The great miracle bestowed upon the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), is the Holy Qur’an. In essence, Allah Almighty Himself has revealed His blessed word through the Prophet’s noble tongue. Its words, sentences, styles, themes, reports, and commandments all belong to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Because of this, it is a miracle that is unique in its essence, unparalleled in its nature, perfect in its witnessing, and eternal in its manifestation.
This is undoubtedly extraordinary, for it is the only book in human history whose text contains neither contradiction nor inconsistency, neither decline nor evolution. Language and literature fall short of presenting an example of its eloquence and rhetoric, its elegance and sweetness. It is filled with perfect meaning, high-mindedness, deep insight, and breadth of vision. This is the statement of ‘Knower of the unseen and the seen,’ therefore it is the only inscription on the face of the earth that informs about both the realm of space and the realm beyond space. When one reads it, the lost truths of the past are unveiled, and the unknown events of the future become known. Thus, every person of intellect, willingly or unwillingly, is compelled to acknowledge that it is an epitome of knowledge and wisdom, a treasure of religion and morality, and a collection of law and philosophy, and that for the guidance and success of humanity, there is no better prescription available on earth.
Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, while describing its miraculous nature, writes:
The miracle given to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in this context is the Qur’an. Those who are familiar with the styles of eloquence in the Arabic language and the tradition of literature and have a taste for literary creativity can clearly sense upon reading it that this cannot be the words of any human. Accordingly, at multiple instances, it has challenged its audience that if they are true in their assumption that this is not the word of God, but rather Muhammad is fabricating it, then they should produce even a single chapter of equal stature. If, as they claim, an individual from their own community can accomplish this without any scholarly or literary background, then there should be no difficulty for them in this regard.
The Qur’an’s claim was an astonishing claim. It meant that the Qur’an is a discourse, the likes of which it is impossible for the human mind to create. This was a claim of the extraordinary uniqueness of the Qur’an in terms of eloquence and excellence of expression. It was a claim to present a discourse in which God speaks, similar to the Qur’an, clarifying those truths whose clarification is of utmost necessity for humanity and which have never been elucidated by human discourse, providing guidance on matters for which there is no other source of guidance at all. A discourse for which intuition bears witness, whose truths are confirmed by the certainties of knowledge and intellect, which quenches desolate hearts the way rain quenches parched earth, possessing the same magnificence and impact that a reader of the Qur’an feels in every word if they are familiar with its language.
History tells us that none of the addressees of the Qur’an dared to confront this challenge. It is stated:
وَاِنْ كُنْتُمْ فِيْ رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلٰي عَبْدِنَا فَاْتُوْا بِسُوْرَةٍ مِّنْ مِّثْلِهٖﵣ وَادْعُوْا شُهَدَآءَكُمْ مِّنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ صٰدِقِيْنَ. فَاِنْ لَّمْ تَفْعَلُوْا وَلَنْ تَفْعَلُوْا فَاتَّقُوا النَّارَ الَّتِيْ وَقُوْدُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ اُعِدَّتْ لِلْكٰفِرِيْنَ.
[This is what this Book calls to. Accept it] and if you are in doubt about what We have revealed to Our servant, then [go and] produce a single surah like it. And, [for this purpose,] also call your leaders besides God, if you are truthful [in this claim of yours]. (2:23-34)
This book of God is still present with us today. Nearly fourteen centuries have passed over it. During this period, the world has changed drastically. Humankind has sculpted numerous idols of ideology and thought, only to later break them themselves. There have been countless transformations in human theories about the self and the universe, and humanity has gone through numerous phases of abandonment and adoption. It has traversed various paths and ultimately reached its current state, yet this book, which also narrates many things that have been the special focus of knowledge and research in these last two centuries, stands alone in the entire world’s literature, remaining unyielding and steadfast just as it was fourteen hundred years ago. Reason and intellect were compelled to acknowledge their limitations before it then, and they are compelled to do so today as well. Every statement of this book still stands with its full grandeur in its place today. Despite the amazing scientific discoveries of the world, no opportunity has arisen for any amendment or alteration within it.
وَبِالْحَقِّ اَنْزَلْنٰهُ وَبِالْحَقِّ نَزَلَ وَمَا٘ اَرْسَلْنٰكَ اِلَّا مُبَشِّرًا وَّنَذِيْرًا.
We have revealed this Qur’an with the truth and it is revealed with the truth, and [O Prophet!] We have sent you only to give glad tidings [to those who believe] and to warn [those who do not believe]. (17:105) (Meezan 136-138)
In addition to the magnificent miracle of the Qur’an, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was occasionally granted various miracles according to circumstances. It is important to note that the personality of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) is in itself a great miracle. Allah speaks to him, Gabriel (PBUH) conveys Allah’s message to him, he is accompanied by angels, the word of Allah flows from his tongue. He informs people of the unseen by receiving news from the heavens, and blessings and benedictions emanate from his being. There is hardly a day when a sign or a miracle of Allah does not appear in his environment or from his being. Some of these signs are mentioned in the Qur’an, and others are found in books of Hadith and Seerah. As examples, two miracles are mentioned below.
A miracle of the Battle of Badr is when you threw a handful of dust towards the army of the disbelievers, and it turned into a storm of dust that entered the eyes of the deniers. This miracle is mentioned in the Qur’an, and some details are also found in narrations. In Surah Al-Anfal, it is stated:
فَلَمْ تَقْتُلُوْهُمْ وَلٰكِنَّ اللّٰهَ قَتَلَهُمْ وَمَا رَمَيْتَ اِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلٰكِنَّ اللّٰهَ رَمٰي وَلِيُبْلِيَ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ مِنْهُ بَلَآءً حَسَنًا اِنَّ اللّٰهَ سَمِيْعٌ عَلِيْمٌ.
[Believers! Why should you show reluctance when God fights from your side?] So, in reality, you did not slay them [in this battle]; it is, in fact, God Who has slain them, and [O Prophet!] When you threw [dust] on them, it was not you but God Who has thrown it to show various aspects of His majesty to the disbelievers and to grant a goodly favor from Himself to the Muslims. Indeed, God sees and hears all. (8:17)
Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi has established the title “The Miracles Hidden in the Sleeve of the Prophet (PBUH)” to explain this position, and under it, he writes:
In Falam taqtulūhum (So you did not kill them), the address is to the general Muslims, and in wa mā ramayta (and you did not throw) it is directed towards the Holy Prophet (PBUH). This is why there is a difference between the plural and singular forms. Ramī is used for shooting arrows, throwing stones, pebbles, dust, and ashes. It is narrated in traditions that when the enemy troops came forward, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) took a handful of dust from the ground and, saying shāhat al-wujūh (may the faces be disfigured), threw it towards the disbelievers. Shāhat al-wujūh is a phrase of curse in Arabic, and throwing dust on someone has been a method of cursing since ancient times. It is also mentioned in the Torah and is found in the traditions of the Arabs. In the commentary of Surah Al-Fil, Maulana Farahi has referenced these. Here, the linguistic style must also be considered that sometimes the negation of an action does not mean the negation of the act itself but negation of the attribution of those splendid results that appeared under the veil of that act. A handful of defenseless Muslims cutting through the iron-clad army of Quraysh like carrots and radishes or the small amount of dust thrown by the blessed hand of the Prophet (PBUH) turning into such a storm that it affected all the disbelievers’ eyes; these were not the feats of Muslims’ swords wrapped in shreds or the Prophet’s ramī, but the feats of that Unseen Hand hidden in the scabbards of the Muslims and the sleeves of the Prophet (PBUH). (Tadabbur-e-Qur’an 3/451)
One example of the miracles of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) is the prophecies revealed by Allah, which were announced through his blessed tongue. Some of these are mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and some are transmitted in narrations. Long before the great and unexpected events of the Prophet’s (PBUH) dominance in the land of Arabia, the conquest of Mecca, and the masses entering the religion in droves, he had foretold about them. The prophecy of the Romans' victory after being defeated by the Persians was similarly beyond imagination and above hope and expectation. This is stated in the Holy Qur’an as follows:
غُلِبَتِ الرُّوْمُ. فِيْ٘ اَدْنَي الْاَرْضِ وَهُمْ مِّنْۣ بَعْدِ غَلَبِهِمْ سَيَغْلِبُوْنَ. فِيْ بِضْعِ سِنِيْنَﵾ لِلّٰهِ الْاَمْرُ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَمِنْۣ بَعْدُﵧ وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَّفْرَحُ الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ. بِنَصْرِ اللّٰهِﵧ يَنْصُرُ مَنْ يَّشَآءُ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيْزُ الرَّحِيْمُ. وَعْدَ اللّٰهِ لَا يُخْلِفُ اللّٰهُ وَعْدَهٗ وَلٰكِنَّ اَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ.
The Romans have been defeated in the nearby land but after this defeat of theirs they shall soon be victorious in the next few years. Whatever happened before this happened at God’s behest also and whatever will happen in future will also happen at God’s behest and the believers will rejoice on that day because of God’s help. God helps whomsoever He pleases and He is Powerful and very Merciful. God’s promise is certain and God does not go back on His promise, but most people know not. (30:2-6)
Javed Ahmed Ghamidi has detailed this incident in these words:
In fact, the words adna al-ard (the nearest land) appear, which refer to the land of Syria and Palestine, adjacent to the land of Arabia. When the Prophet (PBUH) was born, there were two major empires in the world: the Christian Roman Empire and the Zoroastrian Persian Empire. There was always a competitive struggle between them. In the year 603 AD, under the pretext of quelling a rebellion, Persia attacked the Roman Empire. After this, the Romans faced defeat after defeat, until by 616 AD, much of the eastern Roman Empire, including Jerusalem, fell into Persian hands. This was the sixth or seventh year of the Prophethood of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). The Qur’an made this prophecy sometime between 617 and 620 AD. Edward Gibbon, the author of ‘The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,’[10] states that at the time this prophecy was made, such advance warning was unprecedented, as the first twelve years of Roman Emperor Heraclius’ reign announced the end of the Roman Empire. The Qur’an explicitly stated that it would not take long and would be fulfilled within the next decade (bid’a sinīn). Thus, exactly as announced, it was fulfilled and in March 628 AD, the Roman Emperor returned to Constantinople in such grandeur that his chariot was drawn by four elephants and countless people were gathered outside the capital with lamps and olive branches to welcome their hero.
This prophecy, with this determination and specificity, was made as evidence of the Messengership of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It is understood from traditions that Muslims naturally felt sympathy towards Christians due to their religious proximity, the message of the Qur’an, and their conduct with Muslims, especially in Abyssinia. The Qur’an assured them that they should not be disheartened, as their brethren among the People of the Book would soon prevail, and this prophecy would also serve as substantial evidence of the Prophethood they have believed in, as no one other than God can provide such specific and definitive information about the future. (Al-Bayan 4 / 43-44)