I asked ʿAbdullah bin Abu ʿAufa "Did the Prophet ﷺ make a will?" He replied, "No," I asked him, "How is it then that the making of a will has been enjoined on people, (or that they are ordered to make a will)?" He replied, "The Prophet ﷺ bequeathed Allah's Book (i.e. Qur'an).

سَأَلْتُ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ أَبِي أَوْفَى ؓ هَلْ كَانَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ أَوْصَى فَقَالَ لاَ فَقُلْتُ كَيْفَ كُتِبَ عَلَى النَّاسِ الْوَصِيَّةُ أَوْ أُمِرُوا بِالْوَصِيَّةِ قَالَ أَوْصَى بِكِتَابِ اللَّهِ

In the presence of ʿAisha some people mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ had appointed ʿAli by will as his successor. ʿAisha said, "When did he appoint him by will? Verily when he died he was resting against my chest (or said: in my lap) and he asked for a wash-basin and then collapsed while in that state, and I could not even perceive that he had died, so when did he appoint him by will?"

أَنَّ عَلِيًّا ؓ كَانَ وَصِيًّا فَقَالَتْ مَتَى أَوْصَى إِلَيْهِ وَقَدْ كُنْتُ مُسْنِدَتَهُ إِلَى صَدْرِي أَوْ قَالَتْ حَجْرِي فَدَعَا بِالطَّسْتِ فَلَقَدِ انْخَنَثَ فِي حَجْرِي فَمَا شَعَرْتُ أَنَّهُ قَدْ مَاتَ فَمَتَى أَوْصَى إِلَيْهِ

that he said, “Thursday, and what a Thursday ˹it was˺!” Then he wept until his tears soaked the pebbles. He then said: The pain of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ became severe on Thursday, so he said: "Bring me writing material so that I may write for you a document after which you will never go astray." They disputed, and disputing is not fitting in the presence of a prophet. They said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ is feeling disoriented.” He said: "Leave me, for the state I am in is better than what you are calling me to."

At the time of his death, he gave instructions concerning three things: "Expel the polytheists from the Arabian Peninsula, and grant delegations gifts in the manner that I used to grant them." I forgot the third.

أَنَّهُ قَالَ: يَوْمُ الْخَمِيسِ، وَمَا يَوْمُ الْخَمِيسِ! ثُمَّ بَكَى حَتَّى خَضَبَ دَمْعُهُ الْحَصْبَاءَ، فَقَالَ: اشْتَدَّ بِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَجَعُهُ يَوْمَ الْخَمِيسِ، فَقَالَ: «ائْتُونِي بِكِتَابٍ أَكْتُبْ لَكُمْ كِتَابًا لَنْ تَضِلُّوا بَعْدَهُ أَبَدًا»، فَتَنَازَعُوا، وَلاَ يَنْبَغِي عِنْدَ نَبِيٍّ تَنَازُعٌ، فَقَالُوا: هَجَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ، قَالَ: «دَعُونِي، فَالَّذِي أَنَا فِيهِ خَيْرٌ مِمَّا تَدْعُونِي إِلَيْهِ».

وَأَوْصَى عِنْدَ مَوْتِهِ بِثَلاَثٍ: «أَخْرِجُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ مِنْ جَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِ، وَأَجِيزُوا الْوَفْدَ بِنَحْوِ مَا كُنْتُ أُجِيزُهُمْ»، وَنَسِيتُ الثَّالِثَةَ

Ibn ʿAbbas said, "When Messenger of Allah ﷺ was on his deathbed and there were some men in the house, he said, 'Come near, I will write for you something after which you will not go astray.' Some of them ( i.e. his companions) said, 'Messenger of Allah ﷺ is seriously ill and you have the (Holy) Qur'an. Allah's Book is sufficient for us.' So the people in the house differed and started disputing. Some of them said, 'Give him writing material so that he may write for you something after which you will not go astray.' while the others said the other way round. So when their talk and differences increased, Allah's Apostle said, "Get up." Ibn ʿAbbas used to say, "No doubt, it was very unfortunate (a great disaster) that Messenger of Allah ﷺ was prevented from writing for them that writing because of their differences and noise."

لَمَّا حُضِرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَفِي الْبَيْتِ رِجَالٌ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ هَلُمُّوا أَكْتُبْ لَكُمْ كِتَابًا لاَ تَضِلُّوا بَعْدَهُ فَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَدْ غَلَبَهُ الْوَجَعُ وَعِنْدَكُمُ الْقُرْآنُ حَسْبُنَا كِتَابُ اللَّهِ فَاخْتَلَفَ أَهْلُ الْبَيْتِ وَاخْتَصَمُوا فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَقُولُ قَرِّبُوا يَكْتُبُ لَكُمْ كِتَابًا لاَ تَضِلُّوا بَعْدَهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَقُولُ غَيْرَ ذَلِكَ فَلَمَّا أَكْثَرُوا اللَّغْوَ وَالاِخْتِلاَفَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ قُومُوا قَالَ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ فَكَانَ يَقُولُ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ إِنَّ الرَّزِيَّةَ كُلَّ الرَّزِيَّةِ مَا حَالَ بَيْنَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَكْتُبَ لَهُمْ ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابَ لاِخْتِلاَفِهِمْ وَلَغَطِهِمْ