Month: November 2015

What is a Miracle?

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]mu’jizah, which is called a miracle, in English is something supernatural that only Prophets of ‎Allah can do. In order for an act to be a miracle, it has to fulfill these conditions:‎

‎1. It goes against the laws of nature,‎
‎2. Only a Prophet can do it‎
‎3. It is proof that he is really a Prophet because only Allah can break the laws of nature. Thus, the ‎miracle shows that the Prophet was sent by Allah.‎
‎4. No one can challenge it (meaning no one other than a Prophet of Allah can do the same thing) ‎
‎5. A Prophet can perform the miracle at any time.‎

Allah gives his Prophets miracles so that people can have proof that the Prophet was really sent ‎by Allah and he is not just deceiving them.‎

Other forms of miracles:‎

Sometimes, people other than Prophets do amazing things, but they are mu’jizahs. When a false ‎prophet does something amazing, it will usually give a bad result. ‎

Some pious people have miracles but those miracles aren’t in their control. Instead, it just happens ‎to them. Examples of this are Imam al-Nawawi’s path being miraculously lighted up at night, the ‎Throne shaking at the death of Sa’ad ibn Mu’adh, etc.‎

Differences between Sihr, Magic, and Miracles‎‎

‎Sihris black magic that is performed with the help of the jinn. It results in making people sick, ‎harming relationships, and even possibly killing a person. It is evil and haram to perform sihr.‎

Magic is sleight of hand used by a magician and just appears as a magical act when in reality it is ‎only a trick.‎

Difference between Sihr and miracles

‎1. Sorcery is a science that can be learned, while miracles cannot be learned.‎
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2. Sorcery is done through the use of jinn.‎
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3. Learning sorcery is forbidden.‎

Miracles of some Prophets:‎

Mu’jizahs usually occur in the field that is prominent at the time of that Prophet. Here are some ‎examples:‎

Miracles of Prophet Muhammad‎

The Qur’anis the greatest miracle of all times. No one has ever been able to or ever will be able to copy even ‎one chapter of the Qur’an. Muslims don’t get bored of it even if they read it over and over again. ‎It has scientific knowledge that only became known hundreds of years later. It also predicts ‎historical facts with accuracy and tells stories of past generations that our Prophet did not know ‎about.‎

The Prophet Muhammad had many other miracles as well. Some of those are:‎
a. Water came from within his fingers during his travel with his companions. They drank and ‎made wudhu, and a lot still remained. This story has occurred several times (Bukhari)‎
b. He split the moon in half

c. He had a night journey to Jerusalem and then to the seventh sky and beyond which all ‎happened in just one night – in a time when the fastest form of travel was a horse.‎

d. In the Hereafter, he will have a Pool which people drink from and never become thirsty again.‎

e. He will intercede on behalf of Muslims, meaning he will ask Allah to start the Day of ‎Judgment and to enter Muslims into Paradise.‎

Sometimes Muslims get excited and quote incorrect “scientific” evidence to support a miracle. This ‎is not a good idea because Islam proves science, science does not prove Islam. Often, “scientific” ‎evidence changes over time and then it makes it seem like Islam was wrong since it was based on ‎wrong science.‎

Other times, Muslims get shy of miracles because non-believers make fun of them and say there is ‎no proof for what they believe in. A Muslim must confidently recognize that Allah created the ‎universe and He made laws for it. Allah is not bound by those laws and He breaks them when He ‎wills. A person’s self-esteem and confidence in his faith cannot be based on what others think of ‎him, else when others don’t approve of him, his confidence will crumble. ‎

[button color=”blue” size=”medium” link=”http://www.deenteens.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Unit-1.4.3-Miracles.pdf” target=”blank”]Worksheet[/button]