Muhammads Miracles: Difference between revisions

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This article examines the Islamic belief of Muhammad's ability to perform miracles.

Introduction

The hadith record that Muhammad denied being able to perform miracles, and the Qur'an states that he had maintained this denial when confronted by critics. Some suggest that Muhammad's only miracle was the revelation of the Qur'an, but other purported miracles, such as the so-called "Moon splitting miracle," are referenced in the Qur'an and endorsed in hadith literature. Some of the miracles alleged to occur in Muhammad's life share great similarities with miracle stories from earlier faiths, and the Qur'an itself has a richly-documented textual history, along with claims of dubious reliability.

Miracles

Moon Splitting Miracle

The hour drew nigh and the moon did rend asunder.

And if they see a miracle they turn aside and say: Transient magic.

And they call (it) a lie, and follow their low desires; and every affair has its appointed term.

Quran 54:1-3

The amazing and wonderful phenomenon of the splitting of the Moon was a manifest sign of the truth that the Resurrection, of which the Holy Prophet was giving them the news, could take place and that it had approached near at hand. The great sphere of the Moon had split into two distinct parts in front of their very eyes. The two parts had separated and receded so much apart from each other that to the on-lookers one part had appeared on one side of the mountain and the other on the other side of it. Then, in an instant the two had rejoined.

The Meaning of the Qur'an: Al-Qamar
Syed Abu-Ala' Maududi

Narrated Abdullah bin Masud: "During the lifetime of the Prophet the moon was split into two parts and on that the Prophet said, 'Bear witness (to thus).'"

Sahih Bukhari 3636

Narrated Anas: "That the Meccan people requested Allah's Apostle to show them a miracle, and so he showed them the splitting of the moon."

Sahih Bukhari 3637

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: "The moon was split into two parts during the lifetime of the Prophet."

Sahih Bukhari 3638

Narrated Anas bin Malik: "The people of Mecca asked Allah's Apostle to show them a miracle. So he showed them the moon split in two halves between which they saw the Hiram' mountain."

Sahih Bukhari 3868

Narrated 'Abdullah: "The moon was split ( into two pieces ) while we were with the Prophet in Mina. He said, "Be witnesses." Then a Piece of the moon went towards the mountain."

Sahih Bukhari 3869

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas: "During the lifetime of Allah's Apostle the moon was split (into two places)."

Sahih Bukhari 3870

Narrated 'Abdullah: "The moon was split (into two pieces)."

Sahih Bukhari 3871

Water Creation Miracle

Narrated Anas bin Malik: I saw Allah's Apostle when the 'Asr prayer was due and the people searched for water to perform ablution but they could not find it. Later on (a pot full of) water for ablution was brought to Allah's Apostle . He put his hand in that pot and ordered the people to perform ablution from it. I saw the water springing out from underneath his fingers till all of them performed the ablution (it was one of the miracles of the Prophet).

Sahih Bukhari 169

Multiplied Bread Miracle

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah: When the Trench was dug, I saw the Prophet in the state of severe hunger. So I returned to my wife and said, "Have you got anything (to eat), for I have seen Allah's Apostle in a state of severe hunger." She brought out for me, a bag containing one Sa of barley, and we had a domestic she animal (i.e. a kid) which I slaughtered then, and my wife ground the barley and she finished at the time I finished my job (i.e. slaughtering the kid). Then I cut the meat into pieces and put it in an earthenware (cooking) pot, and returned to Allah's Apostle . My wife said, "Do not disgrace me in front of Allah's Apostle and those who are with him." So I went to him and said to him secretly, "O Allah's Apostle! I have slaughtered a she-animal (i.e. kid) of ours, and we have ground a Sa of barley which was with us. So please come, you and another person along with you." The Prophet raised his voice and said, "O people of Trench! Jabir has prepared a meal so let us go." Allah's Apostle said to me, "Don't put down your earthenware meat pot (from the fireplace) or bake your dough till I come." So I came (to my house) and Allah's Apostle too, came, proceeding before the people. When I came to my wife, she said, "May Allah do so-and-so to you." I said, "I have told the Prophet of what you said." Then she brought out to him (i.e. the Prophet the dough, and he spat in it and invoked for Allah's Blessings in it. Then he proceeded towards our earthenware meat-pot and spat in it and invoked for Allah's Blessings in it. Then he said (to my wife). Call a lady-baker to bake along with you and keep on taking out scoops from your earthenware meat-pot, and do not put it down from its fireplace." They were one-thousand (who took their meals), and by Allah they all ate, and when they left the food and went away, our earthenware pot was still bubbling (full of meat) as if it had not decreased, and our dough was still being baked as if nothing had been taken from it.

Sahih Bukhari 4102

Analysis

Bukhari's criteria

When determining sahih hadith narrations, the burden of proof is on the person who claims a certain narration is not authentic to provide the evidence for its inauthenticity.

Imam Bukhari developed three criteria to determine whether a narration was sahih. His third criteria regards mat'n (text), i.e. the text/content of a narration must not contradict the Qur'an. The only exception to this rule is narrations regarded as Qudsi, or narrations which contain non-Qur'anic words from Allah.

Hadith Evidence

The hadith record that Muhammad, when challenged by skeptics, denied being able to perform any miracles. He admitted that although other prophets before him could perform miracles, his only miracle was the Qur'an:

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "There was no prophet among the prophets but was given miracles because of which people had security or had belief, but what I was given was the Divine Inspiration which Allah revealed to me. So I hope that my followers will be more than those of any other prophet on the Day of Resurrection."

Sahih Bukhari 7274

Qur'anic Evidence

Muhammad acknowledges in the following verse that other prophets before him came with miracles or clear signs but were still rejected, demonstrating the futility of miracles as proof of revelation:

They (also) said: "Allah took our promise not to believe in an messenger unless He showed us a sacrifice consumed by Fire (From heaven)." Say: "There came to you messengers before me, with clear Signs and even with what ye ask for: why then did ye slay them, if ye speak the truth?" if you are truthful?

Quran 3:138

In another verse, nonbelievers asked Muhammad to perform a miracle so that they too could believe.

They say: "We shall not believe in thee, until thou cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth,

Quran 17:90

And he would reply:

Say: "Glory to my Lord! Am I aught but a man,- a messenger?"

Quran 17:93

According to the Qur'an, Muhammad was doubted due to his seeming lack of extraordinary or miraculous characteristics:

And naught prevented mankind from believing when the guidance came unto them save that they said: Hath Allah sent a mortal as (His) messenger?

Quran 17:94

And they say: "What sort of a messenger is this, who eats food, and walks through the streets? Why has not an angel been sent down to him to give admonition with him? "Or (Why) has not a treasure been bestowed on him, or why has he (not) a garden for enjoyment?" The wicked say: "Ye follow none other than a man bewitched."

Quran 25:7-8

Muhammad maintained that he was just an ordinary man, not an angel, meaning people should not expect miracles from him:

Say: Had there been in the earth angels walking about as settlers, We would certainly have sent down to them from the heaven an angel as a messenger.

Quran 17:95

Another verse records another instance where miracles are requested of Muhammad:

Why do you not bring to us the angels if you are of the truthful ones?

Quran 15:6

To this, Muhammad responded:

We send not the angels down except for just cause: if they came (to the ungodly), behold! no respite would they have! “And the Unbelievers say: "Why is not a sign sent down to him from his Lord?" But thou art truly a warner, and to every people a guide.”

Quran 15:7-8

The Quraishites continued asked for a sign or a miracle to believe, but Muhammad repeated that he was only a warner:

“And the Unbelievers say: "Why is not a sign sent down to him from his Lord?" But thou art truly a warner, and to every people a guide.”

Quran 13:7

The following verse seems to suggest that miracles are insufficient grounds for prophethood, since magicians can achieve feats that resemble miracles:

Their hearts toying as with trifles. The wrong-doers conceal their private counsels, (saying), "Is this (one) more than a man like yourselves? Will ye go to witchcraft with your eyes open?"

Quran 2:3

These verses, which consistently deny Muhammad's ability to perform miracles, stand in sharp contrast to hadith which record Muhammad's purported miracles.

Modern Historian Views of Quran Verse 54:1

Many modern academics view the moon splitting verse in the Qur'an as a natural astronomical phenomenon that may have occurred during the time of Muhammad, which Muhammad took as an omen of significance. Similar beliefs appear in antique Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian writings,^[1] accounts of which later commentators and biographers may have exaggerated as a literal, miraculous splitting. Uri Rubin and Rudi Paret, for example, suggest it was a partial lunar eclipse,^[2] while David Cook notes it may have been a comet.^[3]

The assertion that the “hour” is near picks up on a threatening sign that had already been used once in early Mecca (in Q 79:42). “The Hour” was there the subject of the question: yasʾalūnaka ʿani l-sāʿati ayāna mursāhā (“They ask you about the hour when it will come”; see HC 1, 246, on Q 79:42), but which did not allow an answer...

...In the spirit of this awareness, the reality of the ‘drawing near hour’ is affirmed in v. 1. This happens for the first time through an empirically observed natural phenomenon: a ‘moon splitting,’ perhaps a lunar eclipse, if one wishes to follow Rubin (2010) with the interpretation of the word in the sense of a poetic-pictorial dressing of the well-known phenomenon. The listeners are familiar with such changes in the celestial bodies from the eschatological predictions clothed in so-called idhā series (see the text type SKMS, 188ff.). Thus a change in the moon in Q 75:8 stands in the context of an eschatological scene. The short sentence Q 75:7–13 rhymes with the same schema 3Car as Q 54, it is obviously evoked here. In Q 75 the ‘disappearance’ of the moon is followed by the prediction of a merging of the sun and moon and finally the projection of the last day... ...A phenomenon known from apocalyptic literature as a sign of the end of the world, which had already been part of the proclamation, is explained as being present in the now: the change in a celestial body has now actually occurred; so the “hour” is near. However, this upgrading of the natural phenomenon was met with ridicule from the opponents...

..As Bell (1939: 544ff.) and Paret (KKK, 495) have already emphasized, v. 1 is about a natural event that may have actually taken place at the time of the Meccan proclamation. The interpretation of iqtarabat (and inshaqqat) as “Perfectum propheticum,” as an indication of a future event, which older translators advocate (cf. Blachère 1949: 140ff.), is anachronistic, obviously owing its origins to Islamic tradition. It occurs because the “sign” of the splitting of the moon, which according to a hadith of Ibn Masʿūd was observed by Masʿūd himself and therefore had early relevance in the biography of the prophet, could no longer function as an eschatological sign that had already occurred, as the associated announcement of the imminent end of the world had not come true. It was now understood by some as a mere prediction of an apparition, by others as a sign actually wrought by the prophet himself, a confirming miracle (see Andrae 1918: 55–57; Schimmel 1985: 69–71; and especially Rubin 2010; for the discussions of the theologians who, like al-Naẓẓām [d. 844/845], had to deal with the nonfulfillment of the prediction of the end of the world, see van Ess 1992: 415ff. and 1995: 167ff.).

Neuwirth, Angelika. The Qur'an: Text and Commentary, Volume 2.1: Early Middle Meccan Suras: The New Elect (p. 56 - 58). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{QualityScore|Lead=1|Structure=2|Content=2|Language=2|References=2}}
-This article analyzes the Islamic belief that [[Muhammad]] was able to perform [[Islam and Miracles|miracles]].
+This article examines the Islamic belief of [[Muhammad]]'s ability to perform [[Islam and Miracles|miracles]].
 ==Introduction==
-While some suggest Muhammad's only miracle was the [[revelation]] of the [[Qur'an]], the so-called "[[Moon Split Miracle|Moon splitting miracle]]" and "Night Journey" and other lesser-known miracles are widely held to be orthodox Islamic beliefs, and find reference in the Qur'an and heavy endorsement in the hadith literature. Some of these miracles alleged to occur in Muhammad's life also appear to adaptations of miracle stories from [[People of the Book|earlier faiths]].
+The hadith record that Muhammad denied being able to perform miracles, and the Qur'an states that he had maintained this denial when confronted by critics. Some suggest that Muhammad's only miracle was the revelation of the Qur'an, but other purported miracles, such as the so-called "[[Moon Split Miracle|Moon splitting miracle]]," are referenced in the Qur'an and endorsed in hadith literature. Some of the miracles alleged to occur in Muhammad's life share great similarities with miracle stories from [[People of the Book|earlier faiths]], and the Qur'an itself has a richly-documented [[Textual History of the Qur'an|textual history]], along with [[Contradictions in the Quran|claims of dubious reliability.]]
-The hadith record that Muhammad denied being able to perform miracles, and an analysis of the Qur'an clearly shows that he had maintained this denial when confronted by critics. And thus, according to imam Bukhari's criteria, the narrations which claim miracles on Muhammad's behalf should be discarded.
-It appears more clearly then why Muhammad emphasized the Qur'an as his miracle, for he, it seems, did not think himself in possession of other miracles. Moreover, while miracles may serve as proof for those who witness them, they must come to mean little to others. Moreover, one may add, it is indeed quite difficult to maintain the Qur'an is miraculous, given its [[Textual History of the Qur'an|textual history]] and [[Contradictions in the Quran|claims of dubious reliability]], but this is only of secondary relevance to this article, which looks at what the Islamic scriptures say about the prophet's ability to do miracles whatsoever.
 ==Miracles==
@@ Line 45: / Line 41: @@
 ===Bukhari's criteria===
-When dealing with [[sahih]] [[hadith]] narrations, in the Islamic context, the burden of proof is always on the person who claims a certain narration is not authentic to provide the [[Daleel|evidence]] for ''why'' they consider it to be not authentic.
+When determining [[sahih]] [[hadith]] narrations, the burden of proof is on the person who claims a certain narration is not authentic to provide the [[Daleel|evidence]] for its inauthenticity.
-Imam Bukhari came up with three criteria which he used to determine whether or not a narration was sahih or not. His third criteria is regarding ''mat'n'' (text), i.e. the text/content of a narration must not be in contradiction with the Qur'an. The only exception to this rule is the narrations regarded by scholars to be ''Qudsi'' (narrations which contain non-Qur'anic words from Allah).
+Imam Bukhari developed three criteria to determine whether a narration was sahih. His third criteria regards ''mat'n'' (text), i.e. the text/content of a narration must not contradict the Qur'an. The only exception to this rule is narrations regarded as ''Qudsi'', or narrations which contain non-Qur'anic words from Allah.
 ====Hadith Evidence====
-When challenged by skeptics, the hadith record that Muhammad denied being able to perform any miracles. He admitted that although other prophets before him were given the power of performing miracles, his only miracle was the Qur'an:
+The hadith record that Muhammad, when challenged by skeptics, denied being able to perform any miracles. He admitted that although other prophets before him could perform miracles, his only miracle was the Qur'an:
 {{Quote|{{Bukhari|||7274|darussalam}}|Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "There was no prophet among the prophets but was given miracles because of which people had security or had belief, but what I was given was the Divine Inspiration which Allah revealed to me. So I hope that my followers will be more than those of any other prophet on the Day of Resurrection."}}
@@ Line 57: / Line 53: @@
 ====Qur'anic Evidence====
-Reaffirming the previous hadith, in the following verse Muhammad is acknowledging that other prophets before him came with miracles or clear signs but still people rejected them, highlighting the futility of miracles as the proof of his revelation:
+Muhammad acknowledges in the following verse that other prophets before him came with miracles or clear signs but were still rejected, demonstrating the futility of miracles as proof of revelation:
 {{Quote|{{Quran|3|138}}|They (also) said: "Allah took our promise not to believe in an messenger unless He showed us a sacrifice consumed by Fire (From heaven)." Say: "There came to you messengers before me, with clear Signs and even with what ye ask for: why then did ye slay them, if ye speak the truth?"  if you are truthful?}}
-The unbelievers asked Muhammad to perform a miracle so that they too could believe. All they received in response was,
+In another verse, nonbelievers asked Muhammad to perform a miracle so that they too could believe.
 {{Quote|{{Quran|17|90}}|They say: "We shall not believe in thee, until thou cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth,}}
@@ Line 68: / Line 64: @@
 {{Quote|{{Quran|17|93}}|Say: "Glory to my Lord! Am I aught but a man,- a messenger?"}}
-According to the Qur'an, people doubted Muhammad due to seeing nothing extraordinary or miraculous in him:
+According to the Qur'an, Muhammad was doubted due to his seeming lack of extraordinary or miraculous characteristics:
 {{Quote|{{Quran|17|94}}|And naught prevented mankind from believing when the guidance came unto them save that they said: Hath Allah sent a mortal as (His) messenger?}}
@@ Line 78: / Line 74: @@
 {{Quote|{{Quran|17|95}}|Say: Had there been in the earth angels walking about as settlers, We would certainly have sent down to them from the heaven an angel as a messenger.}}
-Muhammad was accused of being a "possessed by demons" - a suspicion Muhammad, at one point shared - and other times of being a "mad man". One wonders if such accusations would be made against someone conducting miracles.
+Another verse records another instance where miracles are requested of Muhammad:
-{{Quote|{{Quran|34|46}}|Say (unto them, O Muhammad): I exhort you unto one thing only: that ye awake, for Allah's sake, by twos and singly, and then reflect: There is no madness in your comrade. He is naught else than a warner unto you in face of a terrific doom.}}
-{{Quote|{{Quran|81|22}}|And your comrade is not mad.}}
-{{Quote|{{Quran|25|8}}|Or (why is not) treasure thrown down unto him, or why hath he not a paradise from whence to eat? And the evil-doers say: Ye are but following a man bewitched.}}
-Miracles continued to be requested:
 {{Quote|{{Quran|15|6}}|Why do you not bring to us the angels if you are of the truthful ones?}}
@@ Line 96: / Line 84: @@
 “And the Unbelievers say: "Why is not a sign sent down to him from his Lord?" But thou art truly a warner, and to every people a guide.”}}
-The Quraishites continued asking for a sign or a miracle to believe, however Muhammad repeated that he was only a warner:
+The Quraishites continued asked for a sign or a miracle to believe, but Muhammad repeated that he was only a warner:
 {{Quote|{{Quran|13|7}}|“And the Unbelievers say: "Why is not a sign sent down to him from his Lord?" But thou art truly a warner, and to every people a guide.”}}
-Many other verses host the same theme: people asking for miracles, and Muhammad replies “I am just a man, just like you, only a warner”.
+The following verse seems to suggest that miracles are insufficient grounds for prophethood, since magicians can achieve feats that resemble miracles:
-This verse seems to suggest that miracles would prove futile and that, as such, they were not provided to Muhammad:
-{{Quote|{{Quran|3|184}}|Then if they reject thee, so were rejected messengers before thee, who came with Clear Signs, Books of dark prophecies, and the Book of Enlightenment.}}
-If the hadith describing Muhammad's miracles are to be considered authentic, what might these verses possibly be referring to? In fact, one would imagine that Qur'an would rather emphasize such miracles, had they occurred, rather `than implying their non-occurrence.
-The following verses seems to suggest that miracles are an insufficient grounds for prophet-hood, since magicians can achieve what resembles miracles:
-{{Quote|{{Quran|2|3}}|Their hearts toying as with trifles. The wrong-doers conceal their private counsels, (saying), "Is this (one) more than a man like yourselves? Will ye go to witchcraft with your eyes open?"}}
+{{Quote|{{Quran|2|3}}|Their hearts toying as with trifles. The wrong-doers conceal their private counsels, (saying), "Is this (one) more than a man like yourselves? Will ye go to witchcraft with your eyes open?"}}These verses, which consistently deny Muhammad's ability to perform miracles, stand in sharp contrast to hadith which record Muhammad's purported miracles.
 ==== Modern Historian Views of Quran Verse 54:1 ====
-Many modern academics view the moon splitting verse in the Qur'an simply as a natural astronomical phenomena that may have occurred during the time of Mohammed; which he believed was a sign the hour was imminent, a common belief in antiquity that appears in Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian writings in the centuries preceding Islam (and during early Islam),<ref>For examples of this in Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrianism literature in the centuries preceding Islam, see Shoemaker, Stephen J. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16t6jmh. ''The Apocalypse of Empire: Imperial Eschatology in Late Antiquity and Early Islam.''] University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018. ''Chapters 1 - 4''
+Many modern academics view the moon splitting verse in the Qur'an as a natural astronomical phenomenon that may have occurred during the time of Muhammad, which Muhammad took as an omen of significance. Similar beliefs appear in antique Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian writings,<ref>For examples of this in Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrianism literature in the centuries preceding Islam, see Shoemaker, Stephen J. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16t6jmh. ''The Apocalypse of Empire: Imperial Eschatology in Late Antiquity and Early Islam.''] University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018. ''Chapters 1 - 4''
-For Muslim's similar beliefs in early Islam, see ''Chapters 5 and 6''.</ref> which later commentators and biographers writing hagiographic material exaggerated to be a miraculous literal splitting. Uri Rubin and Rudi Paret for example suggest it was a partial lunar eclipse,<ref>''Muhammad’s message in Mecca: warnings, signs, and miracles [The case of the splitting of the moon (Q 54:1-2)].'' Uri Rubin in Jonathan E. Brockopp, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad (Cambridge, 2010), 39-60. Noting Rudi Paret's opinion in footnote 9 pp. 44.
+For Muslim's similar beliefs in early Islam, see ''Chapters 5 and 6''.</ref> accounts of which later commentators and biographers may have exaggerated as a literal, miraculous splitting. Uri Rubin and Rudi Paret, for example, suggest it was a partial lunar eclipse,<ref>''Muhammad’s message in Mecca: warnings, signs, and miracles [The case of the splitting of the moon (Q 54:1-2)].'' Uri Rubin in Jonathan E. Brockopp, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad (Cambridge, 2010), 39-60. Noting Rudi Paret's opinion in footnote 9 pp. 44.
 </ref> while David Cook notes it may have been a comet.<ref>Shoemaker, Stephen J.. The Death of a Prophet ''(Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion) (p. 161).'' University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.. Kindle Edition. </ref>

Muhammads Miracles: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:10, 24 November 2025

Contents

Introduction

Miracles

Moon Splitting Miracle

Water Creation Miracle

Multiplied Bread Miracle

Analysis

Bukhari's criteria

Hadith Evidence

Qur'anic Evidence

Modern Historian Views of Quran Verse 54:1

See Also

Navigation menu

Muhammads Miracles: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:10, 24 November 2025

Introduction

Miracles

Moon Splitting Miracle

Water Creation Miracle

Multiplied Bread Miracle

Analysis

Bukhari's criteria

Hadith Evidence

Qur'anic Evidence

Modern Historian Views of Quran Verse 54:1

See Also

Navigation menu

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