God sent the Prophets and
Messengers primarily to guide humankind. They were humans, of outstanding
character, pious and trustworthy, that the people could emulate and look to for
direction. They were not gods, demi-gods or saints with divine qualities,
rather they were mere mortals charged with a difficult task. They possessed
exceptional characteristics because they were obligated to face extraordinary
trials and tribulations in order to spread the message to worship God Alone.
“And I (God) created not the jinn[1] and mankind except that
they should worship Me (Alone)”. (Quran 51:56)
In order to make each Prophet
credible in his particular time and place, God granted them miracles,
pertinent, relevant and understandable to the people to whom they were
sent. In the time of Moses magic and sorcery were prevalent therefore
Moses’ miracles appealed to the people he was sent to guide. In the time
of Muhammad, the Arabs, although predominantly unlettered, were masters of the
spoken word. Their poetry and prose were considered outstanding and a
model of literary excellence and the miracle of Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy
and blessings of God be upon him, was of this nature and much more.. The
miracle that defined Prophet Solomon was his unique kingdom. At the time
of Jesus, the Israelites were very knowledgeable in the field of
medicine. Consequently, the miracles Jesus performed were of this nature
and included returning sight to the blind, healing lepers and raising the dead.
“And you heal those born blind
and the lepers by My leave. And behold! You bring forth the
dead by My leave.” (Quran 5:10)
A karamah is an
extraordinary matter or event that is brought about at the hands of a believer
who obeys God, refrains from sin and whose piety at a very high level in the
sight of God. Unlike a miracle which is meant to be done publically so that
people would recognize the truthfulness of the Prophet, akaramah usually
only benefits the one to whom it is given. A karamah could
include such things as knowledge, power or something astonishing such as the karamah that
was given to Usayd ibn al-Hudayr, one of Prophet Muhammad’s companions. A group
of angels in a cloud of light shaded Usayd when he recited Quran[2].
A karamah also occurred for Maryam, the mother of Prophet
Jesus.
So her Lord accepted her with goodly
acceptance. He made her grow in a good manner and put her under the care
of Zakariya . Every time he entered her praying place, he found her
supplied with sustenance. He said: “O Maryam (Mary)! From where
have you got this?” She said, “This is from God. Verily, God
provides sustenance to whom He wills, without limit.” (Quran 3:37)
A miracle results in nothing but
good and is given by the Almighty to the Prophets as a sign of their
veracity. This is coupled with a life of exemplary morals and character,
and a message of goodness.
Magic can also bring about
something extraordinary; however no good can come from magic. It is
performed by evil people and is done by seeking the help of the devils and
drawing close to them[3]. Miracles cannot be learnt or
undone, whereas magic can be learnt, cancelled out or undone.
Prophet Moses’ encounter with the
magicians at Pharaoh’s court explains the difference between magic and
miracles.
They said: “O Musa (Moses)!
Either you throw (first), or shall we have the (first) throw?” He (Moses) said:
“Throw you (first).” When they threw they bewitched the eyes of the people, and
struck terror into them, and they displayed a great magic. And We
revealed to Moses, “Throw your stick,” and behold! It swallowed up straight
away all the falsehoods which they showed. Thus truth was confirmed, and
all that they did was made of no effect. So they were defeated there and
returned disgraced. And the magicians fell down prostrate. (Quran
7:115-120)
The magicians understood that
Moses was not performing a trick or illusion as they had done. They
understood deception well and knew that Moses’ actions were a miracle.
Thus they accepted the truth and fell down in prostration to God, knowing full
well that it would bring about their death for disobeying Pharaoh.
Miracles can be of two types;
those that occur at the request of the people, who want a sign of the veracity
of the Prophet who was sent to them and the second type, occur without
being requested. An example of the first type is when Prophet Saleh’s
people requested he bring out from behind the mountain a she camel and her offspring.
As well, when the unbelievers in Mecca
asked the Prophet Muhammad to show them a miracle, he showed them the splitting
of the moon. One of Prophet Muhammad’s companions mentioned this event
saying, “We were with God’s Messenger at Mina, when the moon was split in two
parts. One part was behind the mountain and the other one was on this
side of the mountain. God’s Messenger said to us, “Bear witness to this”[4].
An example of the second type is
what happened when the tree trunk cried and longed for Prophet Muhammad.
He, the Prophet used to give his Friday speech while leaning on a palm
tree. One of his followers suggested they make a pulpit for him and they
did. So the next Friday when the Prophet stood on the pulpit, the tree trunk
began whimpering for him like a child.
Muslims believe that the Quran
itself is a miracle. Prophet Muhammad said, “Every Prophet was given
miracles on account of which their people believed; but, I have been given
divine revelation which Allah has revealed to me, so I hope that my followers
will outnumber the followers of other Prophets on Resurrection Day.”[5] Prophet
Muhammad was implying that the Quran itself is the greatest miracle of all
time; it is a miraculous book filled with miracles of all kinds. Its
revelation, literary excellence, and its content, including scientific,
prophetic and historical information, all contribute to Quran’s status as a
miracle.
Footnotes:
[1] To
learn more about the Jinn, please see:
http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/669/viewall/
[2] Saheeh
Al-Bukhari
[3] For
details, please see: http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/5246/
[4] Saheeh
Muslim
[5] Saheeh
Al-Bukhari
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