Fifteenth Sign
Just as rocks, trees, the moon and the sun recognized Allah the Most High’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and affirmed his prophethood by each demonstrating a miracle, so too, animals, the dead, the jinn, and the angels recognized that blessed person and affirmed his prophethood. For by each of those species of beings displaying a number of miracles, they demonstrated that they recognized him and they proclaimed their affirmation of his prophethood. This Fifteenth Sign contains three branches.
First Branch
The animal realm recognized Allah the Most High’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and displayed his miracles. There are numerous examples of this Branch. Here as examples, we shall mention only those which are well‑known and definite to the degree of ‘consensus in meaning,’ or have been accepted by authoritative scholars, or have been deemed acceptable by the Muslim community.
The First Incident: This is well‑known to the degree of ‘consensus in meaning,’ and concerns the two pigeons coming and waiting at the entrance to the cave of Hira, where Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and Abu Bakr the Veracious hid from the pursuing unbelievers, and the spider veiling the entrance with a thick web, like a curtain holder.
Ubayy b. Khalaf, one of the leaders of the Quraysh whom Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) killed with his own hand at the Battle of Badr, looked at the cave. When his companions suggested that they enter, he replied: “Why should we? I see a large spider’s web which appears to have been there since before Muhammad was born. And look, those two pigeons are there. Would they perch there if there was someone in the cave?”
In an instance similar to this, a blessed pigeon cast a shadow over the head of Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) during the conquest of Mecca, which was related by Imam Jalil b. Wahab.
Also according to a sound narration, ‘A’isha al‑Siddiqa relates: “We had a bird in our house called a dājin, similar to a pigeon. When Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was present it would stay quiet, but as soon as he left the house, it would start hopping to and fro without stopping.” Thus, the bird was obedient to the Messenger (UWBP), remaining quiet in his presence.
The Second Incident: This is the extraordinary story of the wolf, which has been narrated through a number of chains of transmission from some well‑known Companions and about which there is ‘consensus in meaning.’ In short, Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, Salama b. al-Akwa‘, Ibn Abi Wahab, and Abu Hurayra, and Uhban, a shepherd who was involved in another event, relate through numerous chains of transmission: “A wolf seized a goat and the shepherd saved it from the wolf. The wolf exclaimed: ‘Don’t you fear Allah? You have deprived me of my sustenance!’ The shepherd muttered to himself: ‘How strange! Can wolves speak?’ The wolf said to him: ‘You’re the strange one, for beyond the hill someone is calling you to Paradise. He is a Messenger of Allah, yet you do not recognize him!’”
Although all the lines of transmission agree on the wolf’s speech, in his report, which has a strong line, Abu Hurayra says: “The shepherd said to the wolf: ‘I am going to see him, but who will look after my goats?’ The wolf replied: ‘I’ll look after them.’ So the shepherd handed over the herd to the wolf and went to see the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), believed in him, and returned to his herd. The shepherd found the wolf; not a goat had been lost. So he slaughtered one for the wolf, for it had become his teacher.”
According to one chain of transmission, one of the chiefs of Quraysh, Abu Sufyan, and Safwan saw a wolf pursuing a gazelle into the enclosure of the Ka‘ba. As it returned, the wolf spoke, telling of the messengership of Muhammad (UWBP). They were astonished. Abu Sufyan said to Safwan: ‘Don’t let’s tell anyone about this; I’m frightened everyone will join him and Mecca will be emptied.’
In Short: The story of the wolf gives one complete conviction, and is as certain as those unanimous reports about which there is ‘consensus in meaning.’
The Third Incident: This is the narrative of the camel, which was unanimously related through some five or six chains of transmission by such famous Companions as Abu Hurayra, Tha‘laba b. Malik, Jabir b. ‘Abdullah, ‘Abdullah b. Ja‘far, and ‘Abdullah b. Abi Awfa, who are at the start of the chains. A camel approached Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), prostrated itself before him as if saluting him, and spoke.
According to a number of lines of transmission, the camel had been angered in a garden and become wild, attacking anyone who approached it. When Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) appeared, it came to him, prostrated as a sign of respect, and knelt down. He 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’s why I went wild.” The Messenger (UWBP) asked its owner if this was true. “Yes,” he replied.
Also, Allah the Most High’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) had a camel called ‘Adba’. After he died, out of its grief, the camel neither ate nor drank, till it died.
A number of important authorities including Abu Ishaq Isfara’ini related that it spoke with the Messenger (UWBP) about a certain story.
In another instance, in an authentic narration, Jabir b. ‘Abdullah’s camel became exhausted on a journey and could no longer continue. Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) gave it a slight prod. Such joy and nimbleness did the camel receive from that prod of the Prophet (UWBP) that due to its speed it could not be caught up with, nor could its reins be seized.
The Fourth Incident: The authorities on Hadith and foremost Bukhari report that it was rumoured one night that the enemy was attacking outside Medina. Brave horsemen went out to investigate. On the way they saw someone coming. They looked and saw that it was the Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He told them there was nothing. He had mounted Abu Talha’s famous horse, as his sacred courage impelled him to, and had gone before everyone else to investigate, then returned. He told Abu Talha: Your horse is extremely swift and unfaltering. Whereas previously it had been extremely slow. After that night, there was no horse to compete with it.
On another occasion, as related in an authentic narration, while on a journey at the time for prayer, the Noble Messenger (UWBP) told his horse to stop. It stopped, and until he had finished praying the horse did not make the slightest movement.
The Fifth Incident: Safina, the servant of the Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace), 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. Safina said to it: “I am the servant of Allah the Most High’s Messenger!” Upon which the lion made a sound as if saying something, and left without molesting him.
According to another narration, Safina lost his way when returning, and met with a lion. Not only did the lion not molest him, it showed him the way.
Also, it is narrated from ‘Umar that he said: “A beduin came to the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He was holding a lizard. He said: ‘If this reptile testifies to you, I shall believe in you; otherwise I will not.’ Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) asked the lizard, and it testified to his messengership most eloquently.”
Also, the Mother of Believers, Umm Salama relates: “A gazelle spoke with the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and testified to his messengership.”
Thus, there are numerous examples similar to these. We have described a few that are famous and certain. To those who do not recognize and obey the Noble Messenger (UWBP), 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!
Second Branch
This concerns corpses, jinns, and angels recognizing Allah the Most High’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). There were very many instances of this. We shall describe a few examples which are famous and have been related by reliable scholars, firstly about corpses. As for jinns and angels, the many reports concerning them are unanimous, and examples of them number not one but a thousand. And so, examples of the dead speaking:
The First Is This: Hasan al‑Basri, an important and loyal student of Imam ‘Ali and the greatest authority among the scholars of the external and esoteric sciences in the time of the generation subsequent to the Companions, related: “A man came weeping to Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP). He said: ‘I had a little girl; she drowned in such-and-such stream nearby. I left her there.’ He pitied the man and said they would go there together. They went, and the Messenger (UWBP) called to the dead girl, saying her name. At once the dead girl replied: I am present and answer your call gladly. He asked her: ‘Do you want to return to your father and mother?’ She replied: ‘No, I have found something better here!’”
The Second: Important authorities like Imam Bayhaqi and Imam b. ‘Adiyy relate from Anas b. Malik: Anas said: “An elderly woman had a single son who suddenly died. The righteous woman was very grieved and prayed: ‘O Allah the Most High, I left my home and migrated here only to obtain Your pleasure and to pay allegiance to Allah the Most High’s Noble Messenger (UWBP) and to serve him. For the sake of Your Messenger, return my son to me, who was the only person to look after me.’” Anas said: “The dead man rose up and came and ate with us.”(332)
In the following lines from the celebrated poem Qasidat al‑Burda, Imam Busiri refers to this extraordinary event:
Were his wonders to correspond to his virtue in greatness, Mere mention of his name would have animated decayed bones.
The Third: Scholars like Imam Bayhaqi relate from ‘Abdullah b. ‘Ubaydullah al‑Ansari: ‘Abdullah said: “I was present when Thabit b. Qays b. Shammas fell as a martyr in the Battle of Yamama and was buried. As he was being put in his grave, a voice suddenly came from him, saying: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, Abu Bakr is the Veracious (Siddiq), ‘Umar, the martyr, and ‘Uthman, pious and merciful. We uuncovered him and looked: he was dead and lifeless, yet he was foretelling ‘Umar’s martyrdom even before he had succeeded to the Caliphate.
The Fourth: Imam Tabarani, and Abu Nu‘aym in his Dala’il al‑Nubuwwa, relate from Nu‘man b. Bashir: “Zayd b. Kharija suddenly dropped down dead in the marketplace. We took his body to his house. That evening between sunset and the night prayer, while the women were weeping all around him, he exclaimed: Silence! Silence! Then, saying: Muhammad is Allah the Most High’s Messenger! Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah!, he spoke most eloquently for a while. We looked: he was dead, without life.”
Thus, if lifeless corpses affirm his prophethood and the living do not, for sure they are more dead than the dead and more lifeless than corpses!
As regards angels appearing and serving Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP), and jinns believing in him and obeying him, these facts have been reported numerously and unanimously. They have been stated explicitly in many verses of the Qur’an. At the Battle of Badr, according to the Qur’an, five thousand angels served him as soldiers in the front line, like the Companions. Indeed, those angels acquired distinction among the angels, like the men who fought in the battle. There are two aspects to be considered in this matter:
The First is the fact that the existence of the different sorts of jinn and angels is as definite as that of the varieties and species of animals and human beings, and that they have relations with us. We have proved this decisively in the Twenty‑Ninth Word as certainly as two plus two equals four, and we refer their proof to that Word.
The Second Aspect is members of Allah the Most High’s Messenger’s (UWBP) community seeing them and speaking with them, as a miracle of his.
Thus, the leading scholars of Hadith, and foremost Bukhari and Muslim, unanimously relate: “One time, an angel, that is, Gabriel, appeared in the form of a man dressed in white. He approached Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP), who was sitting among his Companions, and asked: What is Islam? What is belief? And what is goodness? Explain them. The Messenger (UWBP) explained them, and the Companions gathered there both received valuable instruction, and saw the person clearly. Although he seemed like a traveller, he displayed no sign of a journey. He suddenly rose and disappeared. Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) then said: ‘Gabriel did that in order to teach you!’
Also, the authorities on Hadith relate through certain and authentic narrations about which there is ‘consensus in meaning:’ “The Companions saw Gabriel with Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) many times in the form of Dihya, who was very handsome.”
For instance, ‘Umar, Ibn ‘Abbas, Usama b. Zayd, Harith, ‘A’isha al‑Siddiqa, and Umm Salama established and related certainly: “We frequently saw Gabriel with the Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) in the form of Dihya.”
Is it at all possible that such people would say that they had seen him if they had not?
Also, the conqueror of Persia, Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas, who was one of the ten promised Paradise, relates in an authentic narration: “At the Battle of Uhud we saw two white‑dressed persons either side of Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP), guarding him like sentries. We understood that they were the angels, Gabriel and Michael.” Is it possible that if such a hero of Islam says he saw them, he had not seen them?
Also, Abu Sufyan b. Harith b. ‘Abd al‑Muttalib, the Prophet’s (UWBP) cousin, relates in an authentic narration: “At the Battle of Badr, we saw horsemen dressed in white between the sky and the earth.”
Also, Hamza pleaded with the Noble Messenger (UWBP) to see Gabriel. So he showed him to Hamza in the Ka‘ba, but he could not endure it and fell to the ground unconscious.
There were numerous occurrences like these of angels being seen. They all demonstrated one sort of the miracles of Muhammad (UWBP), and show that the angels too were like moths drawn to the lamp of his prophethood.
When it comes to jinns, it was not only the Companions, it frequently happens that ordinary members of the Muslim community meet with them and see them. But the most certain and authentic reports are given us by the leading scholars of Hadith, who say: Ibn Mas‘ud related: “I saw the jinn on the night they accepted Islam at Batn al‑Nakhl. I likened them to the Zut, a tall-statured Sudanese tribe; they resembled them.”
There was also the incident concerning Khalid b. al‑Walid, which is famous and has been authenticated and accepted by the leading scholars of Hadith: when the idol called ‘Uzza was destroyed, a jinn came out of it in the form of a black woman. Khalid cut it into two with his sword. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) said in connection with this: They used to worship it inside the idol ‘Uzza; it can no longer be worshipped.
Also, is a narration from ‘Umar: he said: “While we were with Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP), a jinn called Hama came in the form of an old man carrying a staff; he accepted Islam. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) instructed him in some of the short Suras of the Qur’an, which he listened to and then departed.” Some scholars of Hadith have questioned this last incident, but the most important of them declared it to be authentic. In any event, it is unnecessary to describe this sort at length, for the examples of it are many.
We would only add this:
Through the light of Allah the Most High’s Noble Messenger (UWBP), through his training and through following him, thousands of spiritual poles and purified scholars like Shaikh ‘Abd al‑Qadir Gilani have met and spoken with angels and jinn. This fact has reached the degree of consensus a hundred times over through innumerable instances. Yes, members of Muhammad’s (UWBP) community being in contact with angels and jinn, and speaking with them, occurs through the miraculous guidance and instruction of the Noble Messenger (UWBP).
Third Branch
The protection and preservation of Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was a clear miracle, and many instances of it are indicated by the clear truth of the verse, And Allah will defend you from men. For sure, when Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) appeared, he was not only challenging one group, or one people, or a few rulers, or one religion; he was rather challenging single‑handed all kings and the people of all religions. And yet until he died in perfect ease and happiness and rose to the heavenly court, for twenty-three years he was without guard or protector and was exposed to numerous plots, with his own uncle his greatest enemy and his own tribe and people hostile to him. This shows what a powerful truth the above-mentioned verse And Allah will defend you from men expresses and what a firm point of support it was. We shall mention as examples only a few events classed as definite.
First Event: Scholars of Hadith and the Prophet’s (UWBP) biography report unanimously that the Quraysh had made a certain agreement to kill Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). Upon the suggestion of a demon in human form, so as to prevent discord within the Quraysh, at least one member of every branch of the tribe formed a group of nearly two hundred men under the leadership of Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab, and they staged a surprise attack on the Messenger’s (UWBP) house. ‘Ali was together with him. He had told him to sleep that night in his bed. The Messenger (UWBP) waited till the Quraysh came and completely surrounded the house, then he went out and threw a handful of earth at their heads, and not one of them saw him. He passed through them and disappeared. When he reached the cave of Hira, two pigeons and a spider became his guards, and protected him against all the Quraysh.
The Second Event: It certainly occurred that when they emerged from the cave and set off towards Medina, they were followed by a very brave man called Suraqa, who, for a large reward, had been sent by the leaders of the Quraysh to kill them. Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and Abu Bakr the Veracious had seen Suraqa coming when they came out of the cave. Abu Bakr had been anxious, but Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) said: Do not be anxious, Allah is with us!, as he had in the cave. Abu Bakr looked at Suraqa: his horse’s hooves were stuck in the sand. He was freed and started following them again. Then again the horse became transfixed, and something like smoke was rising from where its hooves were stuck. At that point he understood that it was beyond his power and anyone else’s power to harm Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He cried for mercy. The Messenger (UWBP) freed him, but said: Go back, but make sure no one else comes after us.
In connection with this incident, we should also mention that a shepherd spotted them and immediately set off for Mecca to inform the Quraysh. But on arriving at the city, he forgot why he had come. No matter how much he tried, he could not remember. He was obliged to return. Then later he understood that he had been made to forget it.
The Third Event: The leading scholars of Hadith relate through many chains of transmission that at the Battle of Ghatafan and Anmar, a bold tribal chief called Ghurath got close to the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) without anyone seeing him, his sword ready in his hand. He said to Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP): “Who will save you from me?” Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) replied: “Allah!” Then he prayed: Allah, save me from him, if You thus will! Suddenly, Ghurath received a blow from the Unseen between the shoulders and his sword fell to the ground. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) picked up the sword and said: “Now who will save you from me?” Then he forgave him. The man returned to his tribe. Everyone was astonished at the bold, valiant fighter, and asked him what had happened to him and why he had done nothing. He replied to them: “That’s the way it happened. I have come now from the best of men.”
In an incident similar to this at the Battle of Badr, a dissembler approached the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) from behind when no one was aware of it. Just as he was raising his sword to strike, Allah’s Messenger (UWBP) turned and looked at him; the man trembled and his sword slipped to the ground.
The Fourth Event: This is well‑known almost to the degree of ‘consensus in meaning,’ and is given by most Qur’anic commentators as the immediate reason for the revelation of the verse, Indeed We have put yokes round their necks right up their chins, so that their heads are forced up [and they cannot see]. And We have put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them, and further, We have covered them up, so that they cannot see. It is also related by the most learned commentators and scholars of Hadith. They relate that Abu Jahl took an oath, saying: “I shall strike Muhammad with a stone if I see him prostrating.” He took a large stone and went to find Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP). He lifted his hands to cast the stone when he saw him prostrating, and they remained raised. Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) stood up on completing the prayers, and Abu Jahl’s hand was released. He could move it either because the Messenger (UWBP) permitted, or because there was no longer any need for it to remain thus.
In a similar incident, a man from the same tribe as Abu Jahl, al‑Walid b. Mughira according to one narration, went to the Ka‘ba with a large stone in his hand, to strike the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) while he was prostrating, but the man’s eyes were sealed and he could not see the Messenger (UWBP) entering, nor was he able to see the people who had sent him; he could only hear their voices. When Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) finished praying, his eyes were opened, for no need remained for them to be sealed.
Also, it is related through an authentic narration from Abu Bakr the Veracious that after the Sura about Abu Lahab had been revealed, his wife, Hammalat al‑Hatab (the wood carrier) Umm Jamil, came to the Ka‘ba with a stone in her hand. She saw Abu Bakr, who was sitting beside the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and asked him, “Where’s your friend? I hear that he mocked me. If I see him, I will hit him in the mouth with this rock.” She could not see Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), although he was sitting beside him. Of course, a wood‑carrier of Hell like that could not enter the presence of “the Sultan of Lawlak”, who was under divine protection, and see him. How could she?
The Fifth Event: It is related through a sound narration that ‘Amir b. Tufayl and Arbad b. Qays conspired to assassinate Allah’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). ‘Amir said: “I’ll keep him busy, and you strike him.” They went, but Arbad did not do anything. Amir asked him later why he did not strike him. Arbad answered: “How could I? Every time I intended to hit him, I saw you between us. How could I have struck you?”
The Sixth Event: It is related through an authentic narration that at the battle either of Uhud or Hunayn, Shayba b. ‘Uthman al‑Hajabayya, whose uncle and father Hamza had killed, crept up stealthily on the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) in order to avenge them. On his raising his drawn sword, it suddenly slipped from his hand. Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP) turned and looked at him, putting his hand on his chest. Shayba later said: “At that moment there was no one in the world I loved more.” He believed in him. The Messenger (UWBP) told him to go and fight. Shayba said: “I went and fought in front of Allah the Most High’s Messenger (UWBP). If I had come across my own father at that time, I would have struck him!”
Also, on the day of the conquest of Mecca, a man called Fadala approached Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) with the intention of striking him. The Messenger (UWBP) looked at him, and said, smiling: “What have you told yourself?”, praying that he might be forgiven. Fadala became a believer, and said: “At that moment there was no one in the world I loved more.”
The Seventh Event: According to a sound narration, at the very moment some Jews, with the intention of assassinating him, were going to drop down a large rock on Allah the Most High’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) while he was sitting, he rose through divine protection; so the plot came to nothing.
There were many events similar to these seven. The scholars of Hadith, and foremost Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, relate from ‘A’isha that after the verse, And Allah will defend you from men was revealed, Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) told those who guarded him from time to time: O men, leave me, for Allah, the Great and Mighty, protects me!
Thus, from the beginning up to here, this treatise shows that every species of being, every realm of creation in the universe, recognized the Noble Messenger (UWBP), and was connected with him. His miracles were manifested in every one of them. This means that the person of Muhammad (UWBP) was the official and Messenger of Allah the Most High, but in regard to His titles of Creator of the Universe and Sustainer of all Creatures.
For example, every office or department of government knows and recognizes a high‑ranking official, an inspector, of the king, and whichever of them he enters, those in it show an interest in him, for he acts in the name of the king of all of them. If he is only an inspector in the judiciary, then only that department of government recognizes him; the other offices do not. And if he is an inspector in the army, the civil service does not recognize him.
It is understood, then, that all the realms and spheres of divine rule, every species and group from the angels to the flies and spiders, knew and recognized Allah the Most High’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), or had been informed about him. That is to say, he was the Seal of the Prophets and the Messenger of the Sustainer of All the Worlds. And his messengership was more comprehensive and all‑embracing than those of the preceding prophets.