The Last Sermon, known as Khutbat ul Wada (the Farewell Sermon), was delivered by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, 10 AH (632 CE) on the plain of Mount Arafat, during his first and only Hajj. Addressing over 120,000 Companions, he outlined the foundational principles of Islam, the sanctity of life, equality of all humanity, the rights of women, the prohibition of usury, and the supreme authority of the Quran and Sunnah. It remains one of the most significant speeches in human history.
The choice of the Day of Arafah as the moment for this address was not incidental; it was profoundly deliberate.
Arafah is the spiritual heart of Hajj. It is the day on which Allah completes His forgiveness, when the Prophet ﷺ described Allah as descending to the nearest heaven and boasting of His pilgrims to the angels.
It was during this sermon that this verse was revealed: “Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen Islam as your way of life.” (Surah Al-Ma’idah, 5:3)
This is extraordinary. The Prophet ﷺ was not simply delivering a farewell address; he was the vessel through which Allah announced the perfection of the entire faith. The Day of Arafah, already the greatest day of the Islamic year, became the day Islam was declared complete. Every Muslim who stands on Arafat since that day in Hajj or in spirit stands on ground where history was sealed.
To understand the full spiritual weight of this day and how to honour it in worship and giving, read our complete guide to the Day of Arafah: Spiritual Power, Benefits and Timeless Importance.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, aware that this would likely be his last pilgrimage, seized the opportunity to convey critical messages to over 100,000 believers gathered for the pilgrimage. He began his sermon with the praise of Allah, then addressed the gathered Ummah with a directness and depth that those present later described as shaking their very souls.
He would pass away less than three months later in the month of Rabi al-Awwal, 11 AH. The sermon on Arafah was his final comprehensive address to humanity.
The Prophet ﷺ declared with absolute clarity:
“Your blood, your property, and your honour are sacred to one another, as sacred as this day of yours, in this month of yours, in this city of yours.”
He used the sanctity of the Day of Arafah, the month of Dhul Hijjah, and the city of Makkah, the most sacred coordinates in Islamic consciousness, as the measure of how inviolable human life is. He emphasised the inviolability of life, urging Muslims to respect one another and refrain from causing harm, underscoring the importance of compassion and ethical conduct in all relationships.
In a world where Muslim lives are being lost daily in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, and beyond, this message lands with an almost unbearable weight. The Prophet ﷺ said your blood is sacred. Our obligation as a Ummah is to act as though we believe him.
The Prophet ﷺ explicitly abolished all forms of pre-Islamic usury in his sermon:
“All riba from the pre-Islamic period is cancelled. The first riba I cancel is that of my uncle Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.”
By beginning with his own family, the Prophet ﷺ made the ruling universal; no one is exempt. This was a revolutionary economic declaration, establishing that wealth accumulated through exploitation is not wealth at all in the sight of Allah.
The relevance for Muslims navigating interest-based financial systems today, such as mortgages, credit cards, and savings accounts, could not be more direct. The Prophet ﷺ did not merely discourage riba; he cancelled it from the ground up, beginning with those closest to him.
One of the most remarkable passages of the sermon concerns the rights of women delivered in 632 CE, more than a millennium before the concept of women’s rights became part of global discourse:
“O people, your wives have rights over you, and you have rights over them. Treat them with kindness. You have taken them as a trust from Allah, and they are made lawful for you by the word of Allah.”
The Last Sermon encapsulates core principles of Islam, emphasising human rights, justice, and the unity of the Muslim Ummah, delivered at a time when such principles were revolutionary in the context of world civilisation. The Prophet ﷺ elevated women from the status of property, as they were widely treated in 7th century Arabia, to holders of rights, protected by divine covenant.
Perhaps the most universally resonant passage of the sermon is its declaration of human equality:
“O people, your Lord is One, and your father is one. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab. A white person has no superiority over a black person, nor a black over a white, except by taqwa (piety and righteousness).”
In a world still grappling with racial inequality and discrimination, this message promotes unity and the inherent dignity of all humans, regardless of their backgrounds. The Prophet ﷺ dismantled tribalism, racism, and nationalism in a single breath and established that the only measure of a human being before Allah is the state of their heart.
This is not a progressive reinterpretation of Islam. It is the original, unedited text of the faith’s founding declaration, spoken by its Prophet on its holiest day.
The Prophet ﷺ closed his sermon with words that carry the weight of a final testament:
“I am leaving among you two things. If you hold firmly to them, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet.”
This is the inheritance he left the Ummah. Not wealth, not political power, not territory, but guidance. The Quran and the Sunnah as the twin anchors of a life directed toward Allah. Every generation of Muslims that has ever lived since that day has received these words as a direct instruction.
Woven throughout the sermon is a consistent theme: Muslims are responsible for one another. Not as a sentiment, but as a theological reality. The Prophet ﷺ reminded the Ummah that it is the little steps on the wrong path that ultimately lead us astray, and that every Muslim is accountable for even the smallest of actions on the Day of Judgement.
This mutual responsibility is not abstract. It is the foundation of Islamic giving of Zakat, of Sadaqah, of Qurbani. The sermon calls the Ummah to see its vulnerable members not as distant causes but as obligations: as rights that must be fulfilled.
The Day of Arafah in 2026 falls on 26 May. It is the day when the Prophet ﷺ delivered the words that summarised his entire mission. It is the day when Allah declared Islam complete. And it is the day when your fasting, your dua, and your giving carry extraordinary weight before Him.
Honour what was said on that plain by living its message: give to those whose blood and honour the Prophet ﷺ declared sacred. Sponsor an orphan. Give your Qurbani to families who have nothing. Automate your Sadaqah across the 10 blessed days of Dhul Hijjah so that not a single one passes without an act of worship.
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