Today, we will discuss some of the miracles of the Prophet PBUH. The word miracle in Arabic is mu'jiza (معجزة).
The Definition of Mu'jiza
What is a mu'jiza? The word comes from the Arabic "ajaza (عجز)" which means to be weak and incapable. (Side note: And this is why the old person in Arabic is called "ajuz [عجوز].") Why would the word miracle come from the same root as weak? Because a mu'jiza is something that the rest of mankind is too weak and incapable to reproduce. The scholars have given a definition of a miracle, and that is an occurrence beyond the typical occurrences men are accustomed to — something that is beyond the natural order, i.e., supernatural; and it occurs at the hands of somebody who claims to be a prophet in order to prove the claim of his prophethood.
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The Purpose of Mu'jiza
What is the purpose of a mu'jiza? We just defined it. It's to prove that a particular human has been sent by Allah. And it's the sunnah of Allah that He has sent prophets with miracles — no prophet has ever come without miracles. It's a part of being a prophet that you have miracles to show the people.
But is it the only sign you are a prophet? No. A miracle is but one of the proofs of a prophet. To say a miracle is the only proof of prophethood means everyone who converts must have converted because of a miracle. But is that the case? Did Abu Bakr see a miracle to convert? Did Ali? No. The majority of converts did not see miracles to convert. To this day, most Muslims who converted have not seen any mu'jiza. So clearly, a mu'jiza is one of the ways to prove prophethood, but there are other ways as well, including the character of the prophets, their truthfulness, their lifestyles, and the content of their Message.
But is it the only sign you are a prophet? No. A miracle is but one of the proofs of a prophet. To say a miracle is the only proof of prophethood means everyone who converts must have converted because of a miracle. But is that the case? Did Abu Bakr see a miracle to convert? Did Ali? No. The majority of converts did not see miracles to convert. To this day, most Muslims who converted have not seen any mu'jiza. So clearly, a mu'jiza is one of the ways to prove prophethood, but there are other ways as well, including the character of the prophets, their truthfulness, their lifestyles, and the content of their Message.
Now, the Quran mentions that miracles do not help arrogant people. Who do they help?
1. People who already believe — it increases their Iman.
2. People who are open-minded, genuine, and sincere — it works for them.
Those who are arrogant, it doesn't matter what you do; they will never believe. Allah mentions in the Quran the arrogance of the pagans of the Quraysh, e.g., in Surah al-Isra, verses 90-93:
And in Surah al-Hijr, verses 14 & 15:
2. People who are open-minded, genuine, and sincere — it works for them.
Those who are arrogant, it doesn't matter what you do; they will never believe. Allah mentions in the Quran the arrogance of the pagans of the Quraysh, e.g., in Surah al-Isra, verses 90-93:
وَقَالُوا لَن نُّؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ تَفْجُرَ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ يَنبُوعًا
17:90. And they say, "We will not believe you until you break open for us from the ground a spring.
أَوْ تَكُونَ لَكَ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَعِنَبٍ فَتُفَجِّرَ الْأَنْهَارَ خِلَالَهَا تَفْجِيرًا
17:91. Or [until] you have a garden of palm trees and grapes and make rivers gush forth within them in force [and abundance].
أَوْ تُسْقِطَ السَّمَاءَ كَمَا زَعَمْتَ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفًا أَوْ تَأْتِيَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ قَبِيلًا
17:92. Or you make the heaven fall upon us in fragments as you have claimed or you bring Allah and the angels before [us].
أَوْ يَكُونَ لَكَ بَيْتٌ مِّن زُخْرُفٍ أَوْ تَرْقَىٰ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَلَن نُّؤْمِنَ لِرُقِيِّكَ حَتَّىٰ تُنَزِّلَ عَلَيْنَا كِتَابًا نَّقْرَؤُهُ ۗ قُلْ سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي هَلْ كُنتُ إِلَّا بَشَرًا رَّسُولًا
17:93. Or you have a house of gold or you ascend into the sky. And [even then], we will not believe in your ascension until you bring down to us a book we may read." Say, "Exalted is my Lord! Was I ever but a human Messenger?"And in Surah al-Hijr, verses 14 & 15:
وَلَوْ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِم بَابًا مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ فَظَلُّوا فِيهِ يَعْرُجُونَ
15:14. And [even] if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they continued therein to ascend,
لَقَالُوا إِنَّمَا سُكِّرَتْ أَبْصَارُنَا بَلْ نَحْنُ قَوْمٌ مَّسْحُورُونَ
15:15. they would say, "Our eyes have only been dazzled. Rather, we are a people affected by magic."Why do we begin by mentioning these verses? Because we need to realize that even though for us the miracles we will discuss today are complete proofs of the prophethood of our Prophet PBUH and we will say, "How can anyone deny them?" but Allah has already said it doesn't matter what you do, some people won't believe — their hearts are deaf, dumb, and blind. In Surah al-An'am verse 111, He SWT said:
وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَا إِلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الْمَوْتَىٰ وَحَشَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ قُبُلًا مَّا كَانُوا لِيُؤْمِنُوا إِلَّا أَن يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ يَجْهَلُونَ
6:111. And even if We had sent down to them the angels [with the Message] and the dead spoke to them [of it] and We gathered together every [created] thing in front of them, they would not believe unless Allah should will. But most of them, [of that], are ignorant.
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ لِقَاءَنَا لَوْلَا أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَوْ نَرَىٰ رَبَّنَا ۗ لَقَدِ اسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ وَعَتَوْا عُتُوًّا كَبِيرًا
25:21. And those who do not expect the meeting with Us say, "Why were not angels sent down to us, or [why] do we [not] see our Lord?" They have certainly been carried away by their arrogance and have entirely exceeded all limits.They have no desire to meet Allah really; they aren't sincere; they don't really care about religion; they demand to see God just in order to win arguments. Allah says, "They have certainly been carried away by their arrogance." If the miracles around them are not causing them to believe, why do they think anything else would cause them to believe?
So from all of this, we gain a simple fact that some people won't believe no matter what you do. A lot of people ask, "Why weren't the Quraysh shown more miracles?" The answer is because they still would not have believed. And Allah in His wisdom does not play games [see Quran, 21:16-17]. Once, the Quraysh asked the Prophet PBUH to turn the mountain into gold, and they said if he did, they would believe in him; so the Prophet PBUH asked Allah, and Allah responded: 'If you want, I can turn it into gold, but once I do, they only have the option to believe or else they are gone (i.e., they will be destroyed)'—because Allah does not play games. And this means if they don't get the miracle, Allah will give them some more chances — and so in his wisdom, the Prophet PBUH chose this option.
We began like this to illustrate why most of the miracles happened in front of the sahaba, and only a few happened in front of the Quraysh. It's a mercy from Allah that the disbelievers weren't shown too many miracles, because too much arrogance means Allah's destruction. Out of mercy, Allah showed them a few miracles enough to know that the Prophet PBUH is a true prophet, and then He gave them respite and some time — until the Battle of Badr, until the Battle of Uhud, until the Battle of Khandaq, and so on, until finally the Conquest of Makkah — they either had this option or that option.
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How Many Miracles Was the Prophet PBUH Given?
The miracles of the Prophet PBUH have been the subject of special books written; the most important of these are the books called Dala'il al-Nubuwwah (دلائل النبوة - the Proofs of Prophethood). Two of the more famous of these books are: (i) Dala'il al-Nubuwwah by Abu Nuaym al-Asbahani (أبو نعيم الأصبهاني) (d. 430 AH), and (ii) Dala'il al-Nubuwwah by al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH) from Iran who wrote the most famous book about the miracles of the Prophet PBUH and it's recently been published in 12 volumes.
How many miracles was the Prophet PBUH given? Imam al-Bayhaqi who is the foremost authority says there are over 1,000 miracles documented in the life and the sunan of the Prophet PBUH.
Later on, al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH), the master of hadith, quotes Imam al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH) as saying there are authentically narrated more than 1,200 miracles from our Prophet PBUH. But do realize these are only talking about specific ahadith and incidents (e.g., splitting of the moon, the water coming from his hands), and the fact of the matter is every single statement and action that has ever happened to the Prophet PBUH is a type of miracle — his existence, his conduct, his mannerisms, his methodology, his whole life, is a miracle, as the famous Andalusian scholar Ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH) said, "If our Nabi PBUH had not been given any miracle other than the miracle of his own life (i.e., his seerah), that would have been sufficient to prove that he is a prophet from Allah"—and wallahi, this is true.
Later on, al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH), the master of hadith, quotes Imam al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH) as saying there are authentically narrated more than 1,200 miracles from our Prophet PBUH. But do realize these are only talking about specific ahadith and incidents (e.g., splitting of the moon, the water coming from his hands), and the fact of the matter is every single statement and action that has ever happened to the Prophet PBUH is a type of miracle — his existence, his conduct, his mannerisms, his methodology, his whole life, is a miracle, as the famous Andalusian scholar Ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH) said, "If our Nabi PBUH had not been given any miracle other than the miracle of his own life (i.e., his seerah), that would have been sufficient to prove that he is a prophet from Allah"—and wallahi, this is true.
And since it is not possible to go through all 1,200+ miracles in one lecture, we will instead categorize the miracles into 10 categories. (And do note this is not comprehensive; there are more than these 10.) And do realize each of these categories has hundreds of examples:
That is, miracles that occurred with rocks, stones, etc. Of these are:
1) The famous hadith in Sahih Bukhari in which the Prophet PBUH said, "I still recognize the stone that used to say salam to me every time I passed by it in Makkah before my prophethood" [see episode 10].
2) Ibn Mas'ud said, "One time, we heard the food that the Prophet PBUH put into his mouth saying tasbih"—reported in Sahih Bukhari.
3) Abu Dharr al-Ghifari narrated, "I was in a gathering with Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, and others; and the Prophet PBUH took a group of pebbles in his hand and we all heard the stones praising Allah. The Prophet PBUH passed these stones to Abu Bakr and they continued praising and we all heard. The Prophet PBUH took it back, gave it to Umar and they continued praising and we all heard. The Prophet PBUH took it back, gave it to Uthman and they continued praising and we all heard. All of us heard this. Then after the Prophet PBUH left and we took those stones, nobody could hear anything from them"—reported in al-Tabarani's al-Mu'jam al-Awsat (المعجم الأوسط). The point is everything praises Allah but we just can't hear them [see Quran, 17:44] — and it's as if by the Prophet PBUH picking up the stones, the barrier between us and those rocks was lifted, so the sahaba could hear what the stones were always doing. And when he put them down and left, the barrier returned back to where it was.
4) It's narrated in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad that once, the Prophet PBUH was giving dawah to one of the leaders of the Banu Amir ibn Sa'sa'ah (بنو عامر بن صعصعة), and he said, "Do you want to see a miracle?" The chieftain said, "Yes." So the Prophet PBUH said, "Look at that grove of date palms and call out to that small tree to come." So the chieftain said, "O baby palm tree, come!" And the sahabi narrates that the tree came crawling all the way until it stood in front of the chieftain. Then the Prophet PBUH said, "Go back," and the tree went back until it resumed its original post. And the chieftain converted on the spot and said, "I shall never disbelieve in anything that comes from you after this." This shows us the purpose of miracles. This man was open-minded — he was shown a miracle and he converted on the spot. The leaders of the Quraysh on the other hand, it doesn't matter what the Prophet PBUH showed them, they would not have converted.
5) Jabir ibn Abdillah reports in Abu Dawud and Musnad Imam Ahmad, "Once, we went on a military expedition, and the Prophet PBUH took me to help him relieve himself"—meaning help protect him PBUH, carry the water, etc. So the Prophet PBUH went out, but he could not find anything to cover himself with, until he saw in a valley two shrubs on either side. Jabir says, "He went to one of the shrubs, held onto it, and said, 'Follow me by the permission of Allah,' and the shrub started following behind him along the ground." Then the Prophet PBUH went to the other shrub and said again, "Follow me by the permission of Allah," and he began walking away from Jabir, both shrubs in his hand, and they walked with him, until finally, the Prophet PBUH merged the two together and said, "Stick together by the permission of Allah," and the two of them stuck together and the Prophet PBUH relieved himself. Then after this, Jabir says, "When the Prophet PBUH started walking towards me, I saw the two shrubs return to their original places." Note this was a miracle not done to demonstrate anything — just done so the Prophet PBUH could cover himself.
6) Of course, the most famous in this category is the crying of the trunk of the tree of the Prophet PBUH [see episode 30]. The entire Masjid of the Prophet PBUH —jam-packed with over 1,000 people— witnessed this great miracle. When the Prophet's PBUH Masjid was originally built, the sahaba had to cut down trees, and they left one of the stumps so the Prophet PBUH could deliver the khutbah from it. Eventually, money came in and so one sahabi recommended a custom pulpit carved out with three steps be built. So the Prophet PBUH agreed, and one of the ladies of the Ansar had a servant trained in the art of carpentry, so the servant was commissioned and he built a pulpit. And the new pulpit was placed in the middle of the Masjid. (Side note: Before this time, the stump-pulpit was towards one of the sides of the Masjid. Because you cannot decide where the tree is.) And the very first day the Prophet PBUH gave a khutbah from the new pulpit —and this is reported in Bukhari and Muslim and it is mutawatir— the sahaba said, "We began hearing a noise like the crying of a baby camel — and we found the source of the noise was the stump, so the Prophet PBUH stopped the khutbah, came down from the new minbar, hugged the stump, and he patted it until it stopped crying." And then —it's said in one version— he PBUH said, "If I had not patted and stopped it, it would have cried all the way until the Day of Judgment." And he then commanded the tree be uprooted and buried underneath the new minbar (where it is to this day). Whenever Hasan al-Basri would recite this hadith, he would begin to cry, because, he would say, "A tree cried because it missed the Prophet PBUH and the knowledge he spread, how about us and our hearts then? Should we not cry as well for not having had the opportunity to hear our Prophet PBUH?"
1) Of them is the hadith of Sahih Bukhari that in Khaybar, when the Prophet PBUH put in his mouth the shoulder blade of a lamb given by a Jew, he said to the sahaba, "Everyone, stop eating. The shoulder of the lamb has told me that it has been poisoned," i.e., the lamb spoke to the Prophet PBUH [see episode 68].
2) Reported by Abu Dawud: Once, the Prophet PBUH was riding on a camel with Abdullah ibn Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. And Abdullah reports, "I was with the Prophet PBUH on a camel and we entered one of the gardens of the Ansar. There was another camel there who came up to the Prophet PBUH and started making its noises, and tears began to come from its eyes. The Prophet PBUH said, 'Where is the master of this camel?' A young Ansari came and said, 'I am its owner.' The Prophet PBUH said, 'Do you not fear Allah with regards to these creatures that do not speak? For verily, it has complained to me that you do not feed it properly, and you beat it and overwork it.'"
3) In an even more bizarre incident narrated in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, a group of Ansar came complaining that their camel had gone mad, and they begged the Prophet PBUH to help them out, so the Prophet PBUH went to the pen and entered it alone. They said, "Ya Rasulullah, this camel is as mad as a dog with rabies. We fear he will attack and harm you." But the Prophet PBUH said, "I have no danger from him." So the Prophet PBUH entered the pen and walked towards the camel. And when the camel saw who it was, it lowered its forehead as if it was prostrating. The Prophet PBUH rubbed its head, picked it up, and took it back where it should be, and it was normal after that. And after this, the sahaba said, "O Messenger of Allah, this was an animal that prostrated to you who cannot even speak; surely, it is more befitting for us to prostrate to you?" But the Prophet PBUH said, "Do not do so, for it is not allowed for any human to prostrate to another human."
4) We also did the story of Suraqa ibn Malik when he tried to capture the Prophet PBUH but his horse would not proceed when it saw the Prophet PBUH. It stopped right then and there and Suraqa fell off of it. And every time Suraqa tried to proceed, the horse would stop and Suraqa would keep on falling off. Three times until finally he realized it was beyond his control [see episode 27].
5) In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad and the Musannaf (مصنف) of Ibn Abi Shaybah (ابن أبي شيبة) (d. 235 AH) it's narrated that the Prophet PBUH was sitting in his Masjid, and all of a sudden a camel came running in, made its way directly to the Prophet PBUH, put its head in his lap, and it began making noises and crying. In front of all the sahaba this happened. And the Prophet PBUH said, "Go and find the owner of this camel, for it has a story to tell." In those days, people recognized each other's animals and knew their owners, so the sahaba found the owner and said, "What is the matter with your camel? For verily, it went to the Prophet PBUH and he is saying it has a story to tell." But the owner became frustrated and said, "What is the problem? There is no problem. We worked the camel and when it stopped working properly, we used it to carry water, then when it couldn't even do this, last night we decided to slaughter it and distribute the meat amongst us." When the Prophet PBUH heard the news, he said, "Then either gift me the camel or allow me to buy it," and so the owner gave the camel. In other words, the camel just didn't want to die, so the Prophet PBUH was merciful he made an exception and did not allow them to kill this one camel.
Perhaps this is the largest section of miracles in terms of the sheer quantity of narrations. So many times the Prophet PBUH made a small quantity of food feed a large quantity of people, and a small quantity of water take care of a large quantity of people.
1) Of the most salient examples is at the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, when the Muslims ran out of water, the Prophet PBUH put his hands in whatever water remained and he then took his hands out, and from between his fingers, water began to flow like a fountain. And people did wudu and washed themselves. In another version, Anas ibn Malik said, "Over 300 people did wudu from the water coming from between the fingers of the Prophet PBUH." Imam al-Qurtubi commented: The miracle of the water coming from the hands of the Prophet PBUH is even more miraculous than the miracle of Musa AS causing water to gush from a rock, because occasionally water does come from a rock (even though it's a small quantity — and Musa AS made it a large quantity), but never does water gush from flesh and bones.
2) In the Battle of Tabuk, a small quantity of food sufficed an entire army [see episode 92].
3) In the incident of the Hijrah, the Prophet PBUH and Abu Bakr passed by an old lady whose animal could not produce milk, but when the Prophet PBUH made du'a, the udders filled up and overflowed [see episode 28]. Of course, this first happened with Halimah, his foster mother: All of a sudden her camels and goats started giving milk [see episode 7]. And in the early stage of Makkan dawah as well, a similar miracle happened in front of Ibn Mas'ud RA [see episode 11].
4) Perhaps the most famous incident in this category is that of Khandaq [see episode 58]. When the Prophet PBUH was digging the trench with the sahaba, Jabir ibn Abdillah came home to his wife and said, "O my wife, I have heard the voice of the Prophet PBUH weak (i.e., he is hungry). What do we have? Whatever we have, we must give him." And she said there was an old (or small) goat and some flour, so he told her to prepare them. This would have fed only around 5 people, so when Jabir went back to the trench, he *whispered* to the Prophet PBUH, "I have something prepared." But then, in one version, it's said the Prophet PBUH stood up and announced to the entire trench, "O people of the trench, Jabir has a walima (feast) prepared for you!" and everyone was overjoyed because they were all hungry and tired. Then the Prophet PBUH told Jabir, "Make sure your wife does not put the bread inside the oven or cook the meat until I come." And when he PBUH came, he spat into the dough, kneaded it with his own hands, and he helped put the dish into the furnace. And then in batches the entire army of 1,400 people came, and they ate, and they left. And when they left, there was more food than in the beginning. This is of the barakah witnessed by thousands of people in Madinah.
That is, out of nowhere, the Prophet PBUH was protected with miraculous intervention. And we see this throughout the entire seerah. How many times was he protected out of nowhere? There are just countless incidents to list. Of them:
1) The entire Hijrah [see episode 27]: (i) On the night when he left his house, (ii) when they were walking to Madinah and the Prophet PBUH was looking up in Ghari Thawr and Abu Bakr was trembling but they were saved, (iii) the story of Suraqa ibn Malik; etc.
2) The praying in front of the Ka'bah [see episode 15]: Abu Jahal boasted to his peers he would humiliate the Prophet PBUH by putting his foot on the neck of the Prophet PBUH while he PBUH was in sajdah, but when he came forward to do this, he began walking backward in fear. And when he was asked why, he said he saw between him and the Prophet PBUH a pit of fire and there were wings hovering above it. Later the Prophet PBUH told the sahaba that the fire (seen by Abu Jahal) was brought by the angels.
3) The Battle of Badr: 300 not-so-well-armed Muslims against 1,000 strong of well-armed Quraysh.
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1. Miracles That Occurred With Inanimate Objects
That is, miracles that occurred with rocks, stones, etc. Of these are:
1) The famous hadith in Sahih Bukhari in which the Prophet PBUH said, "I still recognize the stone that used to say salam to me every time I passed by it in Makkah before my prophethood" [see episode 10].
2) Ibn Mas'ud said, "One time, we heard the food that the Prophet PBUH put into his mouth saying tasbih"—reported in Sahih Bukhari.
3) Abu Dharr al-Ghifari narrated, "I was in a gathering with Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, and others; and the Prophet PBUH took a group of pebbles in his hand and we all heard the stones praising Allah. The Prophet PBUH passed these stones to Abu Bakr and they continued praising and we all heard. The Prophet PBUH took it back, gave it to Umar and they continued praising and we all heard. The Prophet PBUH took it back, gave it to Uthman and they continued praising and we all heard. All of us heard this. Then after the Prophet PBUH left and we took those stones, nobody could hear anything from them"—reported in al-Tabarani's al-Mu'jam al-Awsat (المعجم الأوسط). The point is everything praises Allah but we just can't hear them [see Quran, 17:44] — and it's as if by the Prophet PBUH picking up the stones, the barrier between us and those rocks was lifted, so the sahaba could hear what the stones were always doing. And when he put them down and left, the barrier returned back to where it was.
4) It's narrated in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad that once, the Prophet PBUH was giving dawah to one of the leaders of the Banu Amir ibn Sa'sa'ah (بنو عامر بن صعصعة), and he said, "Do you want to see a miracle?" The chieftain said, "Yes." So the Prophet PBUH said, "Look at that grove of date palms and call out to that small tree to come." So the chieftain said, "O baby palm tree, come!" And the sahabi narrates that the tree came crawling all the way until it stood in front of the chieftain. Then the Prophet PBUH said, "Go back," and the tree went back until it resumed its original post. And the chieftain converted on the spot and said, "I shall never disbelieve in anything that comes from you after this." This shows us the purpose of miracles. This man was open-minded — he was shown a miracle and he converted on the spot. The leaders of the Quraysh on the other hand, it doesn't matter what the Prophet PBUH showed them, they would not have converted.
5) Jabir ibn Abdillah reports in Abu Dawud and Musnad Imam Ahmad, "Once, we went on a military expedition, and the Prophet PBUH took me to help him relieve himself"—meaning help protect him PBUH, carry the water, etc. So the Prophet PBUH went out, but he could not find anything to cover himself with, until he saw in a valley two shrubs on either side. Jabir says, "He went to one of the shrubs, held onto it, and said, 'Follow me by the permission of Allah,' and the shrub started following behind him along the ground." Then the Prophet PBUH went to the other shrub and said again, "Follow me by the permission of Allah," and he began walking away from Jabir, both shrubs in his hand, and they walked with him, until finally, the Prophet PBUH merged the two together and said, "Stick together by the permission of Allah," and the two of them stuck together and the Prophet PBUH relieved himself. Then after this, Jabir says, "When the Prophet PBUH started walking towards me, I saw the two shrubs return to their original places." Note this was a miracle not done to demonstrate anything — just done so the Prophet PBUH could cover himself.
6) Of course, the most famous in this category is the crying of the trunk of the tree of the Prophet PBUH [see episode 30]. The entire Masjid of the Prophet PBUH —jam-packed with over 1,000 people— witnessed this great miracle. When the Prophet's PBUH Masjid was originally built, the sahaba had to cut down trees, and they left one of the stumps so the Prophet PBUH could deliver the khutbah from it. Eventually, money came in and so one sahabi recommended a custom pulpit carved out with three steps be built. So the Prophet PBUH agreed, and one of the ladies of the Ansar had a servant trained in the art of carpentry, so the servant was commissioned and he built a pulpit. And the new pulpit was placed in the middle of the Masjid. (Side note: Before this time, the stump-pulpit was towards one of the sides of the Masjid. Because you cannot decide where the tree is.) And the very first day the Prophet PBUH gave a khutbah from the new pulpit —and this is reported in Bukhari and Muslim and it is mutawatir— the sahaba said, "We began hearing a noise like the crying of a baby camel — and we found the source of the noise was the stump, so the Prophet PBUH stopped the khutbah, came down from the new minbar, hugged the stump, and he patted it until it stopped crying." And then —it's said in one version— he PBUH said, "If I had not patted and stopped it, it would have cried all the way until the Day of Judgment." And he then commanded the tree be uprooted and buried underneath the new minbar (where it is to this day). Whenever Hasan al-Basri would recite this hadith, he would begin to cry, because, he would say, "A tree cried because it missed the Prophet PBUH and the knowledge he spread, how about us and our hearts then? Should we not cry as well for not having had the opportunity to hear our Prophet PBUH?"
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2. Miracles Dealing With Animals
1) Of them is the hadith of Sahih Bukhari that in Khaybar, when the Prophet PBUH put in his mouth the shoulder blade of a lamb given by a Jew, he said to the sahaba, "Everyone, stop eating. The shoulder of the lamb has told me that it has been poisoned," i.e., the lamb spoke to the Prophet PBUH [see episode 68].
2) Reported by Abu Dawud: Once, the Prophet PBUH was riding on a camel with Abdullah ibn Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. And Abdullah reports, "I was with the Prophet PBUH on a camel and we entered one of the gardens of the Ansar. There was another camel there who came up to the Prophet PBUH and started making its noises, and tears began to come from its eyes. The Prophet PBUH said, 'Where is the master of this camel?' A young Ansari came and said, 'I am its owner.' The Prophet PBUH said, 'Do you not fear Allah with regards to these creatures that do not speak? For verily, it has complained to me that you do not feed it properly, and you beat it and overwork it.'"
3) In an even more bizarre incident narrated in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, a group of Ansar came complaining that their camel had gone mad, and they begged the Prophet PBUH to help them out, so the Prophet PBUH went to the pen and entered it alone. They said, "Ya Rasulullah, this camel is as mad as a dog with rabies. We fear he will attack and harm you." But the Prophet PBUH said, "I have no danger from him." So the Prophet PBUH entered the pen and walked towards the camel. And when the camel saw who it was, it lowered its forehead as if it was prostrating. The Prophet PBUH rubbed its head, picked it up, and took it back where it should be, and it was normal after that. And after this, the sahaba said, "O Messenger of Allah, this was an animal that prostrated to you who cannot even speak; surely, it is more befitting for us to prostrate to you?" But the Prophet PBUH said, "Do not do so, for it is not allowed for any human to prostrate to another human."
4) We also did the story of Suraqa ibn Malik when he tried to capture the Prophet PBUH but his horse would not proceed when it saw the Prophet PBUH. It stopped right then and there and Suraqa fell off of it. And every time Suraqa tried to proceed, the horse would stop and Suraqa would keep on falling off. Three times until finally he realized it was beyond his control [see episode 27].
5) In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad and the Musannaf (مصنف) of Ibn Abi Shaybah (ابن أبي شيبة) (d. 235 AH) it's narrated that the Prophet PBUH was sitting in his Masjid, and all of a sudden a camel came running in, made its way directly to the Prophet PBUH, put its head in his lap, and it began making noises and crying. In front of all the sahaba this happened. And the Prophet PBUH said, "Go and find the owner of this camel, for it has a story to tell." In those days, people recognized each other's animals and knew their owners, so the sahaba found the owner and said, "What is the matter with your camel? For verily, it went to the Prophet PBUH and he is saying it has a story to tell." But the owner became frustrated and said, "What is the problem? There is no problem. We worked the camel and when it stopped working properly, we used it to carry water, then when it couldn't even do this, last night we decided to slaughter it and distribute the meat amongst us." When the Prophet PBUH heard the news, he said, "Then either gift me the camel or allow me to buy it," and so the owner gave the camel. In other words, the camel just didn't want to die, so the Prophet PBUH was merciful he made an exception and did not allow them to kill this one camel.
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3. Miracles Dealing With Food and Water
Perhaps this is the largest section of miracles in terms of the sheer quantity of narrations. So many times the Prophet PBUH made a small quantity of food feed a large quantity of people, and a small quantity of water take care of a large quantity of people.
1) Of the most salient examples is at the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, when the Muslims ran out of water, the Prophet PBUH put his hands in whatever water remained and he then took his hands out, and from between his fingers, water began to flow like a fountain. And people did wudu and washed themselves. In another version, Anas ibn Malik said, "Over 300 people did wudu from the water coming from between the fingers of the Prophet PBUH." Imam al-Qurtubi commented: The miracle of the water coming from the hands of the Prophet PBUH is even more miraculous than the miracle of Musa AS causing water to gush from a rock, because occasionally water does come from a rock (even though it's a small quantity — and Musa AS made it a large quantity), but never does water gush from flesh and bones.
2) In the Battle of Tabuk, a small quantity of food sufficed an entire army [see episode 92].
3) In the incident of the Hijrah, the Prophet PBUH and Abu Bakr passed by an old lady whose animal could not produce milk, but when the Prophet PBUH made du'a, the udders filled up and overflowed [see episode 28]. Of course, this first happened with Halimah, his foster mother: All of a sudden her camels and goats started giving milk [see episode 7]. And in the early stage of Makkan dawah as well, a similar miracle happened in front of Ibn Mas'ud RA [see episode 11].
4) Perhaps the most famous incident in this category is that of Khandaq [see episode 58]. When the Prophet PBUH was digging the trench with the sahaba, Jabir ibn Abdillah came home to his wife and said, "O my wife, I have heard the voice of the Prophet PBUH weak (i.e., he is hungry). What do we have? Whatever we have, we must give him." And she said there was an old (or small) goat and some flour, so he told her to prepare them. This would have fed only around 5 people, so when Jabir went back to the trench, he *whispered* to the Prophet PBUH, "I have something prepared." But then, in one version, it's said the Prophet PBUH stood up and announced to the entire trench, "O people of the trench, Jabir has a walima (feast) prepared for you!" and everyone was overjoyed because they were all hungry and tired. Then the Prophet PBUH told Jabir, "Make sure your wife does not put the bread inside the oven or cook the meat until I come." And when he PBUH came, he spat into the dough, kneaded it with his own hands, and he helped put the dish into the furnace. And then in batches the entire army of 1,400 people came, and they ate, and they left. And when they left, there was more food than in the beginning. This is of the barakah witnessed by thousands of people in Madinah.
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4. Protection That Allah Gave to the Prophet PBUH
That is, out of nowhere, the Prophet PBUH was protected with miraculous intervention. And we see this throughout the entire seerah. How many times was he protected out of nowhere? There are just countless incidents to list. Of them:
1) The entire Hijrah [see episode 27]: (i) On the night when he left his house, (ii) when they were walking to Madinah and the Prophet PBUH was looking up in Ghari Thawr and Abu Bakr was trembling but they were saved, (iii) the story of Suraqa ibn Malik; etc.
2) The praying in front of the Ka'bah [see episode 15]: Abu Jahal boasted to his peers he would humiliate the Prophet PBUH by putting his foot on the neck of the Prophet PBUH while he PBUH was in sajdah, but when he came forward to do this, he began walking backward in fear. And when he was asked why, he said he saw between him and the Prophet PBUH a pit of fire and there were wings hovering above it. Later the Prophet PBUH told the sahaba that the fire (seen by Abu Jahal) was brought by the angels.
3) The Battle of Badr: 300 not-so-well-armed Muslims against 1,000 strong of well-armed Quraysh.
4) The windstorm during the Battle of Khandaq [see episode 60].
5) In fact every single battle, even Uhud — it could be a loss, but Allah still protected the life and persona of the Prophet PBUH even though he was injured [see episode 49].
Question: Did our Prophet PBUH have Ilm al-Ghayb (علم الغيب - Knowledge of the Unseen)? The response to this is: First we need to know there are two types of Ilm al-Ghayb:
5) In fact every single battle, even Uhud — it could be a loss, but Allah still protected the life and persona of the Prophet PBUH even though he was injured [see episode 49].
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5. Knowledge of the Unseen Given to the Prophet PBUH
Question: Did our Prophet PBUH have Ilm al-Ghayb (علم الغيب - Knowledge of the Unseen)? The response to this is: First we need to know there are two types of Ilm al-Ghayb:
A) Knowledge that only Allah has and nobody else has. An example is the five knowledges that only Allah has: (i) no one knows when someone will die; (ii) where they will die; (iii) when the wombs will give; (iv) what the wombs will give; (v) when is the Day of Judgment — and there are more.
B) There is also relative Ilm al-Ghayb some of which might be given to the prophets. Allah SWT says in the Quran, "[Allah is the] Knower of the unseen, disclosing none of it to anyone, except Messengers of His choice. Then He appoints angel-guards before and behind them" [see Quran, 72:26-27].
So did the Prophet PBUH have Ilm al-Ghayb? The answer is: The ultimate Ilm al-Ghayb, no; but some, yes by the permission of Allah. After all, did the Prophet PBUH not see Jibril AS? Did he not see the heavens and Jannah and Jahannam? So no doubt he had some of the Ilm al-Ghayb — but not all. Allah says, "And none knows the forces of your Lord except He" [see Quran, 74:31], and in another verse, "Say [to them], 'I have no power to benefit or protect myself except by the Will of Allah. If I had known the ghayb, I would have benefited myself enormously and no harm would have ever touched me. I am only a warner and deliverer of good news for those who believe'" [see Quran, 7:188]. So very clearly, the Prophet PBUH is being told to announce that he doesn't have the ultimate Ilm al-Ghayb.
So what did the Prophet PBUH know that he told us of the Ilm al-Ghayb? Many examples; of them:
1) The day that Najashi died — he died in Abyssinia and the Prophet PBUH was in Madinah: One day, the sahaba woke up and an announcement was made, "Come to the Masjid!" and then the Prophet PBUH said, "One of your brothers in the faraway land of Abyssinia —the Najashi— has died; he was a righteous man and we shall pray janazah for him." And lo and behold, months later, the news came that indeed Najashi had died on that very day and that very hour the Prophet PBUH made the announcement [see episode 17].
2) When the Prophet PBUH came back from al-Isra wal-Mi'raj, one of the Quraysh who had been to Jerusalem tested him, "If you really have been to Jerusalem, then can you describe it for me? Tell me what doors go where, etc." and obviously, the Prophet PBUH went at night and he couldn't see everything, and why would he pay attention to such details anyway, and there was no way he remembers everything after a short visit, so he became terrified —more terrified than he had ever become— that he might not be able to answer all the questions, until he saw Jibril AS raise up the Bayt al-Maqdis in front of his eyes and he could see it as they were asking the questions. And there was not a single question they asked except that the Bayt al-Maqdis was turned this way and that way, and he could see and respond based upon the question [see episode 23].
3) The Battle of Mu'tah — right when the three leaders died in Mu'tah, the Prophet PBUH described it in Madinah in real-time. And Anas said, "The Prophet PBUH told us about the deaths of Zayd, Ja'far, and Ibn Rawahah before the news reached us." And it's proven to them a week later when the news came [see episode 73].
4) Also we have the famous incident when one of the governors of the Sassanid Empire, Badhan, sent two spies to Madinah pretending to be messengers: They arrived and the Prophet PBUH recognized them to be spies, so he didn't even look at their letter and said, "Come back the next day." They came back the next day and he PBUH said, "Go back to your lord and tell him my Lord has killed his lord"—and it turned out that was the same day Khosrow the emperor of the Sassanid Empire had been assassinated. When the two found out that what the Prophet PBUH said was true, they accepted Islam [see episode 71].
All of these are Knowledge of the Unseen.
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6. Prophecies of the Future
Even though we can say this is part of the Knowledge of the Unseen, but because it is kind of separate, we made it a category in and of itself. And once again, quite literally, we have over 150 (up to 350) prophecies of the Prophet PBUH. The foremost of these are the signs of the Day of Judgment — indeed, every single sign of the Day of Judgment said by the Prophet PBUH is a prophecy of the future.
And of other examples are:
1) The most prominent prophecy was that whilst in Makkah, the Prophet PBUH prophesied the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula, which seemed impossible at the time. And then when in Madinah, he prophesied further conquests: Yemen, Busra, Sham, Bayt al-Maqdis, Egypt, Persian Empire, Constantinople, Hind, etc. And as we know, history proved these lands were indeed conquered as foretold by the Prophet PBUH.
2) In the middle of the desert when not a single Muslim knew anything about the art of building ships, the Prophet PBUH prophesied that there would be a Muslim naval force within the lifetime of the sahaba. At this, the aunt of Anas ibn Malik, Ummi Haram bint Milhan (أم حرام بنت ملحان) said, "Ya Rasulullah, make du'a that I am in that force and I die in it." He PBUH said, "You will be amongst them." And what happened? In the reign of Muawiyah, Muawiyah made some naval forces (side note: Uthman had some as well), and he used these forces in expeditions, and Ummi Haram was in these expeditions, and in one of the far islands they went to, she fell off her horse and cracked her skull and died there. And the sahaba buried her there, and later on, people built a masjid beside her grave which still to this day is the famous masjid in Cyprus. To this day, there is the masjid of Ummi Haram.
3) One of the more interesting ones reported in Ibn Asakir: The famous sahabi Abdullah ibn Busr (عبد الله بن بسر) who was one of the last sahaba to die (he died in 88 AH), he narrates in Damascus as an old man, "When I was a young child, the Prophet PBUH visited my parent's house, and I remember my father gave him a worn-out rug to sit on. And my father asked my mother, 'Is there any food?' My mother said, 'Yes, we have hais (حيس - biscuit/cookie/dried cake — they would grind up some dates and mix with flour),' so my mother sent me with the hais and I presented it to the both of them (meaning his father and the Prophet PBUH), and the Prophet PBUH turned to look at me, rubbed his hand on my head and said, 'This child shall live for a century.' And I was a young child so I said, 'How much is a century?' The Prophet PBUH said, '100 years.'" And Abdullah ibn Busr is narrating this hadith in Damascus and he is now 95 years old. And in exactly 5 years after this when he was exactly 100, he passed away while in the act of wudu. Subhan'Allah.
There are again numerous reported incidents of this happening in the life of the Prophet PBUH.
1) In the Battle of Uhud, Qatada was one of the 9 people who guarded the Prophet PBUH — he was the one who stood guard outside the cave and used his own body to protect the Prophet PBUH against stray arrows, and one of the arrows came right into his eyes and his eye fell out, and when the Prophet PBUH saw this, he made a special du'a and said, "O Allah, your servant has sacrificed his own face for mine, so return his eye to him even better than it was," and Qatada said that immediately, the eye healed and it became the sharper of his two eyes [see episode 49].
2) And we have the famous incident of Ali ibn Abi Talib on the day of Khaybar, when after 10 days of battling, the Prophet PBUH prophesied, "Tomorrow at Salat al-Fajr, I will hand the banner to someone whom Allah and His Messenger love, and Allah will grant us victory at his hands," and the next day after Fajr, he asked, "Where is Ali?" They said, "He is suffering from eye problems," so the Prophet PBUH called him, he was brought with his eyes closed, and the Prophet PBUH spat in his eyes and made du'a and then and there his eyes were fixed [see episode 68].
3) There is another incident, of a boy who had been born deaf and dumb, and the Prophet PBUH made du'a over him and right then and there he became normal after living for 7-8 years in that state.
Again, these are just some of the examples.
These are du'as being answered instantly as soon as he PBUH made it.
1) The most famous example reported in every book of hadith: The people of Madinah were suffering a drought for many months, and in the middle of a Friday khutbah, a man came and said, "Ya Rasulullah, we have not had rain for months and our crops are withering, our animals are dying, and our children are starving. Make du'a to Allah that He sends rain," and Anas narrates, "Wallahi, we had not seen the whiff of a cloud for months, but as the Prophet PBUH raised his hands, we saw a dense, thick cloud come from the back of the mountain of Madinah, it came racing forward, and before the Prophet's PBUH hands had reached his side, we heard the pitter-patter of rain on the roof, and when we went back home, we had to rush back so not to get drenched. And wallahi, we did not see the sun for an entire week." And the next week in the middle of the khutbah, the same man or another man came and said, "Ya Rasulullah, our crops are over-flooded, our children are drowning, and our animals are swimming around. Make du'a to Allah to stop the rain," and so the Prophet PBUH said, "O Allah, send the rain around and not on us," and he PBUH pointed to the sky, and wherever he pointed, the clouds parted and the sun came out. And again, this miracle took place in front of the entire city of Madinah. Numerous narrations and hundreds of eyewitnesses.
2) The conversion of the mother of Abu Hurairah — Abu Hurairah was a Yemeni and after he Migrated to Madinah, he sent a message to his mother to also come so he could take care of her. He used to live in the Suffa, so when his mother came to Madinah, he had to get an apartment or a house for her to live in. And his mother was very hurt that Abu Hurairah had left the religion of their forefathers and accepted Islam, so she was always cursing Islam and saying bad things about the Prophet PBUH. So one day, Abu Hurairah came crying to the Prophet PBUH and said, "Ya Rasulullah, my mother has said too much about you and I cannot take it — make du'a that Allah guides her." So the Prophet PBUH raised his hands then and there and said, "O Allah, guide the mother of Abu Hurairah." Then Abu Hurairah goes back, but before he enters the house, his mother says, "Do not enter. I am taking a bath"—that was the bath (ghusl) of Islam. And as soon as he comes into the house, she says the shahada.
Now, how is this a miracle? For many reasons. First and foremost, one needs to realize how uneducated Arabia was at the time of the Prophet PBUH. Consider in our time for example the people living in the jungles of Brazil — would they know the histories of medieval Europe? Of course not. Imagine you came across a civilization cut off from all others and they somehow know about all other civilizations. Such was the case with the Prophet PBUH. Even the names of the Judeo-Christian prophets were not known to the Arabs — and why should they know the story of Joseph, Isaac, et al., when that branch was completely irrelevant to them? Yes, they preserved the traditions of Abraham and Ishmael, but Isaac's branch was completely irrelevant to them. And that is why during Makkan seerah, the Quraysh in their attempt to 'expose' the Prophet PBUH, when they went to Yathrib and said to the Jews, "Give us some test quiz questions," one of the questions given was, "Ask him (the Prophet PBUH) about Joseph and his brothers"—because unless through a divine revelation, there was no way an unlettered shepherd living in the middle of the desert would know these stories [see episode 14]. There wasn't a single library in the entire Hejaz, and in the whole city of Makkah there were less than 10 people who could read and write, and even if they could, there was no bible to read if they could even acquire it — yet in the middle of all this, the Prophet PBUH begins telling the detailed stories of Adam (Adam) AS, Nuh (Noah) AS, Ishaq (Isaac) AS, Ya'qub (Jacob) AS, Yusuf (Joseph) AS, Musa (Moses) AS, Isa (Jesus) AS, et al. Allah says, "This is one of the stories of the unseen, which We reveal to you [O Prophet]. Neither you nor your people knew it before this" [Quran, 11:49].
Of the most interesting tangible evidences is that the Quran preserves some stories of Jesus Christ that are not found in the New Testament to this day, yet were discovered recently in sources outside the New Testament:
1) The most prominent prophecy was that whilst in Makkah, the Prophet PBUH prophesied the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula, which seemed impossible at the time. And then when in Madinah, he prophesied further conquests: Yemen, Busra, Sham, Bayt al-Maqdis, Egypt, Persian Empire, Constantinople, Hind, etc. And as we know, history proved these lands were indeed conquered as foretold by the Prophet PBUH.
2) In the middle of the desert when not a single Muslim knew anything about the art of building ships, the Prophet PBUH prophesied that there would be a Muslim naval force within the lifetime of the sahaba. At this, the aunt of Anas ibn Malik, Ummi Haram bint Milhan (أم حرام بنت ملحان) said, "Ya Rasulullah, make du'a that I am in that force and I die in it." He PBUH said, "You will be amongst them." And what happened? In the reign of Muawiyah, Muawiyah made some naval forces (side note: Uthman had some as well), and he used these forces in expeditions, and Ummi Haram was in these expeditions, and in one of the far islands they went to, she fell off her horse and cracked her skull and died there. And the sahaba buried her there, and later on, people built a masjid beside her grave which still to this day is the famous masjid in Cyprus. To this day, there is the masjid of Ummi Haram.
3) One of the more interesting ones reported in Ibn Asakir: The famous sahabi Abdullah ibn Busr (عبد الله بن بسر) who was one of the last sahaba to die (he died in 88 AH), he narrates in Damascus as an old man, "When I was a young child, the Prophet PBUH visited my parent's house, and I remember my father gave him a worn-out rug to sit on. And my father asked my mother, 'Is there any food?' My mother said, 'Yes, we have hais (حيس - biscuit/cookie/dried cake — they would grind up some dates and mix with flour),' so my mother sent me with the hais and I presented it to the both of them (meaning his father and the Prophet PBUH), and the Prophet PBUH turned to look at me, rubbed his hand on my head and said, 'This child shall live for a century.' And I was a young child so I said, 'How much is a century?' The Prophet PBUH said, '100 years.'" And Abdullah ibn Busr is narrating this hadith in Damascus and he is now 95 years old. And in exactly 5 years after this when he was exactly 100, he passed away while in the act of wudu. Subhan'Allah.
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7. The Healing of the Prophet PBUH
There are again numerous reported incidents of this happening in the life of the Prophet PBUH.
1) In the Battle of Uhud, Qatada was one of the 9 people who guarded the Prophet PBUH — he was the one who stood guard outside the cave and used his own body to protect the Prophet PBUH against stray arrows, and one of the arrows came right into his eyes and his eye fell out, and when the Prophet PBUH saw this, he made a special du'a and said, "O Allah, your servant has sacrificed his own face for mine, so return his eye to him even better than it was," and Qatada said that immediately, the eye healed and it became the sharper of his two eyes [see episode 49].
2) And we have the famous incident of Ali ibn Abi Talib on the day of Khaybar, when after 10 days of battling, the Prophet PBUH prophesied, "Tomorrow at Salat al-Fajr, I will hand the banner to someone whom Allah and His Messenger love, and Allah will grant us victory at his hands," and the next day after Fajr, he asked, "Where is Ali?" They said, "He is suffering from eye problems," so the Prophet PBUH called him, he was brought with his eyes closed, and the Prophet PBUH spat in his eyes and made du'a and then and there his eyes were fixed [see episode 68].
3) There is another incident, of a boy who had been born deaf and dumb, and the Prophet PBUH made du'a over him and right then and there he became normal after living for 7-8 years in that state.
Again, these are just some of the examples.
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8. Immediate Responses to His Du'a
These are du'as being answered instantly as soon as he PBUH made it.
1) The most famous example reported in every book of hadith: The people of Madinah were suffering a drought for many months, and in the middle of a Friday khutbah, a man came and said, "Ya Rasulullah, we have not had rain for months and our crops are withering, our animals are dying, and our children are starving. Make du'a to Allah that He sends rain," and Anas narrates, "Wallahi, we had not seen the whiff of a cloud for months, but as the Prophet PBUH raised his hands, we saw a dense, thick cloud come from the back of the mountain of Madinah, it came racing forward, and before the Prophet's PBUH hands had reached his side, we heard the pitter-patter of rain on the roof, and when we went back home, we had to rush back so not to get drenched. And wallahi, we did not see the sun for an entire week." And the next week in the middle of the khutbah, the same man or another man came and said, "Ya Rasulullah, our crops are over-flooded, our children are drowning, and our animals are swimming around. Make du'a to Allah to stop the rain," and so the Prophet PBUH said, "O Allah, send the rain around and not on us," and he PBUH pointed to the sky, and wherever he pointed, the clouds parted and the sun came out. And again, this miracle took place in front of the entire city of Madinah. Numerous narrations and hundreds of eyewitnesses.
2) The conversion of the mother of Abu Hurairah — Abu Hurairah was a Yemeni and after he Migrated to Madinah, he sent a message to his mother to also come so he could take care of her. He used to live in the Suffa, so when his mother came to Madinah, he had to get an apartment or a house for her to live in. And his mother was very hurt that Abu Hurairah had left the religion of their forefathers and accepted Islam, so she was always cursing Islam and saying bad things about the Prophet PBUH. So one day, Abu Hurairah came crying to the Prophet PBUH and said, "Ya Rasulullah, my mother has said too much about you and I cannot take it — make du'a that Allah guides her." So the Prophet PBUH raised his hands then and there and said, "O Allah, guide the mother of Abu Hurairah." Then Abu Hurairah goes back, but before he enters the house, his mother says, "Do not enter. I am taking a bath"—that was the bath (ghusl) of Islam. And as soon as he comes into the house, she says the shahada.
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9. Stories of the Previous Prophets
Now, how is this a miracle? For many reasons. First and foremost, one needs to realize how uneducated Arabia was at the time of the Prophet PBUH. Consider in our time for example the people living in the jungles of Brazil — would they know the histories of medieval Europe? Of course not. Imagine you came across a civilization cut off from all others and they somehow know about all other civilizations. Such was the case with the Prophet PBUH. Even the names of the Judeo-Christian prophets were not known to the Arabs — and why should they know the story of Joseph, Isaac, et al., when that branch was completely irrelevant to them? Yes, they preserved the traditions of Abraham and Ishmael, but Isaac's branch was completely irrelevant to them. And that is why during Makkan seerah, the Quraysh in their attempt to 'expose' the Prophet PBUH, when they went to Yathrib and said to the Jews, "Give us some test quiz questions," one of the questions given was, "Ask him (the Prophet PBUH) about Joseph and his brothers"—because unless through a divine revelation, there was no way an unlettered shepherd living in the middle of the desert would know these stories [see episode 14]. There wasn't a single library in the entire Hejaz, and in the whole city of Makkah there were less than 10 people who could read and write, and even if they could, there was no bible to read if they could even acquire it — yet in the middle of all this, the Prophet PBUH begins telling the detailed stories of Adam (Adam) AS, Nuh (Noah) AS, Ishaq (Isaac) AS, Ya'qub (Jacob) AS, Yusuf (Joseph) AS, Musa (Moses) AS, Isa (Jesus) AS, et al. Allah says, "This is one of the stories of the unseen, which We reveal to you [O Prophet]. Neither you nor your people knew it before this" [Quran, 11:49].
Of the most interesting tangible evidences is that the Quran preserves some stories of Jesus Christ that are not found in the New Testament to this day, yet were discovered recently in sources outside the New Testament:
1) All of us as Muslims know the story of Jesus speaking from his mother's cradle [see Quran, 3:46], but most of us are not aware that this story is simply not found in the New Testament — none of the gospels have it.
2) Also, the Quran mentions on two occasions the story of Jesus and the clay bird, i.e., he blew into it and it became a real bird [5:110] [3:49]. Again, this story is not mentioned in the canonical Christian gospels, and for the longest time Christians ridiculed Muslims because of this, "Look at these Muslims, they have these weird and bizarre stories."
But around 70 years ago in Egypt, an interesting monastery was discovered in the desert. In it was the body of a monk from the 3rd century CE. And the body of the monk belonged to a lost sect of Christianity. And in the coffin were scrolls —multiple scrolls— and these scrolls contained gospels that are beyond the four canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). As we know, Constantine and others got rid of all other gospels besides these four, so this in Egypt was one of the most significant discoveries of the 20th century. One of these gospels was the Gospel of St. Thomas (now available on Amazon), and in it, we have both of the above stories: the story of Jesus speaking as a baby and the story of the bird being brought to life.
It is remarkable that for 13 centuries, these stories were unknown to any Christian community. Only now are Christians discovering these stories, which we Muslims have always known because they have always been in the Quran. This is clearly a miracle of the Prophet PBUH.
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10. Miscellaneous (Everything Else)
1) One of the miracles in this category is perhaps one of the Prophet's PBUH greatest miracles, which is the splitting of the moon in half, which occurred in the very early Makkan phase. This is one of the few miracles that the Quraysh challenged and the Prophet PBUH performed. The Quraysh challenged him, and he said, "If I were to split the moon in half, would you believe in me?" and they all said yes. Then as we all know —and the Quran is explicit— the moon was split, and the mountain of Safa was in between the two halves of the moon. Ibn Kathir said, "This incident has been narrated by numerous chains, and even if we didn't have any chain, the Quran is explicit enough:
اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ
54:1. The Hour draws near; the moon is split in two."And Imam Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi (أبو سليمان الخطابي) (d. 388 AH) writes, "The splitting of the moon is one of the greatest miracles ever that cannot be compared to the miracles of any prophet because it occurred in the celestial skies outside of this earth that we are accustomed to, inaccessible to us [mortals]. Hence it was an even greater miracle than other miracles."
2) And we also have the personal miracle given just for the Prophet PBUH, and that is the miracle of al-Mi'raj. As for al-Isra, he somewhat proved it [to the rest of us] by talking about Bayt al-Maqdis to the Quraysh; but as for al-Mi'raj, we just have to believe it happened — it was a personal miracle just for him PBUH. A mu'jiza just for him to console him after the death of Khadija RA and Abu Talib, after going through the rejection of Ta'if. It was the lowest of the low in his life PBUH, so Allah blessed him with the highest of the high.
3) And then of course there is the greatest and ultimate miracle we still use to this day, which is the Quran. This miracle eclipses all other miracles, and it is more than all the other miracles combined — infinitely more. Why do we say this? The simplest point is that all the other miracles we have mentioned, we did not witness them —they happened in front of other groups and we just believe they happened— whereas the Quran, it is still amongst us right now — and that is why it is called the eternal miracle. It is the only miracle we can say to a non-Muslim, "Here is the Quran, read this Book and listen to its recitation. This is how you will know that our religion is true." It is the only miracle that has no time/space constraints. The Prophet PBUH said, "Every single prophet has been given miracles because of which his people have believed in him; as for me, the only miracle Allah gave me is the wahy that He has sent down to me." Subhan'Allah. As we have seen, clearly, the Prophet PBUH was given thousands of miracles. But the miracle of the Quran is so bright it eclipses all other miracles he said it is his only miracle — it is as if all other miracles become meaningless in front of this one miracle. And he PBUH also said, "And because of this wahy, I hope to have the largest number of followers on the Day of Judgment"—this hadith is in Sahih Bukhari, and it demonstrates that the Quran is the ultimate timeless miracle that we can use when we give dawah.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, November 2021]
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, November 2021]
