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| gencnurCom | The
Nineteenth Letter This
treatise describes more than three hundred miracles. And
as it describes the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH),
itself a miracle, so is it itself a wonder in three or
four respects, proceeding from the miracle of his
messengership. T
h e F i r s t : Although it is more than a
hundred pages in length and is based on traditions and
narrations, it was written in an unusual fashion-in the
mountains and countryside, completely from memory, and
without referring to any book. It was completed,
moreover, in a few days by working two to three hours
every day, for a total of twelve hours. T
h e S e c o n d : Despite its length, this work
did not cause tedium to its writer, nor does it lack
pleasantness for its reader. In fact, it aroused such
ardour and enthusiasm in even my apathetic scribes that
in these hard and distressing times, as many as seventy
copies were handwritten in this neighbourhood within a
single year. Those aware of this property of the treatise
concluded T
h e T h i r d : In the copies handwritten by nine
different scribes who did not communicate with one
another, including one very inexperienced and unaware of
‘coincidence’1-it was also before we were
aware of the phenomenon- the words referring to the Noble
Messenger ‘coincided’ to such a degree throughout the
whole of the treatise, and in the fifth part for the
words referring to the Qur’an, that any one who is fair
to the slightest degree would not consider this to be the
result of chance. In ____________________ 1.'Coincidence' (tawâfuq) refers to the unintentional correspondence of letters or words in lines or patterns on one several pages.(Tr:) Letters
/ Nineteenth Letter - p.117 fact,
whoever observed it definitely concluded that it was a
mystery of the Unseen and a marvel proceeding from the
miracle of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace). The
Principles explained at the beginning of this treatise
have extreme importance. As for the prophetic Hadiths
related, they are accepted as authentic by the
authorities on Hadith, and they report the most
established phenomena concerning the messengership of
Muhammad. Now, to enumerate the merits of this treatise,
another treatise of the same length would be needed; we
therefore invite those who wish to read it, if only once.
S
a i d N u r s i ____________________ A
REMINDER: In this work, I have related many Hadiths,
despite having no books to refer to. Should there be any
errors in the wording of the Hadiths, I request that they
either be corrected, or be considered as paraphrases of
Hadith. For, according to the prevailing opinion, “To
relate the meanings of Hadiths is permissible,” in
which case the narrator puts the meaning of the Hadith
into his own words. This being the case, Hadiths with
possible errors of wording should be regarded as
paraphrases.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - First Sign - p.118 The
Miracles of Muhammad (PBUH) In
His Name, be He glorified! And
there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. In
the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. He
it is Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the
religion of truth to make it supreme over all religion:
and sufficient is God as a Witness. * Muhammad is the
Messenger of God... [to the end of the verse]2 [Since
the Nineteenth and Thirty-First Words concerning the
messengership of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) prove it with decisive evidence, we assign the
verification of that side of the subject to those Words.
As a supplement to them we will merely show here, in
Nineteen Signs, some of the flashes of that great truth.] FIRST
SIGN The
Possessor and Master of the universe surely does
everything with knowledge, disposes every affair with
wisdom, directs everything all-seeingly, treats
everything all-knowingly, and arranges everything willing
the instances of wisdom, purposes, benefits that are
apparent in them. Since, then, the One Who creates knows,
surely the One Who knows will speak. Since He will speak,
surely He will speak to those who possess consciousness
and thought, and those who will understand His speech.
Since He will speak to those who possess thought, surely
he will speak to mankind, whose nature and awareness are
the most comprehensive of all conscious beings. Since He
will speak to mankind, surely He will speak ____________________ 2. Qur’an, 48:28-9.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad -Second Sign- p.119 to
the most perfect of mankind and those most worthy of
address. Since He will speak to those who are most
perfect, most worthy of address, highest in morality, and
who will guide humanity; He will certainly speak to
Muhammad, who, as friend and foe alike testify, is of the
highest disposition and morality, who is obeyed by one
fifth of humanity, to whose spiritual rule half of the
globe has submitted, with the radiance of whose light the
future of mankind has been illumined for thirteen
centuries, to whom the believers, the luminous segment of
humanity, renew five times daily the oath of allegiance,
for whose happiness they pray, for whom they call down
God’s blessings and bear admiration and love in their
hearts. Certainly, He will speak to Muhammad (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) and indeed He has done; He will
make him the Prophet, and indeed He has done; He will
make him the guide for the rest of humanity, and indeed
He has done. SECOND
SIGN God’s
Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
declared his prophethood, and presented to humanity such
a decree as the Qur’an of Mighty Stature and such
manifest miracles as number, according to the scholars,
one thousand.3 The occurrence of those
miracles in their entirety is as certain as the fact that
he declared himself prophet. In fact, as is shown by the
words of the most obstinate unbelievers quoted in various
places of the Wise Qur’an, even they could not deny the
occurrence of his miracles, but only called them -God
forbid!- sorcery, in order to satisfy themselves, or to
deceive their followers. The
miracles of Muhammad (PBUH) have the certainty of
confirmation by consensus to the hundredth degree. The
miracle is the confirmation by the Creator of the cosmos
of his declaration of prophethood; it has the effect of
the words, “You have spoken truly!” Suppose that you
said in the assembly of a ruler, while being observed by
him, “The ruler has appointed me to such-and-such a
position.” At a time when you were asked for a proof of
your claim, the word “Yes” uttered by the ruler would
sufficiently support you. Or, if the ruler changed his
usual practice and attitude at your request, this would
confirm your claim even more soundly and more definitely
than would the word “Yes.” In
the same way, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) claimed: “I am the envoy of the Creator of
the universe. My proof is that He will change His
unbroken order at my request and my prayer. Now look at
my fingers: He causes them to run like a fountain with
five ____________________ 3. Al-‘Asqalânî, Fath al-Bârî vi, 454; Muslim (Sharh: nawawî)i,2 Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad -Second Sign- p.120 spigots.
Look at the moon: by a gesture of my finger, He splits it
in two. Look at that tree: to affirm me and to bear
witness to me, it moves and comes near to me. Look at
this food: although it is barely enough for two or three
men, it satisfies two or three hundred.” He
demonstrated too hundreds of similar miracles. However,
the evidences of the veracity of this being and the
proofs of his prophethood are not restricted to his
miracles. All his deeds and acts, his words and
behaviour, his moral conduct and manners, his character
and appearance prove to the attentive his truthfulness
and seriousness. Indeed, many people such as ‘Abd Allah
b. Salam, the famous scholar of the Children of Israel,
came to believe merely by seeing him, and said, “No lie
can hide in this face, nor fraud be found in it!”4 Although
many scholars who have researched the matter have
concluded that the proofs of the prophethood of Muhammad
(PBUH) and his miracles number about one thousand, there
are thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of proofs
of his prophethood. And hundreds of thousands of men with
varying opinions have affirmed his prophethood in an
equal number of ways. The Wise Qur’an alone
demonstrates a thousand of the proofs of his prophethood,
in addition to its own forty aspects of miraculousness. Since
prophethood is a phenomenon of humanity, and hundreds of
thousands of individuals who claimed prophethood and
performed miracles have lived and passed away,5
of a certainty the prophethood of Muhammad is superior to
all the others. For whatever evidences, qualities, and
attributes made prophets such as Jesus and Moses (Upon
whom be peace) be known as prophets and were the means of
their messengership, they were all possessed in a more
perfect and comprehensive fashion by Muhammad (Upon whom
be blessings and peace). And since the causes and means
of prophetic authority were more perfectly present in the
person of Muhammad, this authority was to be found in him
with more certainty than in all the others. THIRD
SIGN The
miracles of the Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) were extremely varied. Since his
messengership was universal, he was distinguished by
miracles that related to almost all species of creation.
Just as the supreme lieutenant of a renowned ruler,
arriving with ____________________ 4. Tirvidhî, Qiyâma 42; Ibn Mâja,
Iqâma 174; At’ima 1; Dârimî, Salât 156;
Isti’dhân 4; Musnad v, 451. 5. Musnad v, 266; Valîyyuddîn Tabrîzî, Mishkât al-Masâbîh iii, 122; Ibn al-Qayyimal-Jawzî, Zâd al-Ma’âd(Tahqîq: al-Arnacûd)i, 43-44. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Third Sign - p.121 many
gifts in a city where various peoples live, will be
welcomed by a representative of each people, who acclaims
him and bids him welcome in his own language; so too when
the supreme Lieutenant of the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and
Post-Eternity honoured the universe by coming as an envoy
to the inhabitants of the earth, and brought with him the
light of truth and spiritual gifts sent by the Creator of
the universe, which were connected to the truths of the
whole universe, each species of creation - from water,
rocks, trees, animals and human beings to the moon, the
sun and the stars- each welcomed him and acclaimed his
prophethood, each in its own language, and each bearing
one of his miracles. Now
it would require a voluminous work to mention all his
miracles. As punctilious, investigating scholars have
written many volumes concerning the proofs of his
prophethood, here we will briefly point out only the
general categories into which fall the miracles that are
definite and accepted as accurate reports. The
evidences of the prophethood of Muhammad (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) fall into two main categories: T
h e F i r s t is called irhasat and
includes the paranormal events that happened at the time
of his birth, or before his prophetic mission. T
h e S e c o n d group pertains to all the
remaining evidences of his prophethood, and contains two
subdivisions: The
first are those wonders that were manifested after
his departure from this world in order to confirm his
prophethood, and the second, those that he
exhibited during the era of his prophethood. The latter
has also two parts: The
first, the evidences of his prophethood that became
manifest in his own personality, his inner and outer
being, his moral conduct and perfections, and the second,
the miracles manifested in the outer world. The last part
again has two branches: One,
those concerning the Qur’an and spirituality, and the
other, those relating to materiality and the
universe. This last branch is again divided into two
categories: The
first involves the paranormal happenings that
occurred during his mission either to break the
stubbornness of the unbelievers, or to augment the faith
of the believers. This category has twenty different
sorts, such as the splitting of the moon, the flowing of
water from his fingers, the satisfying of large numbers
with a little food, and the speaking of trees, rocks and
animals. Each of these sorts has also many instances, and
thus has, in meaning, the strength of confirmation by
consensus. As for the second
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourth Sign - p.122 the
second category, this includes events lying in the future
that occurred as he had predicted upon God’s
instructions. Now, starting from the last category, we
will summarize a list of them.6 FOURTH
SIGN There
is no limit to the reports God’s Most Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) gave concerning the
Unseen through the instruction of the One All-Knowing of
the Unseen. As we have mentioned the types of these
reports in the Twenty-Fifth Word, which is about the
miraculousness of the Qur’an, and to a degree explained
and proved them, we now refer to that Word the
explanation of the information he gave concerning the
Unseen about past times and prophets, as well as truths
concerning Divinity, the universe, and the hereafter, and
will point out a few of his many correct predictions
concerning his Companions, his Family and his community.
But first, for a complete understanding of the subject,
we will state Six Principles by way of an introduction. FIRST
PRINCIPLE All
the states and acts of the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) testified to his veracity and
prophethood, but not all of them had to be miraculous.
For God Almighty sent him in the form of a human being so
that he might be a guide and leader to human beings in
their social affairs, and in the acts and deeds by means
of which they attain happiness in both worlds; and so
that he might disclose to human beings the wonders of
Divine art and His disposive power that underlie all
occurrences and are in appearance customary, but in
reality are miracles of Divine power. If, then, he had
abandoned the human state in his acts and become
extra-ordinary in all aspects, he could not have been a
leader, or have instructed human beings with his acts,
states, and conduct. He was, indeed, honoured with
paranormal phenomena in order to prove his prophethood to
obstinate unbelievers, and from time to time performed
miracles as the need arose. But his miracles never
occurred in such an obvious fashion as would have
compelled everyone to believe, whether willingly or
unwillingly. For, in accordance with the purpose of the
examinations and trials that man is to undergo, the way
must be shown to him without depriving him of his free
will: the door of the intelligence must remain open, and
its freedom must not be snatched from its hand. But if
miracles had occurred in so apparent a way, intelligence
would have had no choice; Abu Jahl would have believed as
did Abu ____________________ 6.
Unfortunately, I could not write as I had intended.
Without choice, I wrote as my heart dictated, and I could
not completely conform to the order of this
classification. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourth Sign - p.123 Bakr,
coal would have had the value of diamonds, and no purpose
would have remained for testing and accountability. It
is a source of amazement that while thousands of men of
different character came to believe through observing a
single of his miracles, a single proof of his
prophethood, or a word of his, or through merely seeing
his face, some wretches are nowadays going astray, as if
those thousands of proofs of his prophethood were not
sufficient evidence, although they all have come down to
us through authentic transmission and with certain
proofs, and have caused many thousands of exacting
scholars and thinkers and different men to accept faith. SECOND
PRINCIPLE God’s
Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
was a human being; hence he acted like a human being. He
was also a messenger and prophet, and with regard to his
messengership, he was an interpreter and an envoy of
Almighty God. His messengership was based upon
Revelation, which is of two kinds: The
First is explicit Revelation. In this case, the Noble
Messenger is merely an interpreter and announcer, with no
share in the content. The Qur’an and some Sacred Hadith
are included in this kind of Revelation. The
Second is implicit Revelation. The essence and
summary of this is also based on Revelation or
inspiration, but its explanation and description were
left to the Messenger. When he explained and described
such Revelation, sometimes he again relied on Revelation,
or on inspiration, or sometimes he spoke in terms of his
own insight. And, when he resorted to his own
interpretation, he either relied on the perceptive power
given him on account of his prophetic mission, or he
spoke as a human being and conformably to usage, custom
and the level of common comprehension. Thus,
all the details of every Hadith are not necessarily
derived from pure revelation, nor should the lofty marks
of messengership be sought in such thoughts and
transactions of his as are required by his participation
in the human state. Since some truths were revealed to
him in a brief and abstract form, and he himself
described them in the light of his insight and according
to common comprehension, the metaphors and allusions in
his descriptions sometimes may need explanation, or even
interpretation. There are, indeed, some truths that the
human mind can grasp only by way of comparison. For
example, once in the presence of the Prophet, a loud
noise was heard. The Prophet said, “This is the
noise of a rock that has been rolling down for seventy
years and has now reached the lowest
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourth Sign - p.124 depths
of Hell.”7 An hour later the news came
that a famous dissembler who had recently turned seventy
years old had died and gone to Hell, thus explaining the
event the Prophet had described by means of an eloquent
comparison. THIRD
PRINCIPLE If
any related tradition is in the form of tawatur,8
it is indisputable. There are two kinds of this sort of
report: one is those reports about which there is
‘explicit consensus,’ the other is ‘consensus in
meaning.’ The latter is also of two kinds: the first
includes those concerning which the consensus is implied
‘by silence.’ For example, if a man in a community
relates an incident in front of his people and the
listeners do not contradict him, that is, they respond to
him by keeping silent, this implies their acceptance of
the report. In particular, if that community is such as
will not acccept any error, as will consider any lie
reprehensible, as is ready to criticize and, in addition,
shows an interest in the reported incident, the silence
of that community testifies strongly to the incident
having occurred. The
second kind of ‘consensus in meaning’ is that which
occurs when different people relate a particular
incident, for example, one okka9 of
food fed two hundred people, in different versions-one
person describes in one way, another in another way, and
another in yet another way, but all are unanimously
agreed on the occurrence of the incident. Thus, the
occurrence of this certain incident is supported by
‘consensus in meaning,’ and is definite; its actual
occurrence is not harmed by differences in detail. But
apart from this, there are times when a report supplied
by a single person expresses the certainty of consensus,
under certain conditions. It also sometimes happens that
single report expresses certainity when supported by
other, outside evidences. Most
of the reports concerning the miracles and the evidences
of the prophethood of the Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) that have come down to us are
either of the category of ‘explicit consensus,’ or
‘consensus in meaning,’ or ‘consensus implied by
silence.’ As for the others, although they are the
report of a single person, they also have the certainty
of ‘consensus’ as they have received the acceptance
of the meticulous authorities on Hadith. Of such
meticulous ____________________ 7.
Muslim, Janna 31; Musnad iii, 341, 346. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourth Sign - p.125 authorities
were those geniuses who were called al-Hafiz, who
had committed to memory at least 100,000 Hadiths, who
offered for fifty years their morning prayer with the
ablution of the night prayer, and who produced the six
accurate books of Hadith headed by those of Bukhari and Muslim.
Without doubt, any report scrutinized and accepted by
them cannot fall short of the certainty of
‘consensus.’ For they acquired such intimacy with the
Hadiths of the Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) and became so familiar with his exalted style and
manner that they could spot at first sight a single false
Hadith among a hundred reports, and would reject it,
saying, “This cannot be a prophetic tradition; it does
not have his wording.” Since they were able to
recognize the precious quality of the Hadith, like an
expert jeweller, there was no possibility of their
confusing any other word with that of the Prophet. Some
researchers, however, such as Ibn al-Jawzi, went to such
excesses in their criticism as to regard many accurate
traditions as false.10 Nevertheless, this does
not mean that the meaning of every false wording is
wrong; rather it means that the wording itself is not
that of the Prophet. Q
u e s t i o n : What is the benefit of citing the
chain of transmission of a tradition so that even if it
is not called for in the case of a well-known incident
they say: “So-and-so informed so-and-so, etc.”? A
n s w e r : Its benefits are many, and one is
that the citing of the chain shows the concurrence of the
truthful, reliable and exacting scholars of Hadith and
the unanimity of the discerning authorities whose names
are included; each of the scholars and authorities signs,
as it were, for the accuracy of the tradition, and places
his seal on it. Q
u e s t i o n : Why were the miraculous events
not transmitted through numerous chains in the form of
‘consensus’ and with as great emphasis as the basic
injunctions of the Sacred Law, the Shari‘a? A
n s w e r : Because the majority of the
injunctions of the Shari‘a are needed by most people at
most times, for they all are applicable to each
individual, like an obligation incumbent on all. But not
everyone needs to know of every miracle; even if he does,
it suffices him to hear it only once. It is, in fact,
like the kind of obligation the observance of which by
some will absolve the rest; it is quite enough for
miracles to be known only to some. For this reason, even
if the occurrence and reality of a miracle ten times more
certain than that of an injunction of the Shari‘a, it
will still come to us through one or two narrators,
whereas the injunction is narrated by ten or twenty
persons. ____________________ 10.
‘Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi, al-Ajwibat al-Fadila (Tahqiq:
Abu Ghudda) 80, 120, 163, 170.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourth Sign - p.126 FOURTH
PRINCIPLE The
future events that the Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) predicted were not isolated
incidents; he rather predicted general and recurring
events in a particular way. That is, in each such report,
he displayed a different aspect of one phenomenon out of
several. This is why when the narrator combines these
different aspects, they may seem at variance with
reality. There are, for example, varying narrations
concerning the Mahdi, each with different details and
descriptions. However, as was explained in a section of
the Twenty-Fourth Word, the Noble Messenger gave the
tidings, relying on Revelation, of a Mahdi who would come
in every century to preserve the morale of the believers,
help them not to fall into despair in the face of
disasters, and link the hearts of the believers with the
people of the Prophet’s Family, who constitute a
luminous chain in the world of Islam. Similar to the
Great Mahdi who is promised to come at the end of time,
one Mahdi from the Prophet’s Family, or more, has been
found in every century. Indeed, one of them, found among
the ‘Abbasid Caliphs who were descendants of the
Prophet’s Family, was found to have many of the
characteristics of the Great Mahdi. In this way the
attributes of the Mahdi’s deputies and of the spiritual
poles who were Mahdis who were to precede the Great Mahdi
and were samples and forerunners of him, were confused
with the attributes of the Great Mahdi himself, and the
narrations concerning him were seen to conflict with one
another. FIFTH
PRINCIPLE Since
none other than God knows the Unseen, the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) could not know it
himself. Instead, God Almighty communicated to him the
tidings of the Unseen, and he made them known. And since
God Almighty is All-Wise and Compassionate, His wisdom
and mercy require that most of the matters of the Unseen
be veiled or obscure. For in this world events
disagreeable to human beings are numerous; prior
knowledge of their happening would be painful. It is for
this reason that death and the appointed hour of death
are left obscure, and the calamities that are to befall
human beings remain behind the veil of the Unseen. Again,
as a result of His wisdom and mercy, God Almighty did not
entirely or in detail inform His Messenger about the
dreadful events that would befall his Family and
Companions after his demise, in order not to hurt his
extremely tender compassion for his community and his
firm affection for his Family.11 For certain
Divine purposes, He made some of ____________________ 11.
For example, he was not made to know about
‘A’isha’s taking part in the Battle of the Camel so
that his deep love and affection toward her (May God be
pleased with her) would not be hurt. He said, in fact, to
his wives: “I wish I knew which one of you will be
involved in that incident.” Later he was apparently
made aware of it to a slightly greater extent, as he once
said to ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him): “Some
event will take place between you and ‘A’isha.”*
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourth Sign - p.127 these
significant events known to him, but not in all their
awesomeness. As for pleasant events, He communicated them
to the Messenger sometimes in outline and sometimes in
detail, and the Messenger in turn made them known to his
Companions. Thus those tidings were accurately
transmitted to us by the scholars of Hadith who were at
the height of piety, justice, and truthfulness, and who
feared very much the warning of the Hadith, Whoever
knowingly tells a lie concerning me should prepare for a
seat in Hell,12 and that of the Qur’anic
verse, Who,
then does more wrong than the one who utters lie
concerning God?13 SIXTH
PRINCIPLE Although
some qualities and aspects of the Most Noble
Messenger(Upon whom be blessings and peace) have been
described in books of history and biography, most of
those qualities relate to his humanness. But in reality,
the spiritual personality and the sacred nature of this
blessed being are so exalted and luminous that the
qualities described in books fall short of his high
stature. For according to the rule, “The cause is like
the doer,” everyday, even at this moment, the amount of
the worship performed by all his community is being added
to the record of his perfections. He is also everyday the
object of the countless supplications of his vast
community, in addition to being the object of infinite
Divine mercy in an infinite fashion and with an infinite
capacity to receive. He is, indeed, the result and the
most perfect fruit of the universe, the interpreter and
the beloved of the Creator of the cosmos. Hence his true
nature in its entirety, and the truth of all his
perfections, cannot be contained in the human qualities
recorded in books of history and biography. Certainly,
the stature of a blessed being with the Archangels
Gabriel and Michael as two aides-de-camp at his side in
the Battle of Badr,14 is not to be found in
the form of a person bargaining with a beduin in the
marketplace over the price of a horse, bringing forth
Khuzayma as his sole witness.15 ____________________ 12.
Bukhari, ‘Ilm 38; Jana’iz 33; Anbiya’ 50; Adab 109;
Muslim, Zuhd 72; Abu Da’ud, ‘Ilm 4; Tirmidhi, Fitan
70; ‘Ilm 8, 13; Tafsir 1; Manaqib 19; Ibn Maja,
Muqaddima 4; Darimi, Muqaddima 25, 46; Musnad i, 70, 78;
ii, 159, 171; iii, 13, 44; iv, 47, 100; v, 292.
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order not to proceed in error, one should raise his head
beyond the ordinary qualities of the Prophet (PBUH) that
pertain to his participation in the human state, and
behold instead his true nature and luminous stature that
pertain to the rank of messengership. Otherwise, one will
either show him irreverence, or instil doubts in oneself.
Heed the following comparison for an understanding of
this mystery. Suppose
that a seed of the date-tree was planted under the earth,
has sprouted and become a large, fertile tree, and is
still continuing to grow taller and broader. Or that the
egg of a peacock was incubated, a chick was hatched from
it and became a beautifully adorned peacock gilded all
over with the imprint of Power, and is still growing
bigger and more beautiful. Now, there exist qualities,
properties and precisely balanced elements that belong to
the seed and the egg, but are not as great and
significant as those of the tree and the bird that emerge
from them. So, while describing the qualities of the tree
and the bird together with those of the seed and the egg,
one should turn one’s attention from the seed to the
tree, and from the egg to the bird, so that one’s
reason may find the description acceptable. Otherwise, if
you claim: “I have obtained thousands of dates from a
seed,” or, “This egg is the king of all birds,” you
will invite others to contradict and deny your words. The
humanness of God’s Messenger may be likened to the seed
or egg, and his essential nature, illumined with the
function of messengership, to the Tuba-tree of Paradise,
or to the birds of Paradise. His essential nature is,
moreover, continually moving to greater perfection. That
is why, when you think of the man who disputed in the
market with a beduin, you should also turn the eye of
imagination to that luminous being who, riding the Rafraf,
leaving Gabriel behind, reached the Distance of Two
Bowstrings.16 Otherwise you will either be
disrespectful toward him, or fail to convince the
evil-commanding soul. FIFTH
SIGN We
will cite in this Sign a few examples of Hadiths
concerning the matters of the Unseen. It
has come down to us through an authentic chain of
transmission at the degree of ‘consensus,’ that the
Noble Prophet declared from the pulpit in the presence of
his Companions: “This my grandson Hasan is a master
of men by means of whom God will reconcile two great
groups.”17 ____________________ 16.
See: Qur’an, 53:9.
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years later, when the two largest armies of Islam met
each other, Hasan made peace with Mu‘awiya, and thus
proved the prophecy of his noble grandfather (Upon whom
be blessings and peace).According to another authentic
narration, the Prophet said to ‘Ali: “You will
fight the perfidious, the just, and the deviator,”18
thus predicting the battles of the Camel and Siffin, and
that fought against the Kharijites. He
again said to ‘Ali, when he was displaying love for
Zubayr: “He will fight against you, but will be in
the wrong.”19 He
also said to his wives: “One among you will take
charge of a rebellion; many around her will be killed;”20
“and the dogs will bark all around her.”21All
these certain and authentic traditions are the proven
predictions of the struggles of ‘Ali against
‘A’isha, Zubayr and Talha during the Battle of the
Camel, against Mu‘awiya at Siffin, and against the
Kharijites at Harawra’ and Nahrawan. The
Prophet (PBUH) also informed ‘Ali about a man who would
stain ‘Ali’s beard with the blood of his own head.22
‘Ali knew the man; it was ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muljam
the Kharijite. He
also mentioned a man marked with a peculiar sign,
Dhu’l-Thudia. When the man was found among the dead of
the Kharijites, ‘Ali showed him as a proof of the
rightness of his cause, declaring at the same time the
miracle of the Prophet.23 According
to another authentic tradition related by Umm Salama and
others, the Noble Prophet also predicted that Husayn
would be killed at Taff (Karbala).24 Fifty
years later the painful event took place as predicted. He
also repeatedly predicted that after his demise, his
Family would face death, calamities, and exile, and gave
some details.25 What he had predicted later
came true exactly. In
this connection, a question may be asked: although
‘Ali, wi ____________________ 18.
al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 139, 140; al-Haythami,
Majma’ al-Zawa’id vii, 138; Bayhaqi, Dala’il
al-Nubuwwa vi, 414.
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this connection, a question may be asked: although
‘Ali, with his extraordinary bravery and profound
knowledge in addition to his kinship to God’s
Messenger, greatly deserved to be Caliph, why did he not
precede others in holding the Caliphate, and why did
Islam experience such disorder during his Caliphate? A
n s w e r : A great spiritual pole from the
Prophet’s Family is reported as saying: “The Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) had desired
that ‘Ali be Caliph, but it was made known to him from
the Unseen that the will of God Almighty was different.
He then abandoned his desire, submitting himself to
God’s will.” One
of the reasons why God’s will was different could have
been that after the demise of the Prophet (PBUH), when
the Companions were more than ever in need of alliance
and unity, if ‘Ali had taken the leadership, this would
most probably have aroused in many persons and tribes a
tendency to compete, because of his uncompromising
nature, and fearless, ascetic, heroic, and independent
character, and widely known courage -as was the case
during his Caliphate- and divisions among the believers
would have resulted. Another
reason for the delay of ‘Ali’s Caliphate is the
following: at the time of his Caliphate, the Muslim
community, which had rapidly developed through the
intermingling of many tribes and peoples, possessed such
traits as reflected the opinions of the seventy-three
sects that the Noble Prophet (PBUH) had predicted would
evolve in due time.26 Therefore, in the face
of such disturbances, someone was then needed with the
wondrous strength, courage, respectability and sagacity
of ‘Ali, someone having the force of the respected
Hashimites and the Prophet’s Family, so that he could
resist the sedition. And indeed he did so, in a fashion
conformable to the prediction of the Prophet, who had
said to him: “I have fought for the revelation of
the Qur’an; you will fight for its explanation.”27A
further reason for this delay is that without ‘Ali,
worldly rule would most probably have caused the Umayyad
kings to go completely astray. However, being confronted
with ‘Ali and the Prophet’s Family, and having to
appear equal to them and to preserve their prestige
before the Muslims, all the leaders of the Umayyad
dynasty, even if not they themselves, in any event due to
their encouragement and recommendations, ____________________ 26.
See, Page 137 fn. 60.
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followers and supporters, worked with all their strength
to preserve and disseminate the truths of Islam and
belief and the Qur’anic decrees. Thus, they produced
thousands of punctilious interpreters of the Law, and
authorities on Hadith, and saints and purified scholars.
Had they not been faced by the strong religiosity,
sainthood, and virtuousness of ‘Ali and of the
Prophet’s Family, it is possible that the Umayyads
would from the very beginning have gone completely
astray, as happened at the end of their rule, and as did
the ‘Abbasids. I
t m i g h t a l s o b e a s k e d : “Why did
the Islamic Caliphate not remain in the Prophet’s
Family, since they were the most deserving and fitted for
it?” T
h e A n s w e r : Worldly rule is deceptive, and
the Prophet’s Family had been appointed to preserve the
decrees of the Qur’an and the truths of Islam. Not to
be deceived by power, the one who was to hold it and the
Caliphate had to be as sinless as a prophet, or as
purehearted and unworldly as the Four-Rightly Guided
Caliphs, ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz and the Mahdi of
the ‘Abbasids. In fact, the Caliphate of the Fatimid
dynasty which was founded in the name of the Prophet’s
Family in Egypt, and the rule of the Almohads in Africa,
and the Safavid dynasty in Iran showed that worldly rule
was not suitable for the Prophet’s Family, for it
caused them to neglect their primary duty, the protection
of religion and the service of Islam. When, on the other
hand, they gave up worldly rule, they brilliantly and
most successfully served Islam and the Qur’an. Now
see: of the poles of sainthood descended from Hasan,
especially the Four Poles28 and above all
‘Abd al-Qadir Gilani, and the Imams of Husayn’s line,
especially Zayn al-‘Abidin and Ja‘far al-Sadiq, each
became like a spiritual Mahdi, dispelled wrongdoing and
spiritual darkness, and spread the light of the Qur’an
and the truths of belief. And in so doing each showed he
was a true heir of his noble forefather. I
t m a y t h e n b e a s k e d : “What was the
wisdom in the awesome and bloody dissension that was
visited on blessed Islam and the luminous Age of Bliss,
and what aspect of mercy was there in it, for they did
not deserve such distress? T
h e A n s w e r : Just as a heavy spring
rainstorm stirs into action the potentialities of all the
varieties of plants, seeds, and trees, and causes them to
develop, so each blossoms in its particular way and
performs the duties inherent in its nature, so too, the
dissension visited on the Companions and their successors
stirred their potentialities into action, which ____________________ 28. The Four Poles of sainthood,
namely, ‘Abd al-Qadir Gilani, Ahmad Rufa’i, Ahmad
Badawi, and Ibrahim Dasuqi. (Tr.) Letters
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all different and like seeds; it spurred them on.
Exclaiming, “Islam is in danger! Fire! Fire!”, it put
fear into all the groups and made them hasten to protect
Islam. According to its abilities, each of the groups
shouldered one of the numerous different duties of the
Islamic community and strove in utmost earnestness. Some
working for the preservation of the prophetic Hadiths,
some for the preservation of the Shari‘a, some for the
preservation of the truths of belief, some for the
preservation of the Qur’an, and so on; each group
undertook a particular duty. They strove in performing
the duties of Islam. Numerous multicoloured flowers
opened. And through the storm, seeds were cast to all the
corners of the most extensive world of Islam; half the
earth was transformed into a rose-garden. But sadly,
together with the roses, the thorns of the deviant sects
appeared in the garden. It
was as if the Hand of Power had shaken that era in wrath,
rotated it with intense vigour, and electrified the men
of zeal. Through the centrifugal force of that movement,
a great many enlightened interpreters of the Law,
luminous scholars of Hadith, holy memorizers of the
Qur’an, gifted scholars, men of purity, and poles of
sainthood were flung off and caused to emigrate to the
remote corners of the world of Islam. It fired with
enthusiasm all the people of Islam from East to West and
awakened them to the treasures of the Qur’an. Now we
return to our subject. There
are thousands of events that God’s Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) predicted and that
happened as he foretold. Here we shall mention a few of
them. The majority of those we will cite are agreed upon
by the six well-known and most authentic books of Hadith,
particularly by Bukhari and Muslim. There is
‘consensus in meaning’ concerning the reports, while
others, on account of being verified by meticulous
researchers, may also be considered to have this
certainty. According
to an authentic and certain narration, the Noble
Messenger(Upon whom be blessings and peace) said to his
Companions: “You will be victorious over all your
enemies, will succeed in the conquest of Makkah,29
Khaybar,30 Damascus and Iraq,31
Persia, and Jerusalem,32 and will
share among yourselves the treasures of the rulers of the
greatest empires, the Byzantines and the Persians.”33
He did not say this as a matter of conjecture or personal
opinion; he said it as if he had seen it, and what he
said came true as predicted. This was despite the fact
that at the ____________________ 29. ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Bukhari
i, 678, 679. See, Concordance. Letters
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he foretold this he had to migrate to Madinah with a
handful of followers, with the rest of the world,
including the environs of Madinah, hostile to him! He
also repeatedly declared, according to authentic and
certain narrations, that Abu Bakr and ‘Umar would
outlive him and be his Caliphs, that they would act for
God’s sake and within the bounds of the pleasure of God
and that of the Prophet, that Abu Bakr’s rule would be
short, and that ‘Umar would remain a long time to
succeed in many conquests. Thus he said: “Incumbent
upon you is following the path of those who come after
me, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.”34 He
also declared: “The earth was laid out before me,
and its eastern and western extremities were displayed to
me; the realm of my community shall extend over whatever
was laid out before me.”35 And his words
proved to be true. According
to an authentic and certain narration, before the Battle
of Badr, he pointed out one by one the places where the
leaders of the Quraysh would be killed, saying: “Abu
Jahl will be killed here, ‘Utba here, Umayya here, etc.,”36
and added, “I shall kill ‘Ubayy b. Khalaf with my
own hands.”37 His predictions all proved
to be true. Again,
according to an authentic and certain narration, he
informed his Companions about what was happening in the
celebrated Battle of Mu’ta, near Damascus -at a
distance of one month’s journey from where he was- as
if he were seeing his Companions fighting in the battle,
and said: “Zayd has taken the banner and been
struck; now Ibn Rawaha has taken the banner and been
struck; now Ja‘far has taken the banner and been
struck; now one of God’s swords [i.e. Khalid] has taken
it.”38 Two to three weeks later Ya‘la
b. Munabbih returned from the battlefront. In his
presence, the Noble Prophet described the details of the
battle, and Ya‘la swore by God that what had taken
place at the battle was exactly the same as the Prophet
had described.39 According
to an authentic and certain narration, the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) said: “After
me, the Caliphate will ____________________ 34.
Tirmidhi, Manaqib 16, 37; Ibn Maja, Muqaddima 11; Musnad
v, 382, 385, 399, 402.
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thirty years; then it will be rapacious monarchy.”40
“The beginning of this affair is prophethood and
mercy; then it will be mercy and Caliphate; then it will
be rapacious monarchy; then it will be arrogance and
tyranny.”41 He thus predicted the
six-month-long caliphate of Hasan and the period of the
Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs, and, following that, the
transition of Caliphate to monarchy and monarchy’s
being beset by intrigues and tyranny. This is exactly
what later occurred. Again,
according to an authentic narration, he declared: “‘Uthman
will be killed while reading the Qur’an.”42
“And it may be that God will cause him to be dressed
in a shirt at that time. His deposal may also be sought.”43
These events, too, all took place exactly as predicted. Also
according to an authentic narration, while cupping the
Prophet (PBUH), ‘Abd Allah b. Zubayr tasted his blessed
blood. And then the Prophet said: “Woe unto the
people for what shall befall them at your hands, and woe
unto you for what shall befall you at their hands,”44
predicting that ‘Abd Allah would lead the Muslims
with extraordinary bravery, would face terrible attacks,
and that because of him fearsome events would befall
people. What he foretold came about exactly: during
Umayyad rule, ‘Abd Allah b. Zubayr declared his
Caliphate in Makkah, heroically fought in many battles,
until finally Hajjaj the Tyrant attacked him with a large
force, and following a fierce battle the illustrious hero
was martyred. Again,
according to an authentic narration, he foretold the
characteristics of the Umayyad dynasty45 and
the tyrannical rule of many of its monarchs, including
Yazid and Walid,46 and Mu‘awiya’s taking
the leadership of the Muslims. He advised justice
and gentleness, and said: “When ruling, act with
forebearance.”47 He predicted that the
‘Abbasid dynasty would emerge after the Umayyads to
remain in power for a long time, and said: “The
‘Abbasids will come forth with black banners and rule
for much longer than they [the Umayyads] rule.”48
All these predictions proved to be true. ____________________ 40.
Musnad v, 220, 221.
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to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) also said: “Woe to the Arabs
for the evil that has drawn near,”49
suggesting the dreadful disorders to be caused by Jenghiz
and Hulagu, and their destruction of the ‘Abbasid
state. All this proved to be true. According
to an authentic narration, when Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas was
gravely ill, the Prophet said to him: “It may be
that you will be spared so that some may benefit by you,
and others harmed by you,”50 thus
predicting that he would be a great commander winning
many victories, and many peoples would benefit from him
entering the fold of Islam, while others would be
destroyed by him. His words proved to be true; Sa‘d led
the Muslim armies, wiped out the Persian Empire,
and caused many peoples to reach guidance, the path of
Islam. Also
according to an authentic narration, when the Negus, the
Abyssinian ruler, who had accepted faith earlier, died in
the seventh year of the Hijra, God’s Prophet (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) informed his Companions about it;
he even performed funeral prayers for him.51
One week later came the news confirming the death of the
Negus on the very same day as the Prophet had said. According
to an authentic narration, when the Noble Prophet was
with his closest four Companions on the top of Mount Uhud
(or Hira), the mountain began to tremble. He said,
“Steady! For on you are a prophet, a veracious one
[siddiq], and a martyr,”52 and foretold
the martyrdom of ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali. It too
proved true. Now,
O unfortunate, wretched man without heart who says that
Muhammad (PBUH) was only a clever person and then closes
his eyes to that Sun of Truth! Of all his fifteen
different kinds of miracle, you have thus far heard only
the hundredth part of one kind, that relating to his
predictions which have the certainty of ‘consensus in
meaning.’ To discover future events through one’s own
sagacity and thus succeed even in one hundredth part of
the Prophet’s predictions, one would have to be of the
highest genius. Even if we merely called him a genius as
you call him, could such a man with the sagacity of a
hundred geniuses have ever seen anything wrongly? Or
could he have ever stooped to reporting it ____________________ 49.
Bukhari, Fitan 4, 28; Muslim, Fitan 1; Abu Da’ud, Fitan
1; Tirmidhi, Fitan 23; Ibn Maja, Fitan 9; Musnad ii, 390,
399; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak i, 108; iv, 439, 483.
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Not to heed the word of such a hundredfold genius
concerning happiness in both worlds is therefore the sign
of a hundredfold madness! SIXTH
SIGN According
to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) said to Fatima: “You will be
the first of my Family to join me [after my death].”53
Six months later, what he said took place. He
also told Abu Dharr: “You will be expelled from here
[Madinah], will live alone, and will die alone.”54
All this came true twenty years later. Once,
as he awakened in the house of Anas b. Malik’s aunt,
Umm Haram, he smilingly said: “I saw my community
waging war on the seas like kings sitting on thrones.”55
Umm Haram requested: “Pray that I too will be with
them.” He said: “You shall be.” Forty years
later she accompanied her husband, ‘Ubada b. Samit, on
the conquest of Cyprus. She died there, and her grave has
ever since been visited by the believers. Thus, what the
Prophet foretold proved to be true. Also
according to an authentic narration, he declared: “From
the tribe of Thaqif, a liar will claim prophethood, and a
bloodthirsty tyrant will appear.”56 With
this, he gave tidings of the infamous Mukhtar, who
claimed prophethood, and of the barbarous Hajjaj, who
killed a hundred thousand people. According
to an authentic narration, he said: “Istanbul will
be conquered, and blessed are the ruler and the toops
that will conquer it.”57 He thus gave
tidings that Istanbul would be conquered by Muslim
hands, and that Mehmed the Conqueror would attain a high
spiritual rank. His prediction again proved to be true. He
also said, according to an authentic narration: “Were
religion to be ____________________ 53.
Bukhari, Manaqib 25; Muslim, Fada’il al-Sahaba 101; Ibn
Maja, Jana’iz 64; Musnad vi, 240, 282, 283; Qadi Iyad,
al-Shifa’ i, 340.
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on the Pleiades, men from Persia would reach up and lay
hold of it,”58 indicating that matchless
scholars and saints like Abu Hanifa would emerge from
Iran. In addition, he foretold Imam Shafi‘i, saying:
“A scholar from Quraysh who will fill all regions of
the earth with learning.”59 According
to an authentic narration, he said: “My community
will be divided into seventy-three sects, and only one
among them will attain salvation.” He was asked:
“Who are they?” He replied: “Those who follow me
and my Companions,”60 meaning the Sunnis
or Ahl al-Sunna wa’l-Jama‘a. He
also declared: “The Qadariyya are the Magians of
this community,”61 foretelling the
emergence of the Qadariyya sect, which would be divided
into different branches and reject Divine Determining or
Destiny. He also foretold the Rafida, who would produce
various offshoots. Again
according to an authentic narration, he said to ‘Ali:
“As was true of Jesus, two groups of people will
perish on your account: one because of excessive love,
the other because of excessive enmity.62 Christians,
on account of the deep love for Jesus, transgressed the
limits and called him-God forbid!-‘the son of God,’
while the Jews, because of their hostility, went to
another extreme by denying his message and virtue.
Similarly, some will also incur loss through their
exaggerated affection toward you. For them is the
insulting name of Rafida.63 And certain
others will be excessively hostile to you. They are the
Kharijites and the extremist partisans of the Umayyads,
who will be called Nasiba.” I
t m a y b e a s k e d h e r e : Love for the
Prophet’s Family is a command of the Qur’an and was
greatly encouraged by the Prophet. The affection of the
Shi‘a may therefore serve as an excuse for them, since
deep affection may be likened to intoxication. Why, then,
can the Shi‘a, especially the Rafida not benefit from
their love, and why is their love described by the
Prophet (PBUH) as transgression? T
h e A n s w e r : Love is of two kinds: The
First is to love something or someone for the meaning
it or he ____________________ 58.
Bukhari, al-Tafsir 62; Tirmidhi, 47; Tafsir Sura 3.
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This means to love ‘Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and the
Prophet’s Family in the name of God and of His
Messenger. This kind of love augments the love of the
Prophet, and becomes a means to love God Almighty. Thus,
it is permissible, and its excess is not harmful or
aggressive, nor does it call for reproach and hostility
towards others. The
Second Kind of love takes the means as the object, it
is to love something or someone for itself or himself. In
it, one does not think of the Prophet, (PBUH) but devotes
one’s love to ‘Ali on account of his bravery, and to
Hasan and Husayn on account of their greatness and lofty
qualities, no matter if one knows the Prophet or
recognizes God. This love is not a means of love for God
and His Prophet; besides, when excessive, it results in
censure and enmity for others. It is on account of this
kind of love that such people held themselves at a
distance from Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, and fell into loss.
Their negative love, indeed, is the source of misfortune.
According
to an authentic narration, God’s Most Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) declared: “When
Persian and Roman girls serve you, then calamity and
misfortune will be with you, and your struggles will be
between yourselves, with the wicked preying on the
virtuous.”64 After thirty years, his
predictions came true. Again,
according to an authentic narration, he declared:
“The fortress of Khaybar will be conquered at
‘Ali’s hand.”65 As a miracle of his
prophethood and beyond all expectation, the following day
‘Ali ripped off the gate of the fortress of Khaybar,
used it as a shield, and seized the fortress. When he
threw it aside after the conquest, eight strong men -or
according to another version, forty- tried to lift it,
but could not do so.66 The
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) also
predicted the Battle of Siffin between ‘Ali and
Mu‘awiya, saying: “The hour shall not come until
two parties with a single claim fight each other.”67 He
also declared that a group of rebels would kill ‘Ammar.68
When ____________________ 64.
Tirmidhi (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir) no: 2262; al-Albani,
Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahiha 954; al-Haythami, Majma’
al-Zawa’id x, 232, 237.
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was killed at the Battle of Siffin, ‘Ali cited this as
a proof that Mu‘awiya’s followers were rebellious;
but Mu‘awiya interpreted it differently, and also
‘Amr b. al-‘As said: “The rebels are murderers, not
all of us.” The
Noble Prophet (PBUH) also said: “As long as ‘Umar
is alive, no sedition will erupt among you.”69
And so it happened. Before
accepting faith, Sahl b. ‘Amr was once captured in a
battle. ‘Umar said to the God’s Messenger: “Allow
me to pull out his teeth, for he, with his eloquent
speech, incited the idolatrous Quraysh to wage war
against us.” God’s Messenger replied: “It may be
that he will assume a stance pleasing to you, O ‘Umar.”70
In fact, at the time of the Prophet’s demise, which
caused panic and agitation, Sahl, with his well-known
eloquence, calmed and comforted the Companions in Makkah
with an address; while in Madinah Abu Bakr, with his
great firmness, was also giving a very important address
to comfort the Companions. Surprisingly, the two
addresses resemble each other in regard to their wording. To
Suraqa, the Prophet once said: “You will wear the
two bracelets of Chosroes.”71 Chosroes
was wiped out during the Caliphate of ‘Umar. When
Chosroes’ jewelry arrived, ‘Umar put the bracelets on
Suraqa, saying, “Praise be to God Who took these off
Chosroes and put them on Suraqa.”72 This
confirmed the report of the Prophet. The
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) also
declared: “Once Chosroes the Persian has gone, there
will be no other.”73 So it turned out. He
once said to Chosroes’ envoy: “Chosroes has now
been killed by his son Shirviya Parviz.”74
Upon investigating and finding out that he had indeed
been murdered at that very time, the envoy accepted
Islam. The name of the envoy occurs in some narrations as
Firuz. According
to an authentic narration, the Noble Prophet (PBUH) once
mentioned a secret letter that Khatib b. Balta‘a had
sent to the Quraysh. ____________________ 69.
Bukhari, Mawaqit 4; Fitan 22; Muslim, Iman 231; Fitan 27;
Ibn Maja, Fitan 9; Musnad v, 401, 405.
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sent ‘Ali and Miqdad to fetch it, saying, “There is a
person at such-and-such a location bearing such-and-such
a letter. Take it and bring it here.” They went and
brought exactly the letter he had described from exactly
the place. The Prophet (PBUH) summoned Khatib and asked
him why he had done it. Khatib apologized, and the
Prophet pardoned him.75 Again,
according to an authentic narration concerning ‘Utba b.
Abi Lahab, God’s Messenger prayed: “May he be
eaten by one of the dogs of God!”,76
predicting the terrible fate of ‘Utba. For while on his
way to the Yemen, ‘Utba was devoured by a lion. Both
the malediction and the prediction of the Prophet were
thus confirmed. At
the conquest of Makkah, as is also related in an
authentic narration, Bilal al-Habashi went up onto the
roof of the Ka‘ba and made the call to prayer, while
Abu Sufyan, ‘Attab b. Asid, and Harith b. Hisham, from
among the leaders of the Quraysh, were sitting together
nearby. ‘Attab said: “My father was fortunate enough
not to witness this moment.” Harith said contemptuously
about Bilal: “Could Muhammad have not found someone
other than this black crow to make the mu’ezzin?” Abu
Sufyan said: “I am afraid to say anything, for he will
come to know of whatever I say. Even if nothing else
informs him, the rocks of this Batha [Makkah] will do
so.” Indeed, a little later the Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) encountered them and
repeated to them their conversation word for word.77
That very moment ‘Attab and Harith became Muslims. See,
wretched denier who does not recognize the Prophet! Two
stubborn leaders of the Quraysh came to believe on
hearing this single report of his from the Unseen. How
corrupted your heart must be, for you hear about
thousands of miracles having the certainty of
‘consensus in meaning’ like this one, and still you
are not completely satisfied! However, to return to our
subject. According
to an authentic narration, ‘Abbas was captured by the
Companions in the Battle of Badr. When he was asked for
ransom, he said he did not have money. God’s Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) said to him: “You
and your wife Umm Fadl hid that much ____________________ 75.
Bukhari, Jihad 141; Tafsir 60:1; Maghazi 46; Muslim,
Fada’il al-Sahaba, 161; Abu Da’ud, Jihad 98;
Tirmidhi, lx, 1; Musnad i, 79; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak
iii, 301; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 342.
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[he gave the exact amount] in such-and-such a place.”78
‘Abbas confirmed this, saying: “This was a secret
known by only the two of us,” and became a Muslim. Also
according to an authentic narration, a dangerous Jewish
sorcerer named Labid once concocted a strong and
effective spell to harass the God’s Messenger (PBUH).
He wrapped hair and thread around a comb, bewitched it,
and threw it into a well. The Noble Messenger told his
Companions including ‘Ali to go and bring the spell in
the well, which they did, finding it exactly as
described. As they unwrapped the hair, the Messenger’s
discomfort lessened.79 Again,
according to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger
once gave the news of the awesome fate of an apostate to
a group that included such important persons as Abu
Hurayra and Hudhayfa, saying: “One of you will enter
the Fire with a tooth bigger than Mount Uhud.”80
Abu Hurayra related: “I was afraid, as later only two
remained from that group, one of which was me. Finally,
the other man was killed in the Battle of Yamama as one
of the followers of Musaylima.”81 The truth
of the Prophet’s (PBUH) prediction was thus confirmed. It
is related through an authentic chain of reports that
‘Umayr and Safwan, before they became Muslims,
once decided to kill the Prophet for a handsome reward
that had been offered them. When ‘Umayr arrived in
Madinah with this intention, the Noble Messenger summoned
him, and, putting his hand on ‘Umayr’s chest, told
him about what he had planned with Safwan. ‘Umayr
answered, “Yes,” and became a Muslim.82 Like
those mentioned above, many predictions which the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) gave
concerning the Unseen have been recorded in the six
best-known, authentic books of Hadith, together with the
chains of the narrators. As for the occurrences related
in this work, they are definite to the degree of
‘consensus in meaning,’ being related in Bukhari and Muslim-which
are accepted by the scholars as the most authentic
sources after the Qur’an, and in the other collections
like Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Abu Da’ud, Mustadrak
al-Hakim, Musnad al-Ahmad b. Hanbal,
and Dala’il al-Bayhaqi. ____________________ 78.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 343; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 699; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’ iii,
206, 207; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id iv, 85.
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unthinking denier! Do not shrug these off, saying,
“Muhammad the Arabian was clever!” Because the
accurate predictions of Muhammad (PBUH) concerning the
Unseen cannot be explained except in either of the
following two ways: you will either suppose that this
blessed person had such piercing vision and expansive
genius that he saw and knew the past and the future and
all the world; beheld the East, the West, and the whole
universe; and discovered what happened in the past and
what will happen in the future. Such a quality is not to
be found in a human being, but if it was to be, it would
certainly be a wonder, a gift, bestowed on him by the
Creator of the world, which would itself be the greatest
of miracles. Or you will believe this blessed person to
be an official and a student of One under Whose disposal
and observation everything stands, under Whose command
are all ages and all the species and realms of beings in
the cosmos, in Whose great ledger is recorded everything,
so that He may show and communicate them to his student
whenever He wishes. Thus, Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) instructs others as he himself is
instructed by the Lord of Pre-Eternity. It
is related in an authentic narration that when the
Prophet appointed Khalid b. al-Walid to fight against
Ukaydir, the head of the Dumat al-Jandal, he informed
Khalid that he would find Ukaydir on a wild ox hunt, and
that he would be captured without resistance. Khalid
captured Ukaydir in exactly this way.83 According
to an authentic narration, when the Quraysh hung up on
the wall of the Ka‘ba a leaf on which were written
words against the Bani Hashim, the Prophet said to them:
“Worms have eaten the leaf, except the parts bearing
the Names of God.”84 They examined the
leaf to find it in the same condition as had been
described. According
to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blesssings and peace) said: “There will be a big
epidemic during the conquest of Jerusalem.”85
When Jerusalem was conquered during the Caliphate of
‘Umar, a widespread epidemic caused in three days the
death of about seventy thousand people. ____________________ 83.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ iii, 218; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 704; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma’ad v,
538-9; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak iv, 519; Ibn Kathir,
al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya iv, 30.
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according to an authentic narration, the Prophet (PBUH)
predicted that Basra86 and Baghdad87
would come into existence, which at that time had not
been founded, that the treasure of the world would enter
Baghdad, and that the Turks and the people living on the
shores of the Caspian Sea would do battle with the Arabs
and that the majority of them would later enter the fold
of Islam,88 and that among the Arabs they would come to
dominate them. He said: “The Persians [non-Arabs]
will almost predominate among you, consuming your booty
and smiting you.”89 He
also said: “The ruin of my community will be at the
hands of the wicked ones from Quraysh,”90 suggesting
the disorder caused by the wicked leaders of the
Umayyads, such as Walid and Yazid. He
furthermore predicted that apostasy would take place in
such areas as Yamama.91 During
the famous Battle of Khandaq, he declared: “From now
on, I will make assaults on the Quraysh and their
confederates, not they on me.”92 This
was also verified. According
to an authentic narration, he said a few months prior to
his death: “One of God’s bondsmen has been given a
choice, and he chose that which is with God.”93 About
Zayd b. Suwahan, he said: “One of his limbs will
precede him to Paradise.”94 In the
Battle of Nihawand, one of his hands was martyred and in
effect reached heaven first. The
incidents we have so far mentioned concerning predictions ____________________ 86.
al-Albani, Sahih al-Ja\mi^ al-Saghir vi, 268 no: 7736;
Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih no: 5433.
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to the Unseen comprise only one out of his ten different
kinds of miracle. Yet of this kind alone, we have not
even mentioned one tenth. In addition to what is
mentioned here, four general kinds of miracle concerning
predictions of the Unseen have been described briefly in
the Twenty-Fifth Word, which is about the miraculousness
of the Qur’an. Now consider the kinds mentioned here
together with the four extensive sorts communicated from
the Unseen by the tongue of the Qur’an, you will see
what conclusive, indisputable, sound, brilliant, and firm
proof of his messengership they form. Indeed, anyone
whose heart and mind are not corrupted will of a surety
believe that Muhammad is the Messenger of, and receives
knowledge from, a Glorious One Who is the Creator of all
things, the One All-Knowing of the Unseen. SEVENTH
SIGN We
will give in this Sign a few examples from among the
Prophet’s (PBUH) miracles that relate to his effecting
increase in food and that are definite to the degree of
‘consensus in meaning.’ But before going into the
subject, some introductory comments will be appropriate. I
n t r o d u c t i o n Each
of the following examples of miracles is narrated, as
authentic, through various -sometimes as many as sixteen-
chains of transmission. Most of them occurred in the
presence of large assemblies, and were narrated by many
truthful persons of good repute from among those present.
For example, from among seventy men who partook of four
handfuls of food and were filled, one relates the
incident, and the others do not contradict him. Their
silence thus indicates their confirmation. For if in that
era of truth and truthfulness the Companions, who were
lovers of the truth and earnest and honest, had witnessed
even the tiniest lie, they would have rejected and denied
it. But the incidents we will be citing were narrated by
many, and the others who witnessed them remained silent.
Thus, each of these incidents has the certainty of
‘consensus in meaning.’ Furthermore,
books of both history and the Prophet’s biography
testify that, next to the preservation of the Qur’an
and its verses, the Companions worked with all their
strength to preserve the deeds and words of God’s Most
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and
especially those relating to the injunctions of the
Shari‘a and to miracles, paying extreme attention to
their accuracy. They never neglected even the tiniest
aspect of his conduct, actions, and states. This and the
fact that they recorded them is testified to by books of
Hadith.
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addition, in the Era of Bliss, they wrote down and
recorded very many of the Hadiths concerning the
injunctions of the Law and his miracles. The ‘Seven
‘Abd Allah’s’ in particular recorded them in
writing. And especially ‘Abd Allah b. al-‘Abbas,
known as ‘the Interpreter of the Qur’an,’ and
‘Abd Allah b. ‘Amr b. al-‘As some thirty to forty
years later, and the thousands of exacting scholars of
the generation that followed the Companions recorded the
Hadiths and miracles in writing. And still later, chiefly
the four great interpreters of the Law and thousands of
exacting scholars of Hadith related them and preserved
them in writing. Then two hundred years after the Hijra,
foremost Bukhari and Muslim and the six accepted
books of tradition, undertook the duty of their
preservation. Many severe critics such as Ibn al-Jawzi
emerged who identified false reports which had been
produced by deniers, the unthinking, the ignorant, or
those who had recalled them wrongly. Later, learned and
exacting scholars like Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, who
seventy times was honoured in a waking state by the
presence and conversation of God’s Noble Messenger
(PBUH), differentiated the diamonds of authentic
traditions from other sayings and fabrications. Thus,
the incidents and miracles we shall speak of, have come
down to us through numerous, perhaps uncountable, strong
and trustworthy hands, and have reached us in sound
condition. All
praise be to God, this is from the bounty of my Lord. It
is for this reason that one’s mind should be freed from
the notion that these incidents have been distorted or
confused in any way in being passed down all the way from
that time to the present. T
h e F i r s t E x a m p l e of definite miracles
concerning the Prophet’s increase of food through his
blessing. The six accurate books of tradition, Bukhari
and Muslim included, unanimously relate that
during the feast on the occasion of the Prophet’s
(PBUH) marriage to Zaynab, Anas’s mother, Umm Sulaym,
prepared a dish by frying two handfuls of dates in oil
and sent it with Anas to the Prophet. The Noble Prophet
told him: “Go and invite so-and-so [naming some
persons], and also invite whomever you encounter on
your way.” Anas invited those named and those he
met. About three hundred Companions came and filled the
Prophet’s room and anteroom. Then the Prophet said: “Make
circles of ten.” He placed his blessed hand on that
little amount of food, uttered supplications, and told
them to help themselves. All of them ate and was fully
satisfied. Afterwards the Prophet asked Anas to remove
the food. Anas later related: “I could not tell if
there was more of it when I set it down, or when I
removed it.”95 S
e c o n d E x a m p l e : Abu Ayyub al-Ansari,
the Prophet’s host,
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that when the Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) honoured his house, he had prepared a meal for
two, which would suffice the Prophet and Abu Bakr. But
the Prophet told him: “Invite thirty men from among
the distinguished Ansar!”96 Abu Ayyub
said: “Thirty men came and ate. He then said: ‘Invite
sixty men,’ which I did, and they also came and ate.
The Prophet said again: ‘Invite seventy more.’
I invited them; they came, and when they finished eating,
there was still food left in the bowls. All who came
embraced Islam and took the oath of allegiance after
witnessing this miracle. One hundred and eighty men ate
the food of two men.”97 T
h i r d E x a m p l e : It is reported through
many chains of transmission from ‘Umar b. al-Khattab,
Abu Hurayra, Salama b. Akwa‘, Abu ‘Amrat al-Ansari
and others that on one expedition, the army went hungry.
They referred themselves to the Noble Prophet (Upon whom
be blessings and peace), and he told them: “Gather
whatever food is left in your saddle-bags.”
Everyone brought a few pieces of dates and put them on a
mat. The most they could put together was four handfuls.
Salama related: “I estimated it amounted to the size of
a sitting goat.” Then the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) announced: “Everyone bring his
dish!” They pressed forward, and no one in the
whole army remained with an empty dish, all the dishes
were filled. There was even some left over. One of the
Companions later said: “I realized from the way that
increase was obtained that if the whole world had come,
the food still would have been sufficient.”98 F
o u r t h E x a m p l e : As recorded in all of
the Six Books including Bukhari and Muslim, ‘Abd
al-Rahman b. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq relates: “We, one
hundred and thirty Companions, were with the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) on an
expedition. Dough was prepared to the amount of about
four handfuls, a goat was slaughtered and cooked, and its
liver and kidneys were roasted. I swear by God that from
that roasted meat [liver and kidneys] God’s Messenger
gave a small piece to each and put the cooked meat into
two large bowls. After we had all eaten until we were
filled there was still some left over, which I loaded
onto a camel.”99 ____________________ 95.
Bukhari, Nikah, 64; Muslim, Nikah 94, 95; Tirmidhi,
xxxiii, 21; Nasa’i, Nikah 84; Abu Da’ud, Adab 95;
Musnad iii, 29; v, 462; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 294.
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i f t h E x a m p l e : As is recorded in the Six
Books, Jabir al-Ansari related under oath: “During the
Ahzab expedition on the celebrated day of Khandaq, about
a thousand people ate from four handfuls of rye bread and
a young cooked goat; yet food was still left over. That
day the food had been cooked in my house, and after the
one thousand people had left, the pot was still boiling
with meat in it, and bread was being made from the dough;
for the Prophet had wetted the dough and the pot with his
blessed mouth, beseeching God for plenty.”100 S
i x t h E x a m p l e : According to an authentic
narration from Abu Talha, the uncle of Anas who served
God’s Messenger, the Messenger fed seventy to eighty
men with a small amount of rye bread that Anas had
brought under his arm. The Messenger ordered: “Break
the bread into small pieces!”, and prayed for
increase. Because the house was small, they came ten at a
time, and left having filled themselves.101 S
e v e n t h E x a m p l e : It is related as
authentic in accurate books such as Shifa’ al-Sharif
and Muslim that Jabir al-Ansari narrated: “Once
a man asked the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) for food for his household. The Messenger gave
him a half load of barley. For a long time he ate of the
barley together with his family and guests. They would
look and see that it did not finish. So they measured it
to see by how much it decreased. After that the blessing
of abundance was gone and the barley began to dwindle
rapidly. The man went to the Messenger and related what
had happened. God’s Messenger replied: “If you had
not put it to the test by measuring it, it would have
lasted you a life-time.”102 E
i g h t h E x a m p l e : According to accurate
books such as Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Bayhaqi, and Shifa’
al-Sharif, Samura b. Jundub related that a bowl of
meat was brought to the Prophet (PBUH). From morning to
evening, many groups of men came and ate from it.103 In
accordance with the explanation we gave in the
introduction to this section, this is not the narration
of Samura alone, since Samura narrated this incident on
behalf of, and with the approval of, all those present. N
i n t h E x a m p l e : It is also narrated by
reliable and trusted ____________________ 100.
Bukhari, Maghazi 29; Muslim, Ashriba 141; al-Hakim,
al-Mustadrak iii, 31; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’
i, 290; Suyuti, Kanz al-‘Ummal xii, 409, 424.
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such as the well-known author of Shifa’ al-Sharif,
Ibn Abi Shayba, and Tabarani, that Abu Hurayra related:
“The Noble Messenger commanded me, ‘Invite the
poor Makkan migrants who have made the Bench [suffa]104
of the Mosque their home and who number more than a
hundred.’ So I went and searched for them and gathered
them together. A tray of food was set before us, and we
ate as much as we wanted, then we arose. The dish
remained full as it was when set down, only, the traces
of fingers on the food were visible.105 Thus,
this incident is related by Abu Hurayra in the name of
all the People of the Bench, supported by their
confirmation. Hence, the incident is as definite as if
all the People of the Bench had related it. Is it at all
possible that if it had not been true those men of truth
and perfection would have remained silent and not denied
it? T
e n t h E x a m p l e : According to an authentic
narration from ‘Ali, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) once gathered the Bani ‘Abd
al-Muttalib. They were about forty, including some who
would eat a young camel and drink a gallon of milk in one
meal. Yet for them he had prepared only a handful of
food. All ate and were satisfied, and the food remained
just as it had been before. Later he brought milk in a
wooden bowl that would have been sufficent for only three
or four persons. They all drank their fill.106 Thus,
a miracle of plenty as definite as ‘Ali’s courage and
loyalty! E
l e v e n t h E x a m p l e : According to an
authentic narration, on the occasion of ‘Ali’s
marriage to Fatima al-Zahra, The Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) ordered Bilal al-Habashi:
“Have bread made from a few handfuls of flour; also
slaughter a young camel!” Bilal relates: “I
brought the food and he put his hand on it to bless it.
Later, the Companions arrived in groups, ate, and left.
From the remaining food, he sent a full bowl to each of
his wives, saying that they should eat and feed anyone
who visited them.”107 ____________________ 104.
The People of the Bench: those among the Makkan migrants
(Muhajirun) who lived in the outer part of the Mosque,
who devoted their lives to the preservation and
dissemination of the Qur’an, Sunna, and Hadith, and
whose livelihood was provided by the Prophet (PBUH).
(Tr.)
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blessed plenty was indeed necessary for such a blessed
marriage! T
w e l f t h E x a m p l e : Imam Ja‘far
al-Sadiq related from his father Muhammad al-Baqir, and
he from his father, Zayn al-‘Abidin, and he from
‘Ali, that Fatima al-Zahra had prepared enough food for
herself and ‘Ali. She then sent ‘Ali to invite the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) to
come and eat with them. God’s Messenger came and told
them to send a dish of food to each of his wives. Fatima
said that after a dish of food had been set aside for
himself, ‘Ali, Fatima, and their children, they lifted
up the saucepan and it was full to overflowing. Through
God’s will, they ate of the food for a long time
afterwards.108 Why
do you not believe this miracle of increase just as if
you had witnessed it with your own eyes, since it comes
from this luminous, elevated chain of transmission? Satan
himself could find no excuse in this face of this one. T
h i r t e e n t h E x a m p l e : Veracious
authorities such as Abu Da’ud, Ahmad b. Hanbal, and
Bayhaqi, narrate from Dukayn al-Ahmasi b. Sa‘id
al-Muzayn, and from Nu‘man b. Muqarrin al-Ahmasi
al-Muzayn, who with his six brothers was honoured with
the Prophet’s conversation and was a Companion, and by
way of Jarir through numerous chains of transmission from
‘Umar b. al-Khattab, that God’s Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) ordered ‘Umar b.
al-Khattab: “Equip with provisions for a journey
four hundred horsemen from the Ahmasi tribe!”
‘Umar replied: “O Messenger of God! What we have in
hand is the equivalent of a seated young camel.” The
Messenger said: “Go and give it to them!” So
he went, and out of that half load of dates, gave the
four hundred horsemen sufficient provisions. And he
stated that it remained as before, without diminishing.109 Thus,
this miracle of plenty occurred in connection with four
hundred men and ‘Umar in particular. They are behind
the narrations, supporting them, and their silence
confirms them. Do not ignore these narrations because
they are related by a few individuals only, for if the
incident had only been reported by a single individual,
it still would have the certainty of ‘consensus in
meaning.’ F
o u r t e e n t h E x a m p l e : All the
accurate books of tradition, and foremost Bukhari and Muslim,
narrate that when Jabir’s father died, ____________________ 108.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 294; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 608; Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, al-Matalib
al-‘Aliya iv, 73 no: 4001.
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was heavily in debt. His creditors were Jews. Jabir
offered the creditors all his father’s possessions but
they did not accept them. The fruit produced by his
orchard over many years would have been insufficient to
defray the debt. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) said: “Pick and gather in all
the fruit in the orchard!” They did so, then the
Noble Messenger walked around the crop and prayed. Then
Jabir gave from the amount corresponding to his
father’s debt. What was left was as much as the annual
produce of the orchard. And according to another
narration, it was equal to the amount he gave the
creditors. The Jews were amazed and astounded at this.110 See,
this clear miracle of plenty was not only reported by a
few narrators like Jabir; many people connected with it
described and narrated it, thus giving it the degree of
‘consensus in meaning.’ F
i f t e e n t h E x a m p l e : Exact scholars,
and foremost Tirmidhi and Imam Bayhaqi, related
through a sound chain of authorities from Abu Hurayra
that Abu Hurayra said: “During one expedition -that of
Tabuk according to another narration- the army went
hungry. God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) asked: ‘Is there nothing?’ I said:
‘I have one or two dates in my saddle-bag.’-According
to another narration, it was fifteen.- He said: ‘Bring
them here!’ I took them to him, and he plunged his
hand into them and took a handful. He put them into a
dish, and offered a supplication for their increase. Then
he called the men in groups of ten and they all ate of
them. Then he said: ‘Take what you brought, hold it,
and do not turn it upside down.’ I put my hand in
the bag; there were in my hands as many dates as I had
brought. Later, during the lifetime of the Prophet
(PBUH), and those of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman, I
ate of those dates.” -It is narrated through another
chain of transmission: “I gave several loads of those
dates to be used ‘in God’s way.’ Later the bag
containing the dates was plundered when ‘Uthman was
assassinated.”111 Abu
Hurayra was a constant and important student and disciple
among the People of the Bench, the sacred school and
tekke of the Teacher of the Universe, the Pride of the
World (PBUH). In addition, the Prophet had prayed for his
strength of memory. The miracle of plenty he reported
which occurred in a large gathering like the expedition
of ____________________ 110.
Bukhari, Vasaya 36; Buyu’ 51; Sulh 13; Istiqrad 18;
Nasa’i, Vasaya 3, 4; Musnad iii, 313, 365, 373, 391,
395, 398; Ibn Hibban, Sahih viii, 167; al-Sa’ati,
al-Fath al-Rabbani xx, 60; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 295.
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should therefore be as sound and certain as the word of a
whole army. S
i x t e e n t h E x a m p l e : Foremost Bukhari,
and the accurate books relate, through an authentic
narration, that once Abu Hurayra was hungry, so he
followed the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) into his house. There they saw that a cup of milk
had been brought as a gift. God’s Messenger said to
him: “Call all the People of the Bench!” Abu
Hurayra relates: “I said to myself, I could drink all
the milk myself, as I was most in need of it. But since
it was God’s Messenger’s order, I fetched the People
of the Bench, who numbered more than a hundred. God’s
Messenger told me to offer milk to them. I gave the cup
to each one by one, and each drank until satisfied. At
the end, the Messenger told me, ‘The rest is for me
and you.’ As I drank, God’s Messenger kept
telling me to drink more, until I said, ‘I swear by the
Glorious One who sent you with the truth that I am too
full to drink any more.’ Then God’s Messenger drank
the rest, invoking the name of God and offering Him
thanks.”112 May it be a blessing for him a
hundred thousand times! This
indubitable, manifest miracle, as pure and sweet as milk
itself, is related by all Six Books with their sound
narrations, and foremost Bukhari, who committed to memory
five hundred thousand Hadiths. Moreover, it is narrated
by a celebrated, loyal, and brilliant student of the
Prophet’s blessed school of the Bench, Abu Hurayra, who
also cited as witness -rather, represented- all the other
students of the Bench. Therefore, not to regard such a
report as having the certainty of ‘consensus,’ either
one’s heart should be corrupted, or one’s brain,
destroyed! Is it ever possible that such a truthful
person as Abu Hurayra, who devoted all his life to the
Prophet’s Hadiths and to religion, and who heard and
himself transmitted the Hadith, “Whoever knowingly
tells a lie concerning me should prepare for a seat in
Hell-fire,”113 should have related an
unfounded incident or saying that would have made him the
target of the contradiction of the People of the Bench,
and that would have caused doubt concerning the value and
soundness of all the other Hadiths he had memorized? God
forbid! O
our Sustainer! For the sake of the blessings You bestowed
on Your Most Noble Messenger, bestow the blessings of
abundance on the favours with which You have provided us! ____________________ 112.
Bukhari, Riqaq 17; Tirmidhi, Sifat al-Qiyama 36 no: 2477;
Musnad ii, 515; Tirmidhi (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir) no: 2479;
al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak iii, 15; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i,
296.
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n I m p o r t a n t P o i n t : It is well-known that
when assembled together, weak things become strong. Fine
threads are twisted, and they become a strong rope;
strong ropes are wound together, and no one can break
them. In this Sign, we have shown from among fifteen
different kinds of miracles only one, that related to the
blessings of increase and plenty, and the sixteen
examples we have given constitute barely a fifteenth of
this one kind. However, each of the examples mentioned is
a proof on its own, with enough strength to prove
prophethood. Even if some of them -supposing the
impossible- were to be regarded as weak, they could still
not properly be called such, since whatever is united
with the strong also becomes strong. When
considered together, the sixteen examples given above
constitute a great and strong miracle through the
strength of definite, indisputable ‘consensus in
meaning.’ And, when this miracle is joined by fourteen
other miracles of plenty that have not been mentioned, it
manifests a supreme miracle which is as unbreakable as a
collection of strong ropes. Now add this supreme miracle
to the fourteen other kinds of miracle, and see what a
definite, decisive and irrefutable proof they provide for
the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH)! Thus, the pillar of
Muhammad’s prophethood, formed by such a collection,
has the strength of a mountain. Now you have understood
how unreasonable it is to regard as unstable and liable
to fall that lofty, firm heaven, due to doubts arising
from lack of understanding in particular matters and
examples. Certainly those miracles concerning increase
and plenty show that Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) was the beloved official and
honoured servant of One All-Compassionate and Munificent
Who creates all sustenance and provides all beings with
it, for contrary to His practice, He sent him banquets of
different varieties of food out of nothing, from the pure
Unseen. It
is well-known that the Arabian Peninsula is a place where
water and agriculture are scarce. For this reason, its
people, and particularly the Companions in the early days
of Islam, suffered want and scarcity. They were also
frequently afflicted with thirst. Due to this, the
important of the manifest miracles of Muhammad (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) concerned food and water. Rather
than being miracles proving his claim to prophethood,
these wonders were on account of need and like Divine
gifts, dominical bounty, and banquets of the Most
Merciful One for His Most Noble Messenger. For those who
saw the miracles had already assented to his prophethood.
However, as the miracles took place, their belief
increased and became more luminous.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Eighth Sign - p.153 EIGHTH
SIGN This
section relates miracles which were manifested in
connection with water. I
n t r o d u c t i o n It
is known that when such events as take place among groups
of people are related individually and not contradicted
by others, this indicates the veracity of the reports.
For by virtue of his very nature, man is inclined to call
a lie a lie. In particular if the people in question were
the Companions who were more intolerant of lies than
anyone else, if the incidents concerned God’s Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and if the
narrator was a renowned Companion, then certainly the
narrator gives his report on behalf of all who witnessed
the incident. However, each of the miracles involving
water that we will cite below was transmitted through
many channels, entrusted by many Companions to thousands
of precise scholars of the following generation, who in
turn passed them down, authentically, to the great
interpreters of the Law of the second century. They too
received them with complete seriousness and reverence,
accepted them, then handed them down to the exacting
scholars of succeeding centuries. Thus the traditions
have reached our times, passing through thousands of
strong, reliable hands. Moreover, the texts of Hadiths
written down in the Era of Bliss, the era of the Prophet,
were handed down in accurate form till they reached the
brilliant scholars of the science of Hadith like Bukhari
and Muslim. And they, through punctilious
examination and classification, collected together those
of the Hadiths that were undoubtedly authentic, and
presented and taught them to us. May God reward them
abundantly! Thus,
the flowing of water from the fingers of God’s
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and many men
drinking from it has the certainty of consensus. It is
impossible that the gathering who narrated it would have
agreed on a lie. The miracle is most definite. Moreover,
it was repeated three times in the presence of three vast
assemblies. A great many accurate scholars, primarily,
Bukhari, Muslim, Imam Malik, Imam Shu‘ayb, and
Imam Qatada, recorded from definitely authenticated
narrations from a great many of the well-known
Companions, primarily, the Prophet’s servants, Anas,
Jabir, and Ibn Mas‘ud how abundant water had flowed
from his fingers and the army drunk from it. From
numerous narrations of this kind of miracle, we will cite
here only nine examples. F
i r s t E x a m p l e : Accurate books of
tradition, in particular Bukhari and Muslim,
report from an authentic narration from Anas: “About
three hundred of us were together with God’s Noble
Messenger
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Eighth Sign - p.154 (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) in the place named Zawra’.
He ordered us to perform the ablution for the afternoon
prayer, but we could find no water. He then told us to
bring a little water, which we did, and he dipped his
auspicious hands into it. I saw water flow from his
fingers like a fountain. His three hundred men performed
the ablution with the water and drank from it.”114 Anas
relates this incident in the name of three hundred men.
Is it possible that those three hundred people did not in
effect assent to it, or in the event of their not
assenting to it, not deny it? S
e c o n d E x a m p l e : As narrated in accurate
books, and foremost Bukhari and Muslim, Jabir b.
‘Abd Allah al-Ansari said: “We fifteen hundred people
were thirsty during the Hudaybiyya expedition. The Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) performed
the ablutions from a leather water-bag called a qirba,
then he dipped his hand into it. Then I saw that water
was flowing from his fingers like a spring. Fifteen
hundred men drank from it and filled their water-bags.”
Once, Salim b. Abi’l-Ja‘d asked Jabir: “How many of
you were there?” He replied: “The water would have
been enough even if there had been a hundred thousand
people, but we were fifteen hundred.”115 Thus,
the narrators of this clear miracle in effect number
fifteen hundred, for it is man’s nature to reject lies.
As for the Companions of the Prophet, who sacrificed
their tribes and peoples, their fathers and mothers,
their lives and all they possessed for the sake of truth
and veracity, they could not have remained silent in the
face of a lie, especially in the light of the warning
given by the tradition, “Whoever knowingly tells a
lie concerning me should prepare for a seat in Hell-fire.”
Since they remained silent concerning this report, they
accepted it, in effect joined Jabir, and confirmed him. T
h i r d E x a m p l e : Again as related in the
accurate books of Hadith and foremost Bukhari and Muslim,
Jabir reported: “During the Buwat expedition, the Noble
Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) commanded:
‘Call for the ablutions!’ They said there was no
water. He said, ‘Find a small amount!’ We
brought a very small amount. He held his hand over the
water while reciting something I could not hear, and then
commanded: ‘Bring the caravan’s big trough!’
They ____________________ 114.
Bukhari, Wudu’ 32, 46; Manaqib 25; Muslim, Fada’il
45, 46; Tahara 60; Abu Da’ud, Muqaddima 5; Tirmidhi,
Manaqib 6; Muwatta’, Tahara 32; Musnad iii, 132, 147,
170, 215, 289; Ibn Hibban, Sahih viii, 171; Tirmidhi
(Ahmad Shakir) no: 3635. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Eighth Sign - p.155 brought
it to me and I placed it before God’s Messenger. He put
his hands in the trough and spread his fingers. I poured
that very small amount of water onto his blessed hands,
and I saw that abundant water was flowing from his
blessed fingers and filling the trough. Then I summoned
those who needed water. When they had all performed the
ablutions with the water and drunk from it, I told the
Noble Messenger that there was no one else. He lifted his
hands, leaving the trough full to the brim.”116 Thus,
this clear miracle of Muhammad (PBUH) has the certainty
of ‘consensus in meaning,’ for since Jabir was most
prominent in the matter, he had the right to recount it
and proclaim it in everybody else’s name. Ibn Mas‘ud
relates exactly the same thing in his narration: “I saw
water flowing from the fingers of God’s Messenger as
from a spring.”117 If a truthful, well-known
group of Companions composed of Anas, Jabir, and Ibn
Mas‘ud said: “We have seen it,” is it possible that
they should not have seen it? Now combine these three
examples and see how powerful and manifest a miracle it
was, and how, if the three chains of transmission are
combined, it proves the flowing of water from his fingers
like ‘true consensus.’ Indeed, even Moses’ making
water flow from twelve different places in a rock cannot
be equated with the water flowing from Muhammad’s ten
fingers, for water may gush out of rock -examples are to
be found among ordinary events- but there is no
equivalent of, no parallel for, water flowing in
abundance, like from the Spring of Kawthar, from flesh
and bone. F
o u r t h E x a m p l e : Foremost Imam Malik in
his esteemed book, Muwatta’, relates from the
renowned Companion Mu‘adh b. Jabal: “During the Tabuk
expedition we came across a spring flowing as meagrely as
a piece of fine string. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) ordered: ‘Collect a little of
the water!’ They collected some in the palms of
their hands. God’s Messenger washed his hands and face
in it, and we returned it to the spring. Suddenly the
outlet of the spring opened up and water gushed forth; it
was sufficient for the whole army.”118 Another
narrator, even, Imam Ibn Ishaq, stated: “The water
gushed forth from the spring under the earth making a
roar like thunder. God’s Noble Messenger told Mu‘adh:
‘If you live long enough, you will see that this
miraculous water will transform this place into gardens.’
And so it did.” ____________________ 116.
Muslim, Zuhd 74 no: 3013; Ibn Hibban, Sahih viii, 159.
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i f t h E x a m p l e : Foremost Bukhari relates
from al-Bara’, and Muslim from Salama b. Akwa‘
and other authentic books of Hadith, unanimously relate:
“During the Hudaybiyya expedition we came across a
well. We numbered four hundred while the water in the
well was barely sufficient for fifty. We drew the water
and left nothing. Then God’s Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) came and sat at the head of the
well. He asked for a bucket of water and we fetched one.
He put some of his blessed spittle into the bucket and
prayed, then poured the water into the well. Suddenly the
well filled and frothed with water, filling to the top.
The whole army drank their fill and watered their
animals. They also replenished their water-bags.119 S
i x t h E x a m p l e : Again, foremost brilliant
authorities of the science of Hadith like Muslim
and Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, and the authentic books of
Hadith, relate from a sound narration from the famous Abu
Qatada: “We were going for help on the leaders being
martyred in the celebrated Battle of Mu’ta. I had a
water-bag with me. The Noble Prophet commanded:
‘Keep your water-bag carefully; there will be great
need for it.’ Soon after, we began to suffer from
thirst. We were seventy-two people. [According to Tabari,
three hundred.] The Prophet said: ‘Bring me your
water-bag!’ I did so, he took the bag and placed
his lips on its mouth. I do not know whether or not he
blew into it. Then seventy-two men came and drank from
the bag and filled their bags. When I took it back, it
was just as I had given it.120 See
this decisive miracle of Muhammad (PBUH) and say: “O
God! Grant him blessings and peace to the number of drops
of water, and to his Family!” S
e v e n t h E x a m p l e : The authentic books
and foremost Bukhari and Muslim narrate from
‘Imran b. Husayn: “On one journey we and God’s
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) were without
water. He said to me and ‘Ali: ‘There is a woman
in such-and-such a place together with her beast which is
laden with two full water-bags. Go and fetch her!’
‘Ali and I went and found the woman and the water in
exactly the place described, and brought her to God’s
Messenger. He ordered: ‘Pour a little of the water
into a vessel.’ We did so and he prayed for the
blessing of increase. He then commanded everyone to come
to fill his water-bag. All the people came, drank, and
filled their water-bags. Afterwards he gave an order to
collect something for the ____________________ 119.
Bukhari, Manaqib 25; Maghazi 35; Musnad iv, 290, 301;
Bayhaqi, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa iv, 110.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Eighth Sign - p.157 woman,
and they filled her skirt.” ‘Imran said: “I
imagined the two water-bags were constantly filling. The
Noble Messenger told the woman: ‘You can go now. We
did not take water from you; rather God gave us water
from His treasury.’”121 E
i g h t h E x a m p l e : Scholars of Hadith,
primarily Ibn Khuzayma in his Sahih, narrate from
‘Umar: “We ran out of water during the Tabuk
expedition. Some people even slaughtered their camels,
wrung out the innards and drank the liquid. Abu Bakr the
Veracious requested the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) to pray. The Messenger raised his
hands, and before he had lowered them clouds gathered,
and such rain fell that we filled our containers. Then
the rain stopped, and it had not fallen beyond the limits
of the army.”122 That is to say, no chance
was involved in the incident; it was purely a miracle of
Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace). N
i n t h E x a m p l e : Relating from ‘Amr b.
Shu‘ayb, the grandson of ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Amr b.
al-‘As, on whom they relied for explanations of
Hadiths, the Four Imams narrated-from a sound narration:
“Before his prophetic mission, the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) once came by camel to
the place called Dhu’l-Hijaz near ‘Arafat with his
uncle Abu Talib. Abu Talib said he was thirsty. The
Prophet dismounted from the camel and struck the ground
with his foot. Water gushed out and Abu Talib drank from
it.”123 One
of the researchers, however, stated that this incident
should be considered to be of the category of irhasat,124
because it occurred before his prophethood; however,
since that time the spring of ‘Arafat has flowed from
the spot, and may therefore be considered a wonder of
Muhammad (PBUH). Similar
to these nine examples, ninety different narrations -if
not ninety instances- have reported miracles concerning
water. The first seven examples are as sound and definite
as ‘consensus in meaning.’ For sure the last two are
not supported by the narrations of numerous narrators or
a strong chain of transmitters, but supporting and
confirming the incident mentioned in the eighth example
as narrated by ‘Umar, is ____________________ 121.
Bukhari, Tayammum 6; Manaqib 25; Muslim, Masajid 312;
Musnad iv, 434-5; Bayhaqi, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa iv, 216;
vi, 130. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Eighth Sign - p.158 another
miracle reported by the authentic books of Hadith,
including Bayhaqi and al-Hakim; it is as follows: “‘Umar
requested of God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) that he should pray for rain,
because the army was in need of water. The Messenger
raised his hands, and at once clouds gathered and rain
fell, enough for the army’s needs, then they
dispersed.”125 It was quite simply as though
they were officials charged with watering the army; they
came, poured down sufficient for its needs, then went. Just
as this narration corroborates and proves decisively the
eighth example, so too the famous learned scholar, Ibn
al-Jawzi, who was extremely fastidious in verifying
Hadiths even rejecting as spurious many authentic ones,
said that this event took place, but at the famous Battle
of Badr. He stated that the verse, And
He caused rain to descend on you from heaven to clean you
therewith126 refers
to the incident. Since that is the case, certainly no
room for doubt can remain. Furthermore, rain falling on
the Prophet praying for it, suddenly, swiftly, before he
lowered his hands, occurred on many occasions, and was on
its own a miracle, concerning the reports for which there
is consensus. It is also narrated with ‘consensus,’
that several times he raised his hands while in the
pulpit and that rain fell before he lowered them. NINTH
SIGN One
of the various kinds of miracles of God’s Most Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) is that like
human beings, trees obeyed his orders, and moving from
their places, came to him. There is also ‘consensus in
meaning’ in the reports of these miracles, like those
of water flowing from his fingers. They have been
narrated in numerous forms and through numerous channels.
Indeed, the consensus concerning trees leaving their
places and coming to him may be considered as
‘explicit,’127 because the best-known of
the Companions such as ‘Ali, Ibn ‘Abbas, Ibn
Mas‘ud, Ibn ‘Umar, Ya‘la b. Murra, Jabir, Anas b.
Malik, Burayda, Usama b. Zayd, and Ghaylan b. Salama,
each reported the same miracle with certainty. Hundreds
of scholars of the succeeding generation narrated the
miracle from one of the above-mentioned Companions ____________________ 125.
al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’ iii, 128; ‘Ali al-Qari,
Sharh al-Shifa’ i, 601; Suyuti, al-Durar al-Manthur
iii, 170.
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a different line of transmission, as though transmitting
it to us in the form of multiple ‘consensus.’ Thus,
this miracle of the trees has decisively and indisputably
the certainty of ‘consensus in meaning.’ We will now
cite only a few examples of this great miracle, although
it was repeated many times. F
i r s t E x a m p l e : Foremost, Imam Maja, and
al-Darimi narrate from Anas b. Malik and ‘Ali, and Imam
Bayhaqi from ‘Umar, that the Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) was saddened at the denial of the
unbelievers. He prayed: “O my Sustainer! Give me a
sign that I shall no longer see anyone who contradicts
me!”128 According to Anas, Gabriel was
also present, upon whose instruction God’s Messenger
called to a tree at the side of the valley. It came near
him. He then told the tree to go back; it returned and
settled itself in its place. S
e c o n d E x a m p l e : In Shifa’
al-Sharif, Qadi Iyad, the leading scholar of the
Maghrib, relates from ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Umar through an
exalted and sound chain of narrators: “On one
expedition, a beduin approached the Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace). God’s Messenger asked
him: ‘Where are you going?’ He replied: ‘To
my family.’ God’s Messenger asked him: ‘Don’t
you want something better than that?’ The beduin
asked: ‘What is that?’ The Messenger said: ‘That
you bear witness that there is no god but God, He is One,
He has no partner, and that Muhammad is His servant and
Messenger.’ The beduin asked: ‘What is witness to
this testimony?’ God’s Messenger said: ‘The tree
beside the valley shall bear witness.’” Ibn
‘Umar said: “Shaking, the tree cleft the earth and
came to God’s Messenger. He asked the tree three times
to testify; each time it testified to his truthfulness.
When he ordered, it went back and settled in its
place.”129 According
to the authentic narration of Ibn Sahib al-Aslami,
Burayda reports: “When we were with the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) on an expedition, a
beduin came and asked for a sign, that is, a miracle. The
Messenger said: ‘Tell that tree that God’s
Messenger summons it!’ Then he pointed to a tree;
it swayed to right and left, brought itself out of the
ground with its roots, and came to the presence of the
Messenger, saying: ‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of ____________________ 128.
Ibn Maja, Fitan 23 no: 4028; Darimi, Muqaddima 3; Musnad
i, 223; iii, 113; iv, 177; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 302;
‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’ i, 620; al-Haythami,
Majma’ al-Zawa’id ix, 10; al-Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal
ii, 354. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Ninth Sign - p.160 God!’
The beduin said: ‘Now let it go to its place again!’
He commanded, and it went. Then the beduin said: ‘Allow
me to prostrate before you.’ The Messenger replied: ‘No
one is permitted to do that.’ The beduin said:
‘Then I will kiss your hands and feet,’ and he
permitted him.”130 T
h i r d E x a m p l e : Foremost the Sahih
of Muslim, and the authentic books of Hadith
relate that Jabir said: “We were together with God’s
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) on an
expedition when he searched for a place to answer the
call of nature. There was no secluded place. So he went
towards two trees, caught hold of the branches of one of
them, and pulled. Obeying him, the tree went together
with him to the second tree. It was like an obedient
camel being led by its reins. Having in this way brought
the two trees together, he said: ‘Join together over
me, with God’s permission!’ The two trees joined
together and formed a screen. After relieving himself
behind them, he ordered them to go back, and they
returned to their places.”131 According
to another narration, Jabir said: “God’s Messenger
commanded me: ‘Tell those trees to join together for
the relief of God’s Messenger!’ I told them to do
so, and they joined together. Then, while I was waiting,
God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
emerged, and indicated to left and right with his head.
The two trees returned to their places.”132 F
o u r t h E x a m p l e : Usama b. Zayd, one the
brave commanders and servants of the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace), reports in an
authentic narration: “We were together with God’s
Messenger on an expedition. There was no secluded,
private place in which to answer the call of nature. He
asked: ‘Can you see any trees or rocks?’ I
replied: ‘Yes, I can.’ He ordered: ‘Speak to
them and tell them to join together for the relief of
God’s Messenger; also tell the rocks to gather together
as a wall.’ I went and said as he commanded. I
swear that the trees joined together and the rocks formed
a wall. God’s Messenger after relieving himself, again
commanded: ‘Tell them to separate!’ I swear by
the Glorious One in the grasp of Whose power I am that
the trees and rocks separated, and returned to their
places.”133 These
two incidents which were reported by Jabir b. Usama were
also ____________________ 130.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 299; al-Khafaji, Sharh
al-Shifa’ iii, 49.
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by Ya‘la b. Murra, Ghaylan b. Salama al-Thaqafi, and
Ibn Mas‘ud, referring to the Battle of Hunayn.134 F
i f t h E x a m p l e : Reported by Imam b.
Fawrak, known as ‘the foremost scholar of his time’
and ‘Shafi‘i the Second’ for his excellence in
interpretation: “While travelling on horseback one
night during the Ta’if expedition, sleep overcame
God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace). While in that state a lote-tree loomed up before
him. To make way for him and not to hurt his horse, the
tree split in two, and the Noble Messenger, on the horse,
passed between the two parts of the tree.” The tree has
remained as two trunks, in that honoured position, up to
our time.135 S
i x t h E x a m p l e : Ya‘la b. Murra relates
in an authentic narration: “During an expedition, a
tree -called either talha or samura- came,
passed around God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) as if circumambulating, and went
back to its place. God’s Messenger said: ‘The tree
requested of God that it should salute me.’”136 S
e v e n t h E x a m p l e : Scholars of Hadith
relate from Ibn Mas‘ud with an authentic narration:
“When the jinn of Nusaybin came to the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) in the place called
Batn al-Nakhl in order to find guidance, a tree informed
him of their coming.” Also, Imam Mujahid relates from
Ibn Mas‘ud in the Hadith: “The jinn asked for a proof
of his prophethood, so the Noble Prophet commanded the
tree, and it left its place, came to him, then returned
to its place.”137 That single miracle was
sufficient for the race of jinns. So if a human being
does not come to believe having heard of a thousand
miracles like this one, is he not more of a devil than
those described by the jinn as, “Some foolish ones
among us”?138 E
i g h t h E x a m p l e : Tirmidhi reports
in his Sahih from Ibn ‘Abbas through a sound
narration: “God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) asked a beduin: ‘Will you
testify that I am the Messenger of God if a branch of
that tree comes to me when I call to it?’ He
replied: ‘Yes.’ The Messenger called to the branch.
It broke off and jumped over near him, then jumped back
when he told it to do so.”139 ____________________ 134.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 301; al-Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal
xii, 403.
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these eight examples, there are many others related
through many chains of transmission. Seven or eight
strands of rope form a strong cable when they come
together. Similarly, these miracles concerning trees,
which were reported on the authority of the best-known
and most veracious Companions in thus numerous chains of
transmission, certainly have the strength of ‘consensus
in meaning,’ indeed, ‘true consensus.’ In fact,
they take on the form of ‘consensus’ when passed down
by the Companions to the following generation. In
particular, the accurate books of Hadith such as Bukhari,
Muslim, Ibn Hibban, and Tirmidhi, made the
chains leading back to the time of the Companions so
sound, and they kept them thus, that reading a Hadith,
say in Bukhari, is like hearing it directly from the
Companions. If,
as seen in the above examples, trees recognize God’s
Messenger(Upon whom be blessings and peace) testify to
his prophethood, visit and salute him, and obey his
orders, and those lifeless, unreasoning creatures who
call themselves human beings do not recognize him or
believe in him, will they not be more worthless than a
dead tree, and like a piece of wood, fit for the fire? TENTH
SIGN Corroborating
the miracles concerning trees and reported in the form of
‘consensus,’ is the miracle of the moaning of the
pole. Yes, the pole’s moaning in the Prophet’s mosque
before a vast crowd because of its temporary separation
from the Prophet (PBUH) both confirms and strengthens the
instances of miracles related to trees. For the pole also
was of wood; their substance was the same. However, the
reports of this miracle itself form a consensus, whereas
the others are thus as a group in one class, most of them
individually or separately not attaining the degree of
‘explicit consensus.’ When
delivering the sermon in the mosque, God’s Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) used to lean
against a pole consisting of a date-palm. But when the
pulpit was made, he began to give the sermon from there.
Whereupon the pole moaned and wailed like a camel; the
whole congregation heard it. Only when the Prophet came
down from the pulpit to it, and placed his hand on it,
speaking to it and consoling it, did the pole stop
moaning. This miracle of Muhammad (PBUH) was narrated
through numerous chains of transmission, at the degree of
‘consensus.’ Indeed,
the miracle of the moaning of the pole is very widely
known and there is ‘true consensus’ concerning it.140
Hundreds of authorities on ____________________ 140. See, al-Kattani, Nazm al-Mutanathir 134-5. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Tenth Sign - p.163 Hadith
of the subsequent generation narrated the miracle through
fifteen chains of transmission from an illustrious group
of Companions, and passed it down to succeeding
centuries.141 From that group, eminent
scholars among the Companions and leading experts on
Hadith such as Anas b. Malik142 and Jabir b.
‘Abd Allah al-Ansari143 -both servants of
the Prophet, ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Umar,144
‘Abd Allah b. ‘Abbas,145 Sahl b. Sa‘d,146
Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri,147 Ubayy b. Ka‘b,148
Burayda,149 and Umm Salama, the Mother of
Believers,150 each at the head of a chain of
transmission, reported this same miracle to the
Prophet’s community. Foremost Bukhari, Muslim,
and the authentic books of Hadith gave accounts of this
great miracle, concerning which there is consensus of
reports, together with its lines of transmission for
succeeding generations. Jabir,
in his chain of transmission, says: “God’s Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) used to lean against a
wooden pole called ‘the palm trunk’ while delivering
the sermon in the mosque. The pole could not endure it
when the pulpit was made and the Messenger used that for
the sermon, and began to moan and wail like a pregnant
camel.”151 In his narration, Anas says:
“It moaned like a water-buffalo causing the mosque to
tremble.”152 In his narration, Sahl b.
Sa‘d says: “And weeping increased among the people,
on the pole’s moaning.” In his narration, Ubayy b.
Ka‘b says: “It wept so much it split.” While in
another narration, the Noble Messenger said: “It is
weeping at being separated from the recitation of God’s
Names and the mentioning of God ____________________ 141.
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya 125-132.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Tenth Sign - p.164 during
the sermon.” Still another narration reports that
God’s Messenger said: “If I had not embraced and
consoled it, it would have wept at being separated from
God’s Messenger until Doomsday.” In his
narration, Burayda reports: “When the pole began to
moan, God’s Messenger put his hand on it and said, ‘If
you wish, I will return you to the grove you came from;
your roots will grow and you will flourish; you will
produce new fruits. Or if you wish, I will plant you in
Paradise, and God’s friends, the saints, will eat of
your fruit.’ He then listened to the pole. The
people behind God’s Messenger could hear it as it
spoke, saying: ‘Plant me in Paradise, where there is no
decay, so that Almighty God’s beloved servants will eat
of my fruit.’ The Messenger said: ‘I will,’ and
added: ‘It has preferred the eternal realm to that of
transitoriness.’” Abu Ishaq Isfarani, one of the
great authorities on theology, narrated: “God’s
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) did not go
to the pole, but it came to him, at his command. Then, at
his command, it returned to its place.”153
Ubayy b. Ka‘b says: “After this extraordinary event,
God’s Messenger ordered that the pole be put under the
pulpit. It was put there and remained there until the
mosque was pulled down before being rebuilt. Then Ubayy
b. Ka‘b took it and kept it until it decayed.154 The
famous scholar Hasan al-Basri would weep while teaching
this miraculous event to his students, and say to them:
“A piece of wood demonstrated love and longing for
God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace), so you should feel more love than that.”155
As for us, we say, Yes, and love and longing for him is
shown through following his illustrious Practices and
sacred Shari‘a. A
n I m p o r t a n t P o i n t If
it is asked : Why were the other miracles which
were demonstrated in relation to food -to satisfy fully a
thousand men with four handfuls of food in the Battle of
Khandaq, and another thousand men with water flowing from
the Messenger’s blessed fingers- not narrated through
numerous chains of transmission as the miracle of the
moaning of the pole, although the former two miracles
occurred in the presence of larger crowds? The
Answer: The miracles that were manifested were of
two kinds: one were manifested at the hands of God’s
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), in order to
make people assent to his prophethood. The moaning of the
pole was of that kind. It occurred solely as a proof, an
affirmation, of prophethood, to increase the believers’
faith, to urge ____________________ 153.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 304.
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dissemblers to sincerity and belief, and to bring to
belief the unbelievers. That is why everyone, the low and
the high, saw it, and great attention was paid to
broadcasting it. However, the miracles concerning food
and water were wonders rather than miracles, or Divine
favours rather than wonders, or, more than favour, they
were banquets bestowed by the All-Merciful One because of
need. For sure, they were proofs of his claim to
prophethood and miracles, but their basic aim was this:
the army was hungry so Almighty God provided a feast for
a thousand men out of a handful of food from His treasury
in the Unseen, just as He creates a thousand pounds of
dates from a single seed. And for a thirsty army fighting
in His way, He caused water to flow like the water of
Kawthar from the fingers of the Commander-in-Chief, and
gave them to drink. It
is for this reason that all the examples of the miracles
concerning food and water do not attain the degree of the
miracle of the moaning of the pole. However, in their
entirety, the various kinds of these two miracles are as
numerous and unanimously reported as the moaning of the
pole. Moreover, not everyone could see the increase of
food and water flowing from his fingers; they could only
see the results. Whereas everyone heard the pole moaning,
so it was more widely broadcast. If
it is asked: All the actions and conduct of
God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) were
recorded and transmitted by his Companions with extreme
care. Why then are such great miracles only narrated
through ten or twenty chains of transmission, when they
should have been narrated through a hundred? Also, why
are many narrated from Anas, Jabir, and Abu Hurayra, and
few related from Abu Bakr and ‘Umar? The
Answer: The answer to the first part of the
question has been given in the Third Principle in the
Fourth Sign. Regarding the second part: just as someone
in need of medicine goes to a doctor, mathematicians are
consulted on mathematical problems, and questions to do
with the Shari‘a are asked of the Mufti, and so on; so
too, some of the scholars among the Companions were
charged with the duty of instructing succeeding centuries
in the Hadiths of the Prophet, working with all their
strength for this end. Yes, Abu Hurayra devoted his
entire life to memorizing Hadiths, while ‘Umar was
occupied with the world of politics and the Caliphate.
‘Umar therefore narrated very few traditions, relying
on persons like Abu Hurayra, Anas, and Jabir, to teach
the Hadiths to the Muslim community. Furthermore,
on a well-known, truthful, sincere, honest, and trusted
Companion reporting an incident through one chain, it was
regarded as sufficient, and no need remained for another
to narrate Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Eleventh Sign - p.166 it.
This is why some significant events were narrated through
only two or three chains of transmission. ELEVENTH
SIGN As
the Tenth Sign explained miracles of the Prophet related
to trees, the Eleventh Sign will describe how rocks and
mountains among lifeless creatures also demonstrated
prophetic miracles. Here we cite a few out of numerous
instances. F
i r s t E x a m p l e : The great scholar
of the Maghrib, Qadi Iyad, in his Shifa’ al-Sharif,
with a celebrated chain of authorities, and great imams
like Bukhari, report through an authentic narration, from
Ibn Mas‘ud, the Prophet’s servant: “While eating
together with God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace), we used to hear the food glorifying
God.”156 S
e c o n d E x a m p l e : Accurate books of
Hadith report from Anas and Abu Dharr through an
authentic narration: “Anas, the Prophet’s servant,
said: ‘We were together with God’s Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) when he took up a handful of
small stones and they began to praise God in his blessed
palm. Then he put them in Abu Bakr the Veracious’s hand
and again they glorified God.’”157 In his
line of transmission, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari says: “Then
he put them into ‘Umar’s hand, and again they
glorified God. Then he took them and put them on the
ground, and they were silent. Then he again took them,
and put them in ‘Uthman’s hand, where again they
began to glorify God.” Abu Dharr and Anas relate: “He
put them in our hands and they were silent.”158 T
h i r d E x a m p l e : It is established
through a sound narration from ‘Ali, Jabir, and
‘A’isha al-Siddiqa: “Rocks and mountains would say
to God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace),
‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God!’” In
‘Ali’s chain of narration, it says: “Whenever we
went around in the environs of Makkah in the early of
days of his prophethood, the trees and rocks we
encountered would declare: ‘Peace be upon you, O
Messenger of God!’”159 While in his chain
of transmission, Jabir says: “Whenever the Noble
Messenger came ____________________ 156.
Bukhari, Manaqib 25; Tirmidhi, Manaqib 6 (Tahqiq: Ibrahim
A’wad) no: 3633; Musnad i, 460; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’
i, 306; ^Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’ i, 627; Ibn
Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya vi, 97-8, 133.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Eleventh Sign - p.167 across
rocks and trees, they would prostrate before him, that
is, demonstrating obedience to him, they would declare:
‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God!’”160
In one of Jabir’s narrations, the Messenger said: “I
know a rock that salutes me.”161
Some said that he intended the Black Stone of the
Ka‘ba. In her line of transmission, ‘A’isha said:
“God’s Messenger said: ‘When Gabriel brought me the
message, I would never pass by a rock or a tree without
it saying, ‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of
God!’”162 F
o u r t h E x a m p l e : Reported through an
authentic narration from ‘Abbas: “God’s Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) covered ‘Abbas and
his four sons (‘Abd Allah, ‘Ubayd Allah, Fadl, and
Qusam) with a piece of cloth called mula’at,
praying: ‘O my Sustainer! This is my uncle; protect
through me these his sons and veil them from the Fire, as
I veil them with this cloth!’ The roof, door, and
the walls of the house joined in the prayer at once,
saying, Amen! Amen!”163 F
i f t h E x a m p l e : Accurate books, notably
Bukhari, Ibn Hibban, Da’ud, and Tirmidhi,
unanimously report from Anas,164 Abu Hurayra,165
‘Uthman Dhi’n-Nurayn,166 and Sa‘d b.
Zayd,167 from among the ten promised Paradise:
“God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) climbed Mount Uhud together with Abu Bakr
al-Siddiq, ‘Umar al-Faruq, and ‘Uthman
Dhi’n-Nurayn. Either due to their awesomeness, or out
of its own joy and happiness, the mountain began to
tremble and stir. God’s Messenger said: ‘Steady!
For upon you are a prophet, a veracious one (siddiq), and
two martyrs!’ This
tradition is giving news from the Unseen that ‘Umar and
‘Uthman were going to be martyred. As a supplement to
this tradition, it is narrated that when God’s Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) migrated
from Makkah pursued by the unbelievers, they climbed the
mountain called Thubir. The mountain said: “Leave me, O
Messenger of God! I am afraid that God will punish me if
they strike you on me.” Then Mount Hira called to him:
“Come to me, O Messenger of ____________________ 160.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 307; al-Khafaji, Sharh
al-Shifa’ iii, 71.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Eleventh Sign - p.168 God!”
For this reason, men of intuition feel fear on Mount
Thubir and a sense of safety on Mount Hira. As
can be understood from this example, these vast mountains
are each an individual servant of God; each glorifies and
praises Him; each is charged with duties. They recognized
and loved God’s Messenger; they are not without purpose
or owner. S
i x t h E x a m p l e : Reported through an
authentic narration from ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Umar:168
“While delivering the sermon from the pulpit, God’s
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) recited the
verse: No
just estimate have they made of God, such as is due to
Him: on the Day of Judgement the whole earth will be but
His handful, and the heavens will be rolled up in His
right hand,169 and
said: ‘God the Compeller is exalting Himself and
saying: I am the Compeller! I am the Compeller! I am the
Mighty! I am the Most High!’ As he said this, the
pulpit so trembled and shook that we were frightened it
would cause God’s Messenger to fall.”170 S
e v e n t h E x a m p l e : It is reported
through an authentic narration from Ibn ‘Abbas,171
known as ‘the Scholar of the Muslim Community’
and ‘Interpreter of the Qur’an,’ and Ibn Mas‘ud,
the servant of the Prophet and one of the great scholars
of the Companions,172 that they said: “On
the conquest of Makkah, there were three hundred and
sixty idols around the Ka‘ba, fixed with lead to the
stone. That day, the Noble Prophet (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) pointed to each of the idols in turn
with a stick he was holding curved like a bow, saying, The
Truth has arrived and falsehood has perished; indeed,
falsehood is ever bound to perish.173 Whichever
one he pointed to, it fell down.174 If he
pointed to the face of the idol, it fell backwards;
otherwise it fell on its face. Thus they all toppled over
and fell to the ground.175 ____________________ 168.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 308; al-Khafaji, Sharh
al-Shifa’ iii, 75.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Eleventh Sign - p.169 E
i g h t h E x a m p l e : This is the
famous story of the well-known monk Bahira. Before the
beginning of his prophethood, God’s Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) was travelling towards
Damascus to trade together with his uncle Abu Talib and
some of the Quraysh. They rested when they came near the
church of Bahira the monk. Bahira, who was a hermit and
did not mix with people, suddenly came out. He saw
Muhammad the Trustworthy (PBUH) among the caravan, and
said: “He is the Lord of the World; he will be a
prophet.” The Quraysh asked: “How do you know?” The
holy monk replied: “I saw a small cloud over the
caravan as you were coming. When you sat down, the cloud
moved toward him and cast its shadow over him. I also saw
trees and rocks prostrate themselves before him, which
they do only before prophets.”176 There
are at least eighty examples of the same kind as these
eight instances. When they come together, these eight
instances form a chain so strong that no doubt can break
it or shake it. Taken as a whole, this sort of miracle,
that is, the speaking of inanimate beings in order to
testify to his prophethood, expresses the same certainty
as ‘consensus in meaning.’ Each example receives
strength greater than its own from the strength of the
whole. Yes, a slender pole becomes strong on coming
together with stout poles. On becoming a soldier and
joining the army, a weak, powerless man becomes so strong
he may challenge a thousand men. TWELFTH
SIGN This
consists of three examples related to the Eleventh Sign,
but which are examples of the greatest importance. F
i r s t E x a m p l e: And
when you threw, it was not you who threw; it was rather
God that threw.177 As
established by the researches of all Qur’anic
commentators, and by the reports of the scholars of
Hadith, this verse refers to the following incident
during the Battle of Badr: God’s
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) took
up a handful of earth and small stones and threw them at
the army of the unbelievers, saying: “May your faces
be deformed!” Just as these words ____________________ 176.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 308; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 631; Tirmidhi, Manaqib 3 (Bab: Maja’ fi
Badi’ al-Nubu\wwa); al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi
no: 3699; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak ii, 615; Ibn Hisham,
Sirat al-Nabi 115.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Twelfth Sign - p.170 entered
the ears of all of them despite being a single phrase, so
too the handful of earth entered the eyes of each one of
the unbelievers. Each became preoccupied with his eyes,
and although on the attack, the army suddenly turned tail
and fled.178 Also
during the Battle of Hunayn, the authorities on Hadith
and foremost Imam Muslim report that like at the
Battle of Badr, he again threw a handful of earth while
the unbelievers were staging a fierce attack. Saying:
“May your faces be deformed!”, the handful of earth
struck the faces of each of them, with God’s leave, the
same as words of the phrase entered the ears of each.
Busy with their eyes, they retreated and fled.179
Since this extraordinary event at Badr and Hunayn is not
within man’s power and ordinary causes, the Qur’an of
Miraculous Exposition states, When
you threw, it was not you who threw; it was rather God
that threw. That
is, “The event was outside human power. It occurred,
not through human ability, but in an extraordinary
manner, through Divine power.” S
e c o n d E x a m p l e : The accurate books and
foremost Bukhari and Muslim narrate that during
the Khaybar expedition, a Jewess roasted a goat, filling
it with a very strong poison. She then sent it to God’s
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). The
Companions had begun to eat it, when the Prophet suddenly
said: “Withdraw you hands! It tells me it is
poisoned!” Everyone pulled back his hand. But Bishr
b. al-Bara’ had eaten a single morsel and died from the
effects of the severe poison. The Noble Messenger sent
for the Jewess called Zaynab and asked her why she had
done it. The inauspicious woman said: “I considered
that if you were a prophet, it would not harm you; and if
you were a king, I would save the people from you.”180
According to some narrations, the Prophet did not have
her put to death, but left her to Bishr’s family to be
killed.181 Now listen to a few points
demonstrating aspects of the miraculousness in this
extraordinary incident: The
First: According to one narration, some of the
Companions also heard the goat speaking.182 ____________________ 178.
al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id vi, 84.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Twelfth Sign - p.171 The
Second: According to another narration, God’s
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) said:
“Say, Bismillah, then eat; the poison will not affect
you.”183 Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani does
not accept this narration, but others do. The
Third: The treacherous Jews wanted to deal a sudden blow
at God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
and his close Companions, but being informed about this
from the Unseen, the Prophet’s warning proved true, and
their plot was uncovered and brought to naught. And when
Muhammad (PBUH), from whom the Companions never heard an
untrue statement, said: “This goat tells me that...,
” everyone believed him with conviction as sure as if
they themselves had heard the goat. T
h i r d E x a m p l e : This consists of three
instances of another miracle which resembles ‘the
Shining Hand’ and ‘Staff’ of Moses: The
First: Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, explaining and
authenticating a narration from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri,
reports: “One dark and stormy night, the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) gave Qatada
b. al-Nu‘man a staff, saying: ‘This staff will
light up ten yards all around you. You will see a dark
shadow when you arrive at your house; it is Satan. Throw
him out of the house and drive him away!’ Qatada
took the staff and set off. It cast a light like Moses’
shining hand. He came to his house, where he saw the
shadowy figure, and he drove it away.”184 The
Second: While fighting the idolators during the great
Battle of Badr, itself a source of wonders, ‘Ukkasha b.
Muhassin al-Asadi had his sword broken. God’s Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) gave him a
stout staff in place of it, saying: “Fight with
this!” Suddenly, with God’s leave, the staff became a
long white sword, and he fought with it. He carried the
sword on his person for the rest of his life until he
fell as a martyr during the Battle of al-Yamama.185
This incident is certain, because throughout his life he
carried the sword with pride and it became famous with
the name of ‘Succour.’ Thus, two proofs of this
incident are ‘Ukkasha’s pride, and the sword’s
name, ‘Succour’ and its widespread fame. The
Third: It is narrated by authorities on Hadith like
Ibn ‘Abd al- ____________________ 183.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 317-9; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 645.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Twelfth Sign - p.172 Barr,186
a celebrated scholar known as ‘the Scholar of the
Age,’ that at the Battle of Uhud a cousin of the
God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace),
‘Abd Allah b. Jahsh’s sword was broken. God’s
Prophet gave him a staff which became a sword in his
hand. He fought with it, and after the battle that
product of a miracle remained a sword. In
his Siyar, the well-known Ibn Sayyid al-Nas reports that
some time later ‘Abd Allah sold the sword to a man
called Bugha’ al-Turki for two hundred liras. Thus
these two swords were each miracles like the Staff of
Moses. But while no aspect of miraculousness remained in
his staff after Moses’ death, these swords remained
unchanged. THIRTEENTH
SIGN Another
of the miracles of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) of which there are numerous instances, which are
reported unanimously, is the sick and the wounded being
healed through his blessed breath. The reports of this
kind of miracle are, as a whole, ‘unanimous in
meaning.’ Some of the instances of these miracles also
are considered to be ‘unanimous in meaning.’ And if
the others are single reports, since they have been
rendered and confirmed as authentic by the exacting
authorities of the science of Hadith, they afford the
certainty of science. We shall mention a few instances of
the miracles out of many. F
i r s t E x a m p l e : The learned scholar of
the Maghrib, Qadi Iyad, in his Shifa’ al-Sharif,187
narrates through an elevated chain of authorities and
numerous lines of transmission that Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas,
the Prophet’s servant and commander, and
commander-in-chief of the army of Islam in the time of
‘Umar, the conqueror of Iran, and one of the ten
promised Paradise, said: “I was at the Noble
Prophet’s side during the Battle of Uhud. He shot
arrows at the unbelievers until his bow broke. Then he
gave arrows to me, telling me to shoot them. The arrows
he gave me were without flights, that is, without the
feathers which help them fly. He was ordering me to shoot
them, which I did, and they flew like flighted arrows,
hitting the unbelievers’ bodies and piercing them. At
that point, Qatada b. Nu‘man was hit in the eye by an
arrow; it was struck out of his head, so that it was
sitting on the side of his face. God’s Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) took the eye in his blessed,
healing hand and placed it in its socket; it was healed
as though nothing had happened to it and became the
better of his two eyes. This event became ____________________ 186.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 333; al-Khafaji, Sharh
al-Shifa’ iii, 157; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, ‘Uyun al-Athar
ii, 20; al-‘Asqalani, al-Isaba no: 4583. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Twelfth Sign - p.173 very
widely known. A grandson of Qatada, even, once described
himself to ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz as, “I am the
grandson of one who, when God’s Most Noble Messenger
placed his eye back in its socket after it had been
struck out, it was suddenly healed and became his best
eye.”188 He said this in verse, introducing
himself to ‘Umar in that way. It
is also related through an authentic narration that
during the battle known as the Yawm Dhi-Qarad, Abu
Qatada was hit in the face by an arrow. God’s Prophet
touched his face with his blessed hand. Abu Qatada said:
“I felt no pain at all, nor did the wound fester.”189
S
e c o n d E x a m p l e : The authentic books of
Hadith, and foremost Bukhari and Muslim, report
that the Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
had appointed ‘Ali al-Haydari as standard-bearer during
the Battle of Khaybar, but his eyes were aching severly
due to illness. The moment the Noble Messenger applied
his healing spittle to his eyes, they were cured, with no
trace of the discomfort remaining.190 The
following morning, ‘Ali conquered the citadel of
Khaybar by removing its extremely heavy gate and using it
in his hand as a shield. During the same battle, Salama
b. al-Akwa‘’s leg was struck and split open by a
sword; God’s Messenger breathed onto it, and the leg
was at once healed.191 T
h i r d E x a m p l e : Authorities on the
Prophet’s life, and foremost Nasa’i, report from
‘Uthman b. Hunayf, who said: “A blind man came to
God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) and said: ‘Pray so that my eyes may be healed
and I may see!’ The Prophet said: ‘Go and take the
ablutions, then pray two rak‘ats, and say: O God! I
beseech you and I turn to you, for the sake of the
Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad! I
turn to your Sustainer, for your sake and through you,
asking that He uncover my sight. O God, make him my
intercessor!’ He went and did this, and when he
returned, we saw that his eyes had opened and he could
see very well.”192 F
o u r t h E x a m p l e : A great authority, Ibn
Wahab, reports: “The hero Mu‘awwidh b. ‘Afra’,
one of the fourteen martyrs of the ____________________ 188.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 322; al-Haythami, Majma’
al-Zawa’id vi, 113; al-Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal xii,
377; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma’ad (Tahqiq: Arnavudi)
iii, 186-7; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak iii, 295. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Thirteenth Sign - p.174 Battle
of Badr, had his hand cut off by Abu Jahl the Accursed
while fighting with him. He took the hand with his other
hand and went to the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace). God’s Messenger stuck the hand in
its place and spread his spittle over it. It was at once
healed. Mu‘awwidh went again to fight and continued to
do so until he was martyred.”193 Imam
Jalil b. Wahab also reports: “During that same battle,
Hubayb b. Yasaf was struck on the shoulder by a sword so
that he received a grievous wound with part of it almost
severed. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) joined the arm and shoulder back together again
and breathed on it, and it was healed.194 Thus,
for sure these two incidents are separate, single
reports, but if an authority like Ibn Wahab considered
them to be sound, and if they occurred during a battle
like that of Badr, which was a spring of miracles, and if
there are many other examples which resemble these two
incidents, for sure it may be said that they definitely
occurred. Indeed, there are perhaps a thousand examples
established in authentic traditions for which the blessed
hand of God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) was healing. A
Q u e s t i o n : You describe many things as
being reported unanimously through many channels, but we
are hearing most of them for the first time. Surely
something the various reports of which are numerous and
unanimous cannot remain thus secret? T
h e A n s w e r : There are numerous things
concerning which there is consensus in their various
reports and which are self-evident to the learned
scholars of the Shari‘a, but are unknown to those who
are not one of them. For the scholars of Hadith there are
many such things, which for poets have not even the
status of isolated reports, and so on. The specialists of
all the sciences explain the theories and axioms of their
science, and the ordinary people rely on them, and either
submit to them, or become one of them and see for
themselves. Now, the events the reports of which we
describe as forming ‘true consensus,’ ‘consensus in
meaning,’ or which express certainty like
‘consensus,’ have been shown to be thus by both the
scholars of Hadith, and the scholars of the Shari‘a,
and the scholars of the principles of religion, and by
most of the other levels of the ‘ulama. If ordinary
people in their heedlessness or the ignorant who close
their eyes to the truth do not know this, the fault is
theirs. ____________________ 193.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 324; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 656; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, ‘Uyun al-Athar
i, 261. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Thirteenth Sign - p.175 A
Passage Worthy of Being Written Ýn Gold and Diamonds Yes, it was
mentioned above: small stones glorifying praising God in
his hand:; in accordance the verse, "When you threw,
it was not you who threw," earth and small stones in
the same hand becoming missiles and projectiles against
the enemy, routing them; and according to the verse,
"And the moon split," the moon splittinng at a
sign of the fingers of the same hand; and water
flowinglike a spring ftom the ten fingers of the same
hand , and their providing a whole army with water; and
the same hand being healing to the sick and wounded-all
this shows what a wondrous miracle of Divine Power that
blessed hand was. It was as if for friends its palm was a
small place for the remembrance of God, for as soon as
small stones entered it, they glorified God and recited
His Names; while in the face of enemies, it was a small
dominical ammunitions store which when pebbles and earth
entered it, they were transformed into missiles and
projectiles. And for the sick and the wounded it was a
small pharmacy of the most Merciful One which was a cure
for whatever ills it touched. When it rose with Glory, it
split the moon, givng it the shape of two bows, while
when it was lowered with Beauty, it became like a spring
of mercy with ten spigots pouring forth the water of
Kawthar. Ýf the single hand pf such one is the means of
those wondrous miracles, is not then to be understood
clearly how acceptable he is before the Creator of the
Univers, and how loyal he is to his cause, and how
fortunate are those who declare their allegiance to him? Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Thirteenth Sign - p.176 F
i f t h E x a m p l e : Having explained and
authenticated it, Imam Baghawi relates: “At the Battle
of Khandaq, ‘Ali b. al-Hakam’s leg was broken by the
blow of an unbeliever. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) rubbed it. At the moment he did so,
it was healed so that ‘Ali b. al-Hakam did not even
dismount from his horse.”195 S
i x t h E x a m p l e : The scholars of Hadith,
and foremost Imam Bayhaqi, relate: “‘Ali was very
ill. In his distress, he was moaning and praying for
himself. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) came and said: ‘O God! Grant him healing,’
and touched ‘Ali with his foot. He told him to stand,
and ‘Ali was at once cured. He stated: ‘I never again
suffered from that illness.’”196 S
e v e n t h E x a m p l e : This is the
well-known story of Shurahbil al-Ju‘fi. He had a morbid
growth in the palm of his hand so that he could hold
neither his sword nor the reins of his horse. God’s
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) rubbed the
growth with his blessed hand and massaged it; not a trace
of it remained.197 E
i g h t h E x a m p l e : Six children each the
object of a different miracle of Muhammad (PBUH). The
First: Ibn Abi Shayba, a meticulous researcher and
well-known scholar of Hadith, relates that a woman
brought her child to God’s Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace). The child had an affliction; he
could not speak and was an idiot. God’s Messenger
rinsed his mouth with water and washed his hands, then
gave the water to the woman, telling her to give it to
the child to drink. After the child had drunk it, nothing
remained of his illness and affliction, and he became so
intelligent, he surpassed even the brightest of the rest.198 The
Second: According to an authentic narration, Ibn
‘Abbas said: “An insane child was brought to the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He
placed his blessed hand on the child’s chest and the
child suddenly vomited a small black object like a
cucumber. The child was healed and went home.”199 ____________________ 195.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 324; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 656; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’ iii,
118; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id iv, 134.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Thirteenth Sign - p.177 The
Third: Imam Bayhaqi and Nasa’i relate through an
authentic chain of transmission that a child called
Muhammad b. al-Hatib had been scalded by a pan of boiling
water and his whole arm burnt. God’s Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) touched the arm,
spreading his spittle over it; the same instant it was
healed.200 The
Fourth: A child who was not young but was mute came
to the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace). He asked the child: “Who am I?” The
child, who had been mute from birth, replied: “You are
the Messenger of God,” and started to speak.201 The
Fifth: Jalal al-Din Suyuti, who was honoured with
conversing with God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) on many occasions while awake and was the
leading scholar of his age, explaining and authenticating
a narration, reports: Soon after being born, a famous
person called Mubarak al-Yamama was taken to the Prophet.
On his turning to the baby, it started to speak, saying:
“I testify that you are the Messenger of God.” The
Prophet exclaimed: “May God bless you!” The
child never spoke again in his infancy, and later became
famous as Mubarak al-Yamama (the blessed one, Yamama),
since he had been the object of this miracle of the
Prophet and his prayer.202 The
Sixth: One time, an ill-mannered youth interrupted
the prayer of the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace), by passing in front of him while he was
performing it. God’s Messenger said: “O God, cut
short his paces!” After this the child was unable
to walk as a punishment for his bad behaviour.203 The
Seventh: A shameless woman, who was like a child,
asked for a piece of the food God’s Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) was eating. He gave her
some, but she said: “No, I want a piece from your
mouth.” So he gave her a piece, and, after eating the
morsel, she became the most modest and bashful woman in
Madinah.204 There
are not eighty but perhaps eight hundred further examples
of this miracle similar to the eight mentioned above,
most of which are ____________________ 200.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 324; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 657; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’ iii,
121; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id ix, 415; Ibn
Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya i, 295; al-Hakim,
al-Mustadrak iv, 62-3. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Thirteenth Sign - p.178 related
in the Hadith books and books of the Prophet’s
biography. For sure, since the blessed hand of God’s
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was like a
pharmacy of Luqman the Wise, and his spittle was like a
spring of Khidr’s water of life, and his breath
soothing and healing like that of Jesus (Upon whom be
peace), certainly many people would have recourse to him;
and the sick, children, and the insane did flock to him
in great numbers, and they were all healed. Abu ‘Abd
al-Rahman al-Yamani, known as ‘Tavus’, even,
who made the Hajj forty times and for forty years
performed the morning prayer with the ablution of the
preceeding night prayers, and who met with many of the
Companions and was one of the greatest scholars of the
generation following them, stated and made the certain
report that however many lunatics came to God’s
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), placing his
hand on their chests, they were all healed; not one was
not cured.205 Thus,
since a great scholar such as that who had direct
connections with the era of the Prophet, made such
definite and general statements, for sure, none of the
sick who came to God’s Prophet were not healed; they
were all healed. Since this was the case, certainly
thousands would have had recourse to him. FOURTEENTH
SIGN Another
numerous sort of the various kinds of miracle of God’s
Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
were the wonders manifested as a result of his prayers.
This kind is definite and there is ‘true consensus’
in their many reports. The instances and examples of it
are so numerous as to be incalculable, and many of these
have reached the degree of ‘consensus,’ or have
become famous as such. Others have been related by such
authorities that they bear the same certainty as
well-known ‘consensus.’ As examples, we shall quote
only some of the numerous instances of this kind of
miracle that are very well-known and nearest in degree to
‘consensus,’ giving some particulars of each
instance. F
i r s t E x a m p l e : The fact that prayers of
the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
for rain were always accepted has been transmitted by
authorities of Hadith, primarily Bukhari and Muslim.
There were times when in the pulpit he raised his hands
to pray for rain, and before he had lowered them even,
rain began to fall. As mentioned above, once or twice
when the army had run out of water, the clouds came and
poured forth rain. Before his prophetic mission, even,
during ____________________ 205. Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 335; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’ i, 676. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Thirteenth Sign - p.179 his
childhood, the Prophet’s grandfather ‘Abd al-Muttalib
would go to pray for rain with him, and the rain came out
of respect for Muhammad (PBUH). The fact became
celebrated through a poem of ‘Abd al-Muttalib. And
after the Prophet’s death, ‘Umar prayed making
‘Abbas the means, saying: “O our Sustainer! This is
the uncle of your Beloved. Send us rain for his sake!”
And it rained.206 Bukhari
and Muslim also relate that God’s Messenger was
asked to pray for rain. He did so and such rain fell that
they were compelled to ask him to pray for it to stop. He
did so, and it stopped at once.207 S
e c o n d E x a m p l e : It is almost as
well-known as those incidents about which there are many
unanimous reports that when the number of Companions and
believers had still not reached forty, God’s Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) prayed
secretly while performing his worship: “O God!
Strengthen Islam by means of either ‘Umar b. al-Khattab
or ‘Umar b. Hisham.” A few days later, ‘Umar b.
al-Khattab came to believe and was the means to
proclaiming and upholding Islam, so that he acquired the
title of Faruq [Discerner between truth and
falsehood].208 T
h i r d E x a m p l e : God’s Messenger
prayed for various distinguished Companions for different
purposes. His prayers were all accepted in so brilliant a
fashion that the wonders of these prayers reached the
degree of a miracle. For instance, foremost Bukhari and Muslim
relate that he prayed for Ibn ‘Abbas as follows: “O
God! Give him knowledge of religion and teach him
interpretation.”209 This supplication
was accepted in such a way that Ibn ‘Abbas gained the
glorious title of ‘Interpreter of the Qur’an’ and
reached the elevated degree of ‘learned scholar of the Muslim
community.’ When still very young even, ‘Umar used to
include him in the gatherings of the religious scholars
and leading Companions.210 ____________________ 206.
Bukhari, Istisqa’ 3; Fada’il Ashab al-Nabi 11. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Thirteenth Sign - p.180 Also,
foremost Bukhari and the writers of books of authentic
Hadith relate that the mother of Anas entreatied God’s
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace):
“Pray that your servant Anas will be blessed with
abundant wealth and offspring.” The Prophet prayed,
saying: “O God! Grant increase to his wealth and
offspring and bless what you bestow on him.”
Towards the end of his life, Anas said swearing by God:
“I have buried a hundred of my progeny with my own
hand. No one has been as fortunate as myself in regard to
wealth and possessions. You can see that my wealth is
truly abundant. All these are the result of Prophet’s
prayer for the blessing of plenty.”211 Also,
foremost Imam Bayhaqi, and the scholars of Hadith relate
that God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
prayed that one of the ten promised Paradise, ‘Abd
al-Rahman b. ‘Awf, be blessed with abundance of wealth.
Through the blessing of that prayer, he acquired such
wealth that on one occasion he donated seven hundred
camels together with their loads to God’s cause.212
See the blessings of plenty resulting from the
Prophet’s prayer, and say: “How great are God’s
blessings!” Also,
narrators of Hadiths, and foremost Bukhari, relate:
“God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
prayed that ‘Urwa b. Abi al-Ja‘da might do profitably
at trade. ‘Urwa said: ‘Sometimes I would go to the
marketplace in Kufa and come home in the evening having
made a forty thousandfold profit.’” Imam Bukhari
says: “If he took earth in his hand, he still would
make a profit from it!”213 Also,
he prayed that ‘Abd Allah b. Ja‘far would acquire an
abundance of wealth, and he became so rich he was famous
for it. He also became as famous for his generosity as he
was for the wealth he obtained through the Prophet’s
prayer for the blessing of plenty.214 There
are numerous instances of this sort of miracle, but we
consider the four described above to be sufficient as
examples. Also,
foremost Imam Tirmidhi relates: “The Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) prayed for
Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas: ‘O God, answer his prayer!’215
After that everyone feared his malediction, and the
answering of his prayers also became famous. ____________________ 211.
Bukhari, Da’wat 19, 26, 47; Muslim, Fada’il al-Sahaba
141, 142 nos: 2480-1; Musnad iii, 190; vi, 430; Ibn
Hibban, Sahih ix, 155; al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi
x, 330. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourteenth Sign - p.181 On
another occasion, God’s Messenger prayed for the famous
Abu Qatada that he might remain young: “May God
prosper your face! O God, bless his hair and his skin!”
When he died at the age of seventy, he was like a youth
of fifteen.216 This is related through a sound
narration. Also,
the famous story of the poet Nabigha. He recited one of
his poems before God’s Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace), which ran: “Our glory and praise
have reached to the skies; we want to ascend even
higher.” God’s Messenger asked jokingly: “Where,
beyond the skies?” Nabigha replied: “To
Paradise.” He then recited another of his meaningful
poems, and the Prophet prayed: “May God not spoil
your mouth!” It was through the blessing of this
prayer of the Prophet that he did not have a single tooth
missing when he was one hundred and twenty years old.
Whenever he lost a tooth, another would appear in its
place.217 Also,
it is related through an authentic narration that he
prayed for Imam ‘Ali: “O God, protect him from
heat and cold!” Through the blessing of this
prayer, Imam ‘Ali used to wear summer clothes in
winter, and winter clothes in summer. He used to say:
“I never suffer from heat or cold, thanks to that
prayer.”218 Also,
he prayed for Fatima: “O God, do not give her the
pains of hunger!” And Fatima used to say: “I
never suffered from hunger after that prayer.”219 Also,
Tufayl b. ‘Amr asked God’s Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) for a miracle to show to his tribe.
The Prophet prayed: “O God, illuminate him!”,
and a light appeared between his eyes. Later it was
transferred to the end of his staff, and he became famous
as Dhi’l-Nur, the Possessor of Light.220
These incidents are all from well-known Hadiths that are
certain. Also,
Abu Hurayra once complained to the Noble Messenger (Upon ____________________ 215.
Tirmidhi, Manaqib 27 no: 3751; Ibn Hibban, Sahih no:
12215; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak iii, 499; Abu Na’im,
Hilyat al-Awliya’ i, 93; Abu Na’im, Dala’il
al-Nubuwwa iii, 206; al-Albani, Mishkat al-Masabih iii,
251 no: 6116; al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi x, 253-4
no: 3835; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Fada’il al-Sahaba ii, 750
no: 1038; Ibn al-Asir, Jami’ al-Usul x, 16 no: 6535.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourteenth Sign - p.182 whom
be blessings and peace) that he sometimes suffered from
forgetfulness. God’s Messenger told him to spread out a
piece of cloth. He then made some movements with his
blessed hand as though taking some invisible objects and
putting them on the cloth. He repeated this two or three
times, then told him to gather up the cloth. Abu Hurayra
later swore that through the mystery of this prayer of
the Prophet’s, he never again forgot anything.221
This event is also among well-known Hadiths. F
o u r t h E x a m p l e : We shall describe here
a few events regarding maledictions of God’s Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace). The
First: The Persian Shah Parviz tore up the letter
sent to him by the Prophet. When God’s Prophet received
news of this, he prayed: “O God, rend him as he rent my
letter!”222 It was as a result of this
malediction that Chosroes Parviz’s son Shirviya cut him
to pieces with a dagger. And Sa‘d b. al-Waqqas broke
his kingdom apart, so that in no part of the Sasanid
empire did his sovereignty remain. However, the Emperor
of Byzantium and other kings did not perish since they
respected the Prophet’s letters. The
Second: An event almost as well-known as those
reported unanimously, which some verses of the Qur’an
allude to, is this: in the early days of Islam, the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was
performing the prayers in the Masjid al-Haram, when the
chiefs of the Quraysh gathered and maltreated him. At the
time, God’s Prophet called down curses on them. Ibn
Mas‘ud stated: “I swear that at the Battle of Badr I
saw the corpses of all those who had ill-treated him and
received his curse.”223 The
Third: On their denying him, God’s Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) prayed that a large
Arab tribe called the Mudariyya would be afflicted with
drought and famine. All rain ceased and drought and
famine occurred. Then the Quraysh, a branch of the
Mudariyya, pleaded with the Prophet, and he prayed.
Whereupon the rains came and put an end to the drought.224
Having been reported unanimously, this incident is also
well-known ____________________ 221.
Bukhari, ^Ilm 42; Manaqib 28; Buyu’ 1; Harth 21;
Muslim, Fada’il al-Sahaba 159 no: 2492; Tirmidhi,
Manaqib 46, 47; Musnad ii, 240, 274, 428; al-Mubarakfuri,
Tuhfat al-Ahwazi x, 334 no: 3923; Ibn al-Asir, Jami’
al-Usul (Tahqiq: Arnavud) ix, 95; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya
wa’l-Nihaya vi, 162; al-Sa’ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani
xxii, 405, 409-10; Abu Na’im, Hilyat al-Awliya’ i,
381; al-‘Asqalani, al-Isaba no: 1190. Letters
/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourteenth Sign - p.183 F
i f t h E x a m p l e : The fact that the
Prophet’s (PBUH) maledictions against particular
persons were accepted and realized in a dreadful way is
illustrated by numerous instances. We shall recount three
of these by way of example. The
First: He uttered the following curse against ‘Utba
b. Abi Lahab: “O God, beset a dog on him from among
your dogs!” Some time later ‘Utba went on a
journey during which a lion sought him out from among the
caravan, and tore him to pieces.225 This
incident was famous and is narrated as authentic by the
authorities on Hadith. The
Second: This is Muhallim b. Jaththama: he unjustly
killed ‘Amir b. Adbat, but God’s Messenger had sent
him as the commander of a force to fight in God’s way.
When the news of this reached the Messenger, he was angry
and cursed him, saying: “O God, do not grant
forgiveness to Muhallim!” Muhallim died a week
later. They put him in his grave, but the grave cast him
out. They buried him in several different places, but
each time the grave rejected him. Finally they built a
strong wall between two rocks, and in this way the corpse
was housed.226 The
Third: Once God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) saw a man eating with his left hand.
He ordered him to eat with his right hand. The man
replied: “I can’t.” The Messenger said as a
malediction: “Henceforth you will be unable to raise
it.” And after that he was unable to use it.227 S
i x t h E x a m p l e : Here we shall mention
several events which are certain, from among the numerous
wonders resulting from prayers of the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace), and from his touch. The
First: God’s Messenger gave Khalid b. al-Walid,
known as God’s Sword, several of his hairs and prayed
for his victory in battle. Khalid put them in his cap. As
the result of the hairs and the blessings of the prayer,
there was never a battle in which he then fought, but he
was victorious.228 ____________________ 225.
See, page 140, fn. 76. Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 329;
‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’ i, 664.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourteenth Sign - p.184 The
Second: Salman al-Farsi had formerly been a slave of
the Jews. His masters had asked for a very high ransom,
saying: “In order to gain your freedom, you must plant
three hundred date-palms, and after they bear fruit, give
us forty okkas229 of gold in addition
to the fruit.” He went to the Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) and explained his situation.
God’s Messenger then planted the three hundred palms in
the region of Madinah; only one of them was planted by
someone else. That year, all three hundred trees bore
fruit, with the exception of the one planted by the other
person. The Messenger uprooted it and planted another,
and it too bore fruit. He then rubbed some of his spittle
on a piece of gold the size of a hen’s egg, and offered
a prayer. He gave it to Salman, telling him to go and
give it to the Jews. Salman al-Farsi went and gave them
forty okkas of gold out of that piece, while it
remained in its original state.230 This
miraculous incident, which was narrated by the most
trustworthy and respected authorities, was the most
significant event in Salman’s entire life. The
Third: A woman Companion called Umm Malik used to
give the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) butter from a leathern bag called an ‘ukka,
as a gift. On one occasion God’s Messenger uttered a
prayer over it while returning it to her, and told her
not to empty it and squeeze it. Umm Malik took the ‘ukka,
and thereafter as a result of the blessing of the
Prophet’s prayer, butter was found in it whenever her
children asked for it. This continued for a long time,
until they squeezed it, and the blessing disappeared.231 S
e v e n t h E x a m p l e : There are also many
examples of water becoming sweet and emitting a pleasant
smell as the result of the Prophet’s prayer and his
touching it; we shall mention several by way of example: The
First: Scholars of Hadith, and foremost Imam Bayhaqi,
report that the well known as Bi’r al-Quba would
sometimes dry up. On God’s Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) pouring the water with which he had
taken ablutions into the well and offering a prayer, its
water became abundant and it never again dried up.232 The
Second: Scholars of Hadith, including Abu Na‘im in
his Dala’il ____________________ 229.
1 okka was the equivalent of 1,282 gr. or 2.8 lbs. (Tr.)
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourteenth Sign - p.185 al-Nubuwwa
(Evidences of Prophethood), report that when God’s
Messenger spat into the well in Anas’ house and prayed,
it became the sweetest water in Madinah.233 The
Third: Ibn Maja reports that a bucketful of water
from the spring of Zamzam was brought to the Messenger.
He took a little of it into his mouth then emptied it
into the bucket. The bucket then emitted a sweet scent
like musk.234 The
Fourth: Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal reports that a bucketful
of water was drawn from a well. After God’s Messenger
(PBUH) had put some of his spittle in the bucket and
poured it into the well, it began to emit a sweet scent
like musk.235 The
Fifth: Hammad b. Salama, who was a man of God and was
trusted and accepted by Imam Muslim and the
scholars of the Maghrib, reports that the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) filled a leather bag
with water, and breathed into it while praying. He then
tied it up and gave it to some of the Companions, saying:
“Do not open it except when you perform the ablutions!”
When they opened the bag to take ablutions, they saw pure
milk with cream at its opening.236 Thus,
these five instances have been narrated by well-known and
important authorities. Together with those that are not
mentioned here, they prove the occurrence of this kind of
miracle as definitely as those about the various reports
of which there is ‘consensus in meaning.’ E
i g h t h E x a m p l e : There were numerous
instances of barren and dry goats producing milk, and
abundantly at that, through the touch and prayers of
God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace). We shall mention only two or three which are
well-known and certain, as examples: The
First: All the reliable books of the Prophet’s
biography relate that when God’s Prophet and Abu Bakr
the Veracious were migrating to Madinah, they came to the
house of Umm Ma‘bad, called Atika Bint Khalid
al-Khuza‘i. There was an extremely thin, barren, and
dry goat there. God’s Messenger asked Umm Ma‘bad: “Has
this no milk?” She replied: “It has no blood in
its body, how should it produce milk?” The Prophet
stroked its loins and teets, and prayed. Then he said:
“Bring a ____________________ 233.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 331; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 668.
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/ The Miracles Of Muhammad - Fourteenth Sign - p.186 vessel,
and milk it.” They milked it, and after the
Messenger and Abu Bakr had drunk, all the people of the
house drank to repletion. The goat grew strong, and
remained thus blessed.237 The
Second: This is the famous story of Shat b. Mas‘ud:
before becoming a Muslim, Ibn Mas‘ud used to act
as a shepherd for certain people. God’s Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) went together with Abu Bakr
the Veracious to the place where Ibn Mas‘ud and his
goats were. God’s Messenger asked Ibn Mas‘ud for some
milk. On replying that they were not his but the property
of someone else, God’s Messenger told him to bring him
a barren, dry goat. So he brought a nanny-goat who had
not been mated for two years. God’s Messenger stroked
its teets with his hand and prayed. Then they milked it,
and obtained sweet milk which they drank. Ibn Mas‘ud
came to believe after witnessing this miracle.238 The
Third: This is the well-known story of Halima
Sa‘diya, the foster mother, that is, wet-nurse, of the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). There
was drought where the tribe was found, and all the
animals were thin and without milk. They could not find
sufficient to eat. But when the Messenger was sent to his
foster mother there, through the blessing he brought,
Halima Sa‘diya’s goats would return in the evening
with both their stomachs and their teets full, contrary
to everyone else’s.239 There
are further instances in the books of biography similar
to these, but these examples are sufficient for our
purpose. N
i n t h E x a m p l e : We shall recount here a
few out of many instances of wonders which were
manifested after God’s Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) had touched the faces and heads of
certain people, and prayed. The
First: He passed his hand over the head of ‘Umar b.
Sa‘d, and prayed. When the man died at the age of
eighty, through the blessing of that prayer, there was
not a single grey hair on his head.240 ____________________ 237.
Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih (Tahqiq: al-Albani) no: 5943:
al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id vi, 58; viii, 313;
al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak ii, 109; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya
wa’l-Nihaya iii, 190-1; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma’ad
iii, 55, 57; Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat al-Kubra i, 230-1.
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Second: He placed his hand on Qays b. Zayd’s head,
and prayed. Through the blessing of the prayer and effect
of his touch, when Qays reached a hundred years of age,
his head was white except for where God’s Messenger had
placed his hand; that had remained totally black.241 The
Third: ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Zayd b. al-Khattab was
both small and ugly. God’s Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) touched his head with his hand and
prayed. Through the blessing of his prayer,
‘Abdurrahman acquired the loftiest stature and most
beautiful form.242 The
Fourth: ‘A’idh b. ‘Amr received a wound on the
face during the Battle of Hunayn. God’s Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) wiped away the blood on his
face with his hand. The part of his face that the
Messenger had touched acquired a shining brilliance,
which the scholars of Hadith described as resembling a
white blaze on a chestnut horse.243 The
Fifth: He passed his hand over Qatada b. Malhan’s
face and prayed, and Qatada’s face began to shine like
a mirror.244 The
Sixth: When Zaynab, the daughter of the Mother of
Believers Umm Salama and the stepdaughter of God’s
Messenger was a child, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) sprinkled some of his ablution water
on her face. With the touch of the water, her face
acquired an extraordinary beauty.245 There
are numerous further examples similar to these, most of
which have been narrated by the leading scholars of
Hadith. Even if we suppose each of these instances to be
a single report and weak, as a whole they still
demonstrate an absolute miracle of Muhammad (PBUH) which
has the certainty of ‘consensus in meaning.’ For if
an event is narrated in numerous different forms, the
occurrence of the basic event becomes definite. Even if
each form is itself weak, it still proves the basic
event. For
example, a noise was heard; some people said that a house
had collapsed. Others said it was a different house, and
so on. Each narration may be a single report, and weak,
and untrue, but the basic event was that a house had
collapsed; that was certain and they were unanimous ____________________ 241.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 334; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 674.
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concerning it. However, the six instances we enumerated
above were both authentic, and some of them became
famous. Suppose we consider each of these to be weak, all
together they still demonstrate the certain existence of
an absolute miracle of Muhammad (PBUH), like the absolute
collapse of the house in the comparison. Thus,
God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) performed definite and clear miracles from every
category. The instances of them are the forms or examples
of those universal and absolute miracles. Just as the
Messenger’s hand, fingers, spittle, breath, and speech,
that is, his prayer, were the means of numerous miracles,
so too, his other subtle faculties and emotions and
senses were the means of many wonders. The books of
biography and history have described them and
demonstrated that in his conduct, physical being, and
senses were many evidences of his prophethood. FIFTEENTH
SIGN Just
as rocks, trees, the moon and the sun recognized him and
affirmed his prophethood by each demonstrating a miracle,
so too, animals, the dead, the jinn, and the angels
recognized that blessed being and affirmed his
prophethood. For by each of those species of beings
displaying a number of miracles, they demonstrated that
they recognized him and proclaimed their affirmation of
his prophethood. This Fifteenth Sign contains three
Branches. F
i r s t B r a n c h The
animal realm recognized God’s Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) and displayed his miracles.
There are numerous examples of this Branch. Here as
examples, we shall mention only those which are
well-known and definite to the degree of ‘consensus in
meaning,’ or have been accepted by authoritative
scholars, or have been deemed acceptable by the Muslim
community. The
First Incident: This is well-known to the degree of
‘consensus in meaning,’ and concerns the two pigeons
coming and waiting at the entrance to the cave of Hira,
where God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) and Abu Bakr the Veracious hid from the pursuing
unbelievers, and the spider veiling the entrance with a
thick web, like a curtain holder. Ubayy b. Khalaf, one of
the leaders of the Quraysh whom God’s Messenger killed
with his own hand at the Battle of Badr, looked at the
cave. When his companions suggested that they enter, he
replied: “Why should we? I see a large spider’s web
which appears to have been there since before Muhammad
was born. And look, those two pigeons
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there. Would they remain there if there was someone in
the cave?”246 In
an instance similar to this, a blessed pigeon cast a
shadow over the head of God’s Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) during the conquest of Makkah, which
was related by Imam Jalil b. Wahab.247 Also
according to a sound narration, ‘A’isha al-Siddiqa
relates: “We had a bird in our house called a dajin,
similar to a pigeon. When God’s Messenger was present
it would stay quiet, but as soon as he left the house,
the bird would start hopping to and fro without
stopping.”248 Thus, the bird was obedient to
the Messenger, remaining quiet in his presence. The
Second Incident: This is the extraordinary story of
the wolf, which has been narrated through a number of
chains of transmission from some well-known Companions
and about which is ‘consensus in meaning.’ In short,
Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, Salama b. al-Akwa‘, Ibn Abi
Wahab, and Abu Hurayra, and Uhban, a shepherd who was
involved in another event, relate through numerous chains
of transmission: “A wolf seized a goat and the shepherd
saved it from the wolf. The wolf exclaimed: ‘Don’t
you fear God? You have deprived me of my sustenance!’
The shepherd muttered to himself: ‘How strange! Can
wolves speak?’ The wolf said to him: ‘You’re the
strange one, for beyond the hill is someone calling you
to Paradise. He is a Messenger of God, yet you do not
recognize him!’” Although all the lines of
transmission agree on the wolf’s speech, in his report,
which has a strong line, Abu Hurayra says: “The
shepherd said to the wolf: ‘I am going to see him, but
who will look after my goats?’ The wolf replied:
‘I’ll look after them.’ So the shepherd handed over
the herd to the wolf and went to see the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace), believed in him, and
returned to his herd. The shepherd found the wolf; not a
goat had been lost. So he slaughtered one for the wolf,
for it had become his teacher.”249 According
to one chain of transmission, one of the chiefs of
Quraysh, Abu Sufyan, and Safwan saw a wolf pursuing a
gazelle into the enclosure ____________________ 246.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 313; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa’ i, 368; Musnad i, 248; San’ani, al-Musannaf
v, 389; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya iii, 179-81;
al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id vii, 27; Ibn
al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma’ad (Tahqiq: Arnavudi) iii, 52;
al-Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih no: 5934; Maruzi, Musnad
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq no: 73; Zayla’, Nasb al-Ra’ya i,
123; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id vi, 52-3.
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the Ka‘ba. As it returned, the wolf spoke, telling of
the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH). They were astonished.
Abu Sufyan said to Safwan: ‘Don’t let’s tell anyone
of this; I’m frightened everyone will join him and
Makkah will be emptied.’250 In
Short: The story of the wolf gives one complete
conviction, and is as certain as those unanimous reports
about which there is ‘consensus in meaning.’ The
Third Incident: This is the narrative of the camel,
which was unanimously related through some five or six
chains of transmission by famous Companions such as Abu
Hurayra, Tha‘laba b. Malik, Jabir b. ‘Abd Allah,
‘Abd Allah b. Ja‘far, and ‘Abd Allah b. Abi Awfa,
who are at the start of the chains. A camel approached
God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace),
prostrated itself before him as if saluting him, and
spoke. According to a number of lines of transmission,
the camel had been angered in a garden, and become wild,
attacking anyone who approached it. When God’s
Messenger appeared, it came to him, prostrated as a sign
of respect, and knelt down. The Messenger put a bridle on
it, and the camel said to him: “They made me do the
heaviest work and now they want to slaughter me. That’s
why I went wild.” The Messenger asked its owner if this
was true. “Yes,” he replied.251 Also,
God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) had a camel called ‘Adba’. After he died, out
of its grief, the camel neither ate nor drank, till it
died.252 A number of important authorities
including Abu Ishaq Isfara’ini related that it spoke
with the Prophet about a certain story.253 In
another instance, in an authentic narration, Jabir b.
‘Abd Allah’s camel became exhausted on a journey and
could no longer continue. God’s Messenger gave it a
slight prod. Such joy and nimbleness did the camel
receive from that prod of the Prophet that due to its
speed it could not be caught up with, nor could its reins
be seized.254 The
Fourth Incident: The authorities on Hadith and
foremost Bukhari report that it was rumoured one night
that the enemy was attacking outside Madinah. Brave
horsemen went out to investigate. On the way they saw
someone coming. They looked and saw that it was the Noble
____________________ 250.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 311; al-Khafaji, Sharh
al-Shifa’ iii, 84.
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(Upon whom be blessings and peace). He told them there
was nothing. He had mounted Abu Talha’s famous horse,
as his sacred courage impelled him to, and had gone
before everyone else to investigate, then returned. He
told Abu Talha: “Your horse is extremely swift and
unfaltering.” Whereas previously it had been
extremely slow. After that night, there was no horse to
compete with it.255 On another occasion, as
related in an authentic narration, while on a journey at
the time for prayer, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) told his horse to stop. It stopped,
and until he had finished praying the horse did not make
the slightest movement.256 The
Fifth Incident: Safina, the servant of the Noble
Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace), was commanded
by him to go to the Governor of Yemen, Mu‘adh b. Jabal.
He set off and on the way encountered a lion. Safina said
to it: “I am the servant of God’s Messenger!” Upon
which the lion made a sound as if saying something, and
left without molesting him.257 According to
another narration, Safina lost his way when returning,
and met with a lion. Not only did the lion not molest
him, it showed him the way. Also,
it is narrated from ‘Umar that he said: “A beduin
came to the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace). He was holding a lizard. He said: ‘If this
reptile testifies to you, I shall believe in you;
otherwise I will not.’ God’s Messenger asked the
lizard, and it testified to his messengership most
eloquently.”258 Also,
the Mother of Believers, Umm Salama relates: “A gazelle
spoke with the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace), and testified to his messengership.”259 Thus,
there are numerous examples similar to these. We
described a few that are famous and certain. And to those
who do not recognize and obey the Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace), we say this: O man! Take a
lesson from these! The lion and the wolf recognized and
obeyed him; you, then, should try not to fall lower than
an animal! ____________________ 255.
Bukhari, Jihad 46, 82; Adab 39; Muslim, Fada’il 48 no:
2307; Ibn Maja, Jihad 9; Abu Da’ud, Adab 87 no: 4988;
Tirmidhi, Fada’il al-Jihad nos: 1685-7.
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e c o n d B r a n c h This
concerns corpses, jinns, and angels recognizing God’s
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). There
were very many instances of this. We shall describe a few
examples which are famous and have been related by
reliable scholars, firstly about corpses. As for jinns
and angels, the many reports concerning them are
unanimous, and examples of them number not one but a
thousand. And so, examples of the dead speaking: The
First is this: Hasan al-Basri, an important and loyal
student of Imam ‘Ali and the greatest authority among
the scholars of the external and esoteric sciences in the
time of the generation subsequent to the Companions,
related: “A man came weeping to God’s Messenger. He
said: ‘I had a little girl; she drowned in
such-and-such stream nearby. I left her there.’ God’s
Messenger pitied the man and said they would go there
together. They went, and the Messenger called to the dead
girl, saying her name. At once the dead girl replied:
‘I am present and answer your call gladly.’ God’s
Messenger asked her: ‘Do you want to return to your
father and mother?’ She replied: ‘No, I have
found something better here!’”260 The
Second: Important authorities like Imam Bayhaqi and
Imam b. ‘Adiyy relate from Anas b. Malik: Anas said:
“An elderly woman had a single son who suddenly died.
The righteous woman was very grieved and prayed: ‘O
God, I left my home and migrated here only to obtain Your
pleasure and to pay allegiance to God’s Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) and to serve him. For
the sake of Your Messenger, return my son to me, who was
the only person to look after me.’” Anas said: “The
dead man rose up and came and ate with us.”261
In
the following lines from the celebrated poem Qasida
al-Burda, Imam Busiri refers to this extraordinary
event: Were his wonders to correspond to his virtue in
greatness / Mere mention of his name would have animated
decayed bones. The
Third: Scholars like Imam Bayhaqi relate from ‘Abd
Allah b. ‘Ubayd Allah al-Ansari: ‘Abd Allah said:
“I was present when Thabit b. Qays b. Shammas fell as a
martyr in the Battle of Yamama and was buried. As he was
being put in his grave, a voice suddenly came from him,
saying: ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God, Abu Bakr is
the Veracious [Siddiq], ‘Umar, the martyr, and
‘Uthman, pious and merciful.’ We ____________________ 260.
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 320; al-Khafaji, Sharh
al-Shifa’ iii, 106.
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him and looked: he was dead and lifeless, yet he was
foretelling ‘Umar’s martyrdom even before he had
succeeded to the Caliphate.262 The
Fourth: Imam Tabarani, and Abu Na‘im in his Dala’il
al-Nubuwwa, relate from Nu‘man b. Bashir: “Zayd
b. Kharija suddenly dropped down dead in the marketplace.
We took his body to his house. That evening between
sunset and the night prayer, while the women were weeping
all around him, he exclaimed: ‘Silence! Silence!’
Then, saying: ‘Muhammad is God’s Messenger! Peace be
upon you, O Messenger of God!’, he spoke most
eloquently for a while. We looked: he was dead, without
life.”263 Thus,
if lifeless corpses affirm his prophethood and the living
do not, for sure they are more dead than the dead and
more lifeless than corpses! As
regards angels appearing and serving God’s Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace), and jinns believing
in him and obeying him, these facts have been reported
numerously and unanimously. They have been stated
explicitly in many verses of the Qur’an. At the Battle
of Badr, according to the Qur’an, five thousand angels
served him as soldiers in the front line, like the
Companions. Indeed, those angels acquired distinction
among the angels, like the men who fought in that battle.264
There are two aspects to be considered in this matter: The
First is the fact that the existence of the
different sorts of jinn and angels is as definite as that
of the varieties and species of animals and human beings,
and that they have relations with us. We have proved this
decisively in the Twenty-Ninth Word as certainly as two
plus two equals four, and we refer their proof to that
Word. The
Second Aspect is members of the community of
God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
seeing them and speaking with them, as a miracle of his. Thus, the leading scholars of Hadith, and foremost Bukhari and Muslim, unanimously relate: “One time, an angel, that is, Gabriel, appeared in the form of a man dressed in white. He approached God’s Messenger(Upon whom be blessings and peace), who was sitting among his Companions, and asked: ‘What is Islam, what is belief, and what is goodness? Explain them.’ The Messenger explained them, and the Companions gathered there both received valuable instruction, and saw the person |