The last illness
After the Farewell Pilgrimage and the declaration at Ghadir, the Prophet (s) returned to Madinah and fell ill in the eleventh year after the Hijrah. He passed away on a Monday — on this all historians agree — resting, according to the Shia and many other accounts, in the arms of Ali (a). The Shia scholars al-Mufid and al-Tusi date the death to 28 Safar, and this became the common Shia commemoration; most Sunni sources place it on 12 Rabi al-Awwal. Shia authorities including al-Mufid, al-Tusi and al-Allama al-Hilli hold that he was martyred by poison.
Burial
Ali (a) washed and shrouded the body with the help of al-Fadl b. al-Abbas and Usama b. Zayd, and the people prayed over him in groups in his chamber through the day and night. He was buried where he died, in Aisha's room beside the mosque. While the household was occupied with the burial, a gathering at Saqifa Bani Sa'ida chose Abu Bakr as caliph — the dispute over succession that divides the community to this day.
How it is observed
The Shia mourn the Prophet's (s) passing on 28 Safar, together with the martyrdom of his grandson Imam Hasan (a); in Iran the day is a public holiday. Two days later, on the last of Safar, the martyrdom of Imam al-Rida (a) closes the two months of mourning.
Written for Shia Online Community. Dates and facts are checked against the references listed under Research & books; where the tradition records more than one date, all are given.
