The Farewell Sermon (Arabic: Khuṭbat al-Wadāʿ) is the final public address delivered by the Prophet Muhammad during the Farewell Pilgrimage in the year 10 AH (632 CE), on the plain of Arafat. It was attended by tens of thousands of companions and stands as one of the most significant documents in Islamic history — a testament of ethics, human dignity, and the final teachings of the Prophet before his death three months later.
The sermon addresses the sanctity of life and property, the abolition of pre-Islamic blood-debts and usurious interest, the rights of women, the universal brotherhood of Muslims across all ethnic lines, and the finality of the revelation. Its injunction — "A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim" — became a cornerstone of Islamic social ethics. The Prophet concluded by calling on Allah three times to bear witness that he had conveyed the message entrusted to him.
This text was typed and posted to soc.religion.islam in June 1991 by Serdar Ozpolat of the University of Akron, in response to a community request for the Turkish Hutba-i Veda. It represents one of the earliest digital circulations of this fundamental Islamic text.
All praise is for Allah. We praise Him; seek His help and pardon; and we turn to Him. We take refuge with Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the evil consequences of our actions. There is none to lead him astray whom Allah guideth aright and there is none to guide him aright whom He misguideth. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone without any partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Apostle. I admonish you, O slaves of Allah, to fear Allah and I urge you to be obedient to Him and I open the speech with that which is good.
Now to proceed, O people, listen to me; I will deliver a message to you. For I do not know whether I shall ever have an opportunity to meet you after this year in this place.
O people, verily your blood (lives), your properties and your honour are sacred and inviolable to you till you appear before your Lord, like the sacredness of this day of yours, in this city of yours. Verily, you will meet your Lord and He will ask you about your actions. Lo, have I conveyed the message? O Allah, be witness.
So he who bears with himself any trust, should restore it to the person who deposited it with him.
Be aware; no one committing a crime is responsible for it but himself. Neither son is responsible for the crime of his father nor father is responsible for the crime of his son.
Lo, O people, listen to my words and understand them. You must know that a Muslim is the brother of a Muslim and the Muslims are one brotherhood. Nothing belonging to his brother is lawful for a Muslim except what he himself allows. So you should not oppress yourselves. O Allah, have I conveyed the message?
Behold, everything of Ignorance is put down under my two feet. The blood-revenges of the Age of Ignorance are remitted. Verily, the first blood-revenge I cancel is the blood-revenge of Ibn Rabi'ah ibn Harith, who was nursed in the tribe of Sa'd and whom the Hudhayl killed.
The interest of the Age of Ignorance period is abolished. But you will receive your capital-stock. Do not oppress and you will not be oppressed. Allah has decreed that there is no interest. The first interest which I cancel is that of 'Abbas ibn al-Muttalib. Verily it is cancelled entirely.
O people, do fear Allah concerning women. You have taken them with the trust of Allah and you have made their private parts lawful with the word of Allah.
Verily you have received certain right over your women and your women have certain rights over you. Your right over them is that they should not make anybody, whom you dislike, trample down your beds, and that they should not allow anyone whom you dislike to enter into your houses. If they perform such an action, then Allah has permitted you to harass them, keep them separate in their beds and beat them but not severely. If they refrain they must have their sustenance and clothing justly from you.
Behold, receive with kindness the recommendation given about women. For they are middle-aged women (or helpers) with you. They do not possess anything for themselves and you cannot have from them more than that. If they obey you in this way, then you should not treat them unjustly. Lo, have I conveyed? O Allah, be witness.
O people, listen and obey though a mangled Abyssinian slave becomes your ruler who executes the Book of Allah among you.
O people, verily Allah appropriates to everyone his due. No will is valid for an inheritor and a will is not lawful for more than one-third of the property.
The child belongs to the lawful bed and for the adulterer there is stoning. He who relates his genealogy to other than his father or claims his clientship to other than his master, the curse of Allah, the angels and all people be upon him. Allah will accept from him neither repentance nor righteousness.
O people, verily Satan is disappointed from being ever worshipped in this land of yours. But he is satisfied to be obeyed in other matters that you think very trifling of your actions. So be cautious of him in your religion.
Verily, I have left behind among you that which if you catch hold of you will never be misled later on — a conspicuous thing, the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Apostle.
O people, Gabriel came to me, conveyed salam from my Lord and said: "Verily Allah, the Mighty and the Great, has forgiven the people of Arafat and the Sanctuary their shortcomings."
'Umar ibn al-Khattab stood up and said: "O Apostle of Allah, is it for us only?" He replied: "It is for you and for those who are to come after you till the Day of Resurrection."
And you will be asked about me, then what would you say? They replied: "We bear witness that you have conveyed the message. Discharged your duty and admonished."
Then he said, raising his ring-finger towards heaven and pointing it out towards the people: "O Allah, bear witness: O Allah, bear witness: O Allah, bear witness."
Colophon
The Farewell Sermon (Khuṭbat al-Wadāʿ) was delivered by the Prophet Muhammad on the plain of Arafat during the Farewell Pilgrimage (Ḥajjat al-Wadāʿ), 10 AH / 632 CE. It is preserved in varying recensions in the hadith collections of Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and others. No single canonical text exists; the versions differ in length and emphasis, having been transmitted by different companions who were present.
This text was typed by Serdar Ozpolat (University of Akron) and posted to soc.religion.islam on 7 June 1991, in response to a community request for the Turkish Hutba-i Veda. Original Message-ID: [email protected].
Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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