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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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What is the ruling on the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?

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Question : Is it permissible for them to die?

Answer : Yes. Is it permissible for the Prophet to die? Yes. Yes, indeed, it is permissible by the Shari'ah and in reality.
Allah the Exalted said:
Indeed, you are to die, and indeed, they are to die.إِنَّكَ مَيِّتٌ وَإِنَّهُم مَّيِّتُونَ
[Az-Zumar 39:30]
And He the Exalted said:
And We did not grant to any man before you eternityوَمَا جَعَلْنَا لِبَشَرٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ الْخُلْدَ
[Al-Anbya 21:34]
And He the Exalted said:
Muhammad is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him. So if he was to die or be killed, would you turn backوَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ أَفَإِن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَىٰ
[Ali 'Imran 3:144]
regarding their descendants. If he dies, meaning a natural death, or is killed and dies as a result of the killing, you turn to their descendants if he is dead. So if a person asks, "How can the messengers be dead while the martyrs, who are below them, are alive, as Allah the Exalted said:
And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision,وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ
[Ali 'Imran 3:169]
?" We say that this life for the martyrs is a life for which the prophets and messengers have something greater, but it is a barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection) life, not a worldly life and not a bodily life. It is a barzakh life, and Allah knows best its nature. However, the superstitious refuse to say anything but that it is a real life. So we say to them: If you say that, then you are the most negligent of people regarding the Prophet. Because it is obligatory for you, if you believe this, to go to him with food and drink, because he is in need, is he not? If a person were in a grave in a trench and we left him for hundreds of years, would we be negligent in his right or fulfilling his right? Yes, we would be negligent. So we say: It is now required of you to go every day with breakfast in the morning, lunch after noon, and dinner at night, and to place a jug of Zamzam water with him for what? For him to drink. And this is what the Rafidah (the Twelver Shi'ah) did with what they believe to be the Mahdi who will appear at the end of time, if it is possible for him to appear. The result is that the life of the prophets in their graves and the life of the messengers in their graves is more complete than the life of the martyrs without doubt, because they are better in the sight of Allah. But is this life a worldly life or a barzakh life that we do not know? The latter is the established position, otherwise it would be obligatory for us to bring food and drink to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) every day.
Source قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، [529] هل يجوز على الأنبياء والرسل الموت؟ وهل هم أحياء عند ربهم كالشهداء؟ - ابن عثيمين — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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