Signs & Miracles · Signs Seen in Public
The camel that complained
Handle with care. Do not present it as being of the same rank as the Bukhari and Muslim reports. State the collection out loud.
In short
- 1.He entered a garden; a camel saw him, groaned, and its eyes watered.
- 2.He wiped its head and it settled, then he asked who owned it.
- 3.He told the owner: this animal complains that you starve it and overwork it.
- 4.Recorded by Abu Dawud, not Bukhari or Muslim — so say 'reported by Abu Dawud and graded sound by later scholars' rather than implying it is in the strictest collections.
The claim being examined
A camel is reported to have come to the Prophet and complained about being overworked and underfed, and he rebuked the owner.
The Islamic position
Say this one with its grading attached. It is a good report, not one of the two strictest collections, and it is worth being upfront about that.
Analysis
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Ja'far and recorded by Abu Dawud; graded authentic by later hadith scholars including al-Albani. It sits below the Bukhari–Muslim tier, which does not make it unusable but does change how it should be introduced. Its usual value in conversation is as a statement about mercy to animals rather than as evidential proof of prophethood.
From the Sunnah
The Prophet entered a garden of the Ansar. A camel saw him and groaned, and its eyes flowed with tears. He came to it and wiped its head, and it quietened. He said: who is the owner of this camel? A young man came, and he said: do you not fear God concerning this beast which God has placed in your possession? It complained to me that you starve it and overwork it.
Sources
Al-Albani, Sahih Sunan Abi Dawud · Sunan Abi Dawud 2549
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