ابن ماجہ · Hadith 1414

It was narrated from Tufail bin Ubayy bin Ka'b that his father said: "The Messenger of Allah used to pray facing the trunk of a date-palm tree when the Masjid was still a hut, and he used to deliver the sermon leaning on that trunk. A man from among his Companions said: 'Would you like us to make you something upon which you can stand on Fridays so that the people will be able to see you and hear your sermon?' He said: 'Yes.' So he made three steps for him, as a pulpit. When they put the pulpit in place, they put it in the place where it stands now. When the Messenger of Allah wanted to stand on the pulpit, he passed by the tree trunk from which he used to deliver the sermon, and when he went beyond the trunk, it moaned and split and cracked. The Messenger of Allah came down when he heard the voice of the trunk, and rubbed it with his hand until it fell silent. Then he went back to the pulpit and when he prayed, he prayed facing it. When the Masjid was knocked down (for renovation) and (the pillars, etc.) were changed, Ubayy bin Ka'b took that trunk and kept it in his house until it became very old and the termites consumed it and it became grains of dust." (Da'if)

Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020