Camels Created from Devils — What the Hadith Actually Means According to Islamic Scholars
The hadith stating that camels were created from devils is not a literal statement about their physical origin, but a description of their temperament and the spiritual disruption they cause during prayer. This is the consistent position of classical and contemporary Islamic scholarship, and the evidence for it is drawn from the linguistic usage of the Quran itself.
What the Hadith Says and Why It Is Misunderstood
— Sharh ‘Umdat al-Fiqh (1/185)
The apparent surface reading of this hadith — that camels share a physical substance with devils — is rejected by every scholar who has addressed the question. The word “devil” (shaytaan) in Arabic is applied to any rebellious, stubborn, and disruptive creature, not exclusively to the spiritual beings of the unseen world. This linguistic usage is foundational to understanding the hadith correctly.
The Position of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari
Its meaning is that they were created from the nature of devils, and that when a camel is frightened, its fright is from a devil who runs after it and scares it away. Do you not see its appearance and its eyes when it is frightened?
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari grounds the interpretation in observable behavior: the wild, unpredictable nature of a frightened camel is itself the evidence that the hadith is describing a temperamental resemblance rather than a metaphysical one.
The Response of Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban
If the prohibition against praying in camel pens was because they were created from devils, the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family, would not have prayed on a camel, since it is impossible that prayer is not permissible in places where a devil may be, and then it is permissible to pray on the devil himself. Rather, the meaning of his saying, may God bless him and grant him peace: “It was created from the devils,” is that he meant that the devils were with it by way of proximity and closeness.
Ibn Hibban’s argument is a logical reductio: if camels were literally made of devilish substance, the Prophet praying on the back of a camel would itself be impermissible — which no scholar holds. The fact that the Prophet prayed on camels demolishes the literal reading entirely.
The Explanation of Dr. Salman al-Awdah
It does not mean that the substance of its creation is from the devils, but rather from its devilish nature, so it is like His saying, the Most High: “He created man from haste” (Al-Anbiya’: 21) — meaning his nature is like this. And for this reason, ablution was prescribed for us from its meat, unlike other things. It indicates that the reason for the prohibition is that camels are from devils and nothing else. Camels do the work of devils and jinn, because camels are very straying, so they disturb the heart of the worshipper and prevent humility.
Dr. Salman al-Awdah draws the decisive Quranic parallel. The phrase “He created man from haste” (Al-Anbiya’: 21) does not mean man is physically composed of haste — it means haste is a defining characteristic of human nature. The same grammatical and rhetorical structure applies to the camel hadith.
“Man was created of haste.” (Al-Anbiya’: 21)
This Quranic usage — “created from X” meaning “X characterizes his nature” — is the interpretive key that resolves the apparent difficulty of the camel hadith entirely.
The Explanation of Al-Khattabi
His statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “For they are from devils” — he means that because of the aversion and straying they cause, they may spoil the prayer of the worshipper.The Arabs call every rebellious creature a devil, as if he is saying: If the worshipper prays in their presence, he is deceived in his prayer because he is not safe from their aversion and their knocking around. This meaning is safe from sheep because of their silence and weak movement when agitated.
Al-Khattabi situates the hadith squarely within its practical legal context: the prohibition on praying in camel pens exists because camels are unpredictable, aggressive, and disruptive to the concentration of prayer — not because they carry metaphysical devilish substance.
Additional Scholarly Interpretations
Some scholars approached the hadith from the angle of ritual purity rather than temperament. One interpretation holds that the plains where camels rest during journeys — unlike the hard ground where sheep rest — tend to accumulate invisible filth and excrement from traveling caravans, and that the prohibition is therefore precautionary on grounds of najasa rather than spiritual disruption. Under this reading, the “devilish” characterization is simply an explanation for why camel resting grounds carry a greater risk of impurity than sheep pens.
A further interpretation attributed to some scholars is that the prohibited locations refer specifically to places where travelers stop and unload their luggage, since it was the custom of travelers to relieve themselves near their baggage, rendering such grounds presumptively impure. On this reading, the hadith is a practical hygiene ruling dressed in the rhetorical language of spiritual warning.
The Medical Dimension — Ibn Uthaymeen
Camel meat has a strong effect on the nerves, irritating them. For this reason, modern medicine forbids a nervous person from eating a lot of camel meat. Ablution calms and cools the nerves. The Prophet also commanded ablution when angry in order to calm him down.Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen cites Ibn al-Qayyim on this point — see I’lam al-Muwaqqi’in (1/395) and Zaad al-Ma’ad (4/376) — in support of the view that the prescription of wudu after eating camel meat carries a physiological rationale alongside its spiritual one. The irritating effect of camel meat on the nervous system, and the cooling effect of ritual washing on the body, form a coherent medical pair.
al-Albani classed the hadith commanding ablution when angry as da’eef in his commentary on al-Mishkat (5113). Ibn Uthaymeen’s citation of it should be read in that light.
Conclusion
The hadith stating camels were created from devils is not a statement about metaphysical composition. It is a description of temperament, using a standard Arabic rhetorical device also found in the Quran itself — “He created man from haste” — where “created from X” means “X characterizes the nature of this creature.” Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban, Al-Khattabi, Dr. Salman al-Awdah, and Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen all converge on this reading. Ibn Hibban’s logical argument from the Prophet’s own practice of praying on camels is alone sufficient to eliminate the literal interpretation. The prohibition on praying in camel pens is explained by classical scholars through the lens of temperamental disruption to prayer, ritual impurity of camel resting grounds, and — secondarily — the physiological effects of camel meat on the nervous system.