 Who was in charge of burying the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, his family in Medina? Who was in charge of his entire funeral service? Who led the Salat al-Mout? Who was the man who performed the khusul for the Prophet? Who was the man who shrouded him? Who was the man who buried the Prophet below the earth? And who was the man who sprinkled water onto his holy grave? One of the greatest honours that Imam Amal al-Mu'mineela was granted was the opportunity to head the burial of the most important creation in the history of the religion of Islam and humanity as a whole. There is an assumption that because there was in the region of 100,000 Muslims even in Medina at the time of the Holy Prophet's death, peace be upon him and his family, 100,000 Muslims would attend his funeral service. You find that in actual fact not more than 6 people attended the funeral of the brightest nor God has ever created, and the man who brought the religion of Islam. The period before the passing of Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family and the period following his passing, was the most difficult time Imam Ali al-Salam ever faced in the entirety of his life. From the coronation of Ali, Salam Abu Talib, on the day of Ghadir as the Prophet's successor, until the death of his wife, Sayyid al-Fatib al-Salam, 4 months later, Ali faced many trials and tribulations during what was a very dark period for the Wali of Rasul Allah, peace be upon him and his family. He went from the day of Ghadir when he was publicly announced as the most important personality after the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, to see his Prophet pass away and his children orphaned in such a short space of time. Such an extreme contrast of events and emotions that our Imam al-Salam had to endure. The world had turned upside down on Imam Ali al-Salam and he was arguably put into the lowest point of his holy life. It was only a few days following the death of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, that Imam had began to fathom that companions who had surrounded the Prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family throughout his prophethood, had left the pureness of Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family. Allah reveals nothing by coincidence, including the following ayah in the Qur'an, Surah 9 verse 101, where the Almighty informs the Prophet of the following. Around you of the desert bedwinds, there are hypocrites and the people of Medina, they are stern in their hypocrisy. You do not know them, we know them and we will punish them double the punishment. Suddenly, the reality of this foreseen hypocrisy had started to emerge for Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib. In a community of 100,000 Muslims who claimed to love and being full service to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family during his life, only Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib and five others were present to pay their final loving, loyal and Islamic respects to God's greatest mercy on this earth. Just before the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family passed, Imam Ali witnessed a group of companions who were meant to leave for an expedition, declined the opportunity to do so. Also, before Rasulullah, peace be upon him and his family died, Imam Ali witnessed a group of companions who claimed to be lovers of the Prophet throughout his life, referred to him as delirious. Meanwhile, just after the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family passed away, barely any of the Muslim population turned up to his funeral and an election is taking place to determine who would look after Medina in the ushering of a deviated due era. A few days after that, Sayyid al-Fatima alaihi salam was attacked in her own home and barely a few days after that, following this vile assault, the house of Fatima was burnt. At the age of 33, Imam Ali alaihi salam was combating the biggest obstacles in the middle of his 63 year long life. At the age of 33, Imam Ali alaihi salam was combating the biggest obstacles in the middle of his 63 year long life. But Imam and five others remained loyal, why everyone else went their separate ways. Now history has made excuses for those who were not present at Rasulullah, peace be upon him and his family's funeral. Obviously, the Muslim Ummah 1,400 years ago had much more important business to attend to than the burial of the very man who guided them out from the toxic cesspool of jahaliyah and to the path of Allah. What's more important than honouring the law of God on earth? The books of history are unanimous. In the month of Delhija in 10AH, Imam Ali and Fatima Zahra alaihim salam were the most respectable personalities in all of Islam. But just a few months later, Fatima had tragically passed away. Simply put, Ali had arguably faced the most difficult trials during this period that any of the 14 infallibles alaihim salam had ever faced in their lives. When Ghadir happened, everyone congratulated Imam Ali on being announced as the man to spearhead the religion of Islam forward following the eventual death of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. And it's important to emphasise the word announced. When one speaks of the day of Ghadir and the Prophet's successor, because an infallible Prophet or Imam of Ahlul-Bayt could only announce who the successor is, they cannot appoint who they are. Appointment lies only with Allah and therefore Allah appointed Imam Ali alaihim salam as well as the rest of Ahlul-Bayt culminating with Imam Sahiba al-Asri wa al-Zaman. When Muhammad had returned to Medina, he wanted to gain redemption for a mission that he felt had not been a success. Jafar, the brother of Imam Ali alaihim salam, Zaid, the adopted son of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, and Abdullah and Rauha had lost their lives in the battle of Buta and Rasulullah, peace be upon him and his family, wanted to avenge these deaths. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, appointed an 18 year old Usama Ibn Zaid to be the commander-in-chief of the army who would go on this war expedition to gain redemption for his father and other loyal Muslim companions who were lost. Prophet had gathered the companions who already knew that the time would soon come for him to pass. As number one, he had made it clear to the Ummah and number two, Jibril alaihim salam had reviewed the Qur'an with Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, twice when they would usually only look over it once. The Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, urged the companions to go to war, but Usama's leadership at such a youthful age raised many questions for the companions. Rasulullah, peace be upon him and his family, wanted to clearly highlight that the youth have to have a place at the forefront of the religion of Islam if it is to continue progressing. If an 18 year old is respectable and possesses knowledge and wisdom, there is absolutely no problem with him or her, for that matter, holding a chief position in the religion. Some companions heavily scrutinized the decision to appoint Usama as the leader of this expedition due to his age, which caused a lack of agreement between them. Some of them didn't feel comfortable because they were in their 40s and their 50s, treble Usama's age in some cases, and didn't want to be led by a youth. But the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, was extremely high on Osama because of the immense bravery he displayed during the battle of Hunayn alongside Amir al-Mu'minin when he was just 15 years of age, when everyone else ran away from the battlefield. And Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, was very clear with the companions. And he told them, May God withdraw them mercy from those who don't get behind Usama and go with him on this expedition. Despite Rasulullah's pleas, these companions remained in Medina and did not journey over Usama. Usama actually went ahead, but the Muslim army did not join him, leaving the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, to constantly ask if they had departed. The Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, died on the 28th of Safar, according to the school of Ahlul Bayt. By the 19th of Safar, the army had still not departed and fulfilled the Prophet's wishes for battle, to depart for battle. The excuse history makes for these companions is what, brothers and sisters? Because the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family was sick, they couldn't bear to leave Medina, knowing he was in such a state. However, Rasulullah up until the 19th of Safar was not sick, brothers and sisters. Narrations state that he would actually do Ziyarah of the graves in Jannahul Baqi. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, passed away on a Monday, on the Thursday before his passing and what a Thursday it was according to Ibn Abbas. A disastrous Thursday. The calamity of all calamities, the calamity of Thursday. On this day, the Holy Prophet was on his deathbed and asked for a pen and paper to be brought to him so that he could write that, for we would not go astray. Ibn Abbas narrates this hadith in Bukhari and Muslim, where he also mentions that he cried so much, so profusely that the pebbles beneath him became wet when he would reminisce about that Thursday. Someone asked the question, why would Rasulullah leave writing a will until he was days away from passing? Well, there are two types of wills in the religion of Islam. Number one, there is a will regarding the loans and possessions of the human being. And number two, there is also a will of advice. Therefore, Imam Ali, peace be upon him, had already written the Prophet's will regarding his goods. So when he asked for a pen and paper, he was preparing to write a will of advice for the Muslims. This is what the Prophet was intending to do with this will. But as soon as the Prophet mentioned this, he was immediately interrupted by the future, by the future second Khalifa, Omar Ibn Khattab, who directly responded to this request by telling Rasulullah, peace be upon him and his family, you are delirious, the Quran is enough for us. So the man who Allah sends down to earth as a mercy to mankind is labelled as delirious during the final moments of his life. How enlightening. When this comment was made, the hadith of the calamity of Thursday states that the companions began to fight amongst each other before the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, requested for them all to leave. And for Ali, Ibn Abi Talib, aleyhi salam, to remain with him. The books of hadith state that before the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family passed away, he called forth three different groups of people. Firstly, he called forth his daughter, Sayyida Fatima, aleyhi salam, and he whispered words into her ear, which made her begin to cry and then smile. When they asked her why she was crying, she said it was because her father was in his final moments. When they asked her why she was smiling, she said it was because he told her that she would be the first to join him, insha'Allah. Prophet then called forth Imam Hassan and Imam Hussein, aleyhi salam. The hadith says that Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, hugged and kissed them both while they all cried simultaneously and uncontrollably. The grandchildren cried for their grandfather and the grandfather cried for his grandchildren. Finally, the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, called Imam Ali, aleyhi salam, who was the last person to see Rasulullah before he passed away. And Um Salama, wife of the Prophet, confirms this reality by narrating, she saw him constantly repeat. Where is Ali? Where is Ali? Where is Ali? It's also interesting to know that Um Salama says that I was the last of the wives to leave the Prophet when Imam Ali aleyhi salam came and I saw them talking amongst each other. So what did Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, say to Ali ibn Abi Talib, aleyhi salam? He said, oh Ali, you will be the first to join me at the pool of kaufar. Oh Ali, you will see much trouble after me, so remain patient. You will see people who lust for this world. You are the one who should prefer the hereafter. Oh Ali, from the expedition from Osama's army, I borrowed some money from one of the Jews in Medina. Go and give the money back to him for that money is owed to him. After that, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, died in the lap of Ali ibn Abi Talib, aleyhi salam. Before he passed, the Prophet made it clear that only Imam Ali aleyhi salam could perform the khusul for him and nobody else. For if anybody else attempted to perform it, they would become blind, looking at the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, in that state. According to Ibn Sa'ad, in the tabaqat, because naturally, to bathe anyone's body requires a level of sanity. Jibrail aleyhi salam would turn the body of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, and Imam Ali aleyhi salam would continue to wash him until the khusul was complete and Imam Ali had placed the Prophet's body inside the grave. Moving on brothers and sisters, the books of history only mentioned six or seven names who were present at the janaza of the Prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family. Who were those who attended? The names that are normally mentioned are Imam Ali aleyhi salam, Osama ibn Zaid, who was forced to return to Medina because the companions did not join him for war, the Prophet's uncle Abbas, Abul Fadil ibn Abbas. You also had another cousin of Abbas and also Ous, the son of Khulli and Ansari. They proceeded to bury Rasulullah, peace be upon him and his family, and there was a second funeral prayer shortly after which was attended by 10 people. Certain personalities in Islamic history were protected by narrations which state that there was no funeral service for the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. Rather, the Muslim community could visit him at any time and perform the Salat al-Malt and pay their final respects at any time. Obviously now this suits the people who decided that pursuing other worldly goals was more important than attending the janaza of the man who pulled them out of the firm clutches of Jahlia. So brothers and sisters, whenever you go through any trials and tribulations in your lives, always remember our Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, and the Meir of Mu'minina, peace be upon him, always remember them in your hearts, insha'Allah. And how we will never experience even a fragment of what they went through during their most turbulent experiences. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.