In an instance similar to this, a blessed pigeon cast a shadow over the head of God’s Messenger (UWBP) during the conquest of Mecca, which was related by Imam Jalil b. Wahab.[259]

Also according to a sound narration, ‘A’isha al-Siddiqa relates: “We had a bird in our house called a da\jin, similar to a pigeon. When God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was present it would stay quiet, but as soon as he left the house, it would  start hopping to and fro without stopping.”[260]   Thus, the bird  was obedient to the Messenger (UWBP), remaining quiet in his presence.

The Second Incident: This is the extraordinary story of the wolf, which has been narrated through a number of chains of transmission from some well-known Companions and about which there is ‘consensus in meaning.’ In short, Abu Sa‘id al- Khudri,  Salama  b.  al-Akwa‘,  Ibn  Abi  Wahab,  and  Abu  Hurayra,  and  Uhban,  a shepherd who was involved in another event, relate through numerous chains of transmission: “A wolf seized a goat and the shepherd saved it from the wolf. The wolf exclaimed: ‘Don’t you fear God? You have deprived me of my sustenance!’ The shepherd muttered to himself: ‘How strange! Can wolves speak?’ The wolf said to him: ‘You’re the strange one, for beyond the hill someone is calling you to Paradise. He is a Messenger of God, yet you do not recognize him!’” Although all the lines of transmission agree on the wolf’s speech, in his report, which has a strong line, Abu Hurayra says: “The shepherd said to the wolf: ‘I am going to see him, but who will look after my goats?’ The wolf replied: ‘I’ll look after them.’ So the shepherd handed over the herd  to  the wolf and went to see the Noble  Messenger  (Upon whom  be blessings and peace), believed in him, and returned to his herd. The shepherd found the wolf; not a goat hadbeen lost. So he slaughtered one for the wolf, for it had become his teacher.” [261]

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[257] Musnad, iii, 219-20.

[258] Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 313; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 368; Musnad, i, 248; San’ani, al- Musannaf, v, 389; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya, iii, 179-81; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, vii, 27; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma’ad (Tahqiq: Arnavudi), iii, 52; al-Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, no: 5934; Maruzi, Musnad Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, no: 73; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, vi, 52-3.

[259] Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 313; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 637.

[260] Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 309; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 632; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’, iii, 79; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, ix, 403.

[261] Musnad, iii, 83, 88; Musnad (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), xv, 202-3, nos: 8049, 11864, 11867; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 310; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 467; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 144; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, viii, 291-2.