Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 449

This narration is also reported from him; he relates: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent, I set out from my area (to accept Islam). My intention was to enter Islam along with two (the narrator is unsure, or perhaps the words are:) three men. I came to a water place (a pond or the like) where people were gathered together. The village shepherd, who used to graze their goats, came before me and said: I will not graze your goats. Those people asked: Why? He said: Every night the wolf comes and takes away a goat, while our idol stands there; it neither harms nor benefits, neither changes anything nor objects. The narrator relates: Those people went back, and I hoped that they would become Muslims. The next morning the shepherd came running and said: What good news! What good news! The wolf was brought and now it is lying tied up in front of the goats. The narrator relates: I also went with those people. They kissed the idol and prostrated to it and said: (From now on) keep doing just this. The narrator relates: When I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and told him about this incident, he said: "Satan has toyed with these people."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and the discussion about this narration has already preceded it.