The Miracles of the Prophets

Brothers in Islam, Allah the Almighty supported the Prophets, peace be upon them all, with miracles and irrefutable evidence proving that their prophethood is in fact a matter of truth. Allah the Exalted backed the prophets with the gift of patience which they rewardably employed with sincerity when faced with harm during their call to Islam.

Brothers in Islam, “Miracles of the Prophets” are the subject of our Friday speeches for today. A miracle is defined as an extraordinary event happening only on the hands of a prophet. It is also characterized as an event that cannot be challenged or paralleled as it is not a usual event that takes place in everyday life. The invention of an airplane, for example, cannot be considered a miracle since a miracle happens only to those who have received the revelation from Allah. Miracles are only for prophets and they happen to prophets to support their call to Islam. Consequently, no one can discredit a prophet by coming up with something that is similar to a miracle. Prophets are known for their miracles, in fact there has not been a Prophet without one. A miracle is a sign attesting to the truth of the claim of Prophethood that a prophet makes. Imam ash-Shafi^iyy said:” For every miracle Allah gave to the other Prophets, He gave Prophet Muhammad a similar or a greater miracle”.

When the people of Prophet Salih asked him for a miracle, Allah supported Prophet Salih (peace be upon him) by bringing forth a camel and its calf from a solid rock. Upon seeing that, some people embraced Islam and others yet still did not.

Likewise, Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) son of Lady Mariam was supported with Miracles when he called the people to the religion of Islam and to believe in the oneness of Allah. The people at the time of Prophet Jesus were renowned for their high level of skill in Medicine. The people could not match what he did by the will of Allah as He supported him with miracles such as reviving the dead and curing blindness and leprosy. These two diseases in particular were usually considered untreatable by the people of his time who were skillful in medicine. None of them were able to do what Prophet Jesus did, no one was able to revive the dead or cure the blind or cure leprosy by placing their hand on the person or wiping over his eyes. These are extraordinary events occurring only for Prophets by the will of Allah. If all the non-believers were to unite their efforts in an attempt to match a prophet’s miracle they would only be met with failure.

As for our master Muhammad (peace be upon him), Allah the Exalted supported him with many miracles. The people of Prophet Muhammad were famous for their Arabic language eloquence. The greatest miracle given to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Holy Qur’an, the Book which is always preserved from perversion. It is a miracle that stood the test of time lasting for centuries and remains unchallenged until the Day of Resurrection. Despite of the Arabs proficiency in the Arabic language they were unable to come up with an Ayah which is similar to a single Ayah in the Holy Qur`an.  How honoured we are to be among the nation of Prophet Muhammad, the one whom Allah supported with many astonishing miracles standing witness to his truthfulness.

Amongst Prophet Muhammad’s miracles (peace be upon him), one which happened on the day of the trench. As the companions (may Allah have mercy on them) were digging they came across a large rock that they could not dig out, so they informed their leader Muhammad (peace be upon him) who took the pickaxe, said ‘Bismillah’ three times and then hit the rock once only to see it disintegrate to the ground in the form of running sand.

Another one of his miracles (peace be upon him) happened when a man came to him from Yamamah holding a newborn baby only one day old. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) addressed the baby: ‘O young one, who am I?’ By Allah’s will the newborn baby spoke. The newborn said, ‘You are the Messenger of Allah.’ The Messenger of Allah then said to the newborn baby, ‘May Allah bless you.’ This baby was later known as ‘the blessed from Yamamah’.

Another miracle given to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was his ability to see his companions whilst they were physically present behind him. Anas Ibn Malik narrated that once when the call for the prayer was made, the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said what means: ‘O people, I am in front of you, so do not perform ruku^ or sujud before I do, and do not raise your heads from sujud before I do, for I can see you when you are in front of me and I can see you when you are behind me.’

Another one of his miracles, peace be upon him, was the feeding of the army from a small container of dates until they were satisfied. Moreover, he returned what remained in it to its owner Abu Hurayrah, may Allah raise his rank. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him is full of blessings and due to his supplication Abu Hurayrah ate from the dates of that container during the life of the Messenger of Allah, the life of Abu Bakr, ^Umar and ^Uthman. At a later stage, the container was lost. Hence, Abu Hurayrah used to say that he was inflicted with three calamities; the death of the Prophet, the murder of ^Uthman and the loss of the container.

Brothers in Islam one must believe in the miracles of the Prophets. The Prophets (may Allah raise their ranks) were sent to teach us what is good/halal and to warn us against what is evil/haram. It is obligatory upon us to believe in all the Prophets, beginning with Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) to the last amongst them Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon them all.

We do not belie Prophet Jesus. We do not bely Prophet Moses, We do not bely Prophet Haarun, We do not bely Prophet Ya’qub, or Prophet Ishaak, or Prophet Isma^eel, or Prophet Ibrahim, or Prophet Noah. We believe in all the Prophets.

We ask Allah the Exalted to endow upon us goodness from the blessings of the Prophets and Messengers and we ask Allah to make us amongst those who die in state of complete piety. Ameen.