In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful
“O people! Verily, your Lord is one and your father is one. All of you belong to one ancestry of Adam and Adam was created out of clay. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab; nor for white over the black nor for the black over the white except in piety. Verily, the noblest among you is he who is the most pious. (49:13)
“All praise be to Allah. We glorify Him and seek His help and pardon; and we turn to Him. We take refuge with Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the evil consequences of our deeds. There is none to lead one astray whom Allah guides aright, and there is none to guide him aright whom He leads astray. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah; having no partner with Him, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His bondsman and His messenger. I admonish you, O bondsmen of Allah! Fear Allah and I urge you to His obedience and I open the speech with that which is good.
“Ye people! Listen to my words; I will deliver a message to you, for I know not whether, after this year, I shall ever be amongst you here again. O people! Verily, your blood, your property and your honour are sacred and inviolable until you appear before your Lord, as this day and this month is sacred for all. Verily, you will meet your Lord and you will be held answerable for your actions. Have I not conveyed the message? O Allah! Be my witness.
“He who has any trust with him he should restore it to the person who deposited it with him.
“Beware, no one committing a crime is responsible for it but himself. Neither the son is responsible for the crime of his father, nor the father is responsible for the crime of his son.
“O people! Listen to my words and understand them. You must know that a Muslim is the brother of the other Muslims and they form one brotherhood. Nothing of his brother is lawful for a Muslim except what he himself allows willingly. So you should not oppress one another. O Allah! Have I not conveyed the message?
Usury is Forbidden
“Usury is forbidden, but you will be entitled to recover your principal. Do not wrong and you shall not be wronged. Allah has decreed that there should be no usury and I make a beginning by remitting the amount of interest which Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib has to receive. Verily, it is remitted entirely.
“O people! Fear Allah concerning women. Verily, you have taken them on the security of Allah and have made their persons lawful unto you by words of Allah! Verily, you have got certain rights over your women and your women have certain rights over you. It is incumbent upon them to honour their conjugal rights and, not to commit acts of impropriety which, if they do, you have authority to chastise them, yet not severely. If your wives refrain from impropriety and are faithful to you, clothe and feed them suitably. “Behold! Lay injunctions upon women but kindly.”
. “Verily, I have left amongst you the book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Apostle which if you hold fast, you shall never go astray. And if you were asked about me, what would you say?” They replied; “We bear witness that you have conveyed the message, and discharged your ministry.”
The Prophet addressed the assembly again the next day (Dhul-Hajjah 10 A.H.) and besides repeating some of the important points of the previous address, he threw a good deal of light on some new questions.
“O people! Do you know what day it is, what territory it is, what month it is?” To this the people answered; “The day is the day of sacrifice; and the territory is the sacred territory, the month is the sacred month.” At each reply the Prophet said; “So I apprise you that your lives, your property and your honour must be as sacred to one another as this sacred day, in this sacred month, and in this sacred town.
“Behold! Listen to me. Worship your Lord; Offer prayers five times a day; observe fast in the month of Ramadan; make pilgrimage to the House (Ka’abah); pay readily the zakah on your property and obey whatever I command you.” “Let him that is present convey it unto him who is absent. For happily, many people to whom the message is conveyed may be more mindful of it than the audience.”
The Prophet took up the thread of his oration the next day and added; “O people! Verily, your Lord is one and your father is one. All of you belong to one ancestry of Adam and Adam was created out of clay. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab; nor for white over the black nor for the black over the white except in piety. Verily, the noblest among you is he who is the most pious. (49:13)
“Behold, the nearer ones of you should convey the message to the remoter ones. I have conveyed the message.”
Then looking up to the heaven, he said: “O Lord! I have delivered the message and discharged my ministry.”
“Yes”, cried all the people crowding round him. “Yes, verily, you have.” “O Lord! I beseech Thee bear Thou witness unto it.” And with these words, the Prophet concluded his address.
He alighted from his camel and performed the noon and afternoon prayers together. It was at this time that the verse regarding the completion of religion was revealed to him; “This day I have perfected for you your faith, and completed My favour upon you, And I am well pleased with Islam as your religion.” (5:3)
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