The love of animals, trees and inanimate objects for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
The love for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ amongst the creation is not limited to human beings. Below are a just few examples of non-humans who were unable to hide their love, awe and reverence for Allah’s beloved ﷺ.
Tears from a camel
Abdullah bin Ja’far reports that one day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ allowed him to ride behind him on the same riding animal. They entered a garden in which there was a camel. He says that:
When it (the camel) saw the Prophet ﷺ it cried out and its eyes shed tears. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went to it and patted its head till it became quiet.
He ﷺ then said “Who’s camel is this? A boy from the Ansar approached so he ﷺ said to him “Do you not fear Allah with regards to this animal which Allah has given you? It complained to me that you starve him and wear him out.”
Ahmed and Abu Dawud
Look how the camel cried to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recognising his mercy and recognising that he could help! And look how the Prophet ﷺ was given the ability to communicate with animals and how the camel became peaceful from his touch.
The prostrating camel
There is another incident involving a camel where some of the companions complained to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about a camel which was now refusing to carry water for them, thereby causing many issues.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to his companions, ‘Come with me’ and they went to the garden where the camel was. The people told the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that the camel has become like a dog and that they are afraid of it but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was not afraid. When the camel saw the Messenger ﷺ, it approached him and prostrated before him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then got the camel to work as before. (Ahmed and al-Nisai).
The Hadith literally says that the camel did a prostration (sajda) in front of the Prophet ﷺ. Look at the love, respect and reverence of this animal for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Upon seeing this the Sahaba asked the Prophet ﷺ if they could also prostrate before him out of respect but he ﷺ forbade them from doing so. It should be made clear that the request of the Sahaba to prostrate was about a prostration of respect (ta’zeem) and not a prostration of worship. The former is undoubtedly forbidden (haram) whereas the latter is pure idolatry (shirk).1
The animal that died from grief
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had a camel called Adba. The camel informed him ﷺ that when it went out to pasture, the wild beasts would avoid it saying “Do not harm it. Indeed it is the riding animal of Muhammad! ﷺ”. And the trees would call it over saying ‘Come to me, come to me, indeed you are the riding animal of Muhammad! ﷺ”. Also, the camel requested the Prophet ﷺ to ask Allah Most High to allow it to be his ﷺ riding animal in heaven2. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, the camel would not eat or drink and it eventually died (al-Shifa).
The respectful sheep
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) relates that they used to have a pet sheep in the house. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was at home the sheep would stay in one place and not move around. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would leave, it would start to move and become lively again! (Ahmed, al-Bazzar and others)
Mulla Ali Qari says that the sheep would not move when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was present out of respect and awe.
The yearning tree trunk
Sayiduna Jabir relates that:
The Masjid was constructed so that the roof was held up by palm tree trunks and the Prophet ﷺ used to lean on one of the tree trunks whilst delivering a sermon (khutbah). Then when a pulpit (minbar) was constructed for him we heard that tree trunk make a (loud) sound like a camel. 3
Bukhari
In other versions of the same report the Sahaba say that the Masjid was shaking due to how loud the tree trunk was moaning and that the people in attendance cried a lot when they heard this. Then the Prophet ﷺ came and placed his hand on it until it calmed down.4
When Hasan al-Basri would mention the story of the tree trunk he would cry and say:
O slaves of Allah! The piece of wood yearned for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, longing for him due to his rank. You should be even more desirous to meet him!
Greetings from the rocks
Sayiduna Imam Ali reports that:
We were in Mecca with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he left to go to one of it’s districts. Every tree and mountain on the way said to him “Peace be upon you O Messenger of Allah ﷺ”.
Darimi and Tirmidhi
In another Hadith the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Indeed, I recognise a stone in Mecca which used to give salam to me.”
Muslim
Love from Mount Uhud
Sayiduna Anas bin Malik said that one day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked at Mount Uhud and said:
“Indeed, Uhud is a mountain which loves us, and we love it!”
Muslim
Is it not shameful that even inanimate objects were able to profess their love for Allah’s Messenger ﷺ yet we are unable to? If we find that our hearts have been hardened due to years of sin and heedlessness of Allah Most High then we must take a lesson from this great mountain. This is proof that even the hardest of hearts can be softened and purified once love for the Prophet of Allah ﷺ enters it. We ask Allah to make us of those who truly love Him and His Messenger ﷺ.
If Allah wills, in the next part we will look at the signs of love for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Footnotes
(1) Prostrating out of worship to anyone or anything other than Allah is undoubtedly shirk (idolatry) and kufr (disbelief) and this has always been the case. Prostrating out of respect to a human however was permitted in previous laws of past Prophets (as mentioned in the Quran where Allah orders the angels to prostrate to Prophet Adam and when the brothers of Prophet Yusuf prostrate to him). However, in the law (Sharia) of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ prostrating out of respect (ta’zeem) is forbidden (haram), hence why the Sahaba were not permitted to do it.
(2) Mulla Ali Qari reports this in his commentary of al-Shifa and says ‘Al-Tilmisani mentioned it’. (page 740)
(3) The new pulpit was made by one of the female Sahaba and it had three steps.
(4) The miracle of the moaning of the tree trunk is mass-transmitted (mutawatir). This means that so many people narrated it that it is not possible they could have colluded upon a lie. A Mutawatir Hadith is the most authentic and reliable type of narration in the science of Hadith. Denying a mass-transmitted Hadith is kufr (disbelief).
Orthodox Muslim 