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.