The Hadeeth: Camels were created from devils

25-8-2012 | IslamWeb

Question:

Al salam alikom wa rahmat Allah wa barakato, I have read an article saying that camels were created from Jinn and that prophet Muhammad ( PBUH) ordered the sahabah not to pray in places where camels are present, so is this true?

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Abu Daawood  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him   reported in his Sunan that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,  was asked about praying in camels’ resting places and he said: “Do not pray in camels’ resting places, for they are of the devils.” In another narration by Imaam Ahmad  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him (in his Musnad) and also by Ibn Maajah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,  said: “Do not pray in camels’ resting places, for they were created from devils.” However, this does not mean that they are really created from the progeny of jinn or from the progeny of the devils among the jinn; rather, the meaning is that they are considered among the devils because of their nature, as the Arabs call any disobedient creature a devil. Ibn Jareer  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him   said: “It means that they are created from the nature of the devils and that when a camel runs away, its fleeing is caused by a devil running behind it and so it runs away. Don’t you notice its shape and its eyes when it runs away?

Al-Khattaabi  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him   said: “The saying of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam: ''… because they are of the devils.”, means that this is because they are like the devils as to their nature and because when they are frightened and run away they may invalidate the prayer of the praying person. Indeed, the Arabs call every disobedient creature a devil. So, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, probably means that if the praying person prays in the presence of camels, he will be at risk during his prayer as the camels may get frightened and they may hit him while in his prayer when they run away.

For more benefit on the prohibition of praying in camels' resting places, please refer to Fatwa 87003.

Allaah Knows best.

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