mand. Then, at his command, it returned to its place.”1 Ubayy b. Ka‘b says: “After this extraordinary event, God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) ordered that the pole be put under the pulpit. It was put there and remained there until the mosque was pulled down before being rebuilt. Then Ubayy b. Ka‘b took it and kept it until it decayed.2
The famous scholar Hasan al-Basri would weep while teaching this miraculous event to his students, and say to them: “A piece of wood demonstrated love and longing for God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), so you should feel more love than that.”3 As for us, we say, Yes, and love and longing for him is shown through following his illustrious Practices (Sunna) and sacred Shari‘a.
A n I m p o r t a n t P o i n t
If it is asked : Why were the miracles that were displayed in connection with food – to satisfy fully a thousand men with four handfuls of food in the Battle of Khandaq, and another thousand men with water flowing from the Messenger’s (UWBP) blessed fingers – not narrated through numerous chains of transmission as the miracle of the moaning of the pole was, although the former two miracles occurred in the presence of larger crowds?
The Answer: The miracles that were manifested were of two kinds: one were manifested at the hands of God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) in order to make people assent to his prophethood. The moaning of the pole was of that kind. It occurred solely as a proof, an affirmation, of prophethood, to increase the believers’ faith, to urge the dissemblers to sincerity and belief, and to bring to belief the unbelievers. That is why everyone, the low and the high, saw it, and great attention was paid to broadcasting it. However, the miracles concerning food and water were wonders rather than miracles, or divine favours rather than wonders, or, more than favour, they were banquets bestowed by the All-Merciful One because of need. For sure, they were proofs of his claim to prophethood and miracles, but their basic aim was this: the army was hungry so Almighty God provided a feast for a thousand men out of a handful of food from His treasury in the Unseen, just as He creates a thousand pounds of dates from a single seed. And for a thirsty army fighting in His way, He caused water to flow like the water of Kawthar from the fingers of its Commander-in-Chief, and gave them to drink.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 304
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 304; Ibn Maja, Iqamat al-Salat, 199; Darimi, Muqaddima, 6.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 305.