Can you give examples of the prophet
Muhammad's miracles?
The miracles the Prophet Muhammad worked fall in several categories:
The information prophet Muhammad gave 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 Qur�an 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 Qur�an. 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 Qur�an 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
Qur�anic chapters which were revealed in the Makkan period of Muhammad�s
Prophethood, during which he had contact 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 Qur�an 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 Qur�an 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.
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 Qur�an and in books of Tradition.
Some of the predictions the Prophet Muhammad made are found in the Qur�an.
To cite a few examples?
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
Makka 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
Perisans:
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 Makka two years before
- It was only six years after the Prophet, upon him be peace and
blessings, had emigrated to Madina that he left for Makka 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 Qur�anic 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 Makka.
The Qur�an 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 Qur�an is about the events of the Last Day.
The Qur�an describes how the world will be destroyed and rebuilt 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 Qur�an also
gives a vivid description of Paradise and Hell and the life in them.
Does Muhammad have predictions to be found
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 Madina, 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.6 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 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. Muslim, Janna, 76, 77.
2. Bukhari, Manaqib, 22; Abu Dawud, Jihad, 97.
3. Bukhari, Salat, 63; Muslim, Fitan, 70, 72; I
Hanbal, Musnad, 12.161, 164.
4. Ibn Maja, Jana�iz, 65; Muslim, Fada�il al-Sahaba,
15; I. Hanbal, 3.197.
5. Bukhari, Jihad, 95, 96; Abu Dawud, Malahim, 10;
I. Maja, Fitan, 36.
6. Hakim, Mustadrak, 3.75. Also related by Tirmidhi,
I. Hanbal and I. Maja.
7. Hakim, 4.445; I. Hanbal, 4.303; also related by
Muslim, Tirmidhi and I. Maja.
8. Abu Dawud, Sunna, 8; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 48; I.
Hanbal, 4.273.
9. Hakim, 3.100; I. Hanbal, 6.114; I. Maja, 5.188;
also related by Tirmidhi.
10. Abu Nu�aym, Hilyat al-Awliya�, 1.94; also
related by Bukhari and Muslim.
11. Suyuti, Jami� al-Saghir, 6.24; related by
Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi.
12. Hakim, 3.453; also related by Muslim, I. Hanbal
and Tirmidhi.
13. Hakim, 4.422; Bukhari, Tarikh al-Saghir, 139; I.
Hanbal, 4.335
- God�s Messenger predicted that, through the reformations in agriculture
and developments in science and technology, a pomegranate will suffice for
as many as twenty people, with its rind providing shade for them. He also
prophesied that the wheat produced in so small an area as a house balcony
will be enough for the annual consumption of a family.1
The Prophet made many other predictions concerning developments in
science. We will cite them while giving answers to the questions concerning
his truthfulness.
1. Muslim, Fitan, 110; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 59; I. Hanbal, 4.182)
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