By Editorial Staff
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had innumerable miracles, but his greatest living miracle is the Glorious Qur’an. His miracles include splitting of the moon.
The Prophets and Messengers of Allah (peace be upon them all) are distinguished from common individuals in many qualities and characteristics. Almighty Allah educated them in a way that prepares for their mission and enables them invite people to Allah. Prophets and Messengers (peace be upon them) were supported with supernatural favors by Allah, namely Mu`jiah (i.e. miracle) that means an action or doing which is beyond the ability and power of human beings, and differs from the law of nature in this universe. In Islamic terminology, Mu`ajizah (miracle) means an act which people are unable to do, but Allah shows it on the hands of a Prophet to prove his Prophethood.
What is Miracle?
In Islamic terminology, the action which proves the truth of the claim of Prophethood is called Mu`ajizah. The Prophets (peace be upon them) were given the miracles as proofs of their prophecy before their people. Miracles are such performances that cannot be done without supernatural Help of Allah. By the Support of Allah, the miracle occurs to the Prophet without any practice or machinery. The Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) would cure the blind and leprous without any medicine, and that was his miracle.1
In fact, the miracle stands for the phrase: “O people! Believe, in My Prophet, who is true and genuine in his claim of prophethood and this divine miracle that could not be done by anyone except for Me is a certificate for that.” For more explanation, we can give you an example from our daily life. In the term of traffic signals, the green light stands for the phrase; “O driver! Now you are allowed to move ahead, there is no danger.” On the other hand, the red light stands for the phrase “O driver! Please, stop now, you are not allowed to move ahead.” Likewise, the miracle of splitting moon for our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by Allah the Almighty stands for the phrase; “O people, believe in the Prophethood of our Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him), because I supported him with My miraculous power as no one of the creation can split the moon, and no one has that power, so he is a true Prophet.”
Miracle of the Glorious Qur’an
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had innumerable miracles, but his greatest living miracle is the Glorious Qur’an. His miracles include splitting of the moon, food multiplication, water multiplication, crying of the stem of the date-palm tree, glorification of Allah by the Prophet’s food, the night journey of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to Jerusalem and ascending to the seven Heavens, informing about the future and running of water from between his fingers like a fountain. In addition to that, the trees obeyed his orders, mountains and rocks say “peace be upon you! Oh! Messenger of Allah,” curing the old and ill people, healing the sick and injured people, testimony of the animals for his Prophethood, testimony of Jinn for his Messengership and protection of Allah. Furthermore, many extraordinary incidents happened during his birth and throughout his childhood.2
Since the purpose of miracle is to convince the people that such things could not happen without the authority of Almighty Allah, it was essential that miracle should surpass every branch of knowledge or expertise which was the most advanced at the time of the Prophet. Otherwise, people could not be convinced that the miracle was really of such high standard which was beyond human capacity.
During the days of the Prophet Musa (peace be upon him), magic was the most advanced art of that time. Therefore, Allah (Glory be to Him) gave him the walking stick which turned into a python and swallowed sticks and ropes of the magicians of Pharaoh.
Qur’an a Challenge to Arab Poets
When our noble Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) appeared, the Arabs were very proud of their eloquent language and poetry. Even their girls could compose poetry of very high standard without any previous preparation. Poets were held in high esteem in the Arabian Peninsula. The seven Mu`allaqat (well-known long poems) were put on the walls of Ka`abah and poets were challenged to compose and bring similar poetry.3
At that time, Allah gave the noble Prophet (peace be upon him) the miracle of the Glorious Qur’an which was quite separate from the styles and genres of their literature. It is neither poetry nor an ordinary prose.
While the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was crowned with the glory of being Ummi (did not write or read), but he was bestowed with knowledge from Allah and was saved from the infidelity and polytheism of the people of Quraish. Allah Himself describes the Prophet (peace be upon him) as ‘unlettered’ (Ummi), a description well understood and clear in the Arabic language. In fact, this unique characteristic is a clear proof of his Prophethood that attests the true divine nature of his message. The very fact that the beloved Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the very best of all creation, did not read or write demonstrates unequivocally the tremendous favor of Allah upon him, and shows how tremendous a human he was. He was human, but not like humans, a man of knowledge, but not like our knowledge; his knowledge was pure and beyond comprehension, because it was not tainted with any worldly means of acquisition.
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[1] Encyclopedia of Islamic Concepts, definition of Al-Mu`ajizah, an article prepared by Dr. Prof, `Abdul-Mu`ati Bayyumi, The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Arab Republic of Egypt, 2009.
[2] For more details, see, Ar-Rasul by Sa`eed Hawwa, chapter 2, Miracles.
[3] Sayyid Sabiq, Al-`Aqa’id al-Islamiyyah, Al-Fat’h Lil-I`alam Al-`Arabi, Cairo, 2002, p.187.
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