The Farewell Sermon ( ar, خطبة الوداع, ''Khuṭbatu l-Widāʿ'' ) also known as Muhammad's Final Sermon or the Last Sermon, is a religious speech, delivered by the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets ar ...

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...

on Friday the 9th of

Dhu al-Hijjah Dhu al-Hijja ( ar, ذُو ٱلْحِجَّة, translit=Ḏū al-Ḥijja, ), also spelled Zu al-Hijja, is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar. It is a very sacred month in the Islamic calendar, one in which the '' Ḥajj'' (Pilgri ...

, 10 AH (6 March 632) in the Uranah valley of

Mount Arafat Mount Arafat ( ar, جَبَل عَرَفَات, translit=Jabal ʿArafāt), and by its other Arabic name, (), is a granodiorite hill about southeast of Mecca, in the province of the same name in Saudi Arabia. The mountain is approximately ...

, during the

Islamic pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...

Muhammad al-Bukhari Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

refers to the sermon and quotes part of it in his ''

Sahih al-Bukhari Sahih al-Bukhari ( ar, صحيح البخاري, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī), group=note is a ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (810–870) around 846. A ...

''. Part of it is also present in ''

Sahih Muslim Sahih Muslim ( ar, صحيح مسلم, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim), group=note is a 9th-century '' hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (815–875). It is one of the most valued b ...

'' and ''

Sunan Abu Dawood ''Sunan Abu Dawood'' ( ar-at, سنن أبي داود, Sunan Abī Dāwūd) is one of the '' Kutub al-Sittah'' (six major hadith collections), collected by Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (d.889). Introduction Abu Dawood compiled twenty-one books related ...

''. Verse , "Today I have perfected for you your religion ...", is believed to have been recited during the address as the capstone verse of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...

. Various versions of the sermon have been published, including several English translations. The sermon consists of a series of general exhortations for Muslims to follow the teachings that Muhammad had set forth in the

and ''

sunnah In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...

''.

Narrations in hadith literature

In a lengthy

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

included in the ''

'', '' Sunan Abi Dawood'', and '' Sunan Ibn Majah'',

Jabir ibn Abd Allah Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥarām al-Anṣārī ( ar, جابر بن عبدالله بن عمرو بن حرام الأنصاري, died 697 CE/78 AH), was a prominent companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Life Early life Jab ...

narrated details of Muhammad's pilgrimage and reported the following words of his sermon:

Sahih Muslim Book 15, Hadith 159

Sunan al-Tirmidhi Vol. 1, Book 7, Hadith 1163

Sunan ibn Maja Vol. 3, Book 9, Hadith 1851

Report by historian Ibn Ishaq

An account of the sermon was collected by the early historian

Ibn Ishaq Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār (; according to some sources, ibn Khabbār, or Kūmān, or Kūtān, ar, محمد بن إسحاق بن يسار بن خيار, or simply ibn Isḥaq, , meaning "the son of Isaac"; died 767) was an 8 ...

, as quoted in

Ibn Hisham Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām ibn Ayyūb al-Ḥimyarī al-Muʿāfirī al-Baṣrī ( ar, أبو محمد عبدالملك بن هشام ابن أيوب الحميري المعافري البصري; died 7 May 833), or Ibn Hisham, e ...

's ''Sirah an-Nabawiyah'' and

at-Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari i ...

's '' Tarikh'', with minor differences. The narration is translated by I. K. Poonawala in ''The History of al-Tabari, vol. IX: The Last Years of the Prophet'' (1990), as follows: The sermon is also translated by

Alfred Guillaume Alfred Guillaume (8 November 1888 – 30 November 1965) was a British Christian Arabist, scholar of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament and Islam. Career Guillaume was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, the son of Alfred Guillaume. He took up Arabic ...

in ''The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Isḥāq's Sīrat Rasūl Allāh'' (1955), which is based on the work of Ibn Hisham. Poonawala does not differ much with Guillaume in regards to meaning, but notable differences are his translation of ''bi’l-ma‘rūf'' as "with custom" and ''‘awān'' as "domestic animals," whereas Guillaume translates the passage as, "If they refrain from these things they have the right to their food and clothing with kindness. Lay injunctions on women kindly, for they are prisoners with you having no control of their persons." Rizwi Faizer in her translation of al-Waqidi's ''Life of Muhammad'' rendered the same passage as, "Treat women well for they are bound to you and are dependent on you." Ibn Ishaq also narrates the method in which the sermon was delivered:

Report by Al-Jahiz

Al-Jahiz Abū ʿUthman ʿAmr ibn Baḥr al-Kinānī al-Baṣrī ( ar, أبو عثمان عمرو بن بحر الكناني البصري), commonly known as al-Jāḥiẓ ( ar, links=no, الجاحظ, ''The Bug Eyed'', born 776 – died December 868/Jan ...

in the '' Kitāb al-Bayān wa-al-Tabyīn'' presents the following text of the Farewell Sermon, also mentioned in Musnad of Imam Ahmad (hadith no.19774) as translated and annotated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller:

References

{{Muhammad footer Life of Muhammad Islamic sermons 7th-century speeches 632 Islamic terminology Farewell addresses si:අවසාන දේශනය