F i r s t B r a n c h

The animal realm recognized God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and displayed his miracles. There are numerous examples of this Branch. Here as examples, we shall mention only those which are well-known and definite to the degree of ‘consensus in meaning,’ or have been accepted by authoritative scholars, or have been deemed acceptable by the Muslim community.

The First Incident: This is well-known to the degree of ‘consensus in meaning,’ and concerns the two pigeons coming and waiting at the entrance to the cave of Hira, where God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and Abu Bakr the Veracious hid from the pursuing unbelievers, and the spider veiling the entrance with a thick web, like a curtain holder. Ubayy b. Khalaf, one of the leaders of the Quraysh whom God’s Messenger killed with his own hand at the Battle of Badr, looked at the cave. When his companions suggested that they enter, he replied: “Why should we? I see a large spider’s web which appears to have been there since before Muhammad was born. And look, those two pigeons are there. Would they remain there if there was someone in the cave?”(246)

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(246) 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; Zayla’, Nasb al-Ra’ya i, 123; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id vi, 52-3.