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08.06.

632: Death of the Prophet Muhammad

632: Death of the Prophet Muhammad
Photo Credit To Wikipedia Commons/A depiction of Muhammad receiving his first revelation from the angel Gabriel. From the manuscript Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, 1307, Ilkhanate period

Story Highlights

  • Historical event
  • 8 June 632
  • He died in the house of his wife Aisha, after several days of suffering from fever, headache and weakness. It seems that he died with his head in Aisha's lap. He was buried in the same place where he died, in Aisha's home. Later, his tomb and the Green Dome were built on that site.

On this day in 632, Islamic prophet Muhammad died in the Arab city of Medina.



He died at the age of 63, in the house of his wife Aisha, after several days of suffering from fever, headache and weakness.

It seems that he died with his head in Aisha’s lap. He was buried in the same place where he died, in Aisha’s home.

Later, his tomb and the Green Dome were built on that site and everything was placed in the composition of the Prophet’s Mosque, the second-holiest place in Islam (after the Holy Mosque in Mecca). After Muhammad’s death, the question of his successor arose.

The problem was that the prophet had no living sons, so it was not possible to directly inherit.




It is interesting that Mohammed had 13 wives, of whom the mentioned Aisha seems to have been the favorite one (she is also referred to as Aisyah or Ayesha). During life, Mohammed had three sons (all died before him) and four daughters.

Of his daughters, the closest to him was Fatima, married to Ali. Today, Islam is divided into two main groups: Sunnis and Shiites. They disagree on the issue of Mohammed’s successor.

Shi’a Muslims believe that the mentioned prophet’s son-in-law Ali had been chosen by Allah as Mohammed’s successor.

However, the Sunni (the more numerous group) consider Abu Bakr – Aisha’s father, i.e. Mohammed’s father-in-law, to be the lawful successor of Muhammad. Sunnis revere Abu Bakr as their first caliph (derived from the Arabic term “Khalifa”, which means successor or representative).

Disagreements about the heritage led to a struggle between various Islamic groups, which lasts to this day.

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