Allah shall not accept his repentance or
redemption.]7
O people! Satan has despaired of ever being worshipped in this land of yours.
But if he can be obeyed in anything less (than worship) he will be content with
matters you may regard as of little importance. So beware of him in your
religion.
O people! quot;Postponement of a sacred month is an excess in disbelief whereby
those who disbelieve are misled; they permit it in one year and forbid it in
another year, (deluding themselves) that they may make up the months which
Allah has prescribed as sacrosanct; thus they permit what Allah has forbidden8
and forbid what Allah has permittedquot;. The cycle of time was shaped on the day
that Allah created the heavens and the earth. quot;The number of the months with
Allah is twelvequot;.9 Four of them are sacrosanct: three consecutive and the

2. Rajab of Mudar, which is between Jamada [al-Thaniyyah] and Sha’ban.10
O people! You have rights over your wives and they have rights over you. You
have the right that they do not permit into your homes anyone you dislike and
they should not commit open indecent acts. If they do, Allah permits you to put
them in secluded rooms and punish them without severity. If they refrain (from
such things) they have a right to their food and clothing in kindness. Take good
care of women, for they are in your trusts and have no control of their selves.
You have only taken them as a trust from Allah, and you have been permitted
by the words of Allah to have sexual relations with them.
O people! Understand my words. I have conveyed (the message), I have left
you with the plain indication which if you hold fast to, you will never go
astray: the Book of Allah and the practice of His Prophet.
O People! Listen to what I say and understand it. Know that every Muslim is a
brother to every Muslim and the Muslims form one brotherhood. It is not
lawful for a person to take from his brother except what he gives him willingly.
So never wrong yourselves. O Allah! Have I not conveyed (the message)?
You will be asked about me, so what will you say?
(They said: ‘We witness that you have conveyed (the message) and have
performed your duty and that you have meant well with us.’)
[Pointing his index finger to the heaven and then to the people, the Prophet
said: ‘O Allah! be witness; O Allah! be witness, O Allah! be witness.]11
[Let the present convey the message to the absent. Many a listener may
comprehend better than those who may be (present) listening. Return not to
disbelief after me, killing each other.]12
Courtesy quot;The Crescent Internationalquot;
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1.
This text is taken from Ibn Ishaq’s narrative as recorded by Ibn Hisham. Insertions (shown in
square brackets) are from other narratives references to which are given below. This text, edited
by Zafarul Islam Khan, was first published in Hajj in Focus (London: The Muslim Institute,
1986), in which fuller references were given.
2.
Addition from the narrative of Ibn ‘Abbas.
3.
Jahiliyyah refers to the state of ignorance prevailing in Arabia before the advent of Islam.
4.
Addition from the hadith of Jabir Ibn `Abdullah.

3. 5.
It is not permitted for a person on the verge of death to deprive any heir of his due or to give
more to any heir in excess to what they are entitled according to the Shari’ah.
6.
A freed slave is referred to as the ‘client’ of his former master. This relationship acts in partial
lieu of the ‘son of’ relationship used by others.
7.
Addition from the narrative of `Amir Ibn Kharijah.
8.
Qur’an 9:37.
9.
Qur’an 9:36.
10.
The three consecutive months in which war is forbidden are Dhu’l-Qa’dah, Dhu’l Hijjah and
Muharram. The fourth month is Rajab, referred to here as ‘Rajab of Mudar’ to distinguish it
from Ramadhan, also known as Rajab by some tribes.
11.
Addition from the narrative of `Abdullah Ibn Jabir.
12.
Addition from the narrative of Abi Bakrah.