Physical MiraclesProphet Muhammad's
Physical Miracles
This miracle is confirmed by both the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The Qur’an states: “The hour [of judgment] is nigh and the moon is cleft asunder“. As to the Sunnah, all the jurists, commentators and Traditionalists are agreed that the moon was cleft asunder when Muhammad (PBUH) entreated Allah to respond to the disbelieves among Quraish, who asked the Prophet to do that to prove his truthfulness that he was indeed a Messenger of Allah. The miracle is confirmed by the following verse, which exposes the disbelieves obstinacy and insistence that he was no more than a magician. The Qur’an says: “ But if they see a sign, they turn away, and say: This is [but] transient magic. They reject [the warning] and follow their [own] Iusts, but every matter has its appointed time Had there been no cleavage of the moon, the Qur’an should not have censured and denounced the disbelievers’ rejection of Allah’s signs.
That was a great miracle which is not less in manifestation than the parting of the sea by the staff of Moses. It was actually greater in effect, because the cleavage of the moon entailed no effect on the earth nor did it imbalance the Divine law of gravity between the moon and other planets.
It was strange on the part of Quraish to ask the Prophet for more convincing miracles other than this great impressive one. They insisted that “We shall not believe in the until those cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth, or [until] thou have a garden of date trees and wines, and cause rivers to gush forth in their midst. Carrying abundant water, or thou cause the sky to fall in pieces, as thou sayest [will happen] against us, or thou bring God and angels before [us] face to face, or thou have a house adorned with gold, or thou mount a ladder right into the skies, No, shall not even believe in the mounting until thou send down to us a book that we could read. Say Glory to my Lord. Am I aught but a man. – an Apostle.” [17:90-93]
The disbelievers challenged the Prophet to ascend to the heavens, and when this took place the Prophet was taken up to the heavens and then returned to his own place, Allah concealed the incident; and this was due to two reasons0. Firstly, they were expected to deny the ascension, and as Allah assures, “If We had sent unto thee a written [Message] on parchment, so that they could touch it with their hands. The unbelievers would have been sure to say: This is nothing but obvious magic” He also says: “Even if We opened out to them a gate form heaven, and they were to continue [all day] ascending therein, they would only say: our eyes have been intoxicated. Nay we have been bewitched by sorcery.” This was exactly what happened later. When the Prophet told them of the journey be made during the night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque [Al Masjid al – Aqsa] and his return to his chambre the same night, they did not believe him, although he not tell them the whole story.
The second reason for concealing the Prophet’s ascent to heavens from the disbelieves was that the purpose of the journey was to calm and eamfon the Prophet spiritually after all the difficulties and injury he had received at Makkah. He had to be prepared for the second stage of propagating the Call at Madinab. Alluding to the journey from Makkah to Jerusalem, Allah says it was made “in order that We might show him some of Our signs. And as regards the ascension to heavens, “ for truly did he see of the signs of his Lord the greatest”
Whenever the Prophet sat to take his food, the Food glorified Allah; and this was heard by his Companions. Sahih Al-Bukhari quotes Abdullah ibn Mas’ud as having said: Whenever we took food with the Prophet, we heard glorification of Allah by what we were eating.
Rocks used to greet the Prophet. Sahih Muslim quotes Jaber ibn Samrah as having said: The prophet told us that he could detect a rock in Makkah, which used to greet him, before he was raised as a prophet. Ali. May Allah be pleased with him, as reported by Al-Tirmidhi and others, said: I was strolling with the Prophet once on the outskirts of Makkah, I noticed that not a tree or a rock he passed did let him pass without murmuring: Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah.
When the Muslims were little in number, the Prophet used to address them standing on a tree-trunk; but when the Muslims grew in number, a pulpit was erected from which he gave his sermons instead of the tree- trunk. The day the Prophet left the trunk, it continued to sob in grief until the Prophet returned and sat a little while by it. The event was witnessed by all the Muslims.
Water gushed forth from among the fingers of the Prophet on several occasions. Anas says in the two Sahihs; Once, when the afternoon prayer was due, the Prophet performed ablution prior to the prayer. Other people could find no more water for ablution, and when this came to the notice of the Prophet, he put his hand inside the container from which he had taken water for ablution and asked men to perform their ablution. Water flowed out of his fingers until all men present performed ablution. When Anas was later asked about the number of men who benefited from this water, he said: They were three hundred men.
On several occasions, a little food before the Prophet became by his blessing abundant to an extent that it sufficed tens of men.
The Prophet. Moreover, foretold of many things, which later came true. Al-Bukhari quotes Anas as having narrated this story: The Prophet once climbed Mount Uhud, near Madinah, with Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman in his company. The Mount shook a little; and the Prophet kicked it by his leg, saying; Do not shake, Uhud, you have over you now a Prophet, a Truthful man and two martyrs. The prophecy came true; Umar was later killed by a Persian slave, Abu Loloa, which he was leading Muslims in a dawn prayer; Uthman Ibn Affan was killed during the great outrage that was plotted against him towards the end of his tenure as a Caliph.
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