March 632 · Arafat, near Mecca
Muhammad's Farewell Sermon
The setting
In 632 Muhammad performed the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, for the only time in his life, and it became known as the Farewell Pilgrimage. Tradition holds that he addressed the great gathering of pilgrims at Arafat. The versions of the sermon preserved in the hadith collections and the early biographies speak of the sanctity of life and property, the end of blood feuds and usury, the rights of women and the brotherhood of believers.
Key passage
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... except by piety.
From the version in the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (9th century), translated here. The sermon survives in several differing versions, none written down at the time.
What followed
Muhammad died in Medina about three months later, in June 632. His companion Abu Bakr was chosen as the first caliph and put down the revolts of the Ridda wars, and within a generation the caliphate had spread from Arabia to Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The sermon is recited and studied across the Muslim world as a summary of Muhammad's teaching.