Authored by: Hafiz Muhammad Anwar Zahid (ḥafiẓahullāh)
❖ The Narrative
It is reported that Hazrat ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه) once said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
“O Messenger of Allah! The sign which led me to think deeply about accepting your religion was this: when you were still in the cradle, I saw that the moon would speak with you. You would gesture toward it with your finger, and it would incline in that direction.”
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
“Yes, it used to speak to me and I to it. It would soothe me when I cried, and when it would glorify Allah beneath the ʿArsh (Throne), I could hear its glorification.”
❖ Ḥadīth Authentication
This narration is mentioned in the following sources:
- Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah by al-Bayhaqī
- Kitāb al-Māʾatīn by al-Ṣābūnī
- Tārīkh Baghdād by al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī
- Tārīkh Dimashq by Ibn ʿAsākir
However:
✔ Al-Bayhaqī himself explicitly stated that this report is narrated only through Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Jabalī, who is majhūl (unknown).
✔ Al-Ṣābūnī, after citing this report, commented:
“This narration is strange in both its chain (isnād) and its **content (matn).”
❖ Historical and Logical Concern
There is also a chronological inconsistency:
✔ Hazrat ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه) was only one or two years older than the Prophet ﷺ.
✔ During the Prophet’s infancy, ʿAbbās himself would have been a small child, likely still in the cradle or early toddler years.
Thus, it’s implausible that he could recall such an event or report it with the clarity described.
❖ Conclusion
❌ The narration is:
- Weak due to a majhūl narrator
- Strange in content
- Chronologically implausible
Hence, it cannot be accepted as authentic and should not be used as evidence of miraculous signs from the Prophet’s ﷺ infancy.
