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What is the authenticity of the hadiths that speak of the camel complaining to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the camel prostrating to him?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The first hadith is narrated by Abdullah ibn Ja'far: The Prophet (peace be upon him) seated him behind him [on his mount] and secretly told him something. The Prophet entered an orchard and saw a camel moaning with tears flowing from its eyes. The Prophet stroked its hump and behind its ears, and it became calm. The Prophet asked about its owner, and a young man from the Ansar came to him. The Prophet said: "Do you not fear Allah concerning this animal that Allah has made you its owner? It complained to me that you starve it and overwork it." Narrated by Ahmad with a sound chain of narration.

The second hadith is narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad, and it is sound due to corroborating narrations, except for the phrase "By Him in whose hand is my soul, if it were from its foot..." as this was uniquely narrated by Husayn al-Marwadhi from Khalaf ibn Khalifa, who suffered from confusion before his death. Ibn Kathir mentioned it in its entirety in Al-Bidaya wa Al-Nihaya and said: "This is a good chain of narration."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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