The Miracles of the Prophets

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم

Praise be to God the Creator of the world, the One Who exists without beginning, without end, without location, without a "how" and Who does not depend on time. Nothing resembles Him in anyway and He hears and sees everything without organs. Whatever you imagine, God is different from that. May the elevation in degree and preservation of his community of what he fears for it, be granted to our master MuHammad Al-‘Amin, the Honest One, who called for following Islam, the religion of truth, the religion of all the Prophets: of the first, Adam, to the last MuHammad.

Brothers in Islam, Allâh the Almighty supported the Prophets, peace be upon them all, with miracles and irrefutable evidence proving that their prophethood is in fact a matter of truth. Allâh the Exalted backed the prophets with the gift of patience which they rewardably employed with sincerity when faced with harm during their call to Islam.

Brothers in Islam, "Miracles of the Prophets" are the subject of our Friday speeches for today. A miracle is defined as an extraordinary event happening only on the hands of a prophet. It is also characterized as an event that cannot be challenged or paralleled as it is not a usual event that takes place in everyday life. The invention of an airplane, for example, cannot be considered a miracle since a miracle happens only to those who have received the revelation from Allâh. Miracles are only for prophets and they happen to prophets to support their call to Islam. Consequently, no one can discredit a prophet by coming up with something that is similar to a miracle. Prophets are known for their miracles, in fact there has not been a Prophet without one. A miracle is a sign attesting to the truth of the claim of Prophethood that a prophet makes. Imam ash-Shafi`iyy said: "For every miracle Allâh gave to the other Prophets, He gave Prophet MuHammad a similar or a greater miracle."

When the people of Prophet SâliH asked him for a miracle, Allâh supported Prophet Salih `alayhi s-salâm, by bringing forth a camel and its calf from a solid rock. Upon seeing that, some people embraced Islam and others yet still did not.

Likewise, Prophet Jesus `alayhi s-salâm, son of Lady Mariam was supported with Miracles when he called the people to the religion of Islam and to believe in the oneness of Allâh. The people at the time of Prophet Jesus were renowned for their high level of skill in Medicine. The people could not match what he did by the will of Allâh as He supported him with miracles such as reviving the dead and curing blindness and leprosy. These two diseases in particular were usually considered untreatable by the people of his time who were skillful in medicine. None of them were able to do what Prophet Jesus did, no one was able to revive the dead or cure the blind or cure leprosy by placing their hand on the person or wiping over his eyes. These are extraordinary events occurring only for Prophets by the will of Allâh. If all the non-believers were to unite their efforts in an attempt to match a prophet’s miracle they would only be met with failure.

As for our master MuHammad Salla lLâhu `alayhi wa sallam, Allâh the Exalted supported him with many miracles. The people of Prophet MuHammad were famous for their Arabic language eloquence. The greatest miracle given to Prophet MuHammad Salla lLâhu `alayhi wa sallam, is the Holy Qur’ân, the Book which is always preserved from perversion. It is a miracle that stood the test of time lasting for centuries and remains unchallenged until the Day of Resurrection. Despite of the Arabs proficiency in the Arabic language they were unable to come up with an Ayah which is similar to a single Ayah in the Holy Qur`an. How honored we are to be among the nation of Prophet Muhammad, the one whom Allâh supported with many astonishing miracles standing witness to his truthfulness.

Amongst Prophet MuHammad’s miracles Salla lLâhu `alayhi wa sallam, one which happened on the day of the trench. As the companions (may Allâh have mercy on them) were digging they came across a large rock that they could not dig out, so they informed their leader MuHammad Salla lLâhu `alayhi wa sallam, who took the pickaxe, said ‘Bismillâh’ three times and then hit the rock once only to see it disintegrate to the ground in the form of running sand.

Another one of his miracles Salla lLâhu `alayhi wa sallam, happened when a man came to him from Yamamah holding a newborn baby only one day old. The Messenger of Allâh Salla lLâhu `alayhi wa sallam, addressed the baby: ‘O young one, who am I?’ By Allâh’s will the newborn baby spoke. The newborn said, ‘You are the Messenger of Allâh.’ The Messenger of Allâh then said to the newborn baby, ‘May Allâh bless you.’ This baby was later known as ‘the blessed from Yamamah.’

Another miracle given to Prophet MuHammad Salla lLâhu `alayhi wa sallam, was his ability to see his companions whilst they were physically present behind him. Anas Ibn Malik narrated that once when the call for the prayer was made, the Messenger of Allâh Salla lLâhu `alayhi wa sallam, said what means: ‘O people, I am in front of you, so do not perform ruku` or sujud before I do, and do not raise your heads from sujud before I do, for I can see you when you are in front of me and I can see you when you are behind me.’

Another one of his miracles, peace be upon him, was the feeding of the army from a small container of dates until they were satisfied. Moreover, he returned what remained in it to its owner Abu Hurayrah, may Allah raise his rank. Prophet MuHammad Salla lLâhu `alayhi wa sallam, is full of blessings and due to his supplication Abu Hurayrah ate from the dates of that container during the life of the Messenger of Allâh, the life of Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman. At a later stage, the container was lost. Hence, Abu Hurayrah used to say that he was inflicted with three calamities ; the death of the Prophet, the murder of `Uthman and the loss of the container.

Brothers in Islam one must believe in the miracles of the Prophets. The Prophets (may Allâh raise their ranks) were sent to teach us what is good / halal and to warn us against what is evil / Haram. It is obligatory upon us to believe in all the Prophets, beginning with Prophet Adam `alayhi s-salâm, to the last amongst them Prophet MuHammad peace and blessings be upon them all.

We do not belie Prophet Jesus. We do not bely Prophet Moses, We do not bely Prophet Hârun, We do not bely Prophet Ya’qub, or Prophet Is-Hâk, or Prophet Isma`îl, or Prophet Ibrâhîm, or Prophet Noah. We believe in all the Prophets.

We ask Allâh the Exalted to endow upon us goodness from the blessings of the Prophets and Messengers and we ask Allâh to make us amongst those who die in state of complete piety. Ameen.