In the meantime, another event took place which added to the companions' anxiety. At the beginning of his illness, Muhammad suffered from sleeplessness. On one night, as the days were long and hot and the nights short and breezy, Muhammad felt like going out of his house for a walk around the city. Only his servant, Abu Muwayhibah, accompanied him on this promenade. But where would he go? He went to Baqi` al Gharqad where all the cemeteries of the Muslims lay on the outskirts of Madinah. According to the reports, he stood between the graves of his fallen companions and addressed them in the following words
"Peace be upon you who are in these graves. Blessed are you in your present state to which you have emerged from the state in which the people live on earth. Subversive attacks are falling one after another like waves of darkness, each worse than the previous one." Abu Muwayhibah related that the Prophet had told him upon arrival at Baqi` al Gharqad : "I have been commanded to pray for those who lie in this terrain. Won't you come with me?" After praying for the dead buried in that cemetery, when it was time to return home, the Prophet approached Abu Muwayhibah and said to him: "0 Abu Muwayhibah, I have been given the keys of this world and eternity in it, and now I am being offered Paradise, and meeting with my God. I am asked to choose between them." Abu Muwayhibah said: "What would I not give for your sake, O Master! Is it not possible to have both? Do take the keys of this world, eternity in it, as well as Paradise." Muhammad answered: "No, by God, 0 Abu Muwayhibah. I have chosen Paradise and meeting with my Lord."
Abu Muwayhibah must have reported what he had seen and heard. The Prophet began to complain from his sickness the morning following the night on which he had visited the cemetery of al Baqi`. It was then that the people became concerned and the army of Usamah did not move. True, the report of Abu Muwayhibah is doubted by many historians who believe that Muhammad's sickness could not have been the only reason that prevented the army from marching to al Sham, that another cause was the disappointment of many, including a number of elderly Muhajirun and Ansar, with respect to the leadership assigned to the army. They based their judgment on facts that are given in the sequel. Although we do not wish here to dispute their judgment concerning the report of Abu Muwayhibah, we do not find reason to justify their denial of the event altogether. Whatever the value of the report, it is not necessary to deny the event of the Prophet's visit to the cemetery of Baqi al Ghatqad, his prayer for its dead, or his realization that the hour of meeting with his Lord was soon to strike. In our age, science does not deny the possibility of communication between spirits. It subsumes such communication under the category of psychic phenomena. There have been many men endowed with strong and sensitive perception who knew that their hour was close, and many witnesses to this effect can be produced. Furthermore, communication between the living and the dead, the connection between the past and the present in a manner not limited by either space or time is today regarded as indubitable fact, although man's nature being what it is, it is not given for us to perceive its forms. There is hence no reason to deny the event of the Prophet's visit to the cemetery of Baqi` as out of place considering Muhammad's spiritual and psychic power of communication with the realms of reality and his awareness of spiritual reality that surpasses that of ordinary men.
On the following morning, Muhammad found `A'ishah, his wife, complaining of a headache and holding her head between her hands, murmuring, "0 My head!" Having begun to feel pain, Muhammad answered, "But rather, 0 `A'ishah, my own head!" However, the pain was not strong enough to put him to bed, to stop his daily work, or to prevent him from talking kindly to his wives and joking with them. As `A'ishah continued to complain from her headache, Muhammad said to her: "It wouldn't be too bad after all, 0 `A'ishah, if you were to die before me. For I would then pray for you and attend your funeral." But this only aroused jealousy in the youthful `A'ishah, who answered: "Let that be the good fate of someone else besides me. By God, should that ever happen to me, your other wives would still be there to give you company." The Prophet smiled, but did not follow up the conversation because of an attack of pain. As soon as the pain subsided, he got up and visited with his wives just as he had always done. The pain returned with stronger force, however, so that Muhammad could not bear it any longer. He was in the quarters of Maymunah, his wife, when he found it necessary to call the members of his house and to ask all of them to attend to him in the quarters of `A'ishah. His wives agreed to nurse him there. He moved out of Maymunah's quarters, his head wrapped, leaning on `Ali ibn Abu Talib on one side and on al `Abbas, his uncle, on the other. His legs could hardly carry him. He entered the quarters of `A'ishah and there lay down.
His fever increased in the first days of his sickness so that he felt as if he were on fire. When the attacks of fever subsided, the Prophet walked to the mosque to lead the prayers. He continued to do so for several days but felt too weak to talk to his companions or to listen to them. But he could hear their gossip about his appointment of a very young man to command the elder Muhajirun and Ansar in the coming campaign against al Sham. Despite the gradual deterioration of his health and the aggravation of his pain, he felt it necessary to address the people on that subject.
One day he asked his wives and servants to pour on him seven goatskins of water from various wells. The water was brought from different wells as he commanded and poured over him as he sat in a tub belonging to Hafsah. He then put on his clothes, wrapped his head, and went to the mosque. Standing at the pulpit, he praised God, prayed for the martyrs of Uhud, and addressed the congregation in the following words: "0 Men, carry out the expedition under Usamah. Your complaint against his generalship is of the same kind as your complaint against the generalship of his father before him. By God, Usamah is as fit for the generalship as was his father." Muhammad stopped for a while, and there was absolute silence. He then resumed his address, saying: "Has he not made the better choice who, when given the option of taking this world, the other world, or properly acquiescing in whatever is with God, chooses the last alternative?" Muhammad fell silent again, and the people were absolutely motionless. With his deep perception and sensitivity Abu Bakr realized that Muhammad was here referring to himself. His loyalty to the Prophet and profound feeling for his person overwhelmed Abu Bakr, who could not hold back his tears. Deeply moved and crying, he said: "But we would give our own lives and the lives of our children for you, O Muhammad !" Fearing the spread of Abu Bakr's contagious affection among the congregation, Muhammad said softly: "0 Abu Bakr !" He then commanded all the gates of the mosque to be closed except the one which led to the quarters of Abu Bakr. When this was done, he said: "I do not know of anyone whose companionship is preferable to me than yours. Of all the people of the world, I would choose only Abu Bakr as a permanent friend and constant companion. His has been the friendship and fraternity of true faith! And it will last until God brings us together again." Muhammad left the pulpit to return to `A'ishah's quarters. As he did, he turned to the people and said: "0 Muhajirun, be good to al Ansar. The Muslim community increases every day, but the number of al Ansar remains the same. A1 Ansar have been my own people, my trustworthy people among whom I have taken shelter. Be good to the virtuous among them, reward the pious, and forgive the wrongdoers."
On another day, when Abu Bakr was absent, Bilal called the Muslims to prayer and invited `Umar to lead them. As `Umar's loud voice reached the ear of the Prophet next door, he took this as another flouting of his previous command. He said: "Where is Abu Bakr? God and the believers do not agree that Abu Bakr be not the leader." It was this incident that convinced the people that Muhammad has indeed appointed Abu Bakr as his successor, for leadership of the prayers was the foremost sign of succession to the Prophet.