I have heard many people say that animals know about their God, Allah, yet I have never heard a Quranic verse or hadith regarding this. Can someone please mention a reference for this.
Besides, mankind is ashraf-ul-makhlukat (the noblest of all creatures). When a human is born, he knows nothing about his Creator, and acquires the knowledge of his Creator ultimately from Holy Quran(and hadith). Yet, an animal knows about his Creator, without even being told?
The qur'an says:
The seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a thing except that it exalts [ Allah ] by His praise, but you do not understand their [way of] exalting. Indeed, He is ever Forbearing and Forgiving. (17:44)
So any of Allah's creation praise HIM from this we can conclude that they know HIM. The interpretation of some scholars of tafsir is that tis refers to any creation that has a soul. Here an extract from tafsir ibn Kathir where i tried to link some of the references:
(and there is not a thing but glorifies His praise.)
there is no created being that does not celebrate the praises of Allah.(But you understand not their glorification.)
means, "You do not understand them, O mankind, because it is not like your languages.' This applies to all creatures generally, animal, inanimate and botanical. This is the better known of the two opinions according to the most reliable of two opinions. It was reported in Sahih Al-Bukhari that Ibn Mas'ud said: "We used to hear the Tasbih of the food as it was being eaten. ''
Imam Ahmad recorded that Mu'adh bin Anas said that the Messenger of Allah came upon some people who were sitting on their mounts and talking to one another. He said to them: (Ride them safely then leave them safely. Do not use them as chairs for you to have conversations in the streets and marketplaces, because the one that is ridden may be better than the one who rides it, and may remember Allah more than he does. -Musnad Ahamd-)
An-Nasa'i recorded in his Sunan that 'Abdullah bin `Amr said: "The Messenger of Allah forbade us from killing frogs.'' (source qtafsir)
I would like to add a dimension to Medi1Saif's answer. The great Turkish sufi scholar, Bediuzaman Said Nursi, in one of his "Risale Nur" (Stories of Light) brings to our attention how animals and non-living things praise Allah by repeatedly making dhikir and tesbih of Allah's names.
Examples Cited:
When a cat purrs you can hear "Ya Raheem, Ya Raheem, Ya Raheem,..."
When ocean waves hit the rocky shore, you hear "Ya Jalal, Ya Jalal, Ya Jalal,..."
On a summer night you can witness crickets reciting "Ya Aziz, Ya Aziz, Ya Aziz,..."
and many more.
As an exercise, the next time you go out into solitude with nature like a walk in the woods, take a list of Allah's 99 names and witness the sounds of dhikir and tesbih of these names.
I don't think animals know Allah by intellect but rather through instinct that is uncorruptable fithura. We can hear them praising Allah.
"Besides, mankind is ashraf-ul-makhlukat (the noblest of all creatures). When a human is born, he knows nothing about his Creator"
On the contrary, Allah (swt) says:
And recall (O Prophet) when your Lord brought forth descendants from the loins of the sons of Adam, and made them witnesses against their ownselves. asking them: 'Am I not your Lord?' They said: 'Yes, we do testify.' We did so lest you claim on the Day of Resurrection: 'We were unaware of this.' Surat Al-Ahzab (7:172)
