On the 9th of Dhu-al-Hajjah 632 Ad, after performing the morning prayer, the prophet proceeded to Arafat. Reaching at a spot called Namira he commanded his companions to put up a tent for him. He stayed here a while and after the sun passed its Zenith he rode on until he reached the valley of Uranah. It was here that he while sitting on his camel, delivered a sermon in a loud voice to the people. He said:

“All praise belongs to Allah. We glorify Him, seek His help and pardon, and turn to him. We take refuge with Allah from the evil within ourselves and from the evil consequences of our deeds. None can lead astray the one whom Allah guides aright, and none can guide aright whom he leads astray. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah alone. Who has no partner and bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. I admonish you, O servants of Allah! to fear Allah and I urge you to be obedient to Him. I open my address with that which is good, and he said:

“O people! Listen carefully to my words: for I know not whether I shall ever be amongst you here again after this year. O people! Verily your blood, your property and your honor are sacred and inviolable, just as this day and month is sacred to all of you till the day you appear before your Lord. Verily you will meet your Lord and be held accountable for your actions. Have I not conveyed the message? O Allah! Bear witnesses. He who has another’s 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 him himself. The son is not responsible for a crime committed by his father, nor is the father responsible for crime committed by his son.

O People! Listen to my words and try to understand what I say. Know you that a Muslim is brother of another Muslim and together they form a single brotherhood. Nothing of a brother Muslim is lawful to another Muslim except what he himself allows willingly. Therefore, do not oppress one another. O Allah! Have I not conveyed the message?

Behold! All the practices of paganism and ignorance are now under my feet. The revenge killings of the days of ignorance are likewise remitted. The first claim to avenge blood which I hereby abolish, is that of Ibn Rabi’ah b. al-Harith who was nursed in the tribe of Sa`ad and whom the Hudhayl killed. Usury is forbidden, but you are entitled to recover the principal amount. Wrong not and you would not be wronged. Allah has decreed that there should be no usury and I make a beginning in this regard by remitting the amount of interest which, ‘Abbas b. ‘Abdul-Muttalib was to receive from others. Verily, I have remitted all of it.

O people! Fear Allah with regard to women. Verily you have taken them on an oath you made before Allah by virtue of which their persons have been made lawful unto you. Verily you have rights over them and your women have rights over you. It is incumbent upon them to honor their conjugal rights and not to commit acts of impropriety. If they do so, you have the right to chastise them, but not severely. However, if your wives refrain from impropriety and ate faithful to you clothe and feed them suitably. Behold! Injunctions have to be imposed on women in a kind manner.

O people! Listen and obey (your leader) even if a mangled Abyssinian slave is made your Amir provided he enforces (the command of) the book of Allah among you.

O people! Verily Allah has ordained a share for every one in inheritance. The child belongs to the one on whose bed he was born and the violator of wedlock shall be stoned. May the curse of Allah, the Angels and people be upon the one who attributes his ancestry to someone other than his father or claims his clientship to other than his masters. Whatever right he does or repentance he makes will never be accepted by Allah.

O People! Verily Satan has now lost hope of being ever worshipped in his land of yours widely; however, people will obey him in matters which they think to be trivial. This too, will please him; therefore, it’s necessary for you to guard your religion from him.

Verily, I have left amongst you the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet if you hold fast to them, you shall never go astray. And if you were asked about me what would you say? To this the audience replied“ We bear witness that you have conveyed the message and discharge you ministry.”

The Prophet addressed the assembly again on Friday, Dhul Hijjah 10 A.H March 632 A.D. In this address besides repeating some of the important points of the previous address, he opened his oration by praising Allah and expressing his gratitude to Him. He then said:-

(O people! Verily the intercalation. ( of a prohibited month) aggravates infidelity). Thereby leading unbelievers to wrong. By making some months lawful one year and making them unlawful in another year to bring them in conformity with the number (of months) which Allah declared unlawful. They make violable that which Allah has declared to be inviolable and consider inviolable what Allah declared, to be violable. The pattern according to which the time is recorded is always the same. With Allah the months are twelve in number. Four of which are holy, Three of these are successive and one accurssingly between the months of Jumada and Sh’aban. Do not transgress the limits in these months,


Verily the time has evolved in its own way from the day when the heavens and the earth were created. The Number of months according to Allah are twelve of which four are sacred; three of these are consecutive-Dhul-Qidah-Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram. Rajab, on the other hand, falls between Jummada and Sha’ban.

O People! Do you know what day it is, which territory we are in and which month it is? To this the people replied; Allah and His Messenger Know best. He then said is today not the day of sacrifice; and the territory we are in sacred, and the month a sacred month? To each question the people replied in the affirmative. Then the Prophet said: Therefore, I apprise you that your lives, your property, and your honor are similarly as sacred to one another as this sacred day of this sacred month, in this sacred town. Soon you will be meeting your Lord and He will ask you about your actions.

As for your slaves! See that you feed them with such food as you eat yourselves; and clothe them with clothes that you yourselves wear . If they commit a fault which you do not want to forgive, part with them. They are not to be chastised for they are the servants of Allah.

Behold! Listen to me ! Worship your Lord; offer prayers five times a day; observe fasts in the month of Ramadan; make pilgrimage to the House of Allah (the Ka`bah); pay the Zakat (poor-rate)on your property easily and obey your Amir, only then will you be worthy of a place in heaven.

Let those who are present convey my message to those who are absent. For happily, many among the people to whom the message is conveyed may become more mindful, More perhaps, then those present in the audience. The Prophet picked up from which he left off his oration the next day and added:

O People! Verily your Lord is one and your father is one. All of you belong to the ancestry of Adam and Adam was created from clay. An Arab is not superior to a non-Arab; neither is a non-Arab superior to an Arab, Similarly the white has no superiority over the black no does the black have superiority over the white; except in piety. Verily the noblest among you is the one who is the most pious.

Behold! Those present here should convey my message to the ones not present. Don’t turn to unbelief after I am gone and start killing one another. Have I conveyed the message? After this query he looked towards the heavens and again enquired:

O Lord! Have I delivered the message and discharged my ministry, “Yes” cried the people crowding around him. “Yes, Verily you have”! He then raised his finger towards the sky and thrice said: “O Lord! I beseech you to bear witness unto this” With these words the Prophet concluded his address and said farewell to the people.

He then alighted from his camel and offered the noon and afternoon prayers together. It was at his instance that the verse regarding the completion of religion was revealed:

“This day have I perfected your faith for you and completed my favor upon you and chosen al-Islam as your religion.