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Sunday, May 8, 2011

PROPHET MOHAMMAD R.A



The Most Beloved Final Messenger of AllahSalla Allahu 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam

In the name of Allah Almighty we begin,
The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
We send countless benedictions upon His Most Beloved Prophet

Peace and blessings of Allah upon His Family & Companions
Peace and blessings upon all His true followers

Preface




Proofs of His Prophethood

Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem

As Salaatu Was Salaamu Alayka Ya RasoolAllah 

Preface

We would like to introduce the reader to the exemplary life of the blessed Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and his distinguished, exalted personality. The ‘water of life’ for the salvation of humankind should be made known to everyone.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is the pride of humankind. For the past fourteen centuries, many thinkers, philosophers, scientists and scholars, each a radiant star in our intellectual world, have stood behind him in respect and admiration and taken pride in membership of his community.
It is enough to appreciate and understand his greatness that even after so many attacks, we still hear the words I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God from minarets five times a day. While his name is being proclaimed from minarets we rejoice, as do the dead and other spiritual beings. It is enough to establish his greatness that, in spite of the concerted efforts to corrupt our younger generation and lead them astray, the young in this century, although it is impossible for them to perceive the full reality of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, hasten to him as moths hasten to light.
Time has not been able to make us forget the truth about him. He is so fresh in my mind that if I mention his holy name, it is as if I am about to meet him a few steps later. Once, while on pilgrimage to his radiant city, Madina, I felt that he was about to appear and welcome us. As time progresses, some thoughts become obsolete, but Muhammad, upon him be peace, remains as fresh as a rosebud in the hearts of the Muslims. It is for this reason that as soon as his name is mentioned from the minaret, we immediately abandon our work and hasten to mosque in acceptance of his invitation.
If we had been allowed to describe him as others have been described, if we had used the social and educational institutions, then, most probably, all the youth of today would be following his way. Despite our shortcomings, many pick up their ‘glasses’ and run to fill them from this ‘pure spring’. In every part of the world, including the United States, England, France and Germany, an Islamic revival is being observed. The Muslims are sowing these lands with the seeds of a happy future. Islam in every corner of the world is healthy and is flourishing as it had done in the Time of Happiness, i.e. the time of Muhammad himself. The same is true of the predominantly Muslim lands. Muslims, who were unconsciously devoted to Islam without deep perception or research, have given way to a new generation who are consciously following Muhammad, upon him be peace, in the light of science and advances in knowledge. Those who were previously exploiting schools and universities on behalf of unbelief are now running to him. World famous men including Maurice Bucaille and Roger Garaudy, have seen the falsehood of their systems and are hastening to the school of Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace, which is faultless.
I wonder whether we have fully recognized the most beloved of hearts. Even I, who have been performing five daily prayers since the age of five and striving to be a slave at his door, wonder if I am able to recognize him. Have we been able to enthuse love into the hearts of the men of this century by describing the ultimate source of all love and enthusiasm?
If only mankind had known Muhammad, they would have fallen in love with him as Majnun fell in love with Layla. Whenever his name is mentioned, they would tremble with joy in anticipation of entering the ethos which surrounds him and following his way wholeheartedly.
A person can love only one he/she knows and only to the extent of his/her knowledge
Man can love only one he knows and only to the extent of his knowledge. Our enemies have tried their utmost to make us forget and ensure that his holy name should not be mentioned anywhere. Since he is supported by God, all these obstacles have been torn down and the younger generation are submitting themselves to him as joyfully as one dying of thirst in the burning desert does when he finds water. His mighty tenderness and compassion will embrace every ‘thirsty’ person who comes to him.
You must have noticed that when you come to the Friday prayers, the congregation consists mainly of young people. Have you ever asked why, despite the misguidance and rebellion prevalent in most parts of the world, young people come to mosques and sit despite cold and other difficulties? There is only one attraction - Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. Whether we can grasp it or not, souls and hearts rush to him as moths to a candle. Even those ‘winter flies’ who have not been so fortunate will soon be turning to him. The whole world will soon be following him. Scientists and great thinkers will be studying him. Those who are currently enemies will soon be bosom friends and will take refuge in his warm welcome. In his time, even his enemies admired him.
He once related a dream that he had had. He, upon him be peace, said: They weighed me against ten people of my community and I outweighed them. Then they weighed me against a hundred and then a thousand respectively and I outweighed them all.1 He also related: I was weighed against the whole of my community and I outweighed them.2 He outweighs all the men of intellect, the men of piety and spirituality and the men of faith and knowledge. This is because all other beings were created because of him. It is reported that God said to him: But for you, I would not have created the spheres.3
Muhammad provided creation with meaning and gave the answers to vital questions of humanity
The universe is a book. If Muhammad, upon him be peace, had not been created, this book would not have been understood. To create a book that could not be understood would have been an effort in vain. God Almighty is beyond exerting Himself in vain. Therefore, He created Muhammad so that he may describe the meaning of creation. God was to be a teacher to him to whom the earth and the firmaments were subjected. The seeker of truth asks himself ‘Who am I and where am I?’ ‘For what purpose have I been created?’ ‘What is the destination of my journey?‘ ‘Who is my guide through this journey?’
Muhammad is the one who provided creation with meaning and gave man the answers to such questions. If he had been fully recognized, he would have been truly loved. Although we only know him a little, we still love him.
Let me narrate to you an incident that occurred during a visit to Muhammad‘s holy city. The atmosphere was overpowering. Something occurred to me. Every morning, I pray to God saying seven times, O my God, save me from Hellfire and make me enter Paradise among the company of the godly people. There can be no believer who does not wish to enter Paradise. However, in this environment I asked myself: ‘If they were to invite you to Paradise through any of its seven gates, which would you prefer - entering into the rawdah, the area in the mosque next to the Prophet‘s tomb, or entering Paradise?’ Believe me, I swear by God that I said to myself: ‘This place is more appealing to me. I have had the chance to rub my face against the soil of my master, at whose door I prefer to be a slave chained, than anything else in the world. I do not want to miss this chance.’
I believe this is the desire of every believer. When I was blessed with this great opportunity, I was with a member of the Turkish Parliament, Mr. Arif Hikmet. He told me that he had promised himself that he would roll in the soil like a donkey when he stepped across the border and entered the land of Madina. This great man kept his promise. When I remember this incident, I can’t prevent my eyes watering.
Since the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, came with a Sacred Law that will never be abrogated and a Message which embraces all men and jinn, and since he has hundreds of miracles excelling those of all other Prophets, he is the head of all the Prophets and therefore has the core of the miracles of all of them, as well as their unanimous confirmation. That is, the agreement of all the other Prophets on the same faith and the testimony of their miracles provide a support for Muhammad’s honesty and truthfulness. He is, at the same time, the master and leader of all saints and men of purity and profound knowledge, who have attained perfection through his teaching and guidance and through the light of his Sacred Law. Thus, he has also the core of their wonders, their unanimous affirmation and the strength of all their verified conclusions. Since the way they have followed to reach the truth was the one opened and left open by him, all the wonders they have worked, all the conclusions they have established through meticulous research and intuition, and their consensus on the same faith, constitute another support for his Prophethood, for his truthfulness. It is because of this that the coming of Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, was promised by all the Prophets before him. God made a covenant with them that they would believe in him and support him.
And when God took a covenant with the Prophets: That I have given you of Book and Wisdom; then there shall come to you a Messenger confirming what is with you - you shall believe in him and you shall help him. He said: ‘Will you affirm this, and take My load on you in this matter?’ They answered: ‘We affirm it.’ He said: ‘Bear witness so, and I shall be with you among the witnesses.’ (Al ‘Imran, 3.81)
All the Prophets led their lives in perfect loyalty to their promise. When the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace, was about to make his mi‘raj, Ascension, he led the prayers before the souls of all the other Prophets.4 All of them, including Abraham, Moses, Noah and Jesus, displayed their desire to become his muezzin, caller to prayer.
Jesus repeatedly gave his disciples the glad tidings of the coming of Muhammad. According to the Gospel of John (14. 16, 26, 30; 16.7), he said: ‘It is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go, the helper will not come. I have much more to tell you, but for now it would be too much for you to bear. When, however, the spirit of the Truth, the lord of the world, who reveals the truth about God comes, he will lead you to the truth‘.
Muhammad is the unique, universal man representing the whole of creation
I wonder if we realize how unique he was as the head of family. Do we know how he brought up his children or grandchildren, each of whom would have been a great leader if he had come in succeeding centuries? He dealt with his wives so successfully that there was no disagreement between them. He was beyond all comparison as father, husband or simply as a human being.
He had such sublime virtues in his blessed being, such exalted qualities in his messengership and such precious merits in the religion and Sacred Law that he preached, that even his most fanatical enemies could not help but admit them. Since this being combines in his personality, function and religion the most praiseworthy virtues, he is certainly the embodiment, the master and the representative of all the perfections and the high, laudable virtues found in the whole creation.
He was so perfect a commander that he challenged the whole world with only a handful of men. He repelled all who opposed his teachings. He experienced no defeat at all. He did that without being taught by any mortal or attending any military academy.
He was so informed about science that he told his followers about almost all the major events which would occur until the Last Day. It was as if he were watching a television screen or reading from an unseen tablet.5 Where the realm of science has just reached is where the realm of Muhammad begins.
Some time ago, a friend brought me a video cassette in which a Canadian pediatrician, Keith Moore, who had realized how the Quran describes the development of the human embryo in the mother‘s womb, declared his conversion to Islam pronouncing, I bear witness that there is no deity but God, and I also bear witness that Muhammad is His Messenger. On the same tape a Japanese psychologist, who had discovered that Islam clears many of the problems that have baffled modern scientists, was trying to get his tongue around the Arabic words to make the same declaration.
Who taught all these scientific facts to Muhammad? Certainly, he did not speak on his own, but whatever he spoke was a Revelation revealed to him. He was taught by the One who knows everything, the One who is All-Knowing and All-Aware, so that, as science advances, humankind will come to discover a new aspect of his personality and will be filled with regret at not knowing him before that.
His Companions knew him and accordingly loved him very much. Their love for him was greater than their love for themselves. They were prepared to sacrifice their lives to protect him.
He dispatched a group of teachers to the tribe of Hudayl at their request. The Hudayli unbelievers betrayed their teachers and killed most of them. Zayd ibn Dasina and Hubayb were handed to the Quraysh, then enemies of the Muslims. They were about to be executed when, while on the gallows, Hubayb was asked: ‘Do you wish that Muhammad were in your place so that you could be with your family in Madina?‘ Hubayb was startled. ‘I would rather be cut into pieces than wish Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, were in my place. I do not wish for even a thorn to hurt his blessed foot in exchange for my being returned to my family.‘ Then Hubayb prayed that God would convey his wish of peace and greetings to His Messenger, and inform him that he had remained loyal to him until he died. Meanwhile, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, informed his Companions of Hubayb‘s martyrdom and returned his greetings.6
Sumayra, from the tribe of Dinar, hurried to the battlefield when the news reached her that the Muslims experienced a reverse in Uhud. They showed her the dead body of her father, but she ignored it. They showed the dead bodies of her husband and sons but she did not look at them. She just kept asking what had happened to the Prophet. Eventually somebody guided her to the Prophet. She threw herself to the ground a few metres away from his feet and said: ‘All misfortunes mean next to nothing to me, provided that you are alive, O Messenger of God!’7
He was so loved that his Companions would have given their lives if it meant that he could live forever. But, of course, he was mortal like other created beings. The appointed hour drew near and he had to say farewell to his friends with whom he had been for twenty-three years. Mu‘adh ibn Jabal had been shuttling between Madina and the Yemen carrying the Prophet‘s Message. On the day he was about to leave, the Messenger of God said to him: O Muadh, leave now for the Yemen, but when you come back, you will probably visit my mosque and my tomb. These words were enough to bring Mu‘adh to the point of emotional collapse.8
The problems of the twentieth century will be solved by following the way of Muhammad, upon him be peace. This has been acknowledged by unbiased Western and Eastern intellectuals. As Bernard Shaw admitted earlier this century, mankind, in order to solve their accumulated problems, need nothing more than the Prophet Muhammad, who solved the most complicated problems as easily as one drinks coffee.
Humankind is waiting for the return of the Muhammadan spirit. They are waiting for the Message of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. When they turn to him to solve their problems, they will be saved from being exploited, freed from all kinds of miseries, and they will attain true peace and happiness. This second revival has already begun despite the aversion of unbelievers.
They desire to extinguish the light of God with their mouths; but God will perfect His light, even though unbelievers are averse. It is He Who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may uplift it above every religion, even though the polytheists are averse. (al-Saff, 61:8-9)
God will uplift His religion, and people will run to the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and in him will find peace and happiness. Humankind will learn to live in security through him and it will be as if they had entered Paradise while still in this world. This will take place despite the unbelievers and wrongdoers of Europe, the hypocrites of Asia and those living heedless of him. The lord of the Prophets, whose name we proclaim from our minarets five times a day to the whole world, will sooner or later be entrusted in the hearts of humankind. And, since the Prophet Muhammad was a man of peace, mankind will attain happiness through the Message that he brought.


1. Qadi Iyad, Shifa’ al-Sharif, 1.173.
2. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 2.76.
3. al-Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa’, 2.232.
4. I. Jarir al-Tabari, Jami‘ al-Bayan an Ta’wil Ay al-Qur’an; I. Kathir, al-Bidaya wa l-Nihaya, 3.139.
5. Muslim, Fitan, 22-5; I. Hanbal, 1.4.
6. I. Kathir, al-Bidaya, 4.76.
7. I. Kathir, ibid., 4.54; Nur al-Din Ali ibn A. Bakr al-Haythami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id, 6.115.
8. I. Hanbal, 5.235.

New and Old Testament


PROOFS OF MUHAMMAD’S PROPHETHOOD IN THE NEW AND OLD TESTAMENT
Prophet Muhammad in the Old Testament
Almost all the previous Prophets predicted the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. Despite the changes they have undergone over time, we can still find indications to his coming in the Torah, Psalms and the Gospels.
A Prophet from among the brothers of the Israelites who resembles Moses
For example, the following verses of the Torah promise the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings:
The Lord said to me [Moses]: ‘What they say is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you among their brothers; I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to My words that the Prophet speaks in My Name, I will Myself call him to account.’ (Deuteronomy, 18.17-9)
It is clear from these verses that what is meant by ‘a Prophet like you among their brothers’ is a Prophet who will come from the line of Ishmael, since Ishmael is the brother of Isaac, who is the forefather of Moses’ people, the Children of Israel. The only Prophet who came from the line of Ishmael after Moses and resembled him in many ways, for example, in the bringing of a new law and waging of war on his enemies, is the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. Also, the following verse of the Bible in Deuteronomy, 34.12 (Istanbul 1885), clearly states that no Prophet like Moses did ever appear among the Israelites:
With respect to his virtues and awesome deeds, no Prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knows face to face, no longer appeared among Israel.
The Quran points to the same fact:
We have sent to you a Messenger as a witness over you, even as We sent to Pharaoh a Messenger. (al-Muzzammil, 73.15)
The sentence, I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him, in the verse in question, means that the promised Prophet will be unlettered and speak whatever is revealed to him. God reiterates the same fact in the Quran:
He does not speak out of [his own] desire. It is but a Revelation revealed. (al-Najm, 53.3-4)
The Prophet who shone forth from Mount Paran
The following verse,
The Lord came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran. (Deuteromony, 33.2)
refers to the Prophethood of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad respectively, upon them be peace. Sinai is the place where the Prophet Moses spoke to God and received the Torah. Seir, a place in Palestine, is where the Prophet Jesus received Divine Revelation. Paran is where God manifested Himself to mankind for the last time through His Revelation to the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
Paran is a mountain range in Makka. It is mentioned in the Torah (Genesis, 21.19-21) as the area in the desert where Hagar was left by her husband Abraham, upon him be peace, to live with her son, Ishmael. The well of Zamzam appeared in it. As is stated explicitly in the Qur’an (14.35-7), Abraham left Hagar and Ishmael in the valley of Makka, which was then an uninhabited place within the mountain ranges of Paran.
The verse in Deuteromony, according to the Arabic version published in London in 1944 and the Ottoman Turkish version published in Istanbul in 1885), continues:
He came with myriads of holy ones; in his right hand appeared to them the fire of the Shari‘a.
This verse refers to the promised Prophet, Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who would have numerous Companions of the highest degree of sainthood. The fire of the Shari‘a alludes to the fact that the promised Prophet would be allowed, and even ordered, to fight against his enemies.
Other verses in the Old Testament:
In the Psalms of David, there is the following verse:
O God, send to us after the interregnum (after the latest of the successive prophets) one who will establish (Your) way.’1
Here, ‘one who will establish (Your) way’ refers to the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
The following verse is from the Gospels:
A verse from the Torah says:
Surely God said to Abraham: ‘Hagar will certainly bear children. There will appear from her sons one whose hand will be above all, and the hands of all others will be opened to him in reverence.’2
Another verse from the Torah:
And He said, ‘O Moses, surely I will raise up for them a Prophet like you, from among their brothers (that is, from among the children of Ishmael); I will put my Word in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I Myself will call him to account.’ (Deuteronomy, 18:18-19.)
A third verse from the Torah:
Moses said: ‘O my Lord, I have found in the Torah a community, as the best of the communities, that will be raised for (the benefit) of mankind; they enjoin the good and forbid the evil, and they believe in God. Let it be my community!’ (God) said: ‘That is the community of Muhammad.’3
This is a verse from the Psalms:
O David, a Prophet will come after you, named Ahmad (Muhammad), the Truthful and the Lord, and his community will be forgiven.4
From the Seven ‘Abdullahs, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al- ‘As, who made extensive studies of earlier Divine books, ‘Abdullah ibn Salam, who was the first to embrace Islam from amongst the famous Jewish scholars, and the renowned scholar Ka‘b ibn al-Akhbar from amongst the foremost scholars of the Israelites, all pointed out the following verse in the Torah, which was not then corrupted to its present extent. The verse, after addressing Moses, addresses the Prophet to come in the following strain:
O Prophet, verily We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of good tidings, a warner and a protection for the unlettered. You are My slave; I have named you ‘the Reliant on God’, who are not harsh and stern, and not clamorous in the marketplaces; who do not repel the evil with evil, but instead pardon and forgive. God will certainly not take away his life until He straightens a crooked nation by means of him (by causing them) to proclaim ‘There is no deity but God.’5
Another verse from the Torah states:
Muhammad is the Messenger of God; his birthplace is Makka, he will emigrate to Tayba, the center of his rule is Damascus, and his community are unceasingly occupied with praise of God.6
In this verse, for the word Muhammad, a Syriac word meaning Muhammad is actually mentioned.
Another verse from the Torah:
You are My slave and Messenger; I have named you ‘the Reliant on God.’7
This verse is also addressed to a Prophet who will emerge after Moses from the progeny of Ishmael, the cousins of the children of Isaac.
Here is another verse from the Torah:
My slave is a ‘chosen one’, who is not harsh, nor he is stern.8
The meaning of ‘Mukhtar’, a chosen one, is the same as ‘Mustafa’, a name of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
The Prophet who will come after Jesus is referred to as ‘the Master of the world’ in several places in the Gospels. (John, 14:30)
This verse of the Gospel, which has come to describe him,
With him is an iron staff with which he will fight, as will his community.9
indicates that a Prophet will come with a sword to wage Jihad. In agreement with this verse of the Gospel, the following Qur’anic verse at the end of Sura al-Fath (Victory), which refers to some other verses of the Gospel as well as the one mentioned above, also states that his community, like him, will be under the obligation of waging Jihad.
And their similitude in the Gospel is: like a seed that sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands in its own stem, filling the sowers with wonder and delight, so that it fills the unbelievers with rage at them. (48:29)
In the Torah, there is the following verse:
The flags of the holy ones are with him, on his right. (Deuteronomy, 33:2) 10
In this verse, the Companions of the Prophet are described as ‘the holy ones’, that is, his Companions are blessed, righteous, saintly friends of God.
In Chapter 42 of the Book of Isaiah, there are the following verses:
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope. (Isaiah, 42:1-4)
These verses are certain to describe the Prophet Muhammad, who would come in the last phase of human history.
There are the following verses in Chapter 4 of the Book of Micah:
In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up the mountain of the Lord, to the house of God. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” (Micah, 4:1-2)
These verses obviously describe the Mount Arafat, the most blessed mountain of the world, and the nation of Muhammad, upon him be peace, together with the prayers and praises that would be offered by the pilgrims who would flock there from all climes.
The following verses are from Chapter 72 of Psalms:
He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.The desert tribes will bow before him and his enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of the Yemen and Seba will present him gifts. All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him.For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no-one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence for precious is their blood in his sight. Long may he live!May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long.
...
May his name endure for ever; may it continue as long as the sun.All nations will be blessed through him. and they will call him blessed. (Psalms, 72:8-17)
These verses describe the Prophet Muhammad, the Pride of the World, in a very clear way. Since the Prophet David, has a prophet come other than the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace, who has spread his religion from east to west, to whose name many rulers pay tribute, and whose way so many obey with deep adoration for him, and on whom one fifth of mankind call, every day, God’s peace and blessings? Is there anyone who fits this description other than the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings?
Prophet Muhammad in the New Testament
More emphatically and more frequently than any other Prophet, the Prophet Jesus, upon him be peace, gave the good tidings of the Last Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings.
The Capstone in the Gospel of Matthew
Jesus said:
Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.’ (Matthew, 21.42-4)
The ‘capstone’ mentioned in the verses cannot be the Prophet Jesus for the verses refer to the crushing victories that the followers of the ‘capstone’ will win against their enemies. No people were ever broken to pieces or crushed because they resisted Christianity. Christianity gained ground against the Roman Empire only after it had lost its original identity and been reconciled with Roman paganism. The Western dominion over the world came after scientific thought’s triumph over the medieval Christian view of nature and was realized in the form of a ruthless colonialism. Whereas, Islam ruled almost half of the ‘old’ world for many centuries as a religion in its original purity and its enemies were many times defeated before it. In its struggle with other religions, Islam has always been successful. It is, again, Islam which is on the rise as both a pure, authentic religion and as a way of life, and which is the hope of salvation for humanity more than that, the Prophet Jesus himself alludes to this fact by stating explicitly that the kingdom of God will be taken away from his followers and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
Second, in a telling detail recorded in a hadith in the Sahih of al-Bukhari and that of Muslim, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, describes himself as the ‘capstone’ completing the building of Prophethood.
Paraklit, the Spirit of Truth
In the Gospel of John, Jesus promises the arrival of the Last Prophet using a variety of names:
But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the ‘Paraklit’ will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. (John, 16:7-8)
In these verses, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is referred to as the Paraklit. Paraklit11 is a Greek word meaning the Distinguisher between Truth and Falsehood. Although Christian interpreters have given this word different meanings such as Counselor (Gideons International) or Helper (American Bible Society) or Comforter (the Company of the Holy Bible), and claimed that it refers to the Holy Spirit, it is impossible even for Christians to establish whether the Holy Spirit has come down after Jesus and done what Jesus foretold he would do.
If, according to Christians, the Holy Spirit is the Archangel Gabriel, he came many times to the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, to bring Divine Revelations. Further, Jesus mentioned and predicted the Paraklit with other different names, but the same function, as is seen in the following verses:
When Paraklit comes - the Spirit of truth - who comes from the Father, he will testify about me. (John, 15.26)
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking what is mine and making it known to you. (John, 16.12-14)
I will not speak with you much longer, for the Prince of this world is coming. And I posses nothing of him. (John, 14.30)
Who has come after Jesus other than the Prophet Muhammad, as the Comforter who has comforted human beings against fear of death, against worries about the future, against spiritual ailments of all kinds? As the Helper, who has helped mankind to attain real peace and happiness in both worlds? As the Prince of the world, who has ruled almost half of the world for fourteen centuries, and who has become the beloved of billions? And as the Spirit of truth who testified to Jesus, brought glory to him by declaring his Prophethood against the denial of the Jews and false deification of him by Christians, and restoring his religion to its pristine purity through the Book he brought? What shortcomings do the Western Christians attribute to the Prophet Muhammad, in contrast to Jesus and other Prophets, that, while almost all of the Christians of the ‘Middle East’ believed in him and converted to Islam within a few decades of his death, they persist in their denial of him and offer no justification?
Mawlana Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, a great Sufi saint, expresses in the following stanza the good tidings of the Prophet Muhammad by the Gospel:
In the Gospel Mustafa is mentioned with his attributes, in him is the mystery of all the Prophets; he is the bringer of happiness. The Gospel mentions him with his external form and features, and also with his personal virtues and Prophetic qualities.
In spite of the changes they have been subjected to over time, the Old and New Testaments still contain references to the Prophet Muhammad, only some of which we have quoted. The late Hussayn Jisri found one hundred and fourteen such allusions and quoted them in his Risala al-Hamidiya.
Note
In the books of other Prophets, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, is mentioned with such Syriac and Hebrew names as correspond to Ahmad, Muhammad and Mukhtar. In the Pages of the Prophet Shu‘ayb, upon him be peace, his name is Mushaffah, meaning Muhammad. In the Torah, he is mentioned as Munhamanna, which means Muhammad, and as Himyata, meaning ‘the Prophet of al-Haram’. In the Psalms, he is named al-Mukhtar, and again in the Torah, al-Hatam al-Khatam. Both in the Torah and the Psalms, he is referred to as Muqim al-Sunna, which means the one who establishes and enforces the Divine way for mankind. In the Pages of Abraham, upon him be peace, and in the Torah, he is mentioned as Mazmaz, and again in the Torah, as Ahyad.
God’s Messenger himself said, My name in the Qur’an is Muhammad, in the Bible Ahmad, and in the Torah Ahyad. In the Bible, he is also referred to as ‘the Possessor of the Sword and the Staff’. In-deed, among the Prophets who carried the sword, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is the greatest one, who was also commanded to perform Jihad together with his community. The Gospel refers to him also as the one who wears a crown. What is meant here by crown is turban, and it is the Arabs who have worn headcovers with a wrapper around them since ancient times. Hence, the reference is undoubtedly to the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
In the tomb of Shamun al-Safa, the famous traveler Awliya’ Calabi saw the following verses in the Gospel, written on a gazelle hide: ‘I’tun (A youth) Azribun (from the progeny of Abraham) peruftun (is to be a Prophet.) Law ghýslin (He will not be a liar.) Bent afzulat (His birthplace is Makka;) ki kalushir (he will come with righteousness;) tunuminin (his blessed name) mavamid (is Ahmad Muhammad.) Isfedus (His followers) takardis (will prosper in this world,) bist bith (and also in the next.)
Certainly, Jesus frequently gave in the Gospels the glad tidings that the most significant leader of mankind would come, and mentioned him with some names in Syriac and Hebrew, which mean, as observed by meticulous experts, Ahmad, Muhammad, and Faruq (who distinguishes the truth from falsehood).

1.Although it does not exist word for word in the present editions of the Bible, it is recorded in Hujjat Allah ‘ala al-‘Alamin fi Mu’jizat al-Sayyid al-Mursalin by Yusuf Nahbani, p. 104.2. Although it does not exist word for word in the present versions of the Bible, it is recorded by ‘Ali al-Qari in his Sharh al-Shifa’, 1:743. However, we read in the Torah, the following verses:
I will make the son of the maidservant (Hagar) into a nation.(Genesis, 21:13). Hagar, lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation (21:18).


3. ‘Ali al-Qari, al-Shifa’ al-Sharif, 1:746.
4. Ali al-Qari, al-Shifa’ al-Sharif, 1:746.
5. Bukhari, Buyu’, 50; I. Hanbal, Musnad, 2:174; Darimi, 1:14-15.
6. Darimi, 1:14-15; Abu Na‘im, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa, 1:72.
7. Kastalani, al-Mawahib al-Ladunniya, 6:192.
8. ‘Ali al-Qari, ibid., 1:739.
9. Yusuf Nahbani, Hujjat Allah ‘ala al-‘Alamin fi Mu’jizat al-Sayyid al-Mursalin, 105.
10.This is almost the same in many versions of the Bible, i.e., in the one published by The Bible Company established in Istanbul, but we come across a different translation, if not an alteration, in the version published by Gideon International, which reads: ‘He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes’ (Deuteronomy, 33:2).
11. Paraclete is originally a Greek word. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, it derives from the Greek word parakletos meaning intercessor, advocate, pleader. However, Abidin Pasha, a nineteenth-century scholar from Yanya, Greece, who knew Greek very well and whose works on Greek literature were highly praised by Greek authorities, writes that the origin of Paraclete is piriklitos, meaning Ahmad, the one who is much praised. (Hussain Jisri, Risala al-Hamidiya, 59). We also read in the Qur’an that Jesus predicted the Prophet Muhammad with the name, Ahmad, a synonym of Muhammad (61:6). Christians assert that by Paraclete Jesus means the Holy Spirit, but it is questionable what connection the Holy Spirit has with interceding, pleading or advocating, which, in fact, refer to the main attributes of the Prophet Mu-hammad, upon him be peace and blessings, even though we accept that the word drives from paracletos. Besides, it should also be noted that translators of the Gospels intentionally refrain from writing Paraclete and, instead, they prefer to translate it, but all differently. Also, Jesus gives good tidings of the being to come not only with the name of Paraclete but also with such names as ‘the Prince of this world’ and the ‘Spirit of truth’, and with many other functions, which must, of course, belong to a Prophet, not to a ‘spirit’ or angel.

Prior Life


The Beloved Prophet Muhammad's life prior to His Messengership Promised His Prophethood

The extraordinary events took place on the night of his birth. For example, most of the idols at the Ka‘ba toppled over; the palace of the Sassanid Emperor shook and cracked, and its fourteen pinnacles collapsed; the small lake of Sawa in Persia sank into the earth, and the fire which was worshipped by the Magians at Istakhrabad and had been lit continually for a thousand years was extinguished. Together with these events, the different character he displayed even in his childhood and the meaningful signs men of insight observed on him meant that he would undertake a great mission in future.
During the period of his life prior to his Prophethood, he opposed injustices in his community and joined organizations like the Hilf al-Fudul, which was established to defend the helpless and restore usurped rights to their owners.
Although of honorable descent, he never lived in luxuries and grew up as an orphan under the protection of first his grandfather and then his uncle. Although he may have earned some money by the trade he did before and after his marriage, he used to spend whatever he had to support the orphans, widows and the poor and therefore never lived a wealthy life and did not have powerful backing.
Despite the moral corruption in his community, he lived an extraordinarily chaste and perfectly disciplined life, without never falling into dissipated ways. During his childhood, he intended only twice to attend wedding ceremonies but on both occasions sleep overpowered him half-way. When he was 25 years old, he married Khadija, a respected widow fifteen years older than himself and never married again until her death 25 years later. Those who knew him said that he was as shy as a young girl when asked for in marriage.
Muhammad’s childhood and youth were a prelude to his Prophethood. Besides his other exalted, laudable characteristics, everyone agreed upon his truthfulness and trustworthiness
Muhammad’s childhood and youth were a prelude to his Prophethood. Besides his other exalted, laudable characteristics, everyone agreed upon his truthfulness and trustworthiness. He never lied, never cheated and never broke his word. He was called ‘the Trustworthy’ even by his bitterest enemies.
People would say of him: ‘If you go on a journey and need someone to whose safeguarding you will entrust your family and belongings, you can entrust them to Muhammad without hesitation.’ The Ka‘ba had been partly ruined by rain and resultant floods. The Quraysh restored it. The moment came when the Black Stone had to be put back in its place. It would be an honor for the individual or clan who did that since the Black Stone was revered for its sanctity. In order to prevent a clash which was about to ensue between the clans to acquire that honor, they all agreed on the arbitration of Muhammad. He asked them to fetch a piece of cloth, which he spread on the ground. Putting the Black Stone on it, he told the chiefs of the clans to take each a corner of the cloth. In this way the Stone was raised to the required height and then he took it himself and put it in its place. Thanks to his wisdom, the danger of a war between the clans was averted.
Muhammad learned from no one during his whole lifetime and was never influenced by the written culture of the time.
Muhammad was unlettered. He learned from no one during his whole lifetime and was never influenced by the written culture of the time. Towards his fortieth year, he used to retreat to the cave of Hira.’ This unlettered man came out of the cave with a new, wholly authentic message to heal all the wounds of humanity and challenged all the literary geniuses to produce a like of his message. This alone is enough to show that he is a Prophet sent by God to guide humanity to truth.
No one among his enemies dared to accuse him of lying or cheating.
No one among his enemies dared to accuse him of lying or cheating. In order to prevent the spread of his Message, they only labeled him sometimes as a poet, sometimes as a sorcerer or magician and sometimes as an insane one. There were times when, in order not to accept his Message, they put forward false pretexts, saying: ‘If only this Quran had been sent down to one of the great men of the two cities (Makka and Ta’if)?’
It is inconceivable that a man of forty who, until then, was never witnessed to tell a single lie and to cheat, and to display any moral and intellectual imperfection, would completely change, suddenly and unexpectedly, and begin to cheat everyone and continue to do so without being discovered. As prior to his Prophethood, no one, including his bitterest enemies, ever accused him of lying and cheating, so also after it, though they uttered different slanders about him, they could not help but confess his truthfulness. If they had ever witnessed any dishonest act by him, or if, to answer his challenges, they had been able to produce the like of a single chapter of the Quran, in order to discredit him or stop him preaching his message, they would not have felt obliged to wage war on him. However, after years of futile resistance caused by low and selfish motives, even his most bitterest enemies like Safwan ibn Umayya, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl and others, finally accepted the truthfulness of his message.

Life After


The Prophet Muhammad's Life following His Prophethood
If the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, had cherished selfish aims and intentions, and if he had not been a Prophet chosen by God to guide people into truth, he would not have had to wait until he was forty to emerge with the claim of Prophethood.
Muhammad was unlettered. Until he was forty, no one heard him utter an eloquent speech, talk on religious and metaphysical issues, formulate any laws, and handle a sword. But, this reserved and quiet man, who had never given any indication of political interest or activity before, appeared on the stage of the world, as a greatest reformer expounding the intricate problems of metaphysics and theology, delivering speeches upon the principles of the decline and fall of nations, teaching ethical canons and formulating the laws of social culture, economic organization, group conduct and international relations, the world history has ever known. He turned suddenly into such a brave soldier that he did not even once retreat in the fiercest battles. He changed people’s modes of thought, world-views, and their beliefs, habits and morals.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was not only an undefeatable commander, nor a most eminent statesman, nor a most influential spiritual and moral teacher. He is the only example where all the excellences in all the aspects of life have been blended into one personality.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was not only an undefeatable commander, nor a most eminent statesman, nor a most influential spiritual and moral teacher. He is the only example where all the excellences in all the aspects of life have been blended into one personality. He is a man of wisdom and a seer and also a living embodiment of his own teachings. He is a great statesman as well as a military genius. He is a legislator and also a teacher of morals. He is a spiritual luminary as well as a religious guide. His vision penetrates every aspect of life and there is nothing which he touches and does not adorn. His orders and commandments cover a vast field from the regulation of international relations down to the habits of everyday life like eating, drinking, sleeping, and cleanliness of the body. On the foundations of his teaching he established a civilization and a culture and produced such a fine, sensitive, and perfect equilibrium in the conflicting aspects of life that there is to be found not even the slightest trace of any flaw, deficiency or incompleteness. What shortcoming and imperfection does he have when compared with other Prophets so that he is not confirmed as a Prophet and Messenger of God?
Muhammad lived as the humblest of all
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings lived a very simple life, as the poorest of his community. He spent all the money he had earned by the trade before His Prophethood to spread his Message. In spite of his greatness, his behavior toward all people was that of the humblest person, that of an ordinary being. In the struggles and endeavors of his whole life he did not seek any reward or profit for his own person, nor did he leave any property for his heirs. He did not ask his followers to earmark anything for him or his descendants, so much so that although he and his family were the poorest of his community, he forbade not only his family but also his progeny from receiving from the benefit of zakat.
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was extremely merciful toward all the creatures of God.
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was extremely merciful toward all the creatures of God. In Makka, his people inflicted on him every kind of suffering, eventually forcing him to emigrate to Madina, and then waged wars on him for five years. However, when he conquered Makka without bloodshed in the twenty-first year of his Prophethood, he forgave all of his enemies. His mercy even encompassed hypocrites and unbelievers. Although he recognized the hypocrites of his time, he never disclosed them so that they could enjoy the rights of full citizenship to which their outward confession of faith and practice entitled them.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was particularly compassionate towards children. When he saw a child crying, he sat beside him or her and shared his or her feelings. He felt the pain of a mother for her child more than the mother herself. Once he said: I stand in prayer and wish to prolong it. However, I hear the cry of a child and cut the prayer short for the anxiety which the mother praying in the congregation is feeling. He took children in arms and hugged them. Sometimes he bore them on his shoulders.
The Prophet’s compassion encompassed not only human beings, but also animals. We hear from him that a prostitute was guided to truth by God and ultimately went to Paradise because she gave water to a poor dog dying of thirst, whilst another woman was condemned to the torments of Hell because she left a cat to die of hunger.
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was extremely mild in his relations with people.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was extremely mild in his relations with people. He was never angry with anybody because of what was done to him. When his wife ‘A’isha, may God be pleased with her, was made the object of a slander, he did not think to punish the slanderers even after ‘A’isha was cleared. Bedouins often came to his presence and behaved impolitely, but he did not even frown at them.
The Prophet was also the most generous of people
The Prophet was also the most generous of people. He liked to distribute whatever he had. After Prophethood he and his wealthy wife Khadija spent everything they had in the way of God. When Khadija, may God be pleased with her, died, they had no money to buy a shroud, and God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, had to borrow money in order to bury the first person to embrace Islam and his first supporter.
According to the Prophet, the world is like a tree under which people sit to be shaded during a long journey. No one can live forever in the world, so people must make in the world the necessary preparation for the second part of the journey which will end either in Paradise or Hell. The mission of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was to guide people to truth, so he would spend whatever he had, his life, and his possessions, to this end. Once ‘Umar, upon him be peace and blessings, saw him lying on a rough mat and wept, saying: ‘O Messenger of God! While kings sleep in soft weather beds, you are lying on a rough mat. You are the Messenger of God and therefore deserve more than any other people an easy life.’ The Messenger answered him: Do you not agree that [the luxuries of] the world be theirs but those of the Hereafter ours?
Islam does not approve of monastic life. It came to secure justice and the well-being of mankind, but warns people against over-indulgence. It is for this reason that many Muslims have chosen an ascetic life. Although the Muslims generally became rich after the death of the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, some like the Caliphs Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Ali preferred an austere life. This was partly because they felt to live as the poorest of their people and partly because they chose to strictly follow the Prophet’s example.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was the most modest of people. As he attained a higher rank each and every day, he increased in humility and servanthood to God. He preferred being a Prophet-slave to being a Prophet-king.
In the construction of the Mosque in Madina after the Hijra, he carried two sun-dried bricks while everybody else carried one. In the digging of the ditch around Madina to defend the city in the Battle of the Ditch, the Companions bound a stone around their bellies because of hunger, but the Messenger bound two, because he was more hungry than anybody else. Once, a man saw him and, due to his awe-inspiring appearance, began to tremble out of fear. The Messenger calmed him, saying: Brother! Don’t be afraid. I am a man, like you, whose mother used to eat dry bread. Again, a woman suffering from insanity pulled him by the hand and said: ‘Come with me and do my housework.’ God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, went with the woman and did the work. As reported by ‘A’isha, his wife, the Messenger patched his clothes, repaired his shoes and helped his wives with the housework.
‘Ali, the Fourth Caliph, may God be pleased with him, describes the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings:
Whoever attempted to describe Muhammad would say: ‘I have, either before him or after him, never seen the like of him, upon him be peace and blessings.’
· God’s Messenger was the most generous of people in giving out and the mildest and foremost of them in patience and perseverance. He was the most truthful of people in speech, the most amiable and congenial in companionship and the noblest of them in family. Whoever sees him first is stricken by awe of him but whoever knows him closely is attracted to him deeply, and whoever attempts to describe him says: ‘I have, either before him or after him, never seen the like of him, upon him be peace and blessings.’
Other than conveying God’s Message to people, in other words, performing the mission of Divine Messengership, who bears such an austere life as Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, lived, and what else other than a Prophet, can such a man as Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, be? And what substantial argument can one put forward against his Prophethood?

Character & Morality

The Prophet Muhammad's Character and High Morality prove His Prophethood
Muhammad was the humblest at the zenith of his achievements
If a man’s world-admired accomplishments or the wealth and fame he has gained do not change him, if he can remain as humble as he was at the beginning of his career, this shows that person’s strength of character, morality and virtue. Despite his unparalleled achievements, which force even his enemies to place him at the top of the greatest men of human history, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was poorer and more humble when he entered Makka victoriously than he was at the beginning of his mission.
Those who saw the Messenger would say: ‘One with such a face cannot lie.’
One’s face reveals one’s inner world and character. Those who saw the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, could not help but admire his appearance and, if they were unprejudiced, acknowledge his truthfulness. For example, ‘Adbullah ibn Salam, the most renowned Jewish scholar of the time, believed in him at his first sight of him, saying: ‘One with such a face cannot lie.’
If a fire-fly claimed that it is the sun, its lie could last only until the sun rises. Turkish people say that a liar’s candle only burns till bedtime, meaning that a lie has only a very short life. So, a deceitful one pretending Prophethood will soon be discovered and no one will accept him as a true Prophet.
Muhammad’s utmost conviction of his cause, together with his sincerity and solemnity prove his Prophethood
Even an insignificant man of small standing, in a small group in a disputed matter of little importance, cannot tell a small but shameful lie openly and comfortably without displaying such anxiety and uneasiness as will make his enemies aware of his deception. Since the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, challenged everybody to come until the Last Day and uttered many important speeches in a large community concerning a great cause, with great ease and freedom, without hesitation or anxiety, with pure sincerity and great solemnity, and in an intense and elevated manner that provoked his enemies, it means that he was certainly a Prophet speaking whatever God revealed to him.
Despite being unlettered, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, spoke on every issue and has not been contradicted ever since.
It is impossible for an unlettered one to speak on a matter requiring expert knowledge, especially before those with specialized knowledge of that matter. However, despite being unlettered, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, spoke on every issue from theology and metaphysics to medicine, history, physics and biology and has not been contradicted ever since. Besides, when he was raised up as a Prophet, the arts of literature, eloquence and oratory were at their peak and the Qur’an he received from God challenged all of its opponents to bring the like of a single chapter of its but no one has ever been able to do that. This, again, clearly shows that Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is a Prophet of God.
Muhammad had to confront all kinds of hardships and persecutions after Prophethood and spent for his cause whatever he had.
For the sake of a deception no one risks his life, wealth and reputation and bears great hardships and persecutions unless he has great aspirations to more wealth and great worldly positions. Before claiming Prophethood, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was well off and had a respected place among his community. However, he had to confront all kinds of hardships and persecutions after Prophethood and spent for his cause whatever he had. His enemies slandered him, mocked him, beat him, expelled him from his homeland and waged war on him. He bore all such cruel treatments and hostilities without complaint and asked God Almighty for the forgiveness of even his enemies. The only cause he pursued was to see everybody believing in and worshipping the One God exclusively and thereby prosperous in both worlds and saved from the torments of Hell.
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, practiced with utmost sincerity and honesty what he communicated to others.
History has witnessed many leading persons who, since they themselves did not practice what they preached or propagated, did not have a large devoted following. Their ideas did not have an enduring effect on people and the systems they established did not last long. However, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, practiced with utmost sincerity and honesty what he communicated to others and was always the first and foremost in obedience to the religion he brought, in worship to the Creator and in avoidance of the religious prohibitions. This shows his full conviction of his cause and that he is a Messenger of God, Who sent him to humanity to guide them to the True Path.
For what reason other than conveying God’s Message to people must he have endured all kinds of hardships and persecutions, such as sleeping on earth, suffering hunger for several consecutive days, spending a considerable part of his life on battlefields and military campaigns, being expelled from his homeland, becoming subject to mockeries and insults, etc?
Man acquires an established character until he is thirty and especially after thirty a man’s character does not change. Particularly, it is very difficult for one to change his temper and disposition after he is forty. If-God forbid such a thought!- there had been any imperfection and blemish in the character of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, it would certainly have appeared before his Prophethood. Therefore, no one with a bit of intelligence and fairness, unless he is prejudiced, can accept that one who was never heard tell a lie and witnessed deceive until one was forty, would appear as the worst, meanest trickster of human history after forty.
A lying, deceitful one cannot have a large, dedicated following who are ready to sacrifice themselves for him. Despite being among the five greatest Prophets, Moses and Jesus did not have followers as devoted as Muhammad’s Companions.
A lying, deceitful one cannot have a large, dedicated following who are ready to sacrifice themselves for him. Despite being among the five greatest Prophets, Moses and Jesus did not have followers as devoted as Muhammad’s Companions. The followers of Moses, upon him be peace, betrayed him when he left them for forty days to receive the Torah on Mount Sinai, and began to worship a golden calf which Samiri made for them. Even after so many years of intellectual and spiritual training in the desert, except for two God-fearing men, they did not obey his order to fight against the Amalekites, the people of Goliath. As for Jesus, upon him be peace, one of his most devoted twelve followers betrayed him and attempted to submit him to his enemies. But the followers of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, known as the Companions, were so devoted to him that they sacrificed for him their lives and properties and their families and tribes. Although brought up among a primitive people and in a climate of ignorance, devoid of any positive notions of social life and administration, without a Scripture and immersed in the darkness of the uncivilized era after the Prophets, in a very short period, they became in the footsteps of their exalted leader, the Prophet Muhammad, the masters, guides and just rulers of the most civilized and socially and politically advanced peoples and states, and ruled the world from east to west in a world-admired fashion.
Also, innumerable exacting and profound scholars and world-famous scientists and pure, spiritual masters were brought up among the succeeding generations following the Companions. The civilization they established was the most magnificent one history has ever known. Is it conceivable, then, that all those most shining stars of human history followed a lying, deceitful one? God forbid such a thought!
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was the most famous of humanity for high moral conduct and virtue.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was the most famous of humanity for high moral conduct and virtue. He appeared in the heart of a desert which was almost the most uncivilized part of the then inhabited world and where people were immersed in the worst kinds of immorality. Then, who do you think brought him up as the most virtuous one with the highest morality and best conduct? He had lost his father while he was yet in the womb of his mother. When his mother died, he was only six years old. It was impossible for his grandfather and uncle to bring him up as the most virtuous of all times, as they themselves did not have all of the good moral qualities Muhammad had and in the same degree as he had. His teacher was God, as he himself said: My Lord educated me and taught me good manners, and how well he educated me and how beautifully He taught me good manners!
No one in human history has ever been able to combine in himself all of the virtues and good qualities as perfectly as the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
Human history has seen many virtuous persons. However, no one has ever been able to combine in himself all of the virtues and good qualities as perfectly as the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. There have been many generous people but they have not been able to show enough courage when and where necessary. Likewise, there have been many courageous people, who have not been able to be lenient and generous at the same degree. But the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, combined in his person all the virtues and laudable qualities at the highest level.
Virtue and good morality also require balance. For example, if generosity exceeds its limits, it changes into extravagance. Similarly, if thrift cannot be kept within moderate limits, it changes into miserliness. Courage is usually confused with rashness and dialectics or demagogy is sometimes taken for being intelligent. In addition, virtue also requires knowing how to act in certain conditions. For instance, the self-respect which a weak man should wear before a powerful one becomes, if the powerful one assumes it, self-conceit. The humility which a powerful man should wear before a weak one becomes, if assumed by a weak man, self-abasement. Forbearance and sacrifice (of one’s rights) on one’s own account is good and a virtue; but when done on behalf of others, it is bad and a treason. An individual may bear patiently with whatever is done to him personally; but it is impermissible for him to, on behalf of the nation, bear patiently what is being done to the nation. Whereas pride and indignation on behalf of the nation are commendable, on one’s own behalf they are not.
The Prophet Muhammad was perfectly balanced in his virtues and good moral qualities.
The Prophet Muhammad was perfectly balanced in his virtues and good moral qualities. He was perfectly courageous where to show courage was necessary, while he was perfectly mild, forgiving and humble among people. He was perfectly dignified but also very gracious. There was no one more generous than him but he was also thrifty and condemned extravagance. In short, all virtues and good qualities existed in him in a well-balanced combination.
Prophet Muhammad had all of the essential attributes pertaining to Prophets
According to theologians, there are six essentials of Prophethood common to all of the Prophets. They are truthfulness, trustworthiness, communication of God’s commands, intelligence, infallibility and being free from all kinds of bodily and mental defects. History is a witness that the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, had all of these six essential attributes in a most perfect fashion.
Muhammad’s achievements are unparalleled in history
A man encounters in his life many situations where he must make decisions with no delay and hesitation. Many decisions made in such situations may cause him great difficulties. The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, made so great achievements in so short a time as 23 years that they are unparalleled in human history. He never faltered and all of his decisions proved to be true.
More than that, whatever he did and whatever he said did not concern only his own time but he addressed all times and places and all peoples and levels throughout the world to come until the Last Day. As none of his sayings have not been contradicted so far, no one has ever been able to criticize him for any of his actions, sayings and decisions. Is it possible for one who is not a Prophet taught by God, the All-Knowing, to have such intelligence, foresight, sagacity, insight, sound reasoning and prudence?

Achievements

His achievements prove Muhammad's Prophethood

Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was peerless in educating people
A man, whoever he is and whatever he does, may regard his own occupation as more important, more necessary, more beneficial to social life and more difficult than others. However, although every occupation has some difficulty of its own and is of some degree of use for social life, educating people must be much more difficult than others and more necessary for a healthy social life.
To bring up distinguished persons require distinguished educators. Only an educator who has established his aim in educating people and practices what he will teach and advise to his students, only one who knows the character, potentialities, desires, and ambitions of his students with the shortcomings and strong and weak spots and the level of learning and understanding of each, can be successful in educating people. Of course, this is not all that a good, successful educator must have. Furthermore, he must know how to treat his students in all circumstances, how to approach their problems and how to purify them of bad qualities and morals and, in place of them, inculcate laudable and good ones.
A man may have strong belief in what he must believe but he may not be practicing his belief in his daily life. He may have some good moral qualities but they might have not been an ingrained part of his character. Moreover, he may have certain weak spots such as taking bribery and insensitivity to making use of common property or hoarding up wealth. Therefore, if an educator can change his students completely and, purifying them of all bad habits and morals and all bad qualities which have long been ingrained in them and, in their place, establishing laudable ones, can form a community which will be a good example for future generations in all fields of life and good moral qualities, if an educator can transform the ‘rock, copper, iron and coal’ in his hand into ‘silver, gold, brilliant and diamond’, without doubt, you will conclude that that educator is an extraordinary one. What the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, achieved in educating people within so short a time as 23 years is much more than what that educator does.
Prophet Muhammad was matchless in knowing people each with his character
It is another important dimension of a good education is not to resort to force. Penal sanctions, coercion and military and police forces can have some effect on directing people but only to a slight degree and for a short time only. Therefore, convincing people of the truth of what we teach to them and making it approved by them wholeheartedly is of vital importance in a good education.
No one in world history has so far been able to know man with all the dimensions of his character as well as the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and there has never appeared a second one next to him who has made pitiless, crude, war-mongering, ignorant and unyielding individuals into a community which sets a perfect example for all the future generations in all aspects of life and good moral qualities.
Prophet Muhammad guided people in every aspect of life
No one can guide people in every field of life. It is very difficult for one, however able and clever, to be both an able statesman and commander and a brilliant scientist and successful educator at the same time. However, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was the most perfect spiritual and intellectual master, the most able statesman and commander, the most efficient educator, and the greatest scholar history has ever seen.
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is the foremost in practicing all the forms of worship prescribed by his religion and the most God-fearing of people.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is the foremost in practicing all the forms of worship prescribed by his religion and the most God-fearing of people. He observed the duties of worship with the utmost care and attention down to their minutest details even in most perilous circumstances of his life which passed in constant struggle and activity. He never imitated anyone in his worship and combined in a perfect fashion the beginning and the end of spiritual evolution.
He is also unparalleled in prayer and gnosis, for in his supplications and prayers he describes his Lord with such a degree of gnosis that all the gnostics and saints since his time have never been able, although those coming after have made use of the heritage of the preceding ones, to attain a similar degree of gnosis and description of God.
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was absolutely convinced of the truth of his message
He had in his faith so extraordinary a strength, so wonderful a certainty, so miraculous an evolution, and such elevated and world-enlightening conviction that none of the prevailing ideas and beliefs of that time, and none of the philosophies of the sages and teachings of the spiritual leaders, although they were all opposed and even hostile to him, was ever able to cause in him any doubt, hesitation or anxiety concerning his certainty, conviction, and assurance. Moreover, all saintly men of all times, his Companions primarily included, have all benefited from his faith which they admit to be of the highest degree. This fact proves that his faith too is matchless.
All the sacred attributes, miracles and functions that indicate the truthfulness and Messengership of the Prophets, peace be upon them all, were all to be found in Muhammad in the utmost degree.
Just as the consensus of the Prophets is a very strong proof of the existence and Oneness of God, soo, too, it is a firm testimony to the truthfulness and Messengership of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. For history confirms that all the sacred attributes, miracles and functions that indicate the truthfulness and Messengership of the Prophets, peace be upon them all, were all to be found in Muhammad in the utmost degree. The Prophets verbally predicted his coming, that is, they gave the good tidings of him in the Torah, the Gospels, the Psalms, and other Scriptures which are called ‘Pages’ in the Qur’an; likewise through their missions and miracles they affirmed and ‘sealed’ the mission of Muhammad, who is the foremost and most perfect in Prophethood.
Thousands of saints unanimously bear witness to the truthfulness and Messengership of Muhammad
Also, having attained the truth and perfection, and the rank of working wonders, and gained insight into the reality of things, and spiritual discovery through following the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, in all his deeds and principles, thousands of saints unanimously bear witness not only to the Oneness of God but also to the truthfulness and Messengership of that being, upon him be peace and blessings. It is as bright a proof as the sun for the truthfulness of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, that, those saints believe in and affirm all of the truths that being proclaimed through the light of faith to the degree of either certainty coming from knowledge or certainty by sight, or of certainty by experience.
Thousands of exacting scholars of purity, meticulous scholars of truthfulness and believing sages have reached the highest station of learning through the teaching contained in the sacred truths brought by the Prophet Muhammad
Again, thousands of exacting scholars of purity, meticulous scholars of truthfulness and believing sages, who have reached the highest station of learning through the teaching contained in the sacred truths brought by the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, despite his being unlettered, the sublime sciences to which he gave birth, and the Divine knowledge he discovered, not only prove unanimously with their strongest proofs and affirm the Oneness of God, the foundation of his mission, but also bear unanimous witness to the truthfulness of that greatest teacher and supreme master, and to the veracity of his words.
First and foremost of all, the family and the Companions of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, who with their insight, wisdom and spiritual accomplishments, are the most renowned, the most respected, the most celebrated, the most pious, the most keen-sighted of mankind after the Prophets, after having examined and scrutinized all the thoughts and states of that being, whether hidden or open, with the utmost attention and exactitude, unanimously concluded that he was the most truthful, the most elevated, and the most honest being in the world.
In his preaching of the message and calling people to the truth, Muhammad displayed extraordinary steadfastness, firmness and courage
In his preaching of the message and in his calling people to the truth, he displayed such steadfastness, firmness and courage that, in spite of the antagonism of big powers and great religions, and of his own people and tribe, even of his uncle, he never showed even the slightest trace of hesitation, anxiety or fear, and he successfully challenged the world, and, as a result, made Islam superior to all other religions and systems. This proves that there is not and cannot be anyone like him also in his preaching of and calling to the message of Truth.
Muhammad solved social, political and economic problems so easily and established such perfect rules in all these fields that they left permanent and unerasable imprints on all centuries and in the corners of the world.
Let us go to the Arabian peninsula in the Time of Happiness. That unlettered man who had not attended any military academy, nor a school for civil servants or a school of law, nor a school of sciences, presented such a religion and law that they contain all the principles to secure happiness in both worlds. His speech is so effective and penetrating that human beings in all times listen to him and his voice is echoed in every century. He solves all social, political and economic problems so easily and establishes such perfect rules in all these fields that they leave permanent and unerasable imprints on all centuries and in the corners of the world. He spends a considerable part of his life on battlefields and proves to be the most able commander of all times. He also shows himself as the best of husbands, the most eminent, yet most compassionate of fathers and the most amiable and loyal of friends. He does all this in so short a time as 23 years.
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is also beyond all compare in knowing his people and educating them to mould their characters in the crucible of his message
A leader must know his people very well in order to educate them and urge them to the realization of a cause. Alexis Carrel, a great French scientist and philosopher of this century, still describes man as unknown. Man is the most complex and intricate of creatures. However, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is also beyond all compare in knowing his people and educating them to mould their characters in the crucible of his message. He knew everyone to whom he would convey his message with all the details of his character, with his abilities, shortcomings, feelings, disposition and level of understanding. Besides, he also knew very well how to act in certain conditions and was able to give the best decision in all crises. To every position he appointed the one most qualified for and deserving of it and did not have to change the appointment later. He succeeded in bringing the most refined, well-mannered and civilized society out of an extremely backward, uncivilized and rough people.
Muhammad equipped and adorned the desperate, wild and unyielding peoples of the seventh-century Arabian peninsula with all the praiseworthy virtues, and made them teachers of all the world and masters, especially, to the civilized nations
Consider how, eradicating their evil and savage customs and immoral qualities to which they were so fanatically attached, he equipped and adorned the desperate, wild and unyielding peoples of the seventh-century Arabian peninsula with all the praiseworthy virtues, and made them teachers of all the world and masters, especially, to the civilized nations. His was not an outward domination; rather, he conquered their minds, spirits, hearts, and souls. He became the beloved of hearts, the teacher of minds, the trainer of souls, and the ruler of spirits.
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, removed numerous ingrained habits from large obsessed communities with a little effort over a very short period of time, and in their place implanted and inculcated exalted qualities in such a way that they became inherent in their being.
You know that despite all the advanced techniques and methods, modern communities are unable to remove permanently so small a vice as cigarette smoking. However, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, removed numerous ingrained habits from large obsessed communities with a little effort over a very short period of time, and in their place implanted and inculcated exalted qualities in such a way that they became inherent in their being. To those who refuse to see the testimony of the blessed age of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, we present as a challenge any part of today’s civilized world. Let them go there with hundreds of philosophers, sociologists, psychologists and pedagogues and educators, and strive for a hundred years, I wonder whether they will be able to achieve in that period a hundredth part of what the Prophet Muhammad achieved in a year.
When the Prophet began preaching his Message, he had to face severe opposition, but he confronted all the opposition with a smile on his lips.
When the Prophet began preaching his Message, he had to face severe opposition, but he confronted all the opposition with a smile on his lips. Once, the leaders of the Quraysh warned Abu Talib, the Prophet’s uncle, to persuade his nephew to abandon preaching his mission. The Prophet answered:
O uncle! Should they place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, so as to make me renounce this mission, I shall not do so. I will never give it up; either it will please God to make it triumph or I shall perish it the attempt.
The faith, perseverance and resolution, with which Prophet Muhammad carried his mission to ultimate success, is an eloquent proof of the supreme truth of his cause
On another occasion, a deputation of the leading Quraysh called on him and offered him all the worldly glory they could imagine in return for his abandoning his mission. They said:
- If you want to possess wealth, we will amass for you as much as you wish; if you aspire to win honor and power, we are prepared to swear allegiance to you as our overlord and king; if you have a fancy for beauty, you shall have the hand of the most beautiful maiden of your own choice.
The terms were extremely tempting for any ordinary mortal, but they had no significance in the eyes of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings. He responded:
- I want neither wealth nor power. God has commissioned me as a warner to humanity. I deliver His Message to you. Should you accept it, you shall have felicity in this life and eternal bliss in the life Hereafter. Should you reject the Word of God, surely God will decide between you and me.
The faith, perseverance and resolution, with which he carried his mission to ultimate success, is an eloquent proof of the supreme truth of his cause. Had there been the slightest doubt or uncertainty in his heart, he would never have been able to brave the storm that continued in all its fury for twenty-one long years.
None of the world leaders have been able to bring about among the members of their followers so strong a unity of belief, thought and ideal as that which the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, realized among the desert men of the seventh-century Arabia
Great leaders have appeared on the horizon of humanity. They have changed the course of history through either the states or empires they have established or the revolutions they have made. Nevertheless, almost none of them have been able to bring about among the members of their followers so strong a unity of belief, thought and ideal as that which the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, realized among the desert men of the seventh-century Arabia. Although Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, had never given any indication of political interest or activity for full forty years until Prophethood, he appeared all of a sudden on the stage of the world as such a great political reformer and statesman that, without the aid of press or of any modern tele-communicative means, he brought together the scattered inhabitants of a desert of twelve hundred thousand square miles-a people who were warlike, ignorant, unruly, uncultured, and plunged in tribal warfare-under one banner, one law, one religion, one culture, one civilization and one form of government.
Prophet Muhammad conquered minds and hearts and promised his followers nothing other than God’s approval and Paradise
A leader must know men very well in order to urge them to the realization of a cause. In order to gain a following, most leaders make alluring promises to people, like power, wealth, position or a bright future. However, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, made no such promises to his followers. Nor did he resort to any force to realize his aim. He conquered minds and hearts and promised his followers only God’s good pleasure and Paradise. His followers sacrificed themselves in his way willingly and preferred to live a poor life in return for gaining God’s good pleasure and Paradise. Especially his own family lived as the poorest of his community. He always sought to prepare them, as well as his Companions, for the eternal peace and permanent bliss while himself setting for them a good example of that peace and bliss. His daughter Fatima, the most beloved to him among his family, once came to him with a necklace around her neck or a bracelet around her wrist. The Prophet said to her:
- Do you want people-inhabitants of the earth and the inhabitants of heavens-to say that the daughter of the Prophet is wearing a chain from Hell?
These words were enough for Fatima, for they were coming from the mouth of one whose throne was established in people’s hearts and who had conquered their minds. Fatima narrates the rest of the story as follows:
- I immediately sold the necklace, bought a slave and emancipated him, and then went to the Messenger of God. When I told him what I had done, he rejoiced. He opened his hands and thanked God, saying: All thanks to God, Who protected (my daughter) Fatima from Hell.
Despite all the most pitiless cruelties, Prophet Muhammad used to pray: ‘O God! Forgive them and guide them to truth, for they do not know. ’ Through his limitless love, compassion, forgiveness and tolerance, he made extremely cruel, war-mongering people into the best community in human history.
Supposing you are a teacher at a school or a director in an institution. In order to bring up your students or the people under your command according to the ideal you pursue, you are determined to bear all hardships that may appear before you. Now, if they spit in your face when they are passing by you, if they put an animal abdomen over your head while you are in prostration before God, if they sometimes slap you in face, if they sometimes throw stones at you and scatter thorny plants along the roads you pass, if they ambush you in corners with daggers in their hands, if they mock you in front of others, if they slander your wife, if they kill your relatives and cut their bodies into pieces, if they attack you many times and injure you, and if they expel you from your native land, still can you bear all such cruelties and continue your way without the least hesitation? More than that, can you forgive them, pity them and pray to God for them, saying: O God! Forgive them and guide them to truth, for they do not know. If you are taken to a Paradise-like place and left free to choose between living there and going back to serve your cause amid hardships, do you choose to go back among the people to continue your mission?
Is it not the worst form of ‘blindness’ and ignorance to reject the Prophethood of that pride of humanity who, through his limitless love, compassion, forgiveness and tolerance, made extremely cruel, war-mongering people into the best community in human history?
In human history there has been no one as much loved as his followers from the first day up to now love the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
The Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, sent a group of envoys to the Adal and al-Qarah tribes to teach them Islam. However, a group from the Hudhayl tribe attacked the envoys half-way and, killing some of them, submitted the remaining three to the Quraysh. Zayd ibn Dasina was among the envoys. Before the Qurayshi polytheists executed Zayd, Abu Sufyan, who had not yet embraced Islam, said to him:
- I adjure you by God, Zayd, don’t you wish that Muhammad was with us now in your place so that we might cut off his head, and that you were with your family?
- ‘By God’, said Zayd, ‘let alone wishing that Muhammad were here in my place so that I were with my family, I do not wish that even a thorn should hurt his feet in Madina.’
Abu Sufyan had to remark: ‘I swear by God that I have never seen a man who was so loved as Muhammad’s Companions loved him.’
In human history there has been no one as much loved, as his followers from the first day up to now love the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
Prophet Muhammad answered all of the questions asked him without faltering and he has not been contradicted ever since
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, had to answer innumerable questions put to him by both the desert men of Arabia and the Jews and Christians of his time, concerning not only religion but also many other subjects such as history, metaphysics, astronomy, medicine and so on. He answered all of them without faltering and he has not been contradicted ever since.
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, brought into history such a law, a religion, a way of life, a code of worship, a way of prayer, a message, and faith that the like of them has never existed, nor will or could exist.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, brought into history such a law, a religion, a way of life, a code of worship, a way of prayer, a message, and faith that the like of them has never existed, nor will or could exist. For the law brought by that unlettered being is matchless in that it has administered one fifth of mankind for fourteen centuries, in a just and precise manner through its rules and injunctions. The religion of Islam, which originated in the Qur’an he received from God and his own sayings, precepts and example, is also peerless, for in each century it has been for hundreds of millions of people a guide and a competent authority or source for whatever matter is referred to it. It has also trained their minds, illumined and purified their hearts, trained and refined their souls, and perfected their spirits.
After the Companions, hundreds of thousands of saints and purified, meticulous scholars, thousands of scientists, and hundreds of thousands of literary geniuses, commanders and statesmen have been brought up in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad
After the Companions, who gave the lead to all mankind in all fields of life including the scientific, political, social, administrative and economic, hundreds of thousands of saints and purified, meticulous scholars such as Abu Hanifa, Shafi‘i, Bayazid al-Bistami, ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, Imam Ghazali, Imam Rabbani, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi and many others, and thousands of scientists like al-Biruni, al-Zahrawi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Haytham and others, and hundreds of thousands of literary geniuses, commanders and statesmen, and other stars of mankind, have all followed in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. Besides those persons, many intellectuals and statesmen of the West such as Lamartine, William Muir, Edward Gibbon, John Davenport, L. A. Sedillot, Goethe, P. Bayle, Stanley Lane-Poole, A. J. Arberry, Thomas Carlyle, Rosenthal, Elisee Reclus, Andrew Miller, Bismarck, Leopold Weis, Marmaduke Pickthall, Martin Lings and Roger Garaudy have had to confess his greatness, even that he is the greatest of mankind, and some of them have embraced Islam. This is another proof of his Prophethood.

What we must understand from 'Miracle'




A miracle is an extraordinary accomplishment which God Almighty brings about at the hands of a Prophet in order to prove his Prophethood, strengthen the faith of believers, and to break the obstinacy of unbelievers.
The universe operates according to fixed laws that God has determined. But for these laws and the uniform character of natural events, everything would be happening in a continuously changing, unstable flux and we could therefore not have found out the Divine laws of nature or realized any scientific developments. Although recent discoveries in atomic physics have made it clear that whatever exists is a wave in continuous motion and therefore it is not possible to say that a second later its existence will be in the same state as it is in now, on the surface everything occurs according to the principles which the ‘classical’ or Newtonian physics established.
Normally, life has its own laws according to which we behave. We need certain amount of food and water to satisfy our hunger and thirst and go to a doctor when we are ill. We use animals to do certain kinds of labor for us but we cannot talk to them. Trees are fixed in their places and neither they nor stones and mountains give us greetings. We act in conformity with the laws of gravitation and repulsion and we do not attempt to rise upwards into the sky without first making calculations based upon those laws.
God is not dependent on or bound to any “natural” laws
All these and other laws are for us; but for them, as we pointed out above, life would be impossible for us. However, since it is God Who has determined them, He is not dependent on or bound to any of these laws at all. Therefore, He may sometimes annul any of these laws or change the ordinary flux of events and create an ‘extraordinary’ occurrence at the hands of a Prophet, either to provide a proof for his Prophethood or to show that He is is able to do whatever He wills at whatever time He desires. We call such an occurrence a ‘miracle’. The original word in Islamic literature translated as miracle is mu‘jiza, which literally means something which makes others unable to produce a like of it. If God creates such an occurrence at the hands of a saint, not a Prophet, then it is called karama, meaning, literally, an ‘extraordinary favor’. These favors constitute another proof for the Prophethood of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and the truth of Islam.
Examples of the predictions of some saints
There are innumerable karama God has created at the hands of Muslims. One kind of these consists in foretelling future events. For example, although having died almost half a century before the establishment of the Ottoman State, Muhyi al-Din ibn al-‘Arabi wrote in his Shajarat al-Nu‘maniyya about the Ottomans and predicted the conquest of Damascus and Egypt by them. He also wrote that Murad IV would march upon Baghdad and conquer it after a siege of 41 days, and that Sultan ‘Abd al-‘Aziz would be killed by cutting the veins of his wrists. Again, he writes in his work mentioned: ‘When “S” enters “SH”, the burial-place of Muhyi al-Din will be discovered.’ Using symbols in his predictions, by ‘S’ he means ‘Selim’, and by ‘SH’, Sham (Damascus). Like his other predictions, this one also came true when the Ottoman Sultan Selim I conquered Damascus, he had Ibn al-‘Arabi’s burial-place discovered and ordered a tomb to be built on it.
As another example, Mushtaq Dada from Bitlis, an eastern province of Turkey, predicted seventy-one years before in verse that after many wars and convulsions Ankara would be the capital city of Turkey. Interestingly enough, Mushtaq Dada gives the name of the one who would change the capital city from Istanbul to Ankara. When you combine the initial letters of the lines of Mushtaq Dada’s piece of verse, you will read the name Kamal.
All of the Prophets were favored with miracle-working
God Almighty favored all His Prophets with miracle-working. However, since all the previous Prophets were sent to a certain people and their Prophethood was restricted to a certain time and people, the miracles they worked pertained to the arts or crafts widespread in the time of each. For example, since at the time of Moses, upon him be peace, sorcery enjoyed great prestige in Egypt, God Almighty favored Moses with a ‘staff’ which would change into a snake which swallowed all the products of sorcerers. Likewise, at the time of Jesus, upon him be peace, the healing arts enjoyed great prestige and most of the miracles Jesus worked pertained to healing.
The miracles of the noble Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, are very diverse. Since his Messengership is universal, he was distinguished by miracles that are connected with nearly all species of creation. When the aide-de-camp of a glorified ruler enters a city, bearing diverse gifts, a representative from each of the different peoples of that city welcomes him cheerfully, each in his own language. In the same way, when the supreme Messenger of the Eternal Sovereign honored the universe as an envoy to the human inhabitants of the earth, bringing from the Creator the light of truth and spiritual gifts that are related to the truths of the whole universe, he was welcomed as the Prophet by each species-from mineral elements to plants, animals and human beings, and from moon and sun to stars-in its own language and bearing one of his miracles. It would require many volumes to mention all his miracles.
The majority of the Prophet’s miracles, numbering about one thousand, were related, first, by a group of Companions and then by numerous reliable narrators and authorities, and were recorded in authentic books of Tradition. As for the rest of them, although they were related each by one or two Companions, they must also be indisputable, as they later acquired unanimity by being accepted as truth by reliable authorities and narrated by more than one chain of transmission. In addition, most of those miracles occurred in the presence of great gatherings, either during a military campaign or a wedding ceremony or on similar occasions like a feast, and one or two of those present related the miracle and the others confirmed him by keeping silent. Therefore, the miracles recorded in authentic books of Tradition are indisputable and it is impossible to deny or reject them.
Every word, act and state of the noble Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, bears witness to his Prophethood and his faithfulness, but not all of them need necessarily be miraculous
Every word, act and state of the noble Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, bears witness to his Prophethood and his faithfulness, but not all of them need necessarily be miraculous. For the Almighty sent him in the form of a human being so that he could be a guide and leader to human beings in all their individual and collective affairs, through which they can attain happiness in both worlds, and so that he could disclose to human beings the wonders of God’s art and the works of His Power, each of which is, in fact, a miracle although it appears to us ordinary and familiar. If he had been extraordinary in all his acts, then he could not have been a guide to human beings and instructed them through his words, acts and attitudes. He was, however, provided with some extraordinary phenomena to prove his Prophethood to obstinate unbelievers and so he occasionally worked miracles. But his miracles never occurred in such an obvious fashion as would have obliged people to believe as it were against their free will. For, in accordance with the test and trial that man is to undergo in the world, the way to truth must be shown to him without depriving him of using his free will. If the miracles had occurred in so apparent a way as to compel people to believe, without allowing them to use their own power of choice, then intelligence would have been left with no choice and there would have remained no meaning in testing man in this life and in his being the noblest of creation endowed with a free will and intellect.


Past Information


Examples of the Beloved Prophets Miracles

The information He gave us about the Past

Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, gave lots of information about past peoples and events
History is an important branch of knowledge. It is not a science like physics or biology. It mostly depends on documents that have remained of the past. Although we can have knowledge of the past and past events by means of documents, it is quite often very difficult to penetrate into the facts behind those events. We can hardly know the intentions of historical ‘actors’ or ‘actresses’ and the real motives behind events. In order to be able to judge rightly about persons and events, the documents we have should be reliable. Nevertheless, it is quite possible that personal inclinations and interests, prejudices, and different other motives may have a part of their own in documents, and, worse, documents may have been distorted. For example, if the Quran had not been sent down to our Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, we could not have had true knowledge about the Israelite Prophets and especially the Prophet Jesus, and the original identity of Christianity and Judaism. The Old and New Testaments have been so frequently and badly distorted and corrupted that it is impossible to open a way through them to historical truths.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, gave lots of information about past peoples and events. Much of this information is in the Quran. As well as the main points in the histories of many past peoples and places like the ‘Ad, Thamud, Iram, Sodom and Gomorra, and ancient Egypt, and the peoples of Noah, Abraham and Shu‘ayb, we can also find in the Quran at least the general outlines of the history of the Israelite people from the beginning to the time of Jesus, particularly including the time of the Prophets Moses, David and Solomon, upon them be peace. It is highly interesting that much of this information is in the Quranic chapters which were revealed in the Makkan period of Muhammad’s Prophethood, during which he had feedback with neither Christians nor Jews. When the Prophet emigrated to Madina, Jewish and Christian scholars asked him many questions about certain topics in the Torah and Gospels and since they received from him convincing answers, they could not object to any of them.
Neither the Quran nor the books of Tradition have been changed the least over time and none of the information the Prophet gave about the past has ever been contradicted
Some of the information which the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, gave about the past is found in the books of Tradition like Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Muslim, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, and others. Neither the Quran nor the books of Tradition have been changed the least over time and none of the information the Prophet gave about the past has ever been contradicted. Rather, much of it has been affirmed the rest will also be affirmed through future investigations and excavations. This is an absolute, undeniable proof of Muhammad’s Prophethood.
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, did not only give information about past events and peoples, but he also analyzed them with their causes and results
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, did not only give information about past events and peoples, but he also analyzed them with their causes and results. Thus, the historical accounts of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, are of the kind that they presented laws of history and the broad psychological, social and economic principles concerning human individual and collective life. In addition, these accounts are masterpieces of literary style and eloquence, such that it is impossible to produce a like of them.

Unseen Knowledge




The concept of the Unseen pertains to what is supra-sensory and metaphysical or even meta-cosmic. In this sense, the past, as well as the future and everything beyond ordinary human senses are all included in the concept of the Unseen, provided that some concrete indications have not been manifest. However, in a narrower sense of the concept, the Unseen pertains only to the future and what I intend here to concentrate on is the tidings God’s Messenger gave of certain future events.
The knowledge of the Unseen is, first of all, with God. This is evident from some Quranic verses, such as the following:
With Him are the keys of the Unseen, none knows them but He. He knows whatever is in the earth and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but He knows it. There is not a grain in the darkness of the earth nor anything wet, fresh or dry but is in a Manifest Record. (6:59)
Say, [O Muhammad]: ‘I do not tell you that with me are the treasures of God, nor that I know the Unseen, nor do I tell you that I am an angel. I but follow what is revealed to me’. Say: ‘Are the blind and the one who sees equal? Will you not then reflect’? (6:50)
Say: ‘I have no power over any benefit or harm to myself except as God wills. If I had the knowledge of the Unseen, I should increase good for myself and no evil should have touched me. I am but a warner and a bringer of glad tidings unto people who believe’. (7:188)
These verses clearly state that the knowledge of the Unseen is with God. Does this, however, mean that no one can, by God’s leave, obtain any part of the knowledge of the Unseen?
Can no one obtain any part of the knowledge of the Unseen?
Everything man has, like health, knowledge, and power, essentially belongs to God and is, accordingly, from God. We have no power except that with which He has endowed us . We have no knowledge except what He has taught us or what He has enabled us to learn. Likewise, we see through His enabling us to see and hear through His enabling us to hear. Since this is so, the verses do not absolutely exclude man from possessing, by God’s leave, some knowledge of the Unseen.
The concept of the Unseen does not only relate to the future, it also relates to the past. The Quran presents the stories of past nations as the stories of the Unseen. Historical researches make us informed of the past.
Many people can, by God’s Will, get some glimpse of the future, partly or generally, in dreams or through some other ways which it is not proper to explain here.
The Quran, like the universe and man, is an organic entity, each verse being interrelated to the others. So, the first and foremost interpreter of the Quran is the Quran itself. In which case, the complete and true understanding of a verse depends on the understanding of other relevant verses. As a principle of creed, and as explicitly declared in the verses mentioned above, the knowledge of the Unseen, like power, seeing, and hearing, belongs to God. However, He reveals the knowledge of some of the Unseen to a Messenger whom He has chosen, as declared in the following verse:
[God alone is] the knower of the Unseen and He does not disclose His Unseen to anyone, except a Messenger whom He has chosen. (72:26-7)
Normally, no one can know exactly what will take place in future, even a few minutes later. Scientists are not certain about even natural events which take place according to ‘deterministic’ laws; they state that they cannot say with certainty that the world will be in the same state as it is in now. Sociologists and historians have spoken about historical laws that they have claimed to be based on historical events or the flow of history but history has contradicted almost all of them including historians and those who favor some notion of continual progress in history like Marx, Weber, Fichte, Hegel, Herder and others.
The knowledge of the future is only with God Almighty. However, He may favor whomever He pleases with some part of this knowledge. If a man is convinced about the news he gives concerning the future, he can only be a Messenger of God.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, made numerous predictions about the future, and history has not contradicted them. Like the information he gave about the past, his predictions are also to be found in the Quran and in books of Tradition.

Predictions of The Beloved Prophet Muhammad




Examples of the news the Qur'an gives concerning the future
The triumph of the Byzantines over the Persians
The Byzantine and Persian Empires were the super-powers of the time. It was during the years when the few believers were severely persecuted in Makkah that the Persians utterly defeated the Byzantines. They had sweeping victories, and conquered Aleppo, Antioch, and the chief Syrian provinces, including Damascus. Jerusalem fell to their arms in 614-615. The Christians were massacred and their churches burnt. The Persian flood of conquest went on to Egypt, and reached as far as Tripoli in North Africa. Another Persian army ravaged Asia Minor and reached right up to the gates of Constantinople. The Makkan pagans rejoiced greatly, and redoubled their taunts and persecution against the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, whose Message was a renewal of the Message of Jesus preached in Palestine. The following Qur'anic verses, which were revealed just at that time, gave certain tidings of a very near victory of the Romans over the Persians:
Alif Lam Mim. The Romans have been defeated in a land close by, but they, after their defeat, will be victorious, within nine years. God’s is the command in the former case and in the latter, and on that day believers will rejoice, with the help of God. He helps to victory whom He wills. He is the All-Mighty, the All-Compassionate. (30:1-5)
No one at that time could make such a prediction. But the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, conveyed these Divine Revelations to his followers. They confirmed him without hesitation and Abu Bakr bet the Makkan polytheists that the Romans would be victorious in nine years. Heraclius, the Roman Emperor attacked the Persians initially by sea in 622 (the year of the Hijra), and after decisive battles and three successive campaigns, put them to rout in a few years. His victories happened at the same time as the believers won the victory of Badr over the Makkan polytheists. Thus the verses above contained two predictions, both of which came true in nine years.
The Qur'an gave the news of the conquest of Makkah two years before
It was only six years after the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, had emigrated to Madinah that he left for Makkah for a minor pilgrimage. However, the Makkans stopped him at Hudaybiya and a peaceful treaty was concluded after negotiations. Some articles of the Treaty were objected to by the believers but the Quranic verses which were revealed following the conclusion of the Treaty described it as a manifest victory and gave the believers the decisive glad tiding, which is as follows:
In truth, God fulfilled the vision of His Messenger: You will surely enter the Sacred Mosque, if God wills, in full security; you will have your heads shaved, your hair shortened, and you will have nothing to fear. He knew what you knew not, and He granted, besides this, a near victory. He it is Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion. God is enough for a witness. (al-Fath, 48.27-8)
One year later the Muslims performed the minor pilgrimage and the year after they conquered Makkah. Also, Islam has been prevalent over all other religions for centuries and, if God wills, it will have a world-wide superiority in a near future.
The Quran gave the news that the dead body of Pharaoh would one day be discovered
In ancient Egypt, Pharaoh used to torture the Children of Israel. God sent Moses to him with the mission of inviting him to believe in One God and allow the Israelites to leave Egypt with Moses. Pharaoh refused and the struggle between them continued for a long time. However, one night Moses succeeded in marching towards the frontier with his people but Pharaoh, becoming aware of his attempt, set out to follow him. When Moses reached the Red Sea, he touched it with his staff, and a furrow opened across the sea. Pharaoh attempted to follow him, but was engulfed with his legions. While narrating this event, The Qur’an makes a very interesting prediction:
Today We shall preserve your body that you may be a sign to those after you: although most men give no heed to Our signs. (Yunus, 10.92)
The dead body of Pharaoh was later found floating on the Western shores of the Sinai peninsula. The native residents can still show you to this land, which is now known as Jabal Firawn (Hill of Pharaoh). A few miles from this hill is a hot spring called Hammam Firawn (the Bath of Pharaoh).
Tidings of the Last Day
A considerable part of the Quran is about the events of the Last Day. The Quran describes how the world will be destroyed and re-built again and how the dead will be raised, assembled in the Place of Mustering, and, after being judged, will go to either Paradise or Hell. The Quran also gives a vivid description of Paradise and Hell and the life in them.
Examples of the Prophet’s predictions which exist in books of Tradition
‘Umar reports in a narration recorded in Sahih al-Muslim:
‘Before the Battle of Badr started, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, walked around the battlefield and pointed to some locations, saying, Abu Jahl will be killed here, ‘Utba here, Shayba here, Walid here, and so on. By God, we found, after the battle, the dead bodies of all those men in the exact places that God’s Messenger had pointed out.’1
While in Makka under great tortures, the Prophet predicted the future victories of Islam.
Bukhari and Abu Dawud quote Habbab ibn Arat, who said:
Once, during the days of trouble and torture in Makka, I went to God’s Messenger, who was sitting in the shade of the Ka‘ba. I was still a slave in the hands of the Makkans then. They inflicted on me severe tortures. Unable to endure those tortures any more, I requested God’s Messenger to pray to God for help and salvation. But he turned towards me and said: “By God, previous communities had to endure more pitiless tortures. Some of them were made to lie in ditches and cut in two with saws but this did not make them forsake their faith. They were skinned alive but they never became weak against the enemy. Surely God will perfect this religion, but you display undue haste. A day will come when a woman will travel alone by herself from San’a to Hadramawt fearing nothing but wild beasts. However, you show impatience.”
Habbab concluded:
By God, what God’s Messenger predicted that day, have all come true. I have personally witnessed it all.2
The Messenger predicted ‘Ammar’s martyrdom in a civil war
Bukhari, Muslim and Ahmad ibn Hanbal record:
During the construction of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, told ‘Ammar: “What a pity O ‘Ammar, a rebellious group will kill you. 3
Ammar was killed in the Battle of Siffin by the supporters of Mu‘awiya, who rebelled against Caliph ‘Ali.
The Prophet foretold that Fatima would join him first of all after his death
Before his death, the Messenger called his daughter Fatima to his bedside and informed her that she would be the first among his family to join him after his death. Fatima joined her father, the pride of mankind, six months later.4
The Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, predicted the Mongol invasion, saying:
The Hour will not come before you fight against a people with red faces, small, slant eyes and flat noses. They wear hairy leather boots.5
The Messenger predicted the caliphate of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar
As related by Hakim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Maja, by repeatedly declaring, You should, after my death, follow the way of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar,8 the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, meant that Abu Bakr and ‘Umar would succeed him as caliphs. He also predicted that Abu Bakr’s reign would be short, whereas ‘Umar would remain longer to be able to make many conquests.6
The Prophet predicted the conquest of many important cities.
According to authentic narrations, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, gave his community the glad tidings that they would conquer Damascus, Jerusalem, Iraq, Persia, Istanbul (Constantinople) and Cyprus, and that the religion of Islam would reach as far as the remotest corners of the world in the east and west.7
The Prophet predicted the forms of government after him
The Prophet declared:
This affair began with Prophethood and as a mercy; then it will be mercy and Caliphate; afterwards it will change into a cruel monarchy, and finally into an iniquity and tyranny. He also prophesied: Surely, the Caliphate after me will last thirty years; afterwards it will a cruel monarchy.8
Whatever the noble Prophet predicted came true.
The Prophet predicted the caliphate and martyrdom of ‘Uthman
According to an authentic narration, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, declared:
‘Uthman will be killed while reading the Qur'an. God will dress him in a shirt but they will desire to remove it from him.9
By this saying, he meant that ‘Uthman would become Caliph but his deposition would be sought, and finally he would be martyred while reading the Qur'an. This happened exactly as he predicted.
The Prophet foretold the future victories of Sa‘d
As narrated in a authentic Tradition, the noble Prophet of God, upon him be peace and blessings, said to Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas when the latter was gravely ill:
It is hoped that you will be spared so that some people may benefit through you and some others be harmed through you.10
By this, he suggested that Sa‘d would be a great commander and make many conquests, and while many peoples would benefit from him by converting to Islam, many others would be harmed through him as a result of the collapse of their states.
Sa‘d, just as predicted by the holy Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, took the command of the Muslim armies and destroyed the Persian Sassanid Empire, bringing many peoples within the guidance of Islam.
The Prophet predicted the conquest of Cyprus
Once, when the Prophet woke up in the house of Umm Haram, the aunt of Anas ibn Malik, who served the Messenger for ten years in Madina, he smilingly said:
“I dreamt that my community would be waging war in the sea sitting on thrones like kings.” Umm Haram asked: ‘Pray that I too may be with them’. He said firmly: “You shall be.”11
All this came true forty years later when Umm Haram accompanied her husband ‘Ubada ibn Samit, on the conquest of Cyprus. She died there, and her tomb has since been a visited place.
The Prophet predicted the appearance of Mukhtar and Hajjaj
According to an authentic narration, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, declared:
From the tribe of Thaqif will appear a liar who claims Prophethood and a blood-thirsty tyrant.12
By this, he gave tidings of the notorious Mukhtar, who claimed Prophethood, and the criminal Hajjaj, who killed tens of thousands of people.
The Prophet predicted the conquest of Istanbul
Again, according to an authentic narration, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, declared:
Surely, Constantinople (Istanbul) will be conquered (by my community); how blessed the commander who will conquer it, and how blessed his army.13
He thus foretold the conquest of Istanbul by Muslims, and indicated the high spiritual rank of Sultan Mehmed, the Conqueror, and the virtuousness of his army. What he foretold took place centuries later.

1. Bukhari, Tib, 1.
2. Abu Dawud, Tib, 10; Muslim, Salam, 69.
3. Tirmidhi, Tib, 2; Ibn Ma’ja, Tib, 1; I. Hanbal, 4.278.
4. Bukhari, Tib, 30; Muslim, Salam, 98.
5. Bukhari, Tib, 19; I. Hanbal, 2.443.
6. Muslim, Tahara, 91.
7. Abu Dawud, Adahi, 21; Ibn Ma’ja, Sayd, 2; I. Hanbal, 4.85.
8. Abu Dawud, At‘ýma, 11; Tirmidhi, At‘ýma, 39; I. Hanbal, 5.441.
9. Muslim, Tahara, 87; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 49; Tirmidhi, Tahara, 19.
10. Bukhari, Jumu‘a, 8; Muslim, Tahara, 42; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 25; Tirmidhi, Tahara, 18; Nasa’i, Tahara, 6; I. Ma’ja, Tahara, 7; I. Hanbal, 1.80.
11. Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 47; I. Hanbal, 4.132.
12. Kanz al-‘Ummal, 3.460.
13. Muslim, Fitan, 110; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 59; I. Hanbal, 4.182.

Scientific Developments


Predictions concerning scientific developments

God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, also made many predictions concerning developments in various branches of science. Some of these predictions have already come true, and the others will also happen exactly as foretold by the holy Prophet, whose Prophethood will thus be confirmed once more.
Out of the many examples, I will cite only a few to illustrate that the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was also accurate in his predictions concerning scientific developments.
As related by Bukhari, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, declared:
God did not send down an illness for which He did not send a cure.1
This hadith, in addition to declaring that every illness is curable, is the most comprehensive statement encouraging research in the field of medicine. In another Tradition, the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, pronounces that there is a cure for every illness.2 Another version tells us:
Do not neglect having your diseases treated, for God does not send a disease for which He will not send a cure except for old age.3
Mankind may discover a cure for every illness, but they will never be able to stop man’s journeying from the world of spirits to the material world and then on to either Paradise or Hell through the stations of embryo, babyhood, childhood, youth, old age, the grave, and the Resurrection. The ‘Prince of the two worlds’, upon him be peace and blessings, thus, on the one hand, encourages mankind to undertake every kind of research possible to find cures for illnesses, he also warns them, on the other hand, not to neglect preparing for the next world.
God Almighty encourages mankind to strive in the development of sciences by presenting in the Quran the miracles of the earlier Prophets to their attention and thereby showing the limits to which they should aspire. By allowing the Prophet Jesus, upon him be peace, as an inimitable miracle, to bring the dead back to life, He points out that mankind will be able to find a cure for every illness but that death will inevitably catch hold of them. In the story of Prophet Moses’ staff, the Quran tells mankind that they can, and will be able to, employ inanimate things in different ways like obtaining water from the depths of the earth by using devices as simple as a staff, like a centrifuge, but they will never be able to cause a rock to flow abundant water by striking it with a staff, or to change a staff into a snake, both of which the Prophet Moses did.
The Quran, being the greatest miracle of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, marks the farthest limit in literary style and eloquence and implies that writing and eloquence will have the greatest importance towards the end of time. However, mankind will never be able to match the eloquence of the Quran.
The Prophets set examples and showed us the limits to which we may go in material as well as spiritual progress.
We can trace the principle of quarantine to God’s Messenger, who said:
If you hear that there is pestilence in a place, do not enter it; if the pestilence breaks out where you are, do not leave it to escape the pestilence.4
According to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, he also declared:
Keep away from the leper as you do from a lion.5
In this hadith, God’s Messenger advises us to fight with leprosy and to search for the ways to be protected against it. Quarantine is again suggested here as a way to prevent the spread of leprosy.
Imam Muslim narrates in his Sahih that God’s Messenger declared:
When a dog has licked a bowl of yours, clean it seven times, first time with earth, the other six with water.6
This hadith contains the following medical principles:
Dogs may be carrying the microbes of certain diseases possibly communicable to human beings, a fact which has only recently been discovered.
The saliva of dogs, like their excrement, may contain substances greatly injurious to man’s health.
At the time of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, neither disinfection nor sterilization was known. Nevertheless, God’s Messenger, being a Prophet taught by the All-Knowing, recommends earth to clean a bowl licked by a dog. We know today that earth is a good antiseptic containing substances like tetracycline.
In another hadith concerning dogs, God’s Messenger expresses a fundamental principle of ecology, saying,
If dogs were not a separate community, I would order their killing.7
This implies that every species in the creation is an indispensable element of ecological balance. Except that dogs, as a community, have a part in this balance, it would be better that they be removed from the surface of the earth, for they carry germs harmful to man’s health.
All of the facts expressed in the hadith are of the kind recently discovered by science.
As recorded by Sahih al-Tirmidhi and Sunan Abu Dawud, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, declares:
The blessings of food lie in washing hands before and after eating.8
In this hadith, God’s Messenger emphasizes the importance of cleanliness. As we use our hands, germs accumulate. Only by washing hands can they be removed.
In another hadith, God’s Messenger advises us to wash our hands after we wake up since You do not know, he says, where your hands have moved in sleep.9
No one in the time of God’s Messenger knew about microbes, the existence of which would be discovered centuries later. Besides, God’s Messenger was unlettered. If he taught, as he did, in spite of that, about cleaning hands before and after eating, and after waking up, he must certainly be a Prophet instructed by the Greatest Teacher.
As recorded in all of the six of the most authentic books of Tradition from as many as forty Companions, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, established the principle of dental care, saying,
If it did not place an excessive burden upon my community, I would command them to clean their teeth with miswak [a tooth stick] before each of the five daily prayers.10
Cleaning of teeth is of great significance for both dental care and the health of the whole body. Despite this, even dentists do not brush their teeth five times a day, but God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, urged his community to clean their teeth before every prayer. This was a practice of God’s Messenger himself and is thereby a sunna, a strong Prophetic recommendation, for all Muslims.
In relation to health and digestion, God’s Messenger recommended:
In eating, apportion a third of your stomach to food, another third to water, and leave the last third empty. The bowl most distasteful to God is a full stomach.11
In another similar hadith, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, also says:
What I fear concerning my community is a large paunch, oversleep, idleness and the lack of certainty.12
All of the points mentioned in the hadith are each an antecedent to or result of the other. A man who spends an idle life of heedlessness with no self-control and self-criticism is apt to get a paunch, which, in turn, causes him to eat more and more. A full belly naturally causes excessive sleeping. Lastly, the one who is addicted to overeating and excessive sleeping will never be able to acquire certainty and deep conviction about the principles of faith. This is the case with most people in today’s world, a fact that provides another decisive proof of the Prophethod of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
Another Tradition concerning health is as follows:
Treat your eyes with kohl, for it nourishes eyes and eyelashes.13
Many medical authorities state that kohl is useful for the nourishment of eyes and eyelashes.
Another substance, recommended by the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, and useful for health as an antibiotic and for its dermatological effect, is henna.14 Henna is better and more effective as an antiseptic and as a sterilizing agent than substances like tincture of iodine.
Bukhari relates from Abu Hurayra that once God’s Messenger said:
There is in this black seed [black cumin] a cure for every illness except death.15
This hadith contains many truths concerning therapy. A patient needs, particularly during the time of convalescence, foods rich in proteins, calories, and vitamins, and which are easily digestible. Scientific investigations have recently shown that all these properties are found in black cumin, a fact which shows that Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was a Prophet taught by the All-Knowing.
Bukhari relates from God’s Messenger:
When a fly falls into the bowl of somebody among you, he should dip it completely in the food before taking it out. For there is disease in one of the fly’s wings and cure in the other.16
This hadith contains proof for the Prophethood of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. For, first of all, no one at the time of the Prophet knew that flies carry microbes. Second, when a fly drops in a bowl, it tries to hold one of its wings off the food, so that it can take off again. In which case, it leaves in the food the bacteria it carries in its wing. But, when it is submerged in the food with a slight touch, the tiny bag on the other wing bursts open to scatter the anti-bacteria to kill the germs it has already left. This is one of the latest discoveries in medicine.
As related by ‘A’isha, Mother of the Believers, once a woman named Fatima, the daughter of Abu Khubash, came to God’s Messenger and said:
‘O God’s Messenger, my blood does not stop; shall I abandon the prescribed prayers?’ No, you must not, for it is not the menstrual blood, it is a hemorrhage, God’s Messenger replied.17
Except by Prophethood, how could Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, have distinguished between a normal hemorrhage and menstrual blood, and how could he have known that menstrual bleeding is a kind of hemorrhage?
Tariq ibn Suwayd narrates:
I used to suffer from an illness, and I took alcohol for a remedy. When alcohol was banned, I went to God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, and asked him whether I would be allowed to continue taking alcohol. No, for it is not a remedy, rather it is the disease itself, God’s Messenger declared.18
Scientists all agree that even a single drop of alcohol is harmful to man’s physical and spiritual health.
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, once proclaimed that ten things are intrinsically necessary for men and therefore ordered by the Prophets. Circumcision is one of them.19
Today, scientists admit that the loose fold of the skin at the end of the male sex organ is exposed and susceptible to infections and even to cancer. Therefore, millions of people are circumcised in Europe and America.
We are convinced that the West will one day embrace Islam, and the prediction made at the beginning of this century by Said Nursi will also come true:
The Ottoman State is pregnant with a Western one, as the West with an Islamic. Both will give birth to what they are pregnant with.20
We have so far tried to explain the truthfulness of the Prophets, emphasizing the truthfulness of God’s Last Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings. As reiterated several times, they never lied, to the extent that all their predictions either have come true or will do so in due course. They came to guide men to the Straight Path and lead them to Paradise. Had they displayed a single trace of dishonesty, they would have guided no one to the truth. However, their truthfulness, especially the truthfulness of the Last Messenger of God, upon him be peace and blessings, will be manifested as brightly as the sun in the Hereafter, where people will see everything clearly, and all the tidings they gave concerning the next life, the Resurrection, the Place of Gathering, the Final Reckoning, the Bridge, Paradise and Hell will be realized.

1. Bukhari, Tib, 1.
2. Abu Dawud, Tib, 10; Muslim, Salam, 69.
3. Tirmidhi, Tib, 2; Ibn Ma’ja, Tib, 1; I. Hanbal, 4.278.
4. Bukhari, Tib, 30; Muslim, Salam, 98.
5. Bukhari, Tib, 19; I. Hanbal, 2.443.
6. Muslim, Tahara, 91.
7. Abu Dawud, Adahi, 21; Ibn Ma’ja, Sayd, 2; I. Hanbal, 4.85.
8. Abu Dawud, At‘ýma, 11; Tirmidhi, At‘ýma, 39; I. Hanbal, 5.441.
9. Muslim, Tahara, 87; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 49; Tirmidhi, Tahara, 19.
10. Bukhari, Jumu‘a, 8; Muslim, Tahara, 42; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 25; Tirmidhi, Tahara, 18; Nasa’i, Tahara, 6; I. Ma’ja, Tahara, 7; I. Hanbal, 1.80.
11. Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 47; I. Hanbal, 4.132.
12. Kanz al-‘Ummal, 3.460.
13. Abu Dawud, Tib, 14; Tirmidhi, Tib, 9.
14. I. Ma’ja, Tib, 29; Tirmidhi, Tib, 13.
15. Bukhari, Tib, 7; Muslim, Salam, 88.
16. Bukhari, Bad‘u l-khalq, 17; Tib, 58; Abu Dawud, At‘ima, 48.
17. Bukhari, Wudu, 63; Muslim, Hayd, 62; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 109.
18. Muslim, Ashriba, 12; Ibn Ma’ja, Tib, 27.
19. Muslim, Tahara, 49; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 27.
20. Said Nursi, Tarikhca Hayat (Biography), 56.

Ascension



The Ascension is one of the greatest miracles of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. The Prophet realized a spiritual perfection and full refinement through belief and worship and, as a reward, God took him to His holy Presence. Escaping from the imprisonment of ‘natural’ laws and material causes and rising beyond the limits of bodily existence, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, crossed distances swiftly and transcended all dimensions of the material world until he reached the holy Presence of God.
Multi-dimensional existence
Atomic physics has changed many notions in physics and established that the material world is a dimension or an appearance of existence. Besides this world, there are many other worlds or dimensions of existence, each of which has its own particularities. Einstein put forward the notion that time is only one of the dimensions of existence. Science has not yet drawn the final conclusions about existence and new findings and developments continually change our view of it. Therefore, especially in our day, it is completely illogical to question the event of Ascension. People have difficulty in understanding how one can penetrate all time at the same moment as a single point. In order to understand this subtle matter, consider the following analogy.
Imagine that you are standing with a mirror in your hand, with everything reflected on the right representing the past, while everything reflected on the left represents the future. The mirror can reflect one direction only since it cannot show both sides at the same time as you are holding it. If you wish to reflect both directions at the same time, you will have to rise high above your original position so that left and right directions are united into one and nothing remains to be called first or last, beginning or end.
In the Ascension, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, must have moved with the speed of the spirit and he traveled through all time and space and all dimensions of existence in a very short period. During that heavenly journey, he met with the previous Prophets, saw angels and beheld the beauties of Paradise and the terrors of Hell. He also observed the essential realities of all the Qur’anic issues and the meanings and wisdom of all the acts of worship. He went as far as the realms where even the greatest of angels, Gabriel, cannot reach and was honored with vision of God’s ‘Countenance’ free from any qualitative and quantitative dimensions and restrictions. Then, in order to bring humanity out of the darkness of material existence into the illumined realm of belief and worship, through which they could realize a ‘spiritual’ ascension each according to his capacity, he returned to the world where he was made subject to all kinds of persecution.
(NOTE: Belief in the Prophet’s Ascension is the result of belief in the pillars of faith and draws its light and strength from those pillars. For sure, the Ascension cannot be proved independently to irreligious atheists who do not accept the pillars of faith, because it is impossible to discuss the Ascension with those who neither know God, nor recognize the Prophet, nor accept the angels, and who deny the existence of the heavens. Firstly, those pillars must be proved. Since this is so, in the following we shall address the believer who, since he deems it unlikely, has doubts about the Accession. However, from time to time we shall turn to the atheist who is the third party in our discussion and is in the position of listening, and speak to him.
The Qur’an declares:
Glorified be He Who carried His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) to Masjid al-Aqsa, the neighborhood of which We have blessed, that We might show him of Our signs. Surely He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. (al-Isra’, 17.1)
Then he drew nigh and came down, till he was two bows’ length or even nearer, and He revealed unto His servant what He revealed. The heart (of His servant) lied not (in seeing) what he saw. (al-Najm, 53.8-11)
In the Name of God, the merciful, the Compassionate.
Glory be to Him Who transported His servant by night from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa’, the environs of which We had blessed, so that We might show him some of Our signs. Surely He is the One Who is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. (al-Isra’, 17.1)
It is naught but a revelation revealed. One with mighty power taught it, one exalted in wisdom and strength: he rose, while he was in the highest horizon. Then he approached and came nearer. He was at a distance of two bows’ length or even nearer. And He revealed unto His servant what He revealed. The heart did not falsify what he saw. Will you then dispute with him concerning what he saw? Surely he saw him (another time when) he (Gabriel) descended, near the Lote-tree of the farthest limit, beside it is the Garden of Abode. It was when what enveloped the Lote-tree enveloped it. The eye did not waver, nor did it stray. Truly did he see some of the greatest signs of his Lord. (al-Najm, 53.4-18)
Out of the vast treasury of the first mighty verse above, we shall only describe two points which the pronoun He in Surely He is refers to as a principle of eloquence, since they are included in our present concern here.
After mentioning the journey of the noble Beloved of God, upon him be the best of blessings and most perfect peace, from Masjid al-Haram in Makka to Masjid al-Aqsa’ in Jerusalem, which was the beginning of his Ascension, the Wise Qur’an concludes: Surely He is the One Who is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. Together with this phrase itself, the pronoun in the Surely He is, which alludes to the furthest point of the Ascension indicated by the verses from sura al-Najm (sura 53), refers either to Almighty God or to the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings.
If it refers to the Prophet, according to the rules of rhetoric and the relationship between the pronoun and its antecedent, the meaning is this: this journey, which is apparently particular, is in reality so comprehensive and signifies such universal ascent that the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, heard and saw during it all the signs of the Lord and the wonders of Divine art which caught his sight and encountered his ears as the results of the manifestations of Divine Names in universal degrees as far as the Lote-tree of the farthest limit and the distance of two bows’ length. Thus, through its conclusive phrase, the verse describes that particular journey as the key to understand a (higher) journey that is universal and full of extraordinary events.
If the pronoun in Surely He is, refers to God Almighty, the meaning is this: in order to call a servant of His on a journey to His presence and entrust him with a duty, after sending him from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa’, which is where the Prophets gather, and causing him to meet with them and showing that he is the absolute, indisputable heir of the principles of the religions of all the Prophets, He took him through both the external and inner dimensions of His dominion as far as the Lote-tree of the farthest limit and the distance of two bows’ length.
For sure, he was a servant and that journey was a particular ascension. However, since he was given a Trust which is connected to the whole of the universe, was accorded a light which would change the colour of the universe, and also had with him a key with which to open the door to eternal happiness, Almighty God describes Himself as the One Who hears and sees all things so that His world-embracing, comprehensive and all-encompassing wisdom in the Trust, the light, and the key, might be observed and understood.
This mighty truth contained in the Ascension may be dealt with under four heads or four principles set out in the sections directly below.

Necessary


Why was the Ascension necessary? 
It is asked: Almighty God is nearer to one than one’s jugular vein. He is closer to everything than itself; He is absolutely free of corporeality and space. Therefore, while all the saints are able to converse with Him in their hearts, why was it necessary for the sainthood of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, to make a long journey like the Ascension in order to succeed in holding a conversation with God that any saint is able to do in his heart?
Answer
We shall make this profound mystery easier to understand by means of two comparisons. Consider the following two comparisons from The Twelfth Word which concern the mystery of the Quran’s miraculousness and the mystery of the Ascension.
First comparison: A king holds two kinds of conversation and interview and has two modes of address and favor. One is that he converses with an ordinary subject or citizen about a particular matter or a special need by means of a private telephone. The other is that under the title of supreme sovereignty, and in the name of supreme kingship and on account of being the ruler of the whole country, and with the aim of publishing and promulgating his commands, he converses with an envoy of His connected to those affairs or with a high official of His related to those commands, or speaks to him by means of a magnificent royal decree manifesting his majesty.
God has two kinds of conversing and speaking
As in the comparison (and God’s is the highest comparison) the Creator of this universe, the Master of the whole existence in its external and inner dimensions, and the Lord of eternity, has two kinds of conversing and speaking, and two manners of favoring. One is particular and private, the other, universal and general. The Ascension is the manifestation of the sainthood of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, in a form more universal than, and much superior to, all other sainthood. It is the Prophet’s being honoured with the conversation and direct address of Almighty God through His Name of the Lord of the whole universe and His title of the Creator of all existence.
Second comparison: A man holds up to the sun a mirror he has in his hand. According to its capacity, the mirror receives from the sun light which contains seven colors. The man has a relation with the sun by means of the mirror and in accordance with its capacity of reflecting the sun. If he directs the shining side of the mirror towards his dark house or his small, private garden which is covered by a roof, he can benefit from the sun not in proportion to the sun’s value but in accordance with the capacity of the mirror.
Another man, however, puts down the mirror, and facing the sun directly, sees its splendour and comprehends its grandeur. Afterwards, he climbs a very high mountain and stands in the sun without veil, witnessing the majesty of its broad dominion. Then he comes back and in order to have a direct connection with the constant light of the sun, he makes large windows in his house or in the roof of his garden, and obtains other means of benefiting from the sun directly. Facing it, he may speak to the sun in indebtedness, and say: ‘O amiable sun, the beauty of the world and darling of the skies, who gilds the face of the earth with light and makes it and all the flowers smile in joy and happiness! You have illuminated and heated my house and garden as you illuminate the whole world and heat the face of the earth.’ However, the former one with the mirror cannot say the same, since the reflection of the sun through the mirror is restricted and in accordance with the mirror’s capacity.
How God manifests Himself in human nature
Likewise, the manifestation in human nature of the Single, Eternally Besought-of-All, Who is the Sun without beginning and the Lord of eternity, is in two forms, which comprise innumerable degrees.
The first is a manifestation occurring in the mirror of the heart by means of one’s relationship with the Lord. Whether particular or universal, everyone may receive a manifestation of the light and conversation of the Eternal Sun in accordance with his capacity and the character of his spiritual journeying in traversing the degrees toward sainthood, and his ability to receive the manifestations of Divine Names and Attributes. That is why there are innumerable degrees in sainthood which is attained through journeying within the shade of some particular Name or Attribute.
The second is that since by virtue of having a comprehensive nature and being the most enlightened fruit of the tree of creation, man is able to reflect all together, in the mirror of his spirit, the Divine Names manifested in the universe, Almighty God manifests Himself and all His Beautiful Names in the greatest of mankind at the greatest level and most comprehensively. It was thus this form of manifestation that occurred in Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, in His Ascension, in which his sainthood found its meaning and became the first stage of his Messengership.
The difference between the relation of a Prophet with God and that of a saint or is it believable that the Ascension took place almost in an instant?
In sainthood there are veils or screens between a man’s heart and the manifestations of Divine Names; it is as in the case of the first man in the second comparison above. While in Prophethood there are neither veils nor screens; as in the case of the second man in the second comparison, it is connected directly with the manifestation of the Majestic Being with all His Names in a single being. Since the Prophet Muhammad’s Ascension was the greatest wonder of his sainthood and marked its final, greatest station, it was transformed into the rank of Messengership. The Ascension, in its inner aspect, signifies sainthood and was a journey from the created to the Creator. As regards its apparent aspect, it is Messengership and signifies a return from the Creator to the created. Sainthood consists in journeying through the degrees of nearness to God; it requires attainment of many ranks and therefore needs some length of time. As for Messengership, whose light is greatest, it proceeds from the realization of Divine nearness in all its comprehensiveness, which occurs in an instant. It is for this reason that a tradition says: ‘The Ascension took place in an instant. The Prophet went and returned in the same instant.’
Now we say to the atheist who is the third party in our discussion and therefore in the position of listener: Since this universe is like a most orderly country, magnificent city, or adorned palace, it surely must have a ruler, owner, and builder. Since there is such a magnificent, Majestic Owner, All-Perfect Ruler, All-Gracious Maker; and since there is a man with a universal view who has relationship with that entire country, city or palace, and is connected to all of them through his senses, feelings and faculties, certainly, the Magnificent Maker will have sublime relationship to the fullest degree with that man, whose view is universal and consciousness comprehensive, and will favor him with a sacred address.
Since among those who have been honored with this relationship from the time of Adam, upon him be peace, up to now, according to the testimony of his achievements (he has taken half of the world and a fifth of mankind under his control and influence and enlightened the universe, giving it a new spiritual form and furnishing it with a sublime meaning) the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, displayed this relationship at the fullest degree. Most certainly, the Ascension, which consists in the fullest degree of that relationship is most deserved by, and suitable for, him.

Reality


What is the reality of the Ascension? 
It is the journeying of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, through the degrees of perfection. That is, Almighty God has various Names and titles manifested in the arrangement and disposition of creatures, and displays diverse works of His Lordship (His upbringing, training, sustaining and providing) as the results of execution of His absolute authority in invention and administration of creatures in the levels of the heavens where He executes His Lordship in different ways according to the conditions of each level.
Thus, in order to show those works of His Lordship to that special servant of His and thereby make him a being encompassing all human perfections and receiving all the Divine manifestations, one who would view all the levels of the universe and announce the sovereignty of His Lordship, and who would proclaim the things of which He approves and unveil the enigmatic meaning of creation, God Almighty mounted him on Buraq (a mount of Paradise) and had him travel through the heavens like lightning, promoted him to higher and higher ranks, and caused him to observe the Divine Lordship from mansion to mansion and from sphere to sphere, and showed him the Prophets, his brothers, whose abodes are in the heavens of those spheres, one after the other. Finally, He raised him to the station of the distance of two bows’ length and honoured him with the special manifestation of all of His Names to the fullest degree and with His Speech and the vision of Himself.
We may examine this sublime truth through the telescope of two comparisons.
First comparison: As is explained in The Twenty-fourth Word, a king has different titles in the departments of his government, different names and attributes vis-à-vis the different classes of his subjects, and different designations and marks in the spheres and offices of his rule. For example, just ruler in the department of justice, sovereign in the civil service, Commander-in-Chief in the army, chief teacher in the department of education, and so on. In each sphere and department he has a seat or chair, which has the meaning of a throne. That single king may have a thousand names and titles in the spheres of his sovereignty and departments of his government. He may have a thousand thrones of sovereignty one within or adjacent to the other.
It is as if that ruler is present, and knows what is going on, in every sphere through his collective personality and through his telephone. He sees and is seen in every department through his laws and regulations, and representatives, and he administers and observes from behind the veil in every level through his rule, knowledge and power. He has a different center and headquarters in every sphere. The rules of every sphere and department are different from one another. That king designates a person among his subjects, and showing him to all those spheres and departments of his government and making him witness his imperial dominion and commands special to each, brings him to his presence. Then he entrusts him with certain general and universal commands concerning all those spheres and departments and sends him back.
Likewise, the Lord of the Worlds, Who is the Sovereign of eternity, has attributes and qualities in the levels of His Lordship that are all different but that are related with one another; and Names and signs in the spheres of His Divinity that are all different but appear one within the other; and manifestations and inspirations in the performance of His majestic acts that are all different but resemble one another. He has also titles in the execution of His Power that are all different but hint at one another; and sacred revelations in the manifestation of His Attributes that are all different but point to one another; and operations in the manifestation of His actions that are all different but complement one another; and He has aspects of His majestic Lordship in His colorful art and multicolored creatures that are all different but observe one another.
It is because of this mysterious reality that He has organized the universe in an amazing and wonderful fashion with different formations one over the other from particles (which are the smallest level of creatures) to the heavens, and from the first level of the heavens to the Greatest Throne of God, each heaven being the roof of a different world, a chair for exercise of Divine Lordship, and a center for the Divine operations. Although on account of His Absolute Oneness, all the Divine Names may be found in all those spheres and levels, and He may manifest in them Himself with all His titles, just as in the department of justice the title of Just Ruler is dominant with the others subordinate, so too, in each level of creatures, in each heaven, a Divine title is dominant and the others are subordinate to it. For example, in whichever heaven the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, met with the Prophet Jesus, upon him be peace, who had been made distinguished with the manifestation of the Divine Name of the All-Powerful, Almighty God is in constant manifestation in that heaven primarily with His Name, the All-Powerful. Again, in the sphere of the heavens which is the Prophet Moses’ abode, upon him be peace, God’s title as Speaker, with which He distinguished Moses, is most predominant. And so on.
The Prophet Muhammad was connected to all the spheres of Divine Lordship
Finally, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings (since he was honored with the manifestation of the Greatest Name of God and also with those of all His other Names, and since his Prophethood is universal) must certainly be connected with all the spheres of His Lordship. Also, it was certain that the reality of the Ascension would require the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, to meet with the Prophets whose seats are in those spheres, and to pass through all those levels.
Second comparison: The title of Commander-in-Chief, which is one of the titles of a king, is manifested in every rank in the army from that of the head of the military staff to that of a corporal. A private sees in the person of his corporal the sample of the imposing title of Commander-in-Chief, and so takes his orders from him and obeys him. When the private becomes a corporal, he sees the sergeant in the commanding position and obeys him. Then, if he becomes a sergeant, he sees a sample of the title of Commander-in-Chief and a manifestation of it in the lieutenant’s office. And so on. He will see the title in each of the spheres of captain, major, colonel, general, and field-marshal in proportion to the smallness or largeness of the sphere.
If the Commander-in-Chief wills to entrust a private with a duty connected with all the offices of military ranks, if he wills to accord him a rank where he can appear in every office and control it like an inspector, then, for sure, in order that the private should have the necessary knowledge of all the offices and be recognized by the personnel, he will cause him to make a tour of study and inspection of the offices from that of a corporal to the highest. Then he will admit him into his presence, and honoring him with private conversation and bestowing on him a decoration and decree, will send him back whence he came.
The following point must be noted in the comparison: if the king is not powerless and, besides governmental, has also spiritual power, he will not deputize persons like field-marshal, general and lieutenant to act in his name in different offices, but himself will be present everywhere in person and give orders directly, appearing in the form of those persons of certain ranks. In fact, there are narrations that certain kings who were saints of the highest level executed their rules in many spheres in the form of certain individuals. As far as the truth we are trying to explain in this comparison is concerned, since the Commander-in-Chief is in no way powerless, the decrees and commands come directly from him in every office and are executed through his command, will, and power.
So, as in the comparison, the Ruler of the heavens and the earth, Who is the Absolute Sovereign and the Lord of Eternity having the command of ‘Be!’ and it is, has a sphere of Lordship, a level of rulership in the levels of creatures and classes of beings, ranging from particles to the planets, from flies to the heavens, which, whether small or great, particular or universal, are all different but related with one another. In each of these spheres His regulations, statutes and commands are carried out in perfect order and obedience. Thus, in order to comprehend the elevated aims and tremendous results in the whole of the universe and, witnessing the duties of worship particular to each of those levels and classes and observing the sovereignty of Lordship of the One of Grandeur and the majesty of His rule, to understand what is pleasing to Him, and to be a herald of His sovereignty, one must make a journey through all those levels and spheres of His rulership until one reaches the Supreme Throne, which is the title of the greatest, all-encompassing sphere, and attain to the rank which is the ultimate one a servant can reach, and is called the distance of two bows’ length, and meet with the One of Majesty and Grace. This journey constitutes the reality of the Ascension.
Like ordinary human beings travelling in the mind with the speed of imagination and saints journeying in the heart with the speed of lightning, like angels, whose bodies are of light, circulating with the speed of spirit from God’s Throne to the earth, from the earth to God’s Throne, and like the people of Paradise who will rise from the Place of Gathering to Paradise covering a distance of five hundred years (a distance which is normally covered in five hundred years on foot) with the speed of Buraq, it is certain that the body of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, will go as far as God’s Throne together with his elevated spirit. For the body of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is the store of the faculties of the spirit of Muhammad and the means for the performance of its duties, which is of pure light and has the abilities of light, and is more refined than the hearts of the saints, lighter than the spirits of the dead and the forms of angels, and finer than the energetic envelopes of beings.
Now, turning to the atheist who is in the position of listener, and says to himself: ‘I do not recognize God or know of the Prophet, so how should I believe in the Ascension?’, we say to him:
The universe must have an Author
Since there is the universe with all the creatures and many diverse acts in it, and a continual creation is observed, and since an orderly act cannot occur without an author, a meaningful book cannot be without a writer and a skilful design cannot be without a designer, for sure, the wise and purposeful acts that fill the universe must have an author, and the meaningful letters and amazing inscriptions or designs that cover the earth and which are renewed from season to season, must have a writer and designer. Also, since when two rulers interfere in the same affair, it causes disorder, and since there is a perfect order in everything from the wings of a fly to the lamp of the skies, then the ruler is One. For if He was not One, since the art and wisdom in everything are so wonderful and amazing that they require an All-Powerful and All-Knowing Maker, then there would have to be gods to the number of creatures. Since in this case those gods would be both opposite and similar to one another at the same time [because the acts and creatures in the universe are in infinite diversity and yet resemble one another in many ways], it is infinitely inconceivable that this amazing order would not be upset.
Again, since those creatures are clearly seen to be moving with a command in an order a thousand times more organized than an army; and since each group of creatures from the sun, the moon and stars to almond flowers, display in a perfect and organized manner and in a thousand times more orderly fashion than an army, the uniforms, decorations and other kinds of beautiful garments that the Eternal All-Powerful One has accorded them, and exercise the movements that He has assigned to them (since this is so, then this universe has an Absolute Ruler behind the veil of the Unseen, Whose commands all of the creatures heed and carry out.
Furthermore, since, as testified by both all of His wise acts and the majestic works He displays, that Ruler is a Majestic King; since, as is demonstrated by His favors, He is an extremely Compassionate Lord; since, as the most beautiful works of art He has produced bear witness, He is a Maker, Who is Lover of art and loves His own art; since, as is apparent from the decorations and curiosity-exciting arts He exhibits, He is a Wise Creator Who wants to attract the appreciative gaze of conscious beings to His works of art; since, as is understood that, due to the wisdom of His Lordship, He wants to inform conscious beings of the meaning of the amazing and wonderful decorations He has displayed in the creation of the universe, and of where creatures come from and where they are bound to go; then, for sure, this Wise Ruler and All-Knowing Maker wishes to demonstrate His Lordship. Also, since He wills to make Himself known to, and loved by, conscious beings through all those traces of grace and mercy and the wonders of art that He displays, then, of a certainty, He will by means of an envoy inform conscious beings of what He wants them to do and what is pleasing to Him. He will choose one among conscious beings and declare His Lordship by means of him. In order to exhibit His favorite arts, He will honor a herald with the nearness of His presence and employ him in exhibiting them. In order to display His perfections by informing conscious beings of His lofty purposes for the creation of the universe, He will appoint one among them as a teacher. He will certainly appoint a guide so that the mystery of creation, the enigma of existence do not remain meaningless. In order not to allow the beauties of art that He displays for the eyes to see, to remain useless, He will choose a guide who will teach the purposes contained in them. Also, He will pick out one among conscious beings and, in order to communicate to them the things that please Him, raise him to a rank above the others, and inform them of those things by means of him.
Since reality and wisdom require it to be so and the one most worthy to perform these duties was the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, because He actually performed them most perfectly, a fact to which the world of Islam that he founded and the light of Islam that he showed are truthful and just witnesses, then he would have to rise high above all other creatures and attain to a rank where he held a universal and elevated conversation with the Creator of the universe. This is what lies in the reality of Ascension.
In short: Since Almighty God has formed, organized and decorated this vast universe in this way for mighty purposes and great aims such as those mentioned above; and since among beings there is mankind to see the universal Divine Lordship with all its subtleties, and this mighty Divine sovereignty with all its truths, most certainly, that Absolute Ruler will speak to mankind and inform them of His purposes. However, since everyone is not able to free himself from being a simple individual occupied with low matters and rise to the highest, universal position to directly receive the Ruler’s universal address, then, for sure, certain special individuals among mankind will be entrusted with that duty. Those individuals should be from among mankind so that they can teach human beings, while, in order to be able to be the direct addressees of God, they should also be extremely exalted spiritually.
So, since among human beings the one who taught the purposes of the universe’s Maker most perfectly, unveiled the mysterious meaning of the universe and creation, and heralded the beauties of the dominion of His Lordship in the best way was Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, most certainly, in order to rise spiritually high above all other human beings to the most exalted and comprehensive rank, he would make an Ascension in the form of journeying through the corporeal world and then reaching beyond seventy thousand veils which consist in the manifestations of Divine Names, Attributes and acts, and all the levels of creation. This is the Ascension.



What is the Wisdom in the Ascension


The wisdom in the Ascension is so elevated that human minds cannot reach it. It is so profound that the mind cannot comprehend it, and so subtle and fine that the intellect cannot grasp it. However, even if we cannot know the reality of the wisdom in the Ascension or the exact Divine purposes for it, we can nevertheless, by means of some indications, show the existence of some of those purposes. They are as follows.
In order to demonstrate the light of all of His Names throughout the universe and the concentration of the manifestations of His Names on certain beings and thereby show His Unity or Oneness, the Creator of this universe distinguished an eminent individual with an Ascension in the form of a link between the furthest limit of the realm of multiplicity and corporeality and the starting point of the dominion of pure unity and spirituality. Addressing him on behalf of all the creatures, He explained all the Divine purposes to him in the name of conscious beings and made them known through him. He also willed to observe through his sight the beauty of His art and the perfection of His Lordship in the mirrors of His creatures, and also to cause them to be observed by others.
Furthermore, as is testified by His works, the Maker of the world has infinite beauty and perfection. Both beauty and perfection are loved because of themselves. Since this is so, the One with infinite beauty and perfection has a boundless love for His beauty and perfection. That boundless love manifests itself in many ways in the works of His art. He loves His works of art because He sees His beauty and perfection in them. The most lovable and elevated among His works of art are animate beings. The most lovable and elevated among animate beings are conscious beings, and by virtue of their comprehensiveness, the most lovable among conscious beings are to be found among human beings. The most loveable individual among human beings is the one who has most fully developed his potentiality and manifested the samples of the perfections observed in all the creatures.
Thus, in order to see at one point and in one mirror all the manifestations of His Love pervading all of the creatures, and to display all the varieties of His beauty, focused on one individual, the Maker of beings chose one among human beings who is of the quality of an illustrious, enlightened fruit of the tree of creation and whose heart is like a seed containing the essential elements of that tree. Then, in order to demonstrate how He loves that individual in the name of the universe, He drew him to His presence through an Ascension, which is like a thread linking the seed, which is the origin, with the fruit, which is the end, and honored him with the vision of His Essential Beauty. In order that the others could copy him in his holiness and excellence, He favored him with His Word and entrusted Him with His Decree.
In order to comprehend this exalted wisdom, we shall observe it through the telescope of two comparisons.
First comparison: As is explained in detail in the parable of The Eleventh Word, suppose there is a glorious king who has vast treasuries full of many varieties of jewels. He has great skill in strange crafts, comprehensive knowledge of innumerable curious arts, and profound learning in numberless sciences. Since anyone with beauty and perfection wants both to see and display his beauty and perfection, of course that skilful king too will wish to set up an exhibition where he will reveal before the people’s eyes the majesty of his dominion, the glitter of his wealth, the wonderful works of his art and the marvels of his skills. By doing so, he also wants to observe his own beauty and perfection in two ways: he wants both to see them with his own eyes penetrating as far as the fine, delicate points, and also to observe them through the sight of others.
So, the king begins to build an imposing, magnificent, extensive palace. He divides it into apartments and mansions in an amazing way. Then, He adorns it with jewels of great variety from his treasures, and decorates it with the finest, the most beautiful works of his art. He furnishes it with the most delicate works of his knowledge and science, and decks it out and completes it with the miraculous works of his learning. Next, he spreads tables with varieties of bounties and the most delicious of foods worthy for each group and prepares a general banquet. Then, in order to show his perfection, he invites his subjects both to eat of the foods and to see the palace with everything in it.
Then he appoints one among his subjects as representative and accords him the highest rank with himself. He invites him up from the bottom floor to tour all the mansions and floors one after or above the other. Showing him the successive machinery and all the workshops of his wonderful art and the storehouses for the produce coming from below, he brings him up to his own private apartment. There, he honors him with his presence and the vision of his blessed person, who is the origin of all those perfections, He informs him of the true nature of the palace and of his own perfections. Appointing him as a guide for the rest of his subjects, he sends him back to describe to the people the maker of the palace by means of its contents, inscriptions, and wonders. The guide will also inform them of the meanings of the inscriptions, what the works of art and well-proportioned and well-arranged furniture and decorations signify, and how they point to the perfections and skills of the palace’s owner. Again he will teach them the correct behavior and formalities in visiting the palace and beholding the exhibition in it, and describe the protocol and ceremonies that are in accordance with the pleasure and desires of the learned and skilful king, who does not appear to them.
In exactly the same way (God’s is the highest comparison) the Majestic Maker, Who is the Lord of Eternity, desired to see and display His infinite Beauty and perfections. So He made the palace of this world in such a fashion that each creature voices His perfections in numerous tongues and points to His Beauty with many signs. Through all the beings in it, this universe shows how numerous immaterial treasuries are hidden in each of His Most Beautiful Names and how many subtleties are concealed in each of His sacred titles. It shows this in such a way that although together with all their laws and principles all sciences have studied this book of the universe since the time of Adam, they have not yet been able to discover one-hundredth of the meanings and signs which that book contains concerning the Divine Names and perfections.
Thus, the Wisdom of the Majestic One of Beauty, the Beautiful One of Majesty, the Maker having perfection, Who has made that palace of the universe like an exhibition to see and display His perfections and transcendent Beauty, requires that He should inform someone of the meanings of His signs contained in that palace so that they do not remain vain and without benefit for conscious beings on the earth. His Wisdom really requires that He should have someone to travel through the exalted worlds, which are the sources of the wonders in that palace and the storehouses where the results of their lives accumulate; that He should raise him above all others, honor him with nearness to Him in His presence and get him to tour the worlds of the Hereafter, and entrust him with many duties such as being a teacher to all His servants, a herald of the sovereignty of His lordship, a conveyor of the things pleasing to Himself, and an expander of His signs in the creation and operation of the palace of the universe; that He should show his pre-eminence through the decorations of the miracles which He would enable him to work, and that He should proclaim through a decree like the Quran that that person is a truthful personal interpreter of the Majestic One.
We have so far demonstrated through the telescope of this comparison a few of the instances of wisdom in the Ascension only as examples. You may infer others by analogy.
Second comparison: Suppose there is a knowledgeable, skilful person. If that person wants to write a miraculous book, on each page of which are as many truths as would fill a hundred books, and in each line of which are as many subtle meanings as would fill a hundred pages, and in each word of which as many truths as would fill a hundred words, and if all the meanings and truths of that book point to the transcendent perfections of its miracle-displaying writer, he most certainly would not leave such a treasury closed and thereby make it worthless. He would surely teach it to some others so that such a valuable book would not remain meaningless and vain. He would teach it so that his hidden perfections would be unveiled and his beauty (his intellectual and spiritual excellence) would be seen; and so that he should himself be pleased and make himself loved. To this end, he would have someone go through that wonderful book from the first page to the last and instruct him in all its meanings and truths so that that person would then teach them to others.
In exactly the same way, in order to display His perfections, Beauty and the truths of His Names, the Eternal Inscriber has ‘written’ the universe in such way that all creatures proclaim and express in innumerable ways His infinite perfections, Names and Attributes. Of course, if the meaning of a book is not known, then it would have no value. But a book (such as the universe) each letter of which contains thousands of meanings cannot be reduced to nothing, nor are they allowed to do so. That being the case, the One Who has written that book will certainly make it known and cause each group of creatures to explain a part of it according to capacity. He will also teach the whole of it to an individual who has the most comprehensive view, the most universal consciousness, and the greatest capacity. However, to teach the whole of such a book with all its universal truths requires that, starting from the furthest limits of the levels of multiplicity (the corporeal world) which is the first page of the book, as far as the realm of Unity, which is the final page, the individual should be taken on a most elevated and universal journey. Thus, thorough this comparison, to a degree you can look at the exalted instances of wisdom in the Ascension.  


Fruits


What are the fruits and benifits of the Ascension ?

Out of numerous fruits of the Ascension, which is like an elaborate tree of Paradise in meaning, we shall mention only five as examples.
First fruit
The vision of the truths from which the pillars of faith originate and the seeing of angels, Paradise and the Hereafter and even the Majestic Being, became the cause of such a treasury and an eternal light and gift for the universe and mankind that it has freed the universe from being seen as a disordered heap of things doomed to destruction and showed that, in reality, it is the harmonious collection of the sacred ‘writings’ of the Eternally Besought-of-All and lovely mirrors where the Grace and Beauty of the Single One are reflected. It has pleased and rejoiced the universe and all conscious beings. Again, through that light and gift, it has freed man from the confused state of misguidance in which he was seen as a wretched, completely helpless and destitute being entangled in innumerable needs and hostilities and doomed to eternal annihilation, and showed that, in reality, he is of fairest composition and the best pattern of creation, one who, being a miracle of the Power of the Eternally Besought-of-All and a comprehensive copy of the collection of His ‘writings’, is addressed by the Sovereign of Eternity, and one who is His private servant to appreciate His perfections, His friend to behold His Beauty in amazement, and His beloved and an honorable guest of His designated for Paradise. It has implanted infinite joy and enthusiasm in those who are truly human.
Second fruit
The Ascension brought to men and jinn as a gift the essentials of Islam, including primarily the prescribed five daily prayers, which contain all the things pleasing to the Ruler of Eternity, Who is the Maker of creatures, the Owner of the universe, and the Lord of the Worlds. People must be so curious about perceiving those things pleasing to Him, and the perception of them brings so great happiness that it cannot be described. For everyone is desirous of knowing the wishes of a renowned benefactor or a benevolent king to the degree that he says: ‘I wish I had a means of communication and talked to him directly! I wish I knew what he asks of me! I wish I knew what things of me are pleasing to Him!’ God has the possession of all creatures, and the grace, beauty and perfections shared by all creatures are but a dim shadow in relation to His Beauty, Grace and Perfection. You may understand to what degree mankind, who need Him in infinite respects and receive His boundless bounties every moment, should be curious about and desirous of perceiving His wishes and the things pleasing to Him.
It was as a fruit of the Ascension that having left seventy thousand veils behind, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, heard of the things pleasing to the King of Eternity directly from Him with absolute certainty and brought them to mankind as a gift.
Mankind are extremely curious to know facts about the moon and any other planet. They desire that someone will go there and tell them about it. They are ready to make great sacrifices for this end. But the moon travels in the domain of such a Master that if flies around the earth like a fly. The earth flies around the sun like a moth. As for the sun, it is only a lamp among thousands of other lamps and functions like a candle in a guest-house of the Majestic Master of Kingdom. Thus, such are the acts and qualities of the Majestic Being, and the wonders of His art and the treasuries of His Mercy in the eternal world, that the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, saw during the Ascension and then told mankind about. You may understand how contrary to reason and wisdom it will be if mankind do not listen to that person with utmost curiosity and in perfect amazement and love.
Third fruit
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, saw the hidden treasury of eternal happiness during the Ascension and brought its keys to men and jinn as a gift. Through the Ascension he saw Paradise with his own eyes, observed the everlasting manifestations of the Mercy of the Majestic All-Merciful One, and perceived eternal happiness with absolute certainty, and then he brought to men and jinn the good tiding that there is eternal happiness (in an everlasting world).
It is indescribable how great happiness it aroused in the mortal, wretched men and jinn who had regarded themselves as condemned to eternal annihilation, that such a good tiding was given to them at a time when all creatures were giving out heart-rending cries at the thought of being in a flux amidst the convulsions of death and decay in an unstable world, going into the ocean of non-existence and eternal separation through the flow of time and the motion of particles. Consider how such a tiding delights a man if he is given a palace by the king in the vicinity of his residence just when he (the man) is about to be hanged. Add together the instances of joy and happiness to the number of all men and jinn, and understand the value of this good tiding.
Fourth fruit
As the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, himself received the fruit of the vision God’s Beautiful ‘Countenance’, he brought it to men and jinn as a gift that every believer may be honored with the same vision. You can understand how delicious, fine, and beautiful that fruit is when you make a comparison like this:
Anyone with a heart loves a beautiful, perfect and benevolent one. This love increases in proportion to the extent of beauty, perfection and benevolence and mounts to the degree of adoration and self-sacrifice. It even increases to the degree that one may sacrifice whatever one has and one’s life for the sake of a single vision of the beloved one. Whereas, when compared to His, all the beauty, perfection and benevolence shared by the whole of the creation cannot even be like a few flashes of the sun in comparison to the sun itself. You may understand from this what a pleasant, beautiful, rejoicing and blissful fruit it is that one deserves in the abode of eternal happiness the sight of a Majestic One of perfection, Who is worthy of infinite love, the sight of Whom deserves to inspire an infinite eagerness.
Fifth fruit
It was understood through the Ascension that man is a valuable fruit of the universe and a darling beloved of the Maker of the universe. This understanding is one of the fruits of the Ascension, through which man, who is outwardly an insignificant creature, a weak animal and an impotent conscious being, has risen to a position so high that it is the cause of pride for man above all other creatures. The joy and happiness it must give to man is indescribable. For if you tell an ordinary private that he has been promoted to the rank of field-marshal, he will feel infinite joy. While being a mortal, helpless, reasoning and articulating animal that had been continually receiving the blows of decay and separation, man was told unexpectedly through the Ascension:
‘In the inner and external dimensions of God’s dominion and in an everlasting Paradise, enveloped by the Mercy of an All-Merciful, All-Compassionate and All-Magnificent One, you may succeed in realizing all the desires of your heart and in recreation, in traveling, to and fro with the speed of imagination and in the broad sphere of the spirit and the mind. You may also succeed in seeing His Most Beautiful ‘Countenance’ in the abode of eternal happiness.’ You may imagine what great joy and happiness one who is truly human will feel in his heart on hearing this.
Now, turning to the one in the position of listener, we say: Tear apart the shirt of atheism and put on the ears of a believer and the eyes of a Muslim. By means of two comparisons, we will show you the degree of the value of one or two of those fruits.
For example: Suppose you and I are together in a land. We see that we have chanced upon an unfriendly environment; everything and everyone is hostile and strange both to us and to one another. Everywhere is filled with dreadful corpses. Whatever we hear is either the cries of orphans or the laments of the oppressed. While in this state, if one gets a good tiding from the king of that land, through which all those hostile to us become friendly, enemies change into friends, those dreadful corpses emerge as worshipping beings occupied with praising and glorification in veneration and humility, the cries and wailings are heard as shouts of approval or acclamations, and deaths, killings, and robberies change into acts of discharge from the duties of life, and if, together with experiencing ours, we share the joy and happiness of others, then certainly you will understand how joyful that tiding is.
Prior to the light of belief, which is one of the fruits of the Ascension of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, when considered with the view of misguidance, all creatures in the universe seemed to be strange, harmful, troublesome and frightening objects, and such bodies as mountains seemed like dreadful corpses. Death cut off the head of everybody and threw it into the well of non-existence. All the voices heard were cries of lament coming from deaths and separations. Having come just at that time when misguidance presented everything to the mind thus, the truths contained in the pillars of faith, which are a fruit of the Ascension, show you every creature as a friend or brother to you and something which mentions and glorifies its Majestic Maker, and death as discharge from the duties of life, and voices as praises and glorifications of God. If you want to comprehend this truth perfectly, you may refer to the Second and Eighth Words.
Second comparison: Suppose you and I are in a place like a big desert. Caught by a sand storm in the midst of night, we cannot see even our hands. While in this wretched state (hungry, thirsty, hopeless and without protection) if someone appears unexpectedly with a car, and picking us up, takes us to a Paradise-like place where an extremely merciful lord welcomes us and takes us under his protection, where our future has been secured, and a banquet has been prepared for us, you may guess how we will rejoice and feel happy.
So, the desert is the world, and the sands stand for helpless men and other creatures tossing about in the violent disturbances of time and events. Every human being is anxious about his future, at which he looks with the view of misguidance, and sees it in a thick darkness. There is no one he knows to hear his cries. He is extremely hungry and thirsty. But thanks to God’s wishes and the things pleasing to Him, which we come to know as a fruit of the Ascension, the world is the guest-house of an extremely Generous One with men in it being his guests and officers; when, in such a guest-house, the future appears to you as beautiful as Paradise, as lovely as mercy and as brilliant as eternal happiness, you may understand how lovely, pleasant and beautiful that fruit is.
We conclude:
O brother! I congratulate you. May God Almighty include us in the intercession of His noble Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings. Amen.
O God! Bestow blessings from the beginning of the world until the end of the Day of Judgement, on him by whose sign the moon split, and from whose fingers water gushed forth like the spring of Paradise; who made the Ascension and whose eyes did not waver(our master Muhammad, and on all of his family and Companions.
Glory be to You! We have no knowledge save what You have taught us. Surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
O Lord! Accept from us (our prayers and all other forms of worship); surely You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. O Lord! Do not call us to account if we forget or make errors. O Lord! Do not make our hearts swerve after You have guided us. O Lord! Complete our light for us and forgive us. Surely You are powerful over all things. The last of their call is all praise to God, the Lord of the Worlds.

Special


Why was the Ascension special to the Prophet Muhammad ?

It has been elaborated in many places in the previous Words. So here we shall set out a brief list containing signs to demonstrate Muhammad’s Prophethood, upon him be peace and blessings, and his perfections, and why he is the most worthy to make the Ascension.
Despite many corruptions in the previous Scriptures like the Torah, the Gospels and the Psalms, a discerning scholar like Husain al-Jisri, still in this century, was able to find in them one hundred and ten signs indicating the Prophethood of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and quoted them in his Risala al-Hamidiya.
As authentically recorded by history, many soothsayers such Shiq and Satih, some time before his Prophethood, accurately foretold his Prophethood, and even that he was the Last of the Prophets.
Before his Prophethood, there were many extraordinary events, famous in history, called irhasat that is, signs forewarning people of a coming Prophet. For example, on the night of his birth, the idols in the Ka‘ba were toppled over, and the pinnacles of the famous palace of Chosroes, the Persian ruler, broke.
He satisfied the thirst of an army with water flowing from his fingers; he split the moon, as confirmed by the Quranic verse, The moon split (al-Qamar, 54.1), and the dry wooden pole against which he leant while preaching his sermons in the Mosque moaned like a camel in the presence of a large congregation because of separation from him. With all his miracles such as these numbering almost one thousand, related by history and biography, he was distinguished and made superior to all other Prophets.
Friend and foe alike agree that all the good qualities were to be found to the highest degree in his character, and that, as demonstrated by his conduct, the attributes and character of the highest excellence were apparent in the way he performed his mission, and, in accordance with the moral principles prescribed by the religion of Islam, praiseworthy virtues of the highest order are to be found in the Law he brought.
It is a requirement of wisdom that Divinity be manifested because of Its perfections. It is the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who manifested the Divinity of God at the greatest level and in the most brilliant fashion through the most perfect and comprehensive way of worship contained in his religion.
The Creator of the world wants, as a result of the wisdom in the creation of the universe, to display His most perfect Beauty and Grace through some appropriate means, and it is evidently Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who demonstrated and described His Beauty and Grace in the most perfect fashion.
The Maker of the world wants to exhibit and draw attentive gaze towards His perfect art of infinite Beauty, and, again, it is evidently Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who proclaimed that art with the clearest voice.
Again, it is necessarily Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who, in response to the desire of the Lord of the worlds to proclaim His Oneness in the realms of multiplicity, announced Unity with all Its aspects in the most perfect way.
The Owner of the world wants, as a consequence of His Wisdom, both to see and to show in the mirrors of all beings, His infinite essential Beauty and Grace, with all their manifestations, and again it is evidently Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who reflected them in the most brilliant fashion and made others love them.
 It is evidently Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who, in response to the desire of the Builder of the palace of the world to describe His perfections by exhibiting His unseen treasuries full of invaluable gems, displayed and described them in the most perfect way.
The Maker of the universe has decorated the universe with the most beautiful and exquisite kinds of embellishments and included in it His conscious creatures in order that they should travel therein both to get enjoyment and to ponder over it and reflect. He therefore wants, as a result of His Wisdom, to communicate to people who observe and reflect, the meaning and value expressed by the works of His art. Again, it is evidently Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who guided, in the most comprehensive way, men and jinn, and even angels, in this respect by means of the Quran.
Also, the All-Wise Ruler of the universe wants, by means of an envoy, to reveal to all conscious beings the purpose of the changes and transformations in existence and the answer to these three perplexing questions, Where do beings come from? Where are they going? What are they? Again, it is evidently Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who revealed, by means of the truths of the Qur’an, this purpose and provided the answer in the clearest and most perfect way.
The Maker of this world also wants to make Himself known to conscious beings through His exquisite works and to be loved by them through the precious bounties He bestows on them. As a result, He desires to communicate to them by means of an envoy what He wants them to do and how they may obtain His approval in return for those bounties. It is evidently Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who communicated, by means of the Quran, the things that please God in the most exalted and perfect way.
The Lord of the Worlds has endowed man, who is the fruit of the tree of creation, with such a comprehensive disposition as will encompass the whole universe, and with a corresponding ability, and even need, to perform a universal worship. Man, on the other hand, because of his feelings, is usually inclined to the world with its varying attractions. So, God wills, by means of a guide, to turn man’s attention from worldly multiplicity to Divine Unity, from transience to eternity. Again, it is evidently Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who, in response to this will, by means of the Quran, guided man to this end in the most desirable fashion and performed the duty of Messengership in the most perfect way.
Thus, the most superior among creation are living beings, and among living beings the most superior are conscious beings. The most superior of conscious beings are true human beings, and among the human beings the one who carried out all the duties mentioned in the most perfect and comprehensive way would, of a certainty, rise through an all-embracing Ascension to the nearness of ‘two bows’ length’, that is, to the station nearest to God, knock at the door of eternal happiness, open the treasury of Mercy, and become a direct witness of the unseen truths of faith.
As observed in the whole universe, everything displays the most pleasing instances of beauty and utmost degree of adornment. This beauty and adornment clearly demonstrate that their Maker possesses a most vigorous will to make things beautiful and to adorn them. This will in turn shows of a necessity that the Maker has a strong inclination and sacred love towards His art. Therefore, the one among beings who has the most comprehensive disposition to display in himself all the wonders of art, one who knows them and makes them known and thus makes himself lovable, and who also deeply appreciates the beauties manifested in other beings in full appreciation of their having come from the Maker will evidently be the most beloved in the sight of the Maker, Who greatly loves His art.
It is the same being who, in full awareness of the exquisite qualities that adorn all beings; and of perfections that illuminate them, makes the heavens echo the words: Glory be to God! What wonders God has willed, and All these are from God! God is the greatest!, and who causes the universe to reverberate with the sounds of the Quran, and enraptures land and sea with his appreciative reflections and glorification, and his proclamation and demonstration of Divine Unity. Such a being is he that, according to the principle, The cause is like the doer, he receives the reward equivalent to that of all the good deeds performed by each member of his community; his spiritual perfections draw strength from the blessings prayed for him by each member of his community, and, as a result of the duties he performed in his Messengership, receives immaterial recompense and infinite emanations of Divine Mercy and Love. It is, therefore, the certain result of pure truth and absolute wisdom that this being should advance by means of Ascension as far as Paradise, Sidra al-Muntaha (the Lotus Tree), which is the farthest limit of contingency, the Divine Throne, and to the nearness of two bows’ length. The second: What do you mean by saying that he is the seed of the universe? You also say that the universe was created from his light, and also that he is its farthest and most enlightened fruit. What does that mean?

Moon


The Miracle of the Splitting of the Moon

      
In the name of Almighty God, the Most Merciful,
the Most Compassionate
The Hour has approached, and the moon split. But whenever they see a sign, they turn away and say, ‘This is evident magic.’
The miracle of the splitting of the moon was demonstrated before a certain gathering who persisted in denial of Muhammad’s Prophethood. As was related by ‘Adbullah ibn Mas‘ud, while they were in Mina’ one night, the Prophet split the moon into two by a gesture of his index finger. The halves of the moon appeared one behind the mountain and the other in front of it. Then, the Prophet turned to us and said: ‘Be witnesses!’1
The Qur’an refers to this miracle in the following verses:
The Hour has approached, and the moon split. But whenever they see a sign, they turn away and say, ‘This is evident magic’. (al-Qamar, 54.1-2)
Materialist philosophers and their unreasoning imitators, who want to cast a shadow with their vicious delusions over such a bright miracle of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, as the splitting of the moon, say: ‘If the splitting of the moon had taken place, it would have been known to the whole world and related in all subsequent books of human history’.
Answer: The splitting of the moon was demonstrated before a certain gathering who contradicted the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, in his cause as an evidence of his Prophethood. It happened momentarily at a time of night when people were all asleep. Also, there were obstacles which prevented the others from seeing it, such as mist, clouds and time-differences between different parts of the world. Besides, at that time science and civilization were not yet well advanced and not widespread, and, therefore, the observation of the sky was very limited. Last but not least, there was nothing to necessitate that it should have been seen all over the world. It is because of these reasons that the splitting of the moon was not witnessed in the whole world and related in the history books of other nations.
In order to remove such clouds of delusions concerning the miracle of the splitting of the moon, heed the following Five Points:
First point
The extreme stubborness of the unbelievers in the Hijaz at that time is well-known and is recorded in history. When the Qur’an, however, announced this incident to the whole world through its verse, The moon split, not any of those unbelievers, who denied the Qur’an, dared to contradict it in this announcement. If this incident had not occurred before their eyes, they would certainly have taken this verse as a pretext to attack the Prophet more formidably in his cause. However, neither the biographies of the Prophet, nor the books of history report anything to suggest that they denied the occurrence of this incident. What was reported concerning their reaction is as the verse records: They say, ‘This is evident magic’. The unbelievers declared the event to be magic, and they added further that if the caravans in other places had seen it, it truly happened, otherwise the Prophet bewitched them. When, however, the caravans coming the following morning from the Yemen and other places announced that they had witnessed the event, the unbelievers showed their usual reaction, saying,-God forbid!-‘The magic of Abu Talib’s orphan has affected even the heavens!’
Second point
The majority of the foremost scholars of meticulous research such as Sa’d al-Din al-Taftazani concluded that like the flowing of water from the fingers of the Prophet, upon him be peace, and his satisfying the thirst of a whole army with that water, and the grieving of the dry wooden pole-against which the Prophet used to lean while delivering sermons-because of its separation from him, and its being heard by a whole congregation, the splitting of the moon, too, is mutawatir, that is, it has been transmitted by one truthful group at each period to another, forming such a vast community that their agreement on a lie is inconceivable. It is as certain as a famous comet-named Haley-having appeared a thousand years ago, or as the existence of an island which we have not seen but exists. Therefore, it is unreasonable to foster baseless doubts about such certain, witnessed matters. In fact, it is sufficient for their acceptability that they are not impossible. As for the splitting of the moon, it is quite as possible as a mountain’s being split by a volcanic eruption.
Third point
Prophets work miracles to prove their claim of Prophethood and to convince deniers, not to compel belief. Therefore, every miracle had to be, and was, manifested to convince those who heard the claim of Prophethood. So, if they had been demonstrated in a way that could be seen by the whole world or would compel everyone to believe, this would have been contrary both to the wisdom of the All-Wise and the Divine purpose for creating man with free will, and sending religion, which entails that the ground be prepared for the mind’s acceptance without the power of choice being annulled. If, then, the All-Wise Creator had, because materialist philosophers fancy it so, left the moon split for one or two hours in order that it would be seen by the whole world and recorded in all books of human history, then it would have been no more than other astronomical events, without having been special to the Messengership of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and an evidence of his Prophethood. Or, it would have been such an obvious miracle that everyone would have felt compelled to believe for there would have been left for the will no way but to accept belief in him. This, in turn, would have resulted in that someone with a coal-like spirit like Abu Jahl would have remained at the same level as someone with a diamond-like spirit like Abu Bakr the Truthful, which means that the purpose of the creation of man with a special function and responsibility and the purpose of sending revelation would have been negated. That is why the miracle of the splitting of the moon was not shown to the whole world to be recorded in all books of human history.
Fourth point
Some unreasoning opponents argue that if that incident had taken place, in would have been mentioned in the histories of such nations as the Chinese, the Japanese and Americans. How could they have witnessed it, given that, when this event happened, in addition to other obstacles, it was barely sunset in such European countries as Spain, France and England, which were then enveloped in mists of ignorance, daytime in America and morning in China and Japan. A thousand curses on such toadies and sycophants of Europe!
(In some books there is an additional record that the moon fell to earth after it split into two parts. This was rejected by veracious scholars on account of its being added by a hypocrite who intended to reduce to nothing the value of this evident miracle.)
Fifth point
The splitting of the moon is not an ordinary incident which happened either due to particular causes or randoming so that it should be criticized from the viewpoint of the law of cause and effect. Rather, the All-Wise Creator of the sun and the moon made it happen as an extraordinary event in order to confirm the Prophethood of His Messenger and to support him in his claim. Therefore, it was shown as a convincing proof to certain people specified by Divine Wisdom because, as stated above, the nature of Divine guidance and human responsibility, and the purpose for raising a Messenger required it to be so. If it had not been concealed from the eyes of those who were not intended to see it and who had not yet heard the Prophethood of Muhammad due to some obstacles such as fog, clouds and time-differences, and if had occurred according to the law of cause and effect, then it would have been an ordinary astrological event, not a miracle peculiar to and connected with the Messengership of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
In conclusion, these arguments must be enough for any mind to be convinced of the possibility that the splitting of the moon occurred; now out of many evidences of its occurrence, we shall mention only six which have the strength of a six-fold consensus:
The Companions of the Prophet, who were all men of justice and truthfulness, concurred upon its occurrence.
All of the exacting interpreters of the Qur’an have agreed that the verse, The moon split indicates to the splitting of the moon with a gesture of Muhammad’s fingers, upon him be peace and blessings.
All the truthful Traditionists narrated this incident through various authentic channels of transmission.
All the men of truth and sainthood, men of inspiration and spiritual discovery have borne testimony to the occurrence of this incident.
All the foremost theologians whose way differ greatly from each other and all the learned scholars have nevertheless agreed in their confirmation of this event.
The Community of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who, as established by an authentic Prophetic tradition, never agree on an error, have accepted on its occurrence.
These six evidences are as clear as the sun to prove the splitting of the moon.
Conclusion: What we have put forward hitherto on this matter has been to establish the splitting of the moon by way of refuting the objections to the possibility of it. In a few concluding sentences we will now speak in the name of the truth and for the sake of belief. Now it is the turn of the truth to speak:
The Seal of the Prophets, upon him be peace and blessings, who is the luminous moon of the heaven of Messengership, proved his sainthood through his Ascension, which is the greatest miracle of his sainthood achieved through the quality of his worship-so elevated as to make him the beloved of God. In other words, by making Muhammad, an earthly being, travel through the heavens, God showed to the dwellers of the heavens and of the highest realms his superiority to them and his being His beloved. Similarly, through the splitting of the moon, which is set in the sky and bound to the earth, upon the gesture of the same earthly being, another great miracle was demonstrated for the inhabitants of the earth as an evidence of the Messengership of that earthly being. Thus, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, flew to the summit of perfections on the two brilliant wings of Messengership and sainthood-like the two bright halves of the moon split into two; he ascended so near as to the distance of two bowstrings-that is, to the highest rank, the nearest station to God-and so became the cause of pride of both the beings of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth.
Upon him and upon his family be blessings and peace such as to fill the earth and heavens.
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, Your are the All-Knowing, All-Wise.

1. Bukhari, Manaqib, 27; Muslim, Kitab Sifat al-Munafiqin wa ahkamihim, 44.


Other Miracles


Examples of other kinds of Prophet Muhammad's Miracles
As related by Anas ibn Malik, Abu Talha, on seeing God’s Messenger hungry, invited him to a meal. The Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, came with a crowd of people. Abu Talha had only one loaf of rye bread at home. Umm Sulaym, Abu Talha’s wife, spread some butter on it. The Messenger prayed for abundance, and since there was not enough space for all the people, they ate of the bread ten by ten and left satisfied. They were about seventy to eighty people.1
As another example, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr relates that they, one hundred and thirty Companions, were in the company of God’s Messenger during an expedition. The Messenger asked them whether they had something to eat. One of them had about one or two sacks of flour . Dough was prepared to make bread and a sheep was bought from a polytheist who happened to pass by with his flock. They roasted the liver of the sheep, which the Messenger divided among those present, giving each a piece of it, and put aside the share of those who were not present there then. They cooked the meat in two bowls and everyone ate of it. After they finished eating all satisfied, the meat was still as if no one had eaten of it at all.2
There are many other examples of this kind of miracle. They were all transmitted through various-sometimes as many as sixteen-channels. Most of them took place in the presence of large assemblies and were narrated by many persons of truth and good repute.
Examples of the Prophet’s miracles concerning water
The Companions were left without water in a place called Zarwa. They were going to do wudu’ (ritual ablution) but they could not find enough water. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, ordered them to bring a bowl of water. He dipped his hands into the bowl and water began to run from his fingers like a fountain. Anas ibn Malik says that on that day they were three hundred people.3
Anas relates this incident on behalf of three hundred persons. Is it at all conceivable that those three hundred people would not have confirmed him, if they thought him to be truthful, or otherwise contradicted him?
As a second example, during the campaign of Hudaybiya, the Companions complained to God’s Messenger about the lack of water. The Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, took an arrow out of his arrow-bag and ordered them to put it in the well of Samad. When they did that, the water of the well began to gush. During the campaign, all of the Companions drank from it and did wudu’ with it.4
There are many examples of the Prophet’s miracles concerning water. They were related by numerous Companions and transmitted through various reliable channels.
Examples of the miracles of the healing of ill and wounded people
Authentic books of Tradition, including primarily Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih al-Muslim, report:
During the Battle of Khaybar, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, asked where ‘Ali was. ‘He is suffering from sore eyes’, the Companions answered. He sent for him. ‘Ali came and the Messenger applied his healing saliva to his eyes. At the same moment the pain ceased and ‘Ali’s eyes became better than before.5
‘Uthman ibn Hunayf relates:
A blind man came to God’s Messenger and requested him to pray to God to recover his eyes. The Messenger said: “If you desire, I’ll not pray-being blind may be better for your afterlife-or I’ll pray.” The man chose to be relieved of blindness and the Messenger told him: “Go and do an ablution. Then pray tworak‘as and say: ‘O God! Surely my appeal is to You and I turn toward You through the Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy: O Muhammad, surely I turn toward God through you, that He uncover my sight. O God, make him my intercessor.’” The man did what the Messenger told him and his sight was restored.6
There are many more examples concerning this kind of miracle God’s Messenger worked, all of which are recorded in books of Tradition.
The testimony of animals to Muhammad’s Prophethood
The animal kingdom recognized God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, and became the means for him to work miracles. Although there are many examples, we will mention here only a few that have become well-known and agreed on by exacting authorities.
During the Hijra, when God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, took shelter from the pursuit of unbelievers in the cave of Thawr, two pigeons stood guard at the entrance like two sentries, and a spider, like a doorkeeper, covered the entrance of the cave with a thick web. As Ubayy in Khalaf, one of the chieftains of the Quraysh, was examining the cave, his friends suggested that they should enter, but he answered: ‘There is a web here, which seems to have been spun before the birth of Muhammad.’ The others added: ‘Would those pigeons, standing there, still be there if someone were in the cave?’7
As another example, Jabir relates:
I was with God’s Messenger during a military campaign. When my camel became exhausted and left behind, God’s Messenger prodded it slightly. This made the camel so fast that I had to pull on the reins to make it slower so that I could listen to the Messenger, but Iwas unable to [slow it down].8
Anas ibn Malik reports:
After the conquest of Khaybar, a Jewish woman offered God’s Messenger a roasted sheep. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, ate a piece of it but, according to the narration of Abu Dawud, stopped eating and said: This sheep says that it is poisonous. Then he turned to the woman and asked her why she offered him a poisonous sheep. When the woman replied that she wanted to kill him, the Messenger responded: God will not let you attack and annoy me.9
‘A’isha reports:
We had in our house a kind of pigeon. When God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was at home, it would stay quiet, but as soon as he left home, it would continually pace to and fro.10
Anas ibn Malik relates:
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was the comeliest and the most generous and courageous of people. One night the people of Madina heard some voices and set out to investigate in fear. On their way, they saw a man coming towards them, who appeared to be God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings. He said to them: There is nothing to be distressed about. He had mounted Abu Talha’s horse and himself investigated the matter before anybody else. He turned to Abu Talha and said: I found your horse fast and comfortable. Whereas, that horse had been a very slow one. After that night, no other horse could race against it. 11
Examples of the Prophet’s miracles concerning inanimate objects
Jabir ibn Samura reports:
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, once said: “Prior to my Prophethood, a rock in Makka used to offer me greetings. I still recognize it.”12
‘Abullah ibn Mas‘ud reports:
We could hear food glorifying God while we were eating with God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings.13
Traditionists unanimously report from Anas, Abu Hurayra, ‘Uthman and Sa‘id ibn Zayd, who said:
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, climbed up Mount Uhud, accompanied by Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman. The Mountain, either in awe of them or because of its joy, trembled. God’s Messenger ordered it: Be still, O Uhud, for on you there is a Prophet, a truthful one, and two martyrs.14
In this saying, the Messenger predicted the martyrdom of ‘Umar and ‘Uthman.
It is established through authentic narrations from ‘Ali, Jabir and ‘A‘isha Siddiqa that rocks and mountains would say to God’s Messenger, ‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God!’ ‘Ali says: ’Whenever we went for a walk in the suburbs of Makka in the early times of his Prophethood, trees and rocks we encountered would say, ‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God!’15
The Prophet’s protection as a miracle
As related through various channels, during the military campaign of Ghatfan and Anmar, a courageous chieftain named Ghowras unexpectedly appeared at the side of God’s Messenger, who was lying under a tree. Ghowras unsheathed his sword and asked God’s Messenger, ‘Who will save you from me now?’ God will, the Messenger replied. “God!” Then he prayed: “O God, suffice me against him in any way You will.”16
At that moment, Ghowras was knocked down and his sword slipped from his hand. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, took the sword and asked him: Now, who will save you from me?
Ghowras began to tremble and entreated God’s Messenger to spare his life. ‘You are a noble, forgiving one; only forgiveness is expected of you,’ he pleaded. God’s Messenger forgave him, and when Ghowras returned to his tribe, he said to them: ‘I have just come from the best of mankind.’
Abu Hurayra relates:
Abu Jahl once asked those near him: 
'Does Muhammad still rub his face against earth [i.e. make prostration]?'
'Yes, he does', they answered.
Abu Jahl added:
'By Lat and ‘Uzza, if I see him doing that again, I will tread on his neck or bury his face with soil.'
A short while later God’s Messenger came and set out to pray. When he was in prostration, Abu Jahl approached him but suddenly turned back in fear and amazement, trying to protect himself with his hands. When asked why he had done so, he answered: ‘Truly, between him and me is a trench filled with fire, and something horrible and some wings.’
God’s Messenger commented on the event: 
'If he had approached me, the angels would have torn him to pieces.'17
God promised to guard him against people:
O Messenger! Make known whatever is revealed unto you from your Lord, for if you do it not, you will not have conveyed His Message. God will protect you from people. Surely, God guides not the unbelieving folk. (5:67)
The acceptance of the Prophet’s prayers
The authorities of Hadith (Tradition) including, notably, Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, unanimously report that whenever God’s Messenger prayed for rain, his prayer was immediately accepted by God. There were even times when the rain unexpectedly began before he had lowered his hands while on the pulpit. As mentioned in books of Tradition and the Prophet’s biography, when his army ran out of water, clouds would appear to give them water. Even in his childhood, his grandfather ‘Abd al-Muttalib would go with him to pray for rain, and rain would come out of God’s love for him. This fact became famous through a poem of ‘Abd al-Muttalib’s. After the Prophet’s death, once ‘Umar took ‘Abbas as a means to pray for rain, saying, ‘O God, this is the uncle of Your beloved Prophet. Give us rain for his sake.’ Thereafter it rained.18
As was reported by Anas ibn Malik, while one Friday God’s Messenger was giving a sermon, a man came into the mosque and said to him: ‘O Messenger of God! There is drought. Please pray to God to send us rain.’ The Messenger prayed and it rained until the next Friday.
The rain continued for one week. The next Friday, while God’s Messenger was on the pulpit again giving sermon, a man stood up and said: ‘O Messenger of God! Please pray to God to avert rain from us.’ The Messenger prayed: “O God! Send the rain onto the places around us, not onto us.” Anas, the reporter of the event, says: “By God, I saw the clouds scatter and rain fall onto other places, the people of Madina being not under rain.”19
‘Adbullah ibn ‘Umar relates:
When the number of the Companions was about forty, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, prayed: “O God! Give strength to Islam with which of those two, namely ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab and ‘Amr ibn al-Hisham, is more pleasing to You.” The next morning, ‘Umar came to the Messenger and accepted Islam.20
‘Adbullah ibn ‘Abbas reports:
God’s Messenger was in the toilet when once I carried water to where he would do wudu’. When he came out, he asked who had put the water there. ‘I did,’ I answered. Whereupon he prayed: “O God, make him profoundly knowledgeable in religion and teach him the meaning of the Qur’an.” 21
It is because of this prayer of the Messenger for Ibn ‘Abbas that Ibn ‘Abbas would later be called with the titles of the ‘Profound Scholar of the Umma’ and the ‘Interpreter of the Qur’an’. When he was still a young man, ‘Umar included him in his consultative assembly which consisted of the high-ranking scholars and elders of the Companions.
Anas ibn Malik relates:
My mother took me to God’s Messenger and said:
'O Messenger of God! This is my son Anas. Let him serve you. Please pray for him.'
The Messenger prayed: 
'O God! Give abundance to his wealth and offspring.' 22
Anas remarked in his old age, swearing by God: 
'You see the abundance of my wealth, and the children and grand-children I have number about one hundred.'
Abu Hurayra once complained to God’s Messenger about forgetfulness. The Messenger told him to spread out a piece of cloth on the ground. Then he made some movements as if he were filling his hands with some invisible things and emptying them out on the piece of cloth. After repeating this three or four times, he told Abu Hurayra to pick it up. Through the mysterious effect of these actions of the Messenger, Abu Hurayra, as he himself later stated swearing by God, never forgot anything again. This is also among the well-known events related to the Companions.23
The Prophet met with angels and jinn and spoke to them
‘Umar reports:
We were sitting with God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, when a man appeared beside us. He had dark black hair and was wearing a white robe. There were no signs of traveling upon him. He sat before the Messenger and, touching his knees to the Messenger’s, asked him about faith, Islam, perfection of virtue (ihsan) and the Last Day. After the interview, the man left and disappeared. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, turned to me and asked who that man was. ‘God and His Messenger know better’, I answered. The Messenger concluded: “He was Gabriel. He came to teach you your religion.”24
Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas relates:
At the Battle of Uhud, I saw two men dressed in white at each side of God’s Messenger, fighting for his sake. I had never seen them before, nor have I seen them since. (Sa‘d meant that they were two archangels, Gabriel and Michael.)25
Rifa‘a ibn Rafi‘ reports:
Gabriel asked God’s Messenger what was their opinion of the Companions who participated in the Battle of Badr. The Messenger answered like this: “We consider them among the most virtuous of Muslims.” Gabriel responded: “So do we; we consider the angels who were present there among the most virtuous of angels.”26
In his Musnad, Ahmad ibn Hanbal reports from ‘Adbullah ibn Mas’ud that God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, invited jinn to accept Islam and taught them of the Qur’an. 27
The appearance of invisible objects and realms to the Prophet
‘A’isha Siddiqa reports:
One day the sun was eclipsed. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, performed the prayer of eclipse and then explained:
Surely, the sun and the moon are two of God’s signs. When you witness an eclipse, pray until it ends. By God, in this place where I have performed the prayer I have seen everything promised to me. When you saw me move forward during the prayer, I did that to take a cluster of grapes which appeared to me from Paradise. Again, by God, when you saw me move backward, I did that because I saw Hell roaring with its parts piling one upon another.28
‘Adbullah ibn ‘Abbas relates:
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, passed by two graves and said: “Heed what I will tell you: Those lying in those graves are suffering torments. They are suffering torments because of two grave sins. One of them used to backbite and slander others everywhere. The other was not careful [about guarding himself] against urine-stains.”29
The testimony of trees to Muhammad’s Prophethood
Jabir ibn ‘Adbullah reports:
We were walking with God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings. We went down a wide valley. The Messenger searched for a place to relieve himself. When he saw that there was not a single covered place, he went to the two trees he had caught sight of by the valley. He pulled one of them by one of its branches, next to the other tree. The tree was like an obedient camel being pulled by its reins. He addressed them: Join together over me by God’s leave! The trees joined together and formed a screen. 30
‘Adbullah ibn ‘Umar reports:
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, used to lean against a pole called the ‘date-palm trunk’ when delivering a sermon. Later a pulpit was built and when the Prophet started giving his sermons from it, the pole moaned because of its separation from him. The Messenger climbed down and stroked it. The pole stopped moaning.31
‘Abu Sa’id al-Khudri relates:
God’s Messenger gave Qatada ibn Nu‘man a stick on a dark night, saying: “This stick will light up your surroundings as far as seven meters. When you get home, you will see a black shadow. Without giving it respite to tell you anything, strike it with this stick. Qatada did what God’s Messenger told him to.32

1. Bukhari, Ayman, 22; Muslim, Ashriba, 142.
2. Bukhari, At‘ima, 6; Muslim, Ashriba, 175.
3. Nasa’i, 1.60; Bukhari, 4.233; Muslim, Hadith No. 2279.
4. Bukhari, Shurut, 15.
5. Bukhari, Fada’l al-Sahaba, 9; Muslim, Fada’il al-Sahaba, 34.
6. Tirmidhi, Da‘awat, 119; I. Hanbal, 4.138; I. Maja, Iqama, 189.
7. I. Hanbal, Musnad, 1.348.
8. Bukhari, Nikah, 10.22.
9. Muslim, Salam, 45; Abu Dawud, Diyat, 6.
10. I. Hanbal, Musnad, 4.112.
11. Bukhari, Adab, 39; Muslim, Fada’il, 48; I. Hanbal, 3.147.
12. Muslim, Fada’il, 2; Darimi, Muqaddima.
13. Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; I. Hanbal, Musnad, 1.460.
14. Muslim, Fada’il, 50.
15. Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 3630; Hakim, 2.607.
16. Bukhari, Maghazi, 31, 33; Muslim, Fada’il, 13.
17. Muslim, Sifat al-Munafiqin, 38.
18. Bukhari, 2.35; Bayhaqi, Sunan, 6.147.
19. Bukhari, Istisqa’, 7; Muslim, Istisqa’, 1.
20. Bukhari, Istisqa’, 7; Muslim, Istisqa’, 1.
21. Bukhari, ‘Ilm, 17; Muslim, Fada’il, 137.
22. Muslim, Fada’il, 143.
23. Muslim, Fada’il, 159.
24. Bukhari, Iman, 37.
25. Bukhari, Maghazi, 18; Muslim, Fada’il, 46-7.
26. Bukhari, Maghazi, 11.
27. Musnad, 1.455.
28. Bukhari, Abwab ‘amal fi l-Salat, 2; Muslim, Kusuf, 3.
29. Bukhari, Adab, 46; Muslim, Tahara, 3.
30. Muslim, Zuhd, 74.
31. Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Nasa’i, Jumu‘a, 17.
32. I. Hanbal, Musnad, 3.65

Al-Qur'an


The Qur'an is the Greatest and Most Eternal Miracle of the Prophet


The greatest and the eternal miracle of God’s Messenger is the Wise Qur’an, which itself encompasses hundreds of proofs of his Prophethood, and whose miraculousness of forty different aspects has been proved. Referring the reader to another treatise concerning the miraculousness of the Qur’an, we will here mention only a few significant points in this respect.
First point
Question
The miraculousness of the Qur’an lies mainly in its eloquence, which can be comprehended only by one discerning scholar out of a thousand. Should it not be however, the right of every class of people to grasp a glimpse of this miraculousness according to their capacity of understanding?
Answer
The Wise Qur’an has a different kind of miraculousness relating to each class of people. It indicates its miraculousness to each of them in a different, unique way. To the men of eloquence and rhetoric, it shows the miraculousness of its extraordinary eloquence; to poets and orators, it displays the miraculousness of its uniquely exalted style, one which cannot be imitated although it is liked by everyone. The passage of time cannot have any effect on its freshness, so it is always new. Its metrical and rhythmic prose and its verse have the greatest nobility and charm.
To soothsayers and foretellers, the Qur’an exhibits the aspect of its miraculousness which consists of the reports it gives concerning the Unseen. To historians and chroniclers, it shows its miraculousness by giving information about the nations of bygone ages, as well as the conditions and events of the future, of the intermediate world and of the Hereafter. To social and political scientists, it presents the miraculousness of its sacred principles which comprise the supreme Sacred Law of Islam. As for those who are engaged in the knowledge of God and Divine laws of nature, the Qur’an shows them the miraculousness of the sacred Divine truths that it contains. And to those following a spiritual way to sainthood, it manifests the profound, manifold meanings in its verses that rise in successive motions like waves of the sea. In short, the Qur’an shows its miraculousness of forty different aspects to every level of understanding or class of learning, by opening to each a different window. Even those masses who have only ears to give to the Qur’an and drive a very limited degree of meaning from it agree that the Qur’an never sounds like other books. Any ordinary person who listens to the Qur’an says, ‘This Qur’an is either below other books in degree-which is utterly impossible, and cannot be claimed even by its enemies-or above them all and therefore is a miracle.’ Now, we will explain the aspect of the miraculousness of the Qur’an which is perceived by that ordinary person who simply listens to the Qur’an.
The miraculous Qur’an emerged with a challenge to the whole world and stirred up in people two kinds of feelings:
  • in friends, a desire to imitate its style, to speak and write like their beloved Qur’an;
  • in enemies, a passion to criticize and dispute, to nullify its claim of miraculousness by competing with its style.
Under the influence of these two strong feelings, millions of books have been written in Arabic, and they are still at hand. Whoever listens to even the most eloquent and rhetorical of them will certainly say that the Qur’an does not sound like any of them at all. This means that the Qur’an is not of the same degree as them; it is either below them all-an utter impossibility claimed by no one, not even by Satan-or above all other books that have ever been written.
There is another miraculous aspect of the Wise Qur’an which it shows to the illiterate, namely that its recitation does not bore anyone. Any common illiterate man, even though he does not comprehend its meaning, would undoubtedly say when he listens to the Qur’an, ‘If I hear a most beautiful and most well-known couplet two or three times, it starts to bore me. But this is not the case for the Qur’an; the more I listen, the more pleasant it becomes. It cannot be the composition of man.’
The Qur’an has a miraculousness to show even to children trained in learning it by heart. Despite its many similar verses and passages that might cause confusion, the Qur’an is easily committed to memory by children who cannot retain for long even a single passage of other matter.
For even the ill and those lying on their death beds, who are disturbed by the slightest noise, the recitation and sound of the Qur’an becomes as sweet and comforting as the water of Zamzam, thus displaying another aspect of its miraculousness.
One of the almost forty classes of people to whom the Qur’an shows its miraculous qualities without depriving any of them, is those who can see but have no hearing and no means for learning. For instance, in the copy of the Qur’an written by the calligrapher Hafiz ‘Uthman, many related words are in a position to correspond to each other on different pages. If the sheets beneath the phrase their dog being the eighth are pierced in Sura al-Kahf (the Chapter of the Cave), with a slight deviation it will go through the word Qýtmir in Surah al-Fatir, thus giving the name of the dog. Similarly, the words mukhdarun and mukhdarin (they will be brought before us) in Sura al-Saffat correspond both to each other and to the one occurring in Surah Ya sin twice, one below the other. The word mathna(in pairs) occurs three times in the Qur’an; that the two of them correspond to each other one being at the beginning of Sura al-Fatir, the other towards the end of Sura Saba’ cannot be a mere coincidence. There are numerous examples of this kind in the Qur’an; in some cases, the same word occurs almost in the same place in five or six pages. I once saw a copy of the Qur’an in which were written in red ink similar passages facing each other on two facing pages. I then concluded that this was an indication of a different kind of miracle. Later I came to notice that there are many more passages on varying pages significantly facing each other. Since the verses and chapters of the Qur’an were arranged upon the instruction of the Prophet himself, upon him be peace, and the Qur’an was later copied through Divine inspiration, its design and calligraphy bear the indications of a kind of miracle. If, however, there are some slight, observed deviations, they are actually the results of human errors; were they arranged in the most proper manner, they could coincide perfectly.
Furthermore, on each of the suras (chapters) of great or medium length which were revealed in Madina, the word Allah is repeated in a very significant manner, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or eleven times on both sides of a sheet, or on the two facing pages, thus displaying a beautiful and significant numerical proportionate. (1,2,3)
Second point
As the art of magic was widespread at the time of the Prophet Moses, upon him be peace, the miracles with which he was endowed were of the same nature, and as the practice of medicine was in demand at the time of Jesus, upon him be peace, the miracles he worked were of the same kind. Similarly, when Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was raised as a prophet, four crafts enjoyed popularity in the Arabian peninsula: first, eloquence and fluency in writing and speaking; second, poetry and oratory; third, soothsaying and divination; fourth, knowledge about the events of the past and about cosmology.
When the miraculous Qur’an came, it challenged the experts in these four fields.
1. It brought the men of eloquence to their knees before it. They all listened to the Qur’an in total admiration.
2. It shocked the poets and orators so that they bit their fingers in amazement. It caused them to bring down their most celebrated Seven Poems written in gold and hung on the wals of the Ka’ba.
3. It silenced the soothsayers and magicians. By making them forget their knowledge of the Unseen and causing their jinn to be expelled from the heavens, it put an end to soothsaying.
4. It saved from myths and fabrications those who had knowledge of the history of previous nations and of cosmological facts, and instructed them in the reality of past events and in illuminating facts of creation.
These four groups, as a result, went on their knees before the Qur’an in absolute astonishment and awe, and became its students. None of them ever made an attempt to challenge with even a chapter of it.
A possible question
How do we know that nobody has ever been able to dispute with the Qur’an, and that such a challenge is not possible at all?
Answer
Had it been possible to challenge the Qur’an, somebody would certainly have attempted to do it. Actually, such a challenge was directly needed by the opponents of the Qur’an, since, first of all, they felt their religion, life and properties in danger; they would all have thought themselves saved by any kind of challenge. So, had it ever been possible to challenge the Qur’an, they would certainly have tried it, and there were lots of unbelievers and hypocrites ready to advertise it widely, just as they spread all kinds of malicious propaganda against Islam. If they had succeeded with any kind of challenge, their success would have been recorded with exaggeration in the books of history. Now all the books of history are out in the open; none of them contains anything other than a few non-sensical lines of Musaylima al-Kadhdhab (the Liar), a false claimant to Prophethood. They never dared any challenge, although the Wise Qur’an challenged them continuously for twenty-three years in a way that provoked and annoyed them:
Come on, and produce a like of this Qur’an by means of an unlettered man like Muhammad, the Trustworthy! If you can not do that, let it not be an unlettered man, but the most knowledgeable and one well-versed in writing. If you cannot do that either, let it not be one person, but gather all your learned and eloquent ones to help each other; also invoke the aid of your gods and goddesses upon whom you rely. This too you cannot do; make use of all the books of the highest eloquence that have ever been written, and let all the unbelievers to come until Doomsday make use of your experiences in their attempt. Still you have not been able to score any success, try to produce the like of only ten chapters of the Qur’an, not of the whole of it. If you see that you are unable to match any ten chapters of the Qur’an truly and in all respects, then make a composition from baseless stories and imaginative tales to match only the metrical verse and eloquence of the Qur’an. Even this you cannot do, so bring about the equal of only one chapter. If you are still unsuccessful, let it not be a long one; suffice it to produce the like of any short one! Otherwise, your religion, your lives and properties, and your families will be at stake both in this world and in the Hereafter!
With these eight alternatives, the Qur’an has challenged and silenced men and jinn, not for twenty-three years, but for fourteen centuries. Nevertheless, those unbelievers who lived in the early days of Islam, instead of preferring the easiest way, that is, open challenge, chose the most dreadful way-to wage war, endangering their lives and properties and their families because challenging the Qur’an was absolutely impossible. Otherwise no man of wisdom, especially those of the Arabian peninsula of that time and especially those intelligent men of the Quraysh, would have had recourse to this most difficult way, if any literary man among them had been able to bring about the equal of a single chapter of the Qur’an and thereby save them from the attacks of the Qur’an.
In summary, as the famous Jahiz put it, since challenge by words was impossible, they had to resort to struggle by the sword.
Question
Some scholars of discernment have maintained that not a chapter of the Qur’an, nor a verse, nor a sentence, nor even a word of it is ever possible to be disputed; nor has anyone ever been able to do this. This judgment sounds exaggerated, and is too hard to accept. For there are many words produced by men, which have some resemblance to the Qur’an. So, how do you interpret this judgment?
Answer
There are two schools of opinion concerning the miraculousness of the Qur’an:
According to the prevailing opinion, the eloquence of the Qur’an and the virtues in its meaning are beyond human capacity.
The other opinion is that although it is within human capacity to challenge and compete with a chapter of the Qur’an, God Almighty prevented it as a miracle of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. For example, if a Prophet told a man, who is normally able to stand up, ‘You will not be able to stand up’, and the man could not then stand up, it would be considered a miracle of the Prophet. This school is called the school of ‘Sarfa’, from the viewpoint of which the All-Mighty prevented men and jinn from producing even a chapter of the Qur‘an. If He had not, men and jinn might have put up a challenge against one chapter. So, according to this view, the scholars who maintain that even a word of the Qur’an cannot be challenged are right in their opinion. For, prevented by the All-Mighty on account of the miraculousness of the Qur’an, they could not even open their mouths to offer a challenge; even if they had, they could not have uttered a word because God was preventing it.
In the view of the scholars belonging to the first school, there is, however, a subtle point that the words and verses of the Qur’an are all interrelated. Sometimes it occurs that a word is related to ten other occurances, thus bearing ten relationships and providing ten instances of eloquence. In another book of mine entitled Isharat al-I’jaz (The Signs of Miraculousness), which is a key to the interpretation of the Qur’an, I showed some examples in this regard drawn from some passages of Sura al-Fatiha (the Opening Chapter) and from the initial verses of Sura al-Baqara.
In a well-ornamented palace, for example, to place a gem that is of the greatest importance in the decorative pattern, in the most suitable location on the wall is possible only after knowing the whole design. Likewise, to place the pupil of the eye in its correct location entails knowing all the function of the body and its complex organization, as well as its relationship with the function of the eye. In just the same way the foremost among men of exact science and profound truth have demonstrated numerous relationships between the words of the Qur’an and the manifold relationship each word has with some other verses and expressions. The scholars who have studied the mysteries of letters have gone even further, and proved that each letter of the Qur’an bears many inner meanings the explanation of which might cover pages. Since the Qur’an is the Word of the Creator of everything, each of its words may function as the core or heart of an ideal body around it made of hidden meanings, or as the seed of such an ideal tree. Thus, there might be among the words of men some similar to those of the Qur’an, but to place them properly taking into consideration of all such relationships as exist between the Qur’anic words calls for an all-comprehending knowledge.
Third point
Once a brief reflection on the miraculous nature of the Qur’an occurred to my heart. Now I will give below a translation of that reflection which was then expressed in Arabic:
Glory be to God Who Himself witnesses to His Oneness, and has disclosed the qualities of His grace, majesty and perfection through the Wise Qur’an, whose six sides are luminous; neither misgiving nor doubt can find a way into it. It is supported by God’s Throne of Sovereignty, from where it holds the light of revelation. It leads to the happiness of the two worlds, aiming at the light of Paradise and eternal bliss. Above it shines the seal of miraculousness, beneath it lie the pillars of proof and evidence, and inside it is pure guidance. It urges minds to seek to confirm it through warnings like Will they not comprehend and reflect? With the spiritual pleasures it bestows upon the heart, it makes the conscience testify to its miraculousness. From which side or corner, then, could the arrows of doubt invade such a miraculous Qur’an?
The miraculous Qur’an includes the content of the books of all the prophets, all the saints and the men of monotheism, of varying ways, temperaments and ages. That is to say, all those men of heart and intellect mentioned in their books the laws and fundamentals of the Qur’an in a way to show their affirmation of them, and became like the roots of the ‘celestial tree of the Qur’an’.
The Wise Qur’an is truly a revelation; the Majestic One Who revealed it demonstrated through the miracles He created at the hands of Muhammad, upon him be peace, that it is revelation; the Qur’an itself shows with its miraculousness that it has come from the Exalted Throne of God. Lastly, the anxiety that the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, to whom the Qur’an was revealed, showed at the beginning of the revelation, his half-conscious state when receiving revelation and the sincere respect and devotion he showed to the Qur’an more than any other-all prove that the Qur’an is revelation, derived from past eternity and entrusted to the Prophet, upon him be peace.
The Qur’an is obviously pure guidance, since unbelief, which is its opposite, is evidently misguidance. The Qur’an is of necessity the source of the light of belief, for the opposite of this light is certainly darkness.
The Qur’an is of a certainty the spring of truths, into which neither imagination nor superstition can find a way. The truthful world of Islam it shaped after its revelation, the well-founded law which it presented and the highest virtues that it manifested all give evidence that it is completely truthful in its dealings with the matters of the Unseen as with the matters of the visible world.
The Qur’an manifestly and undoubtedly shows the way to happiness in both worlds and guides man to it; whoever doubts this, it will suffice for him to read the Qur’an only once and heed what it says. The fruits of the Qur’an are perfect and life-giving, which demonstrates that it is deeply rooted in truth and true vigor, for the vigor of the fruit indicates the life of the tree. See, if you want an example, how many perfect, vigorous and luminous fruits it has yielded in each century, such as the men of sainthood, purity and profound learning.
The Qur’an is, through a conviction and intuition coming from countless different indications, so esteemed and sought after by men, jinn and the angels that when the Qur’an is recited, they gather around it like moths.
The Qur’an, besides being revelation, is also confirmed and fortified by rational proofs, as is unanimously agreed upon by the most profound men of logic. In fact, geniuses of philosophy such as Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), and especially the most learned of theology have unanimously proved the truth of the fundamentals of the Qur’an with their particular methods of reasoning. The very nature of man, so long as it remains unspoiled, affirms the truth of the Qur’an, for the conscience can be satisfied and hearts can be at rest only through the light of the Qur’an.
The Qur’an is, manifestly and evidently, an everlasting miracle; it continually unfolds its miraculousness. It never fades or perishes like other kinds of miracle, nor does it age with the passage of time.
The Qur’an is so inclusive and comprehensive in its guidance that the Archangel Gabriel and a young child listen to it side by side, both deriving their lessons. A most brilliant philosopher like Ibn Sina sits before the Qur’an knee to knee with an ordinary reciter of it to receive its teaching; it might even sometimes occur that the ordinary reciter drives, by virtue of the purity and strength of his faith, more benefit than Ibn Sina.
The Qur’an provides such a penetrating insight through its guidance that the whole of the universe with all its aspects, like the pages of a book, can be seen and comprehended by means of it. Like a watch-maker who opens the watch in his hand and describes it down to the smallest part, the Qur’an expounds the universe with all its spheres and particles. Above all, it is such a glorious Qur’an that it announces, There is no deity but God, and declares the Oneness of God.

O God, make the Qur’an our companion in the world and our confident in the grave; our intercessor in the Hereafter and our light on the Bridge of Sirat; a veil and protection against Hellfire, a friend in Paradise, and a guide and a leader to all goodness. O God, illumine our hearts and graves with the light of faith and the Qur’an, and brighten the evidence of the Qur’an for the sake of him whom You sent down the Qur’an, upon him and his family be peace and blessings from the Compassionate and Solicitous One. Amen.

Cannot deny miracles


Miracles cannot be denied

The One Who created the universe and made its operation dependent on certain laws that He established, is certainly able to change those laws for His special, beloved servant and envoy
The One Who created the universe and made its operation dependent on certain laws that He established, is certainly able to change those laws for His special, beloved servant and envoy. Especially in our day, when scientists have already abandoned the mechanistic notion of the universe and defend relativity in its operation, it is not a rational or scientific attitude to, on the basis of absolute determinism or causality, deny miracles. Furthermore, miracles do not occur as completely free from material causes, however slight and insignificant they are. Given that we see how God Almighty causes the smallest things to produce very great entities-He creates man from a microscopic sperm and enables man’s memory to contain as much knowledge as can fill a library-how can we dare to deny miracles? Is not the creation of man who, though essentially so weak as to be defeated by a microbe, is endowed with such faculties as to make computers which keep in their memories as much knowledge as can fill libraries, a lesser miracle than enabling a servant of His to give some food or drink a blessed increase. Indeed, is not every occurrence in the universe, every act of God, really a miracle, the like of which we are unable to make?
The miracles of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, are so certain that they have been unanimously confirmed and reported by the authorities of Hadith. A miracle is the confirmation by the Creator of his Prophethood.
The noble Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, declared that he was a Prophet and, in proof of his Prophethood, he presented the glorious Quran and nearly a thousand miracles. Those miracles are as certain to have occurred as the fact that he declared his Prophethood. It undeniably proves the occurrence of those miracles that even the most obstinate of the unbelievers, as related in some places in the Quran, charged him with sorcery. Unable to deny the miracles, they took them to be-God forbid!-sorcery, in order to excuse their persistence in unbelief or to mislead their followers. The miracles of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, are so certain that they have been unanimously confirmed and reported by the authorities of Hadith. A miracle is the confirmation by the Creator of his Prophethood. It has the effects of the words, You have spoken the truth. If, for instance, one claims in the presence of the ruler himself that the ruler has appointed him to such and such a position, the word ‘Yes’ uttered by the ruler will be sufficient to prove his claim. Further, if the ruler changes his usual practice and attitude at his request, then this will mean a firmer confirmation of his claim. It is in the same way that the noble Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, claimed that he was the envoy of the Creator of the universe, and God, the Creator, in turn, changed His unbroken order at his prayer and request so that he could work miracles in order to prove his claim.
Denial of the miracles amounts to the denial of God’s existence and the Prophethood of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, as well as the Divine authorship of the Qur’an.
Denial of the miracles amounts to the denial of God’s existence and the Prophethood of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, as well as the Divine authorship of the Quran. In fact, such a denial is completely absurd and meaningless, for while a single evidence is enough to prove a claim, its denial requires an overall investigation through all times and places. For example, if one claims that swans may also be black, in order to prove this claim, it is enough for one to find and show a single black swan. But if you claim that there cannot be any black swans, you will have to show all the swans from the beginning to the end of time. So, denial is something almost impossible to prove. The like of one who dares to deny the miracles, which billions of believers, including hundreds of thousands of saints, scholars and scientists, have confirmed since the Prophet’s claim of Prophethood, is the like of him who sees closed only one of the thousand doors of a magnificent palace and concludes that it is impossible to enter the palace.
Almost all of the Prophets worked miracles
Almost all of the Prophets worked miracles. For centuries, millions of Jews and billions of Christians have confirmed the miracles of Moses and Jesus respectively. When compared to the other Prophets, what shortcoming has the Prophet Muhammad that those who confirm Moses’s speaking to God and Jesus’ raising the dead by God’s leave and ascension to heavens, dare to deny Muhammad’s miracles?
Denial of the miracles is unscientific insofar as such a denial is a judgment or conclusion which must be based on concrete proof.
The creation of Adam and Eve, as well as that of Jesus, is a miracle. God excluded their creation from the law of birth. Although currently entangled in materialistic notions, science will one day have to attribute the origin of life to a Divine miracle. Besides, it is highly questionable whether it is scientific to label as myth the beliefs or concepts or events which the sciences are unable to explain
Sciences ‘walk’ on the feet of theories and develop through ‘trial and error’ to investigate those theories. There are numerous established facts which sciences once regarded as false, just as what were once believed to be established facts are now known as fallacies. Also, there are many other things whose existence we accept unquestionably but cannot establish scientifically. Denial of the miracles is unscientific insofar as such a denial is a judgment or conclusion which must be based on concrete proof. No one can deny, whether basing on sciences or not, the miracles of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
In order to decide something as reasonable or not, whose intellect will serve as a judge?
Some may regard miracles as unreasonable. However, the reason or intellect has no capacity to grasp everything in existence. Second, there are not two persons in the world who have the same intellectual capacity. That is, there is no one who has the same intellectual capacity with another. So, in order to decide something as reasonable or not, whose intellect will serve as a judge? The Qur’an declares:Whomsoever We will, we raise in degrees. Over every man of knowledge is one who knows better (12:76).
God the Almighty is not bound by the laws He has established for the operation of the universe. Therefore, whenever He wishes, He can change those laws or can act and create without the means of any laws.
Thirdly, the magnificent order, harmony and purposefulness in existence decisively point to the One Who has an absolute knowledge, will and power. That One, God the Creator, disposes existence however He wishes. He is not bound by the laws He has established for the operation of the universe. Therefore, whenever He wishes, He can change those laws or can act and create without the means of any laws. So, what behooves man’s intellect is to discover those laws. God has not given man the intellect so that he should judge His acts. The capacity of the intellect is limited, therefore something limited cannot judge the infinite.
The finer or more refined matter is, the more speedy time and movement is.
Time varies or changes according to the dimensions of existence and places. For example, the extend of time is not the same in the world and other planets. Also, the finer or more refined matter is, the more speedy time and movement is. For example, his spirit moves much faster than man himself. Also, the imagining faculty can travel through all spheres within a few seconds.
All the physical and intellectual powers and capacities are included in a single, absolute Power. If that Power is able to whatever It wishes, then why should we not believe in miracles?
Again, as people vary from each other according to the power of each, there is also a great difference between the capacities of species. Man is much more powerful than an ant or bee but there are some things which an ant or bee does easily while a man cannot. Also, invisible things or beings like angels and jinn, an even storms and gales, may be much more powerful than human beings. So, all the physical and intellectual powers and capacities are included in a single, absolute Power. If that Power is able to whatever It wishes, then why should we not believe in miracles?
What is unreasonable or unscientific is to deny miracles, not to affirm them.
We witness, even experience, certain events that we regard as miraculous. Many things occur that we cannot explain with the law of causality. Furthermore, physics asserts today that whatever exists is a wave in continuous motion and therefore it is not possible to say that a second later its existence will be in the same state as it is in now. So, the law of causality is only a veil before the Divine operations so that people do not directly attribute to God certain disagreeable things and events. Therefore, what is unreasonable or unscientific is to deny miracles, not to affirm them.


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