Allah (most gracious and powerful) gave his prophets numerous miracles and signs that were recorded in the stories of prophets and some texts in the Holy Quran and Sunnah books, as follows:
The Miracle of Prophet Noah (AS)
Allah (most gracious and powerful) supported his prophet Noah (AS) with the miracle of the Ark. The prophet spent decades building an Ark in desert; His people mocked him and accused him of going mad until Allah (most gracious and powerful) commanded rain to fall from sky and springs to erupt from earth. This went on until all land was flooded and all creatures were perished, except those who got on the Ark, the hidden miracle.
The Miracle of Prophet Ibrahim (AS)
Allah (most gracious and powerful) supported his prophet Ibrahim (AS) with many miracles, including:
- Making the fire his people had thrown Him into cool and safe haven, after He destroyed their idols to convince them that they are mere stones with no power, which provoked them to throw Him in fire as a punishment.
- Sacrificing a ram in place of His son Ismael (AS): This was after Prophet Ibrahim (AS) saw a dream in which He sacrificed his son who he begot at the age of 86 and became a young man again. Allah (most gracious and powerful) wanted to test Prophet Ibrahim’s faith; so, he ordered Him to sacrifice His son and Ibrahim complied; however, Allah revealed to Him that He passed the test and sent a ram to be sacrificed instead.
The Miracle of Prophet Saleh (AS)
The people of Prophet Saleh were known for their exceptional skills in carving homes in stones and decorating them with artistic inscriptions and engravings. So, they asked their prophet to carve a she-camel in stone and bring it to life in order to believe in his message. Allah (most gracious and powerful) granted them their wish and a she-camel came out of the rocks alive, providing a miracle of the same nature of the craft they were experts at.
The Miracles of Prophet Moses (AS)
Allah (most gracious and powerful) supported His Prophet Moses with clear miracles, as Allah noted in the Holy Quran: (And indeed We gave to Musa (Moses) nine clear signs), all of them were magic-related to be of the same nature of what His people were most notorious for, such as:
- The staff that transformed, after throwing it on the ground, into a big serpent, devouring all other serpents released by the present magicians who all believed in Allah on the spot upon seeing this, knowing that no man ever could come up with a miracle like that.
- Prophet Moses’ white hand which would shine like moonlight every time He takes it out of His pocket.
- The other seven signs are mentioned in the following verses: (Indeed, We afflicted Pharaoh’s people with famine and shortage of crops so they might come back ˹to their senses˺. In times of prosperity, they said, “This is what we deserve,” but in adversity, they blamed it on Moses and those with him.1 Surely all is destined by Allah. Yet most of them did not know. They said, “No matter what sign you may bring to deceive us, we will never believe in you.” So We plagued them with floods, locusts, lice, frogs, and blood—all as clear signs, but they persisted in arrogance and were a wicked people.), which are:
- Lack of rain the people of Egypt were afflicted with, resulting in
- scarce water, barren lands,
- Loss of crops, as some were withheld by Allah (most gracious and powerful) and the others devoured, by his orders, by the birds.
- The flood was the reason all their farms and cities were destroyed, while the locusts devoured everything.
- The lice brought ailments to their bodies
- and frogs were sent by Allah (most gracious and powerful) in large numbers to disturb their lives.
- Blood polluted all their food and drink.
Angel of Wombs
The evidence to his presence is the saying of the Prophet (PBUH): “Allah has assigned an angel to wombs, the angel says: I ask you Allah, a sperm, I ask you Allah, a seed, I ask you Allah, the seed grows. If he wanted to go through with the creation, he says: Male or female, happy or unhappy, all livelihood and time of death is written while the fetus is still inside his mother’s womb”.
The Miracle of David (AS)
Allah (most gracious and powerful) gave David (AS) authority over mountains and birds to glorify the name of Allah with Him, as mentioned in the verse: (it was Our power that made the hills and the birds celebrate Our praises, with David: it was We Who did (all these things).
The Miracles of Suleiman (AS)
Allah (most gracious and powerful) gave His Prohet Suleiman (AS) many miracles, following the prophet’s request to receive a gift that shall not be bestowed upon anyone else. So, Allah (most gracious and powerful) granted him a nation with inimitable civilisation that no other nation, before or after, could receive and that would live as long as Suleiman (AS) lived. Some of these miracles include:
- Subjecting the wind to His power, a gentle wind that does only good and no harm and could cross per day the distance people cross in two months. It moved by the Prophet’s orders and in the direction He wished it to go across all the lands He ruled. It could cause rain to fall and ships to move by His orders, and He used it to defend Islam and Himself against offenders. He also rode it to oversee the conditions of His peoples and territories.
- Giving Him the power over Jinn, as he could control them, and use them to serve His kingdom and build altars for Him to worship Allah and obey His orders. He could also order them to dive into seas to extract its treasures from pearls and corals. Those who refused to obey His orders were imprisoned and kept in chains.
- Melting copper to make weapons, as Allah (most gracious and powerful) gave Him a spring out of which yellow copper flowed like water, as mentioned in The Holy Quran: (And we made the spring of molten brass to flow for him). He also had the power to order Jinn to mould it the way He wanted.
- Speaking with animals, including birds, and understanding their language.
- He also knew the language of insects and plants and other living things, which were all at His service, bringing Him news from far lands.
The Miracles of Prophet Isa (Jesus)
Allah (most gracious and powerful) supported his prophet Isa (AS) with many miracles, including:
- Being born without a father, which Allah (most gracious and powerful) indicated as an easy thing for Him to do by saying: He replied, “So will it be! Your Lord says, ‘It is easy for Me. And so will We make him a sign for humanity and a mercy from Us.’ It is a matter ˹already˺ decreed.” He is, thus, a spirit and a word sent to his mother Maryam from Allah, as could be seen in the verse: ˹Remember˺ when the angels proclaimed, “O Mary! Allah gives you good news of a Word1 from Him, his name will be the Messiah,2 Jesus, son of Mary; honoured in this world and the Hereafter, and he will be one of those nearest ˹to Allah˺.
- Speaking as a baby like a grown man, saying that He is the servant of Allah, His prophet and messenger of the Holy book.
- Blowing life into a bird made from clay.
- Healing the blind and the leper, bringing people to life and knowing what food and drink His companions have and store.
- Sending down a spread of food from Heaven upon His people’s request.
- Revealing the Bible to him and making Him sacred wherever He went.
Miracles of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh)
We conclude with some of the miracles of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), asmentioned in the book ‘Al-Bidayah wanNihdyah’ by Imam Hafiz Ibn Kathir:
- The Holy Quran: The holy book of Allah Almighty, which He bestowed upon the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). It is the greatest and most impressive miracle. The Holy Quran contains miraculous use of linguistics, prose, and literature. Allah Almighty challenged Quraysh and all Arabs, the masters of language and eloquence, to replicate it or create ten surahs, or even once, and they all failed. “Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “If ˹all˺ humans and jinn were to come together to produce the equivalent of this Quran, they could not produce its equal, no matter how they supported each other.” – Surah Al-Isra, verse 88.
- Al Isra wal Miraj: “Glory be to the One Who took His servant ˹Muḥammad˺by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” - Surah Al-Isra, verse 1. This verse tells the story of Al Isra wal Miraj, the journey that the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) was taken on at night from Masjid al-Haram in Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Then, he ascended to the heavens, where he witnessed extraordinary events and reached the seventh heaven, where he met other prophets and messengers. This journey concluded with the establishment of the five daily prayers for Muslims. The Prophet then returned to Mecca the same night.
- The moon splitting: Narrated by Anas bin Malik (RA): "The people of Mecca asked the Prophet for a sign, so the moon was cleft asunder in Mecca two times (meaning two parts), so the following was revealed: “The Hour has drawn near and the moon was split ˹in two˺.””– Surha Al-Qamar, verse 1.
- Tree truck crying out for the Prophet (pbuh): Imam Al-Shafi'i spoke about how the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) used to stand by a stem of a date-palm tree (while delivering a sermon). When the pulpit was placed for him that stem was heard crying out. The Prophet (pbuh) got down from the pulpit and placed His hand over it.
- Water sprouting from between His fingers: this miracle happened many times and on different occasions. One of these was in a place known as az-Zaura' (a place near the bazar of Medina). Anas binMalik (RA) reported that the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) and his Companions were at az-Zaura' when He was brought a vessel. He put His hand in that vessel, and there began to spout (water) between his fingers and all the people performed wudhu. Qatada said: Anas, how many people were they? He said: They were about three hundred.
- Prophecies of the future: the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) had knowledge of the unknown that Allah Almighty provided him with. His prophecies were for his time, or a little further in the future, or the end of times. He told of the defeat of Khosrow of the Persians, the prevalence of the Romans over him, and his promise to bring Persia and other regions into Islam. “The Romans have been defeated (2) in a nearby land. Yet following their defeat, they will triumph” – Surah Ar-Rum, verse 2 & 3.
- Small amounts of food and drink are enough for many people: there are many stories of how the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) blessed small amounts of food and drink and they became enough to feed many people, such as the Battle of the Trench (Al Khandaq). Jaber bin Abdullah narrated: I said, "O Prophet! We have slaughtered a young sheep of ours and have ground one Sa of barley. So, Iinvite you along with some persons." So, the Prophet (pbuh) said in a loud voice, "O the people of the Trench! Jabir had prepared "Sur" so come along." That food fed over 1,000 people.
