Thus,  the  narrators  of  this  clear  miracle  in  effect  number  one  thousand  five hundred, for it is in man’s nature to reject lies. As for the Companions, who sacrificed their tribes and peoples, their fathers and mothers, their lives and all they possessed for the sake of truth and veracity, and could not have remained silent in the face of a lie, especially in the light of the warning given by the tradition, “Whoever knowingly tells a lie concerning me should prepare for a seat in Hell-fire.” Since they remained silent concerning this report, they accepted it, in effect joined Jabir, and confirmed him.

T h i r d  E x a m p l e : Again as related in the accurate books of Hadith and foremost  Bukhari  and  Muslim,  Jabir  reported:  “During  the  Buwat  expedition,  the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)  commanded: ‘Call for the ablutions!’ They said there was no water. He said, ‘Find a small amount!’ We brought a very small amount.  He held  his hand over the water while reciting something  I could not hear, and then commanded: ‘Bring the caravan’s big trough!’ They brought it to me and I placed it before God’s Messenger (UWBP). He put his hands in the trough and spread  his fingers.  I poured  that very small  amount  of water  onto  his blessed hands, and I saw that abundant water was flowing from his blessed fingers and filling the trough. Then I summoned those who needed water. When they had all performed the ablutions with the water and drunk from it, I told the Noble Messenger (UWBP) that there was no one else. He lifted his hands, leaving the trough full to the brim.”[117]

This clear miracle of Muhammad (UWBP) has the certainty of ‘consensus in meaning,’ for since Jabir was prominent in the matter, he had the right to recount it and proclaim it in everyone else’s name. Ibn Mas‘ud relates exactly the same thing in his narration: “I saw water flowing from the fingers of God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings  and  peace)  as  from  a spring.”[118] If a  truthful,  well-known  group  of Companions composed of Anas, Jabir, and Ibn Mas‘ud said: “We have seen it,” is it possible that they should not have seen it? Now combine these three examples and see how powerful and manifest a miracle it was, and how, if the three chains of transmission are combined,

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[116] Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Maghazi, 35; Tafsir Sura al-Fath, 5; Ashriba, 31; Muslim, ‘Imara, 72, 73;

Musnad, iii, 329; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 110.

[117] Muslim, Zuhd, 74, no: 3013; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 159.

[118] Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Tirmidhi (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), no: 3637; Darimi, Muqaddima, 5.