❖ The Crying of the Palm Trunk in Separation from the Prophet ﷺ: A Proven Miracle ❖
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Question:
Is it authentically proven that a palm trunk cried in separation from the Prophet ﷺ?
Answer:
Yes, the crying of the palm trunk due to separation from the Prophet ﷺ is authentically established. It is among the miracles of the Prophet ﷺ, a clear proof of his lofty rank, and a manifest evidence of his prophethood.
✿ Authentic Report
Sayyidunā Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh رضي الله عنه narrated:
كان جدع يقوم إليه النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم، فلما وضع له المنبر سمعنا للجذع مثل أصوات العشار حتى نزل النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم، فوضع يده عليه.
“There was a palm trunk (in the Prophet’s Mosque) which the Prophet ﷺ used to lean on while delivering the khuṭbah. When a pulpit was prepared for him, we heard the trunk crying like a pregnant camel until the Prophet ﷺ descended and placed his hand on it.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 918)
Other Companions also narrated this miracle:
① ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما (Bukhārī: 3583)
② Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه (Tirmidhī: 3627; Ibn Khuzaymah: 1777 – authentic chain)
③ ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما (Ibn Mājah: 1415; Musnad ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd: 1336 – ḥasan chain)
✿ Scholarly Testimonies
❀ Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ رحمه الله (544H):
حديث أنين الجذع … متواتر.
“The hadith of the trunk’s crying is widely known; its narrations are mutawātir.”
(al-Shifāʾ: 1/303)
❀ al-Suhaylī رحمه الله (581H):
حديث خوار الجذع … نقل التواتر.
“The report of the trunk’s moaning is mutawātir due to the large number of witnesses.”
(al-Rawḍ al-Anf: 4/171)
❀ al-Nawawī رحمه الله (676H) & Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (728H):
Both affirmed it is mutawātir maʿnawī.
(Sharḥ Muslim 13/215; al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ 6/360)
❀ Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله (774H):
هو حديث متواتر مفيد للقطع قطعا.
“It is a mutawātir hadith which gives certain, absolute knowledge.”
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr 8/79; Tuḥfat al-Ṭālib p. 154)
❀ Later scholars like al-Damīrī, al-Maqrīzī, Ibn Ḥajar, al-Qasṭallānī, and al-Kattānī also affirmed its tawātur.
✿ Reflections from the Salaf
❀ Imām al-Shāfiʿī رحمه الله said:
حنين الجذع … فهذا أكبر من إحياء الموتى.
“The moaning of the trunk is greater than reviving the dead, for Allah gave this miracle to Muhammad ﷺ.”
(Ādāb al-Shāfiʿī wa Manāqibuhu, p. 62 – authentic chain)
❀ al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رحمه الله, when narrating this hadith, wept and said:
يا عباد الله، الخشبة تحن إلى رسول الله ﷺ شوقا إليه … فأنتم أحق أن تشتاقوا إلى لقائه.
“O servants of Allah! A wooden trunk cried out of longing for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ because of his status with Allah — so you have more right to long for his meeting.”
(Musnad Abī Yaʿlā: 2756; Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: 6507 – ḥasan chain)
Conclusion:The crying of the palm trunk is a mutawātir miracle of the Prophet ﷺ, acknowledged by the Qur’an, authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the scholars. It is a clear testimony to his prophethood and a reminder of the believers’ duty to long for him ﷺ.
