MIRACLES AND WONDERS

MIRACLES AND WONDERS

(The MU’JIZAH and the KARAMAH)

Q.   What is a Mu’jizah (miracle)?

  Al-lah, sometimes, makes His prophets show something against the usual course which is beyond the capacity of others so that, on seeing it, people may realize that they have been sent by Al-lah. Such acts are called Mu’jizahs (miracles).

Q.   What miracles were performed by the prophets?

  The prophets have performed a number of miracles by the will of Al-lah. Some well-known miracles are:

The Staff (‘asa) of Hadrat Musa (peace be on him) turned into a serpent and swallowed up all the magic snakes of the charmers.    Al-lah gave such a shine to the hand of Hadrat Musa that its light outshone the light of the sun. a dry passage appeared in the river Nile for Hadrat Musa (peace be on him) and he, along with his men, crossed the river through this passage. When Fir’aun’s (Pharaoh’s) army marched up to the midway of the passage thus carved out for crossing the river, the water currents again joined each other and drowned Pharaoh and his troops.

Hadrat ‘Isa (Jesus, peace be on him) revived the dead by the order of Al-lah. He gave sight to the born blind and healed the lepers. He also made clay birds, breathed soul into them and made them fly.

The greatest miracle of our Holy Prophet (peace be on him) is the holy Qur-an, itself. About thirteen and a half centuries have elapsed since their best efforts the greatest among scholars and men of letters in Arabic have failed to produce even a single verse comparable to its smallest surah (chapter). Nor will they succeed in doing so till the Final Day. The second among the Prophet’s miracles is the Ascent (mi’raj). The third is the splitting in two of the moon (shaq-qul-qamar). The fourth is that he predicted many things at Al-lah’s bidding which eventually came to pass as predicted by him. The fifth miracle is that the food sufficient barely for one or two persons served to feed hundreds of people, as a result of the Prophet’s blessing. There are hundreds of the Prophet’s miracles mentioned in advanced books.

Q.   What is Mi’raj (Ascent)?

  The Prophet (peace be on him), by Al-lah’s will and command, started fully awake from the holy city of Makka on the Pegasus (the Bur-raq) in the night and travelled to Baitul-Maqdis (Jerusalem) and onwards to the seven heavens and beyond to a point appointed by Al-lah. He also went round the Paradise (Jan-nah) and the Hell (Jahan-nam), and returned to his place. This is known as Mi’raj.

Q.   What is Shaq-qul-qamar (splitting up of the moon)?

  Shaq-qul-qamar refers to the incident when, one night, on the unbelievers request for a miracle, the Prophet (peace be on him) caused the moon to split on two halves in full view of all those present. The two parts then joined again making the moon as it was before the split.

Q.   What is Karamah (act of wonder)?

  Sometimes Al-lah, to enhance the honour of his devout servants, makes them do things unusual which are beyond the power of others. Such things are known as Karamahs (acts of wonder). For such acts to flow from the righteous servants of Al-lah and His Friends is beyond doubt.

Q.   What is the difference between a miracle and an act of wonder?

  Miracle is a difficult and unusual act performed by a claimant of prophethood. If, on the other hand, a person who has not claimed prophethood for himself and is yet pious and God-fearing, doing all things according to the letter and spirit of religion, performs some unusual act, it is known as Karamah (act of wonder). If, however, such acts emanate from transgressors and irreligious people, it is known as Istidraj (trick)

Q.   Must every Friend of Al-lah perform a Karamah?

  No, it is not essential that a Friend of Al-lah (Wali) must perform the Karamah. It is quite possible that a person is Al-lah’s favourite and friend and yet no Karamah is every performed by him.

Q.   Some self-styled saints (faqirs) leading lives contrary to the codes of religion perform things beyond the power of others. What should we think about them?

  Such things, if performed by people practicing acts against the tenets of religion, will be the acts of magic or tricks (Istidraj). They can never be the Karmaha. It is a Satanic delusion to consider them Walis (Friends of Al-lah) and mistake them unusual performances for Karamah.