Life-of-Muhammad

192Life of Muhammad saabove all other Prophets as , and more successful thanany of them. But take care, do not turn my grave into anobject of worship. Let my grave remain only a grave.Others may worship the graves of their Prophets as andturn them into centres of pilgrimage, places where theymay repair and perform austerities, make their offerings,and do their thanksgiving. Others may do this, but notyou. You must remember your one and only objective—that is, the worship of the One and Only God."After he had thus warned Muslims about their dutyto guard the hard-won idea of One God and thedistinction between God and Man, his eyelids began todroop. His eyes began to close. All he then said was, "Tomy Friend the Highest of the High—to my Friend theHighest of the High," meaning evidently that he washeading towards God. As he said this he gave up theghost.The news reached the mosque. There manyCompanions ra had assembled, having given up theirprivate tasks. They were expecting to hear better newsbut instead heard of the Prophet's sa death. It came like abolt from the blue. Abu Bakr ra was out. ‘Umar ra was inthe mosque, but he was utterly stupefied with grief. Itangered him if he heard anyone say the Prophet sa wasdead. He even drew his sword and threatened to killthose who should say the Prophet sa had died. There wasmuch the Prophet sa had yet to do, so the Prophet sa couldnot die. True, his soul had departed from his body, butit had gone only to meet its Maker. Just as Moses as hadgone for a time to meet his Maker only to return, theProphet sa must return to do what had been left undone.There were the hypocrites, for instance, with whom theyhad yet to deal. ‘Umar ra walked about sword in handalmost as a mad man. As he walked he said: "Whosoeversays the Prophet sa has died will himself die at ‘Umar ra 'shands." The Companions felt braced and they halfbelievedwhat ‘Umar ra said. The Prophet sa could not die.There must have been a mistake. In the meantime someCompanions went in search of Abu Bakr ra , found him