42. Animals and Objects Speaking

[I searched for the hadith online, but this was the closest I found.]

There was a shepherd with his sheep. A wolf attacked and took one of the sheep. The shepherd followed it and took his sheep back. The wolf sat back, with his legs in the air – like a person – and said, “Itiqillah (fear Allah). You are taking away food from me that was sent to me by Allah.” The shepherd said, “What an amazing thing! A wolf sitting like a man and speaking to me!” The wolf said, “I will tell you something more amazing. The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is in Yathrib [what Madinah was called at the time], and he is teaching the people about the nations before.” The shepherd, who was not Muslim at the time, went to Madinah and went to RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and told him what happened. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam gathered all of the Sahabah and told the shepherd, “Tell them what you heard.” The shepherd told them and then the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The day of judgement will not occur until the beasts will speak to you…..and your legs would speak to you.”

Allahu Alam, we usually take the literal meaning unless there is evidence otherwise. For the animals speaking, we take the literal meaning.