Revealed religions were sent to mankind through messengers who claimed to be inspired by God. In the history of religions there have been a lot of prophets who brought the message of God to their people in various contexts and ways. Among them was the first human creature Adam, After they came a lot of other messengers and warners such as Nuh, Ibrahim ,Moses, Jesus…Muhammad(pbuh) is known as the last prophet. There have been about 29 prophets who are known to the majority of religious scholars. Prophets had to prove their prophethood by miracles. The miracles of the prophets corresponded to their time and their contexts
Moses, the prophet who spoke to God was empowered with signs to challenge the unjust ruler of Egypt who tyrannised the people of Israel that he help in bondage.
Moses said: “Even if I bring you something manifest and convincing.” Pharaoh said; “Bring it forth, then, if you are of the truthful!” So Moses threw his stick, and behold, it was a serpent, manifest. “(Quran 26:20-31)
And Moses was send at a time where they were a lot of magicians. His best miracles was therefore to cast a form a magic that was superior to what the magician of his time could perform. He challenged a group of well-versed magicians at the court of Pharaoh. He also split the sea into two separate parts with the permission of God.
At the time of Isa(Jesus)(pbuh) there were a lot of people who could heal a lot of diseases and Jesus was the best healer among them. Most of the miracles of Isa are known by the majority of Christians. Many are related in the Gospels and some in the glorious quran. For instance, Jesus is said to have healed a blind man, a man with Leper and even brought back a death person to life.
All these prophets had to perform series of miracles to proof that they were send by God and that God is truth. Scholars will distinguish between general miracles performed by saints or righteous people(karamats) and these miracles performed by prophets of God as a proof of their prophethood( Mu’jizats). It should be mentioned that miracles are not necessary a proof of being on the right path as anyone can occasionally be involved in performing miracles. Faith and Piety and the real criteria for the straight path.
The miracles of Muhammad(pbuh) are not well-known although there are so many.
Muhammad challenged the Arab poets with the glorious quran.. And the quran is still the most recited book today and recognized as the greatest miracle of Muhammad.
One of the biggest miracles of Muhammad (pbuh) was the”Shakkul-Kamar”, the act of splitting the moon into two sections. This mu’jiza was not granted to any other prophet. When Muhammad (pbuh) was fifty-two years old, the leaders of the Quraysh infidels in the city of Mecca came to his house and requested a sign. He had to split the moon into two sections if he was a prophet of God. Muhammed (pbuh) fervently wanted everyone and especially his friends, his parents to have converted to Islam. He raised his hands and prayed to God. God accepted his prayer and he split the moon in two. One half of the moon was seen on one mountain and the other half on another mountain. The infidels said, “Muhammad has exercised magic for us.” They did not believe in Islam.
Many other miracles of the prophet(pbuh) were similar to the miracles of some prophets of God such as healing the sick , feeding a large group of people with a little and speaking with objects.
It is written in the books of hadiths by Tirmidi and others that a blind person came to the prophet and said to him, ‘O Rassoulullah (alaihissalam)! Pray to Allahu taala that my eyes may be opened.’ Muhammed (alaihissalam) said to him to do his a ablutions and recite a prayer. The man did the ablution and prayed to Allahu taala. His eyes were opened right away.
Another famous miracle of the prophet was during a holy war. When the warriors were thirsty during some battles, Muhammed (pbuh) will put his hand into the water that was in a jug and the water will trickle between his fingers so that the jug willl continuously overflow with water. Sometimes eighty people, sometimes three hundred people and sometimes even thousand hundred of people and their animals had drunk the water from his jug that will flow from his fingers
During the holy battle of Khayberd, when he was given a poisoned piece of mutton to eat, a voice was heard from this poisonous roast ‘O Rassoulullah! Don’t eat me, I’m poisoned.’ One day, Muhammed (alaihissalam) said to the one who had an idol in his hand: “Will you convert to Islam, if the idol speaks to me? ”. The man says, “I have loved it for fifty years. She didn’t tell me anything. How can she tell you? ”. When Muhammed (alaihissalam) asked him: “Oh idol! Who am I? ”. We hear the voice, “You are the prophet of Allah tala”. The idolater immediately converted to Islam.
The prophet is known to have been the beloved of God. And God made many creatures and even objects honour and like him. One day the prophet(pbuh) went to his uncle Abbas’s house, he made him sit with his children near him, he covered them with a veil and made this prayer: “O my Rabb! He is my uncle and my father’s brother. It is also my Ahl-al bayt (my family). As I cover them with veils, you too, keep them away from the fire of hell, protect them from the fire of hell!” and Amine was heard three times through the walls.
On another occasion the prophet(pbuh) called a tree that was far away for those who wanted to him to perform a mu’jiza. The tree came near him dragging his roots, greeted him and said to him: “Ash’hadu an la ilaha illallah wa Ash’hadu Muhhammaden abduhu wa rassouluh”. Then the tree returned to his place and planted itself back.
Most miracles of the prophet(pbuh) were meant for convincing and converting disbelievers.
One day, Muhammed (alahissalam) asked a peasant to convert to Islam. He replied, “If you resurrect the deceased daughter of my Muslim neighbor, I can convert to Islam.” They went together near his tomb. Muhammed (alaihissalam) called the girl saying her name. A voice was heard in the tomb and the girl came out of her tomb. The prophet asked him, “Do you want to return to the world?” The girl replied to the prophet, “O Rassoulullah! I don’t want to go back into the world. I am more comfortable than in my father’s house. The other world is more convenient than the world for Muslims.” The peasant immediately converts to Islam when he sees this case.
Most of the people gained faith and converted to Islam because of the miracles of the prophet.
