He would wring out the camel’s entrails, drink whatever liquid he could, and press what remained against his liver.

Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq then said, “Messenger of Allah, Allah has always granted you goodness through your prayers; so supplicate to Allah for us.”

He replied, “Would you like me to do that?”

“Yes,” Abu Bakr answered.

The Prophet ﷺ raised his hands toward the sky and did not lower them until the sky itself spoke: clouds gathered, shaded us, and poured down rain. Everyone filled whatever vessels he had with him. We went out afterward and saw that the cloud had not passed beyond the limits of the camp. Its chain of transmission is sound, though the two Ṣaḥīḥs did not record it through this route.

Ibn Isḥāq (1) also related—on the authority of ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah, from some men of his clan—that this incident occurred while they were at al-Ḥijr. They said to a certain man among them who was a hypocrite, “Woe to you! After a sign like this, is there anything left to doubt?” He retorted, “It was only a passing cloud.”

Ibn Isḥāq further reports that the camel of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went missing, so the people set out to search for it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to ʿImārah ibn Ḥazm al-Anṣārī—who was sitting with him—

“A man has said, ‘Here is Muhammad who tells you he is a prophet and brings you news from Heaven, yet he does not even know where his own camel is.’ By Allah, I know only what Allah teaches me, and Allah has now informed me about it: it is in the valley; a tree has caught its halter.”

They went, found the camel, and brought it back. ʿImārah returned to his tent and told his companions what the Messenger ﷺ had said concerning the man. Someone who was lodging in ʿImārah’s quarters remarked, “That was Zayd ibn al-Luṣayt; he was in your tent before you arrived.” ʿImārah turned on Zayd, jabbing him in the neck and saying, “A scourge in my own camp and I did not know it! Get away from me, enemy of Allah; you will not travel with me.” Some later said that Zayd repented, while others maintained that he persisted until he died.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī (2) said, “We have also transmitted—from Ibn Masʿūd—a report similar to the story of the missing camel.” He then narrated, through al-Aʿmash—an account also recorded by Imām Aḥmad (3) from Abū Muʿāwiyah, from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Hurayrah, or from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (al-Aʿmash was uncertain)—who said:

“On the day of the Tabūk expedition, famine struck the people. They said, ‘Messenger of Allah, if only you would permit us to slaughter our riding camels so that we could eat the meat and use the fat as ointment.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, ‘Do it.’

Then ʿUmar came and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, if you allow that, our mounts will be depleted. Instead, summon the people to bring whatever provisions they have left over and pray that Allah bless them; perhaps Allah will place blessing in them.’

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Very well.’ He called for a leather cloth to be spread out, then asked for the remnants of their supplies. One man came with a handful of barley, another with a handful of dates, another with a scrap of bread, until a small amount had accumulated on the cloth. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ invoked Allah’s blessing over it and then said, ‘Fill your containers.’

They filled every vessel in the camp until none was left unfilled; they ate to their fill, and a surplus still remained. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then declared:

‘I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. No servant meets Allah with this testimony, harboring no doubt, without being admitted to Paradise.’

Muslim (4) also recorded it from Abū Kurayb, from Abū Muʿāwiyah, from al-Aʿmash with this wording.