Authored by: Hafiz Muhammad Anwar Zahid (ḥafiẓahullāh)
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.”
This narration is mentioned in the following sources:
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).”
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.
The narration is:
Hence, it cannot be accepted as authentic and should not be used as evidence of miraculous signs from the Prophet’s ﷺ infancy.
❖ 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.
