Table of Contents
A Turning Point in the Seerah
The final years of the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ form the completion of his mission and the perfection of the message of Islam. These years show the maturity of the Muslim community in Madinah, the spread of Islam across Arabia, and the preparation of the believers for life after the passing of their Prophet ﷺ. In this period, the Seerah moves from constant external threats to a moment of strength, clarity, and completion.
Allah the Exalted describes the core reality of the Prophet’s mission in these words:
مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَآ أَحَدٍ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ وَلَـٰكِن رَّسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ ٱلنَّبِيِّۦنَ
Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets.
(Quran 33:40)
In the final phase of his blessed life, this truth becomes visible in history. Islam is now no longer a small, persecuted group in Makkah, but a complete way of life that guides a growing civilization.
The final years of the Prophet ﷺ mark the completion of revelation, the visible dominance of Islam in Arabia, and the preparation of the Ummah to live under divine guidance after his passing.
These closing years also show how a prophet behaves at the height of power. Humility, mercy, and justice do not disappear when Islam becomes strong. Instead, they appear more clearly than ever before.
From Survival to Stability and Strength
For many years, the life of the Prophet ﷺ and his companions revolved around survival and defense. In Makkah, they faced persecution, boycott, and torture. In early Madinah, they faced repeated attacks, betrayals, and conspiracies. By the time we reach the final years, that constant threat is replaced by a new reality.
After the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and the conquest of Makkah, Islam gains both security and respect. Tribes that once waited to see who would be victorious now begin to enter Islam in large numbers. Allah describes this phase in a short but powerful surah:
إِذَا جَآءَ نَصْرُ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلْفَتْحُ، وَرَأَيْتَ ٱلنَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِى دِينِ ٱللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا، فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَٱسْتَغْفِرْهُۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ تَوَّابًا
When the help of Allah and the victory come, and you see the people entering the religion of Allah in multitudes, then glorify the praises of your Lord and seek His forgiveness. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.
(Quran 110:1‑3)
These verses, revealed near the end of his life, show that the mission is reaching completion. Interestingly, they do not tell the Prophet ﷺ to rest or to celebrate worldly success. Instead, they instruct him to increase in tasbih and istighfar, to remember Allah and ask forgiveness. This spirit of humility in victory is one of the defining features of the final years.
Completion of the Message
The final years are also marked by the perfection of the religion itself. During this period, the laws, beliefs, and acts of worship of Islam become complete and fully clarified. The Prophet ﷺ teaches the community how to live Islam as individuals, as families, and as a society.
Near the very end of his life, during the farewell pilgrimage, a verse is revealed that clearly announces this completion:
ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمَ دِينًا
Today I have perfected for you your religion, completed My favor upon you, and have approved for you Islam as religion.
(Quran 5:3, part)
This verse belongs to events that will be studied in detail under the farewell pilgrimage, but its meaning frames the entire period of the final years. Islam is no longer unfolding step by step with large changes in law and practice. Instead, in this last phase, the revelation completes and affirms what has been built over the previous twenty three years.
By the end of the Prophet’s life ﷺ, the Shariah is complete. No new prophet and no new revelation will come after him. Any later claim to prophethood contradicts the clear Quran and the established Sunnah.
The Prophet ﷺ himself said:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ: «إِنِّي خَاتَمُ النَّبِيِّينَ»
Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “I am the seal of the prophets.”
(Muslim)
Knowing that the message is complete helps us understand why his teachings and actions in these final years carry special weight. They represent the final, settled form of Islamic guidance.
The Ummah Comes of Age
In the final years, we see the Muslim community move from dependence on the physical presence of the Prophet ﷺ to preparing to carry the message after his death. This is a key change in the Seerah.
At the beginning of Islam, the believers constantly look to him ﷺ for direct answers and solutions. In the final phase, he gradually teaches them how to make decisions, to consult, and to carry responsibility. This is visible, for example, when he appoints leaders, sends deputies, and entrusts companions with teaching and judging. It is also seen in his emphasis on the Quran and Sunnah as the lasting sources of guidance.
He ﷺ said:
تَرَكْتُ فِيكُمْ أَمْرَيْنِ لَنْ تَضِلُّوا مَا تَمَسَّكْتُمْ بِهِمَا: كِتَابَ اللَّهِ وَسُنَّةَ نَبِيِّهِ
“I have left among you two matters. You will never go astray as long as you hold fast to them: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet.”
(Reported in al‑Muwatta’ with similar wording and strengthened by other narrations)
This statement, which belongs to the atmosphere of his final sermons and instructions, shows how he directs the Ummah away from depending on his physical presence to depending on the revealed guidance he leaves behind.
From Local Struggle to Global Mission
The final years also transform the scope of the Prophet’s mission from primarily local to clearly global. Before this time, most of the events in the Seerah involve Makkah, Madinah, and nearby tribes. In the last phase, the message is carried to rulers and peoples far beyond Arabia.
Allah had already described the universality of his mission:
وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا
And We have not sent you except to all mankind, as a bringer of good tidings and a warner.
(Quran 34:28)
In his final years, this universal message takes on a visible political and social form. Delegations come to Madinah to meet him. Letters are sent to kings. Whole regions enter Islam. The details of these actions will be studied in their proper chapters, but here we simply note that the Seerah shifts from a struggle for survival in one city to a dawning global civilization.
Character at the Peak of Power
Another characteristic of the final years is that they reveal the Prophet’s character when he has the greatest authority. In the early years, his patience and mercy are visible under oppression. In the last years, they are visible when he has the power to forgive or to punish, to include or to exclude.
Allah praises his gentle character in a verse that continued to guide him to the end:
فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍۢ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْۖ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ ٱلْقَلْبِ لَٱنْفَضُّوا۟ مِنْ حَوْلِكَۖ
So by mercy from Allah, you were gentle with them. And if you had been harsh and hard-hearted, they would have dispersed from around you.
(Quran 3:159, part)
In the final years, when enemies become defeated and former persecutors stand before him in weakness, we see this mercy and gentleness fully expressed. The coming chapters on the spread of Islam, the farewell pilgrimage, and his final illness and passing will show how his noble character remained constant, even when the external conditions of his life had completely changed.
A Time of Fulfillment and Farewell
The final years are therefore a time of both fulfillment and farewell. Fulfillment, because the promise of Allah to support His messenger becomes clear in the strength and spread of Islam. Farewell, because this is also the period when the Prophet ﷺ begins to indicate, through words and events, that his time in this world is nearing its end.
Allah reminds all people, including the believers of that time, of the human nature of the Prophet ﷺ:
إِنَّكَ مَيِّتٌ وَإِنَّهُم مَّيِّتُونَ
Indeed, you are to die, and indeed, they are to die.
(Quran 39:30)
Recognizing this reality prepares the companions to carry on without him and teaches later generations not to confuse love of the Prophet ﷺ with worship of him. The final years thus educate the Ummah emotionally and spiritually to accept his passing while remaining firm upon the message he conveyed.
In the chapters that follow, we will study how Islam expanded across Arabia, how the farewell pilgrimage gathered the Ummah around his final public sermon, and how his last illness and passing occurred with dignity, clarity, and mercy. Together, these events complete the Seerah and show the enduring light of his message for all times.