The Story of Rukānah’s Wrestling Match and How the Prophet ﷺ Showed Him the Tree He Summoned, Which Then Came Forward

Ibn Isḥāq (1) said: My father, Isḥāq ibn Yasār, related to me that Rukānah ibn ʿAbd Yazīd ibn Hāshim ibn al-Muṭṭalib ibn ʿAbd Manāf was the strongest man in Quraysh. One day he happened to be alone with the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, in one of the mountain passes of Mecca. The Messenger of God said to him:

“O Rukānah, will you not fear God and accept what I am calling you to?”

He replied, “If I knew that what you say is true, I would follow you.”

The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, then said:

“If I wrestle you and throw you down, will you know that what I say is true?”

He answered, “Yes.”

The Prophet said, “Then stand up so that I may wrestle you.”

Rukānah stood and wrestled with him. When the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, grappled with him, he pinned him to the ground; Rukānah had no strength left to resist. Rukānah said, “Come back, Muhammad,” so he returned and wrestled him again, and the Prophet threw him down once more.

Rukānah exclaimed, “Muhammad, by God, this is astonishing! You can defeat me?”

The Prophet replied, “Shall I show you something even more amazing, if you will fear God and follow my command?”

He asked, “What is it?”

The Prophet said, “I will call that tree you see over there, and it will come to me.”

Rukānah said, “Then call it.”

The Prophet called it, and the tree came until it stood before the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him. He then said to it, “Return to your place,” and it returned to its place.

Rukānah went back to his people and said, “O sons of ʿAbd Manāf, your companion has bewitched the people of the earth! By God, I have never seen anyone more skillful in magic than he is.” He then told them what he had seen and what had taken place.

This is how Ibn Isḥāq related the story in a mursal form. Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī (3) also narrated—from Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿAsqalānī, from Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Rukānah, from his father—that Rukānah wrestled with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and the Prophet threw him down. Al-Tirmidhī then remarked, “It is gharīb, and we do not know Abū al-Ḥasan nor Ibn Rukānah” (4).

I say: Abū Bakr al-Shāfiʿī transmitted with a sound chain from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Yazīd ibn Rukānah wrestled with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and the Prophet threw him three times, each time for one hundred sheep. After the third bout he said, “O Muhammad, no one has ever put my back on the ground before you, and no one has been more detested by me than you. I now bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then rose from him and returned his sheep.

As for the story of his summoning the tree and its coming forward, it will be discussed in the Book of the Signs of Prophethood, following the Sīrah, through sound and reliable chains on several occasions, if Allah wills; in Him we put our trust.