Stones, trees, the moon and the sun know the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and testify His prophethood by presenting a miracle of Him; in the same way, the world of animals is interested in the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and they justified his cause with the miracles that they were involved in. There are many miracles reported in reliable sources. We will quote a few of them here:

Cave Guardians

This is the miracle of the pigeon and spider which comes to us from many different and reliable ways. It is the miracle in which the two pigeons waited in front of the cave where the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his loyal friend Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) sheltered like two guardians in order to be safe from the pursuit of polytheists and the spider covering the entrance of the cave with a wonderful thick net. When one of the prominent figures of Quraish polytheists, Ubayy Ibn Khalaf was proposed by his friends with an offer “Let us enter the cave”, He answered them: “How can we enter? I see a web; it looks as if it was made before the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. There are two pigeons standing there. If there was somebody there, would they stand there?” (1)

Blessed Pigeons

Just like the guardian pigeons of the cave we have mentioned above, Imam Jalil Ibn Wahab narrates that in the conquest of Mecca, pigeons shaded over the head of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). (2)

Similarly, according to what is narrated by authentic hadith resources, Hazrat Aisha narrates: there was a domestic animal in our house like a pigeon. When the Prophet Muhammad (PUBH) was at home, it stood without moving. And when the Apostle of Allah left home, the bird started to move constantly. It means, the bird was listening to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and waiting in silence in His presence seriously. (3)

The Talking Wolf

This is a famous wolf event which is narrated to us from five or six different sources based on the famous companions of the prophet. Various narrators likeAbu Sa‘id al-Khudri, Salama b. al-Akwa‘, Ibn Abi Wahab, and Abu Hurayra, and the shepherd Uhban who witnessed this event narrate it as follows:

A wolf seized one of the goats from the herd of a shepherd; the shepherd saved the goat from the wolf. The wolf said to the shepherd:

“Do you not fear God? You have deprived me of my sustenance!” The shepherd muttered to himself:

“How strange! Can wolves speak?” The wolf said to him:

‘Your state is strange; beyond the hill is someone calling you to Paradise. He is a Messenger of God; yet you do not know him!’

The companions who narrated it to us informed that the wolf talked. In the narration of Abu Hurayra, one of those companions, the following is stated: ’s riwayah as follows: “The shepherd said to the wolf:

‘I will go and see him, but who will look after my goats?’ The wolf replied:

‘I will look after them.’

So, the shepherd handed over the herd to the wolf and went to see the Noble Messenger (pbuh), believed in him, and returned to his herd. The shepherd found the wolf; not a goat had been lost. So, he slaughtered one goat and gave it to the wolf, for it had become his teacher.” (4)

 According to another narration, one of the chiefs of Quraysh, Abu Sufyan, and Safwan saw a wolf pursuing a gazelle into the enclosure of the Kaa‘ba. The wolf returned and they were astonished. The wolf spoke, telling them about the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH). Abu Sufyan said to Safwan:

“Do not tell anyone of this; I am frightened everyone will join him and Makkah will be emptied.” (5)

The Miracles shown on Camels

This is the event of the camel, which was unanimously related through some chains of transmission by famous Companions such as Abu Hurayra, Tha‘laba b. Malik, Jabir b. ‘Abd Allah, ‘Abd Allah b. Ja‘far, and ‘Abd Allah b. Abi Awfa and the companions at the start of the chains:

A camel approached God’s Messenger (pbuh), prostrated before him and sat next to him. According to some different resources, the camel had been angered in a garden, and attacked anyone who approached it.

The Messenger put a bridle on it, and the camel said to him: “They made me do the heaviest work and now they want to slaughter me. That is why I went wild.” The Messenger asked its owner if this was true. “Yes,” he replied. (6)

God’s Noble Messenger (pbuh) had a camel called ‘Adba’. After the Prophet died, out of its grief, the camel neither ate nor drank till it died. (7) A number of important authorities including Abu Ishaq Isfarani related that it had talked to the Prophet about a certain story. (8)

In another instance, in an authentic narration, Jabir b. ‘Abdullah’s camel became exhausted on a journey and could no longer continue. God’s Messenger gave it a slight prod. Such joy and nimbleness did the camel receive from that prod of the Prophet that due to its speed it could not be caught up with, nor could its reins be seized. (9)

Miracles shown on Blessed Horses

Bukhari and other hadith imams report the following :

It was rumored one night that the enemy was attacking outside Madinah. Brave horsemen went out to investigate. On the way, they saw someone coming. They looked and saw that it was the Noble Messenger (pbuh). He settled the folk by telling them, “there is nothing to fear.” He had mounted on Abu Talha’s famous horse, as his sacred courage impelled him to, and had gone before everyone else to investigate; then, he returned. He told Abu Talha: “Your horse is extremely swift and unfaltering.” However, previously it had been extremely slow. After that night, there was no horse to catch up with it. (10)

It is related in an authentic narration that while on a journey, at the time for prayer, the Noble Messenger (pbuh) told his horse to stop. It stopped, and until he had finished praying, the horse did not move at all. (11)

The Lion that Recognized the Apostle of Allah

Safina, the servant of the Noble Prophet (pbuh), was commanded by him to go to the Governor of Yemen, Mu‘adh b. Jabal. He set off and on the way encountered a lion. When Safina said to the lion, “I am the servant of God’s Messenger!”, it left without doing anything or molesting him. According to another narration, Safina lost his way when returning and met a lion, which showed him the way. (12)

Some animals which testified the cause of the Prophet Muhammad (PUBH) and obeyed Him.

It is narrated from Umar (RA): “A Bedouin came to the Noble Messenger (pbuh). He was holding a lizard. He said: ‘If this reptile testifies to you, I shall believe in you; otherwise I will not.’ God’s Messenger asked the lizard, and it testified to his prophethood clearly.” (13)

The Mother of Believers, Umm Salama relates: “A gazelle spoke with the Noble Messenger (pbuh), and testified to his prophethood.” (14)

Thus, there are numerous examples similar to these in reliable sources. We described a few that are famous and certain. And to those who do not recognize and obey the Noble Messenger (pbuh), we say this:

O man! Take a lesson from these! The lion and the wolf recognized and obeyed him; you, then, should try not to fall lower than an animal!
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(1) Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa’ i, 313; ‘Ali al-Kari, Sharh ash-Shifa’ i, 368; Musnad i, 248; San’ani, al-Musannaf, 389; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’n-Nihaya iii, 179-81; al-Haythami, Majma’ az-Zawa’id vii, 27; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma’ad (Tahqiq: Arnavudi) iii, 52; at-Tabrizi, Mishqat al-Masabih no: 5934; Maruzi, Musnad Abu Bakr as-Siddiq no: 73; Zayla’i, Nasb ar-Ra’ya i, 123; al-Haythami, Majma’ az-Zawa’id vi, 52-3.

(2) Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa’ i, 313; ‘Ali al-Kari, Sharh ash-Shifa’ i, 637.

(3) Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa’ i, 309; ‘Ali al-Kari, Sharh ash-Shifa’ i, 632; al-Khafaji, Sharh ash-Shifa’ iii, 79; al-Haythami, Majma’ az-Zawa’id ix, 403.

(4) Musnad iii, 83, 88; Musnad (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir) xv, 202-3, nos: 8049, 11864, 11867; Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa’ i, 310; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak iv, 467; Ibn Hibban, Sahih viii, 144; al-Haythami, Majma’ az-Zawa’id viii, 291-2; al-Sa’ati, al-Fath ar-Rabbani xx, 240; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’n-Nihaya vi, 141.

(5) Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa’ i, 311; al-Khafaji, Sharh ash-Shifa’ iii, 84.

(6) Darimi, Muqaddima 4; Musnad iv, 173; al-Haythami, Majma’ az-Zawa’id ix, 4; al-Sa’ati, al-Fath ar-Rabbani xxii, 50-1; al-Khafaji, Sharh ash-Shifa’ iii, 87; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya vi, 135; al-Albani, Silsilat al-Ahadith as-Sahiha 485; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak ii, 99, 100, 618.

(7) Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa’ i, 313.

(8) Ali al-Kari, Sharh ash-Shifa’ i, 637.

(9) Muslim, Mithaqat 109 no: 715; al-Khafaji, Sharh ash-Shifa’ iii, 145.

(10) Bukhari, Jihad 46, 82; Adab 39; Muslim, Fada’il 48 no: 2307; Ibn Maja, Jihad 9; Abu Dawud, Adab 87 no: 4988; Tirmidhi, Fada’il al-Jihad nos: 1685-7.

(11) Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa’ i, 315; al-Khafaji, Sharh ash-Shifa’ iii, 95.

(12) Tabrizi, Mishqat al-Masabih iii, 199 no: 5949; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak iii, 606; al-‘Asqalani, al-Matalib al-‘Aliya iv, 125 no: 4127; al-Haythami, Majma’ az-Zawa’id ix, 366-7; Abu Na’im, Hilyat al-Awliya’ i, 368-9; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’n-Nihaya vi, 147.

(13) al-Haythami, Majma’ az-Zawa’id viii, 293-4; al-Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal xii, 358; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’n-Nihaya vi, 149-60; ‘Ali al-Kari, Sharh ash-Shifa’ i, 632; al-Khafaji, Sharh ash-Shifa’ iii, 79.

(14) Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa’ i, 314; al-Khafaji, Sharh ash-Shifa’ iii, 91; al-Haythami, Majma’ az-Zawa’id viii, 295.