Hawzah News Agency ­– As previously noted, the miracles of the Holy Prophet cannot be limited to the fact that the Qur’an was revealed through him; rather, in various circumstances, for the sake of convincing certain persons, he performed a number of miracles. Here, we must firmly establish in our minds, on the basis of the following simple inquiry, the fact that the Prophet did accomplish miracles other than that of the revelation of the Qur’an itself. The Qur’an speaks of nine miracles in connection with Moses, five in connection with Jesus; it is hardly conceivable, then, that the final Prophet, the seal (khatam) of all previous Prophets, should not perform miracles also, even if the pre-eminent miracle remains that of the revelation of the Holy Qur’an.

A number of miracles are, in fact, mentioned in the Qur’an:

1. The cleaving of the moon. When the idolaters made their faith contingent upon the splitting of the moon in two by the

Prophet, he, with the permission of God, did exactly that; as the Qur’an says:

The hour drew nigh and the moon was rent in twain. And if they behold a sign they turn away and say: prolonged illusion.  (Sura al-Qamar, LIV: 1–2)

The last verse clearly shows that what is meant in the reference to the cleaving of the moon is not the cleaving that takes place at the Resurrection, but its being cleft in two at the time of the Prophet.

2. The Mi’raj (ascent to Heaven). Another of the miracles of the Prophet is that he travelled from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to the Mosque of al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, and from thence to the heavenly realms; this astonishing journey taking place one evening, in the course of a very short space of time. This is also related in the Qur’an. The power of God is such that no existential factors could be a hindrance in the Prophet’s ascent through the Heavens.

3. The Mubahala (trial by mutual imprecation). In order to prove his authenticity, the Prophet invited a group of Christians to perform the Mubahala, saying: ‘Come, bring yourselves, your children and your women and invoke the curse of God on the liars amongst us.’ It is obvious that such a mutual imprecation would end in the destruction of one of the two parties, but the Prophet declared his readiness to enter into such a contest.

Eventually, the Christians withdrew, and accepted the Prophethood of the Prophet, after witnessing his resolution and his justice, and after seeing that he had brought his dearest folk with him to the appointed place.

Reference:

Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, Doctrines of Shii Islam, A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices, Translated and Edited by Reza Shah-Kazemi, published by I.B.Tauris Publishers, london • new york  2003.

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