 Islam defines a miracle as an extraordinary act or event
that is contrary to the laws of nature and can only come about through the
direct intervention of God Almighty Himself. The Arabic word for miracle is
mu’jizah. It stems from the word ajz, meaning something that
incapacitates, cannot be resisted, unique. According to Islam, miracles are
performed by the permission of God, by the Prophets of God. Miracles are not
magic, which is by definition a trick or illusion, nor is a miracle an event
brought about by a learned righteous people who are not Prophets of God. These
events are called karamahs. Thus we find three distinct categories,
miracles, karamahs and magic.
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 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 God praise 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, a karamah 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 . 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 . 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 preforming 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”.
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.” 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 .
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