The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray facing a palm trunk when the mosque was still a simple structure of palm branches, and he would deliver his sermons leaning against that trunk.A man from among his companions said to him, "Shall we make something for you to stand upon on Fridays so that the people may see you and hear your sermon?"He replied, "Yes."So they made him a pulpit with three steps, the steps that form the upper part of the minbar. When the pulpit was made, they placed it where it now stands.When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intended to go up onto the pulpit, he passed by the trunk against which he used to deliver his sermons. As he passed it, the trunk moaned until it cracked and split open. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ heard the sound of the trunk, he came down, stroked it with his hand until it became quiet, and then returned to the pulpit. After that, whenever he prayed, he would pray facing it.When the mosque was later demolished and rebuilt, Ubayy bin Kaab took that trunk and kept it at his home until it decayed, was eaten by termites, and turned to dust.
حدثنا إسمعيل بن عبد الله الرقي حدثنا عبيد الله بن عمرو الرقي عن عبد الله بن محمد بن عقيل
كان رسول الله ﷺ يصلي إلى جذع إذ كان المسجد عريشا وكان يخطب إلى ذلك الجذع فقال رجل من أصحابه هل لك أن نجعل لك شيئا تقوم عليه يوم الجمعة حتى يراك الناس وتسمعهم خطبتك قال نعم فصنع له ثلاث درجات فهي التي أعلى المنبر فلما وضع المنبر وضعوه في موضعه الذي هو فيه فلما أراد رسول الله ﷺ أن يقوم إلى المنبر مر إلى الجذع الذي كان يخطب إليه فلما جاوز الجذع خار حتى تصدع وانشق فنزل رسول الله ﷺ لما سمع صوت الجذع فمسحه بيده حتى سكن ثم رجع إلى المنبر فكان إذا صلى صلى إليه فلما هدم المسجد وغير أخذ ذلك الجذع أبي بن كعب وكان عنده في بيته حتى بلي فأكلته الأرضة وعاد رفاتا
Its chain is daif. Ahmad reported it (5/137) from the hadith of Ubaydullah bin Amr by this route, and Saeed bin Salama bin Abu Hisam Madini followed him in narrating it from Ibn Aqeel with this wording, as found with Abdullah bin Ahmad in the additions to the Musnad. Ibn Aqeel is daif, as mentioned earlier, p. 138, and Busiri said in Zawaid bin Majah, "This chain is hasan."