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  

Ibn ʿAbbas said, "Thursday! What (great thing) took place on Thursday!" Then he started weeping till his tears wetted the gravels of the ground . Then he said, "On Thursday the illness of Messenger of Allah ﷺ was aggravated and he said, "Fetch me writing materials so that I may have something written to you after which you will never go astray." The people (present there) differed in this matter and people should not differ before a prophet. They said, "Messenger of Allah ﷺ is seriously sick.' The Prophet ﷺ said, "Let me alone, as the state in which I am now, is better than what you are calling me for." The Prophet ﷺ on his death-bed, gave three orders saying, "Expel the pagans from the Arabian Peninsula, respect and give gifts to the foreign delegates as you have seen me dealing with them." I forgot the third (order)" (Ya'qub bin Muhammad said, "I asked Al-Mughira bin ʿAbdur-Rahman about the Arabian Peninsula and he said, 'It comprises Mecca, Medina, Al-Yama-ma and Yemen." Ya'qub added, "And Al-Arj, the beginning of Tihama.")  

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 وَقَالَ يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ سَأَلْتُ الْمُغِيرَةَ بْنَ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ عَنْ جَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِ فَقَالَ مَكَّةُ وَالْمَدِينَةُ وَالْيَمَامَةُ وَالْيَمَنُ وَقَالَ يَعْقُوبُ وَالْعَرْجُ أَوَّلُ تِهَامَةَ  

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