First of all, we’d like to clarify that, as Muslims, we are required to believe in all Allah’s prophets and messengers and in their divine books and their miracles.

A number of miracles were bestowed upon and performed by the Prophet Muhammad to establish the proof of his prophethood. Miracles are granted by the power and permission of Allah and are usually in the field in which a prophet’s people excel. For example, Moses’s contemporaries were excellent in magic. So his major miracle was to defeat the best magicians of Egypt of his days. Jesus’s contemporaries were recognized as skillful physicians. Therefore, his miracles were to raise the dead and cure the incurable diseases. The Arabs, the contemporaries of the Prophet Muhammad, were known for their eloquence and magnificent poetry. So Prophet Muhammad’s major miracle was the Qur’an, the equivalent of which the whole legion of the Arab poets and orators could not produce despite the repeated challenge from the Qur’an itself.

Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states the following: The great miracle of Muhammad exists even today just as it was revealed to him, without even the slightest alteration in letter or spirit. Therefore, the challenge of the Qur’an still remains intact for all to experience. This challenge is thus expressed:

[And if you are in doubt concerning that which We have bestowed upon Our slave (Muhammad), then produce a surah of similar merit, and call your witnesses other than Allah, if you are truthful. But if you cannot do it — and most certainly you cannot do it — then be conscious of the fire whose fuel is human beings and stones which awaits all who deny the truth!] (Al-Baqarah 2:23-24)

That the Qur’an is a continuing miracle that speaks to people of all times and climes is confirmed by the fact that still far greater number of people embrace Islam than any other religion, in spite of the extreme negativity associated with Islam perpetrated in the media. This is regardless of the fact that people are exposed to the Qur’an mostly in translation, and as every objective scholar would testify that no translation, however superb it may be, can never be more than a faint echo of the original, the inimitable Word of God.

A closely allied fact to note is that unlike any other book in the world, including the Bible, the Qur’an has been committed to memory, without any material incentives, by millions of people in the world, even though many of them do not speak Arabic, the language in which the Qur’an is revealed.

Leaving the Qur’anic miracle aside, Prophet Muhammad was also supported in his divine mission by numerous other miracles. It is difficult to list them all in this limited space. But I will attempt to list a few of the most salient ones briefly:

  1. His sparkling character and humanity were responsible for converting so many of his veteran enemies to Islam, many of whom had fought against him relentlessly for years. But once they were exposed to his sparkling character and selfless compassion, as if by a miracle they were instantly won over to his cause. The conversions of figures such as `Umar, Suraqah, Thumamah, `Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, Safwan, `Umayr, Khalid, Abu Sufyan, Suhail are just a few to mention.
  2. The Prophet healed the sick as has been attested by numerous authentic traditions recorded by his Companions who witnessed them.
  3. Likewise, he fed hundreds with a few loaves of bread and provided water for hundreds from a single bucket of water placed in front of him.
  4. As attested by testimonials of his Companions, his numerous prayers on behalf of his Companions were met with ready response and answer from Allah.
  5. History also records the fact that in numerous encounters with his enemies, he and his followers defeated enormous armies who outnumbered them.
  6. Another well-attested fact is that he survived numerous assassination attempts by his enemies. He escaped them quite miraculously, as is recorded in the sources.
  7. The lightning speed in which his religion spread all over the world is another eloquent testimony to its divine origin.
  8. Islam is still the fastest growing religion, in spite of the fact that its followers are virtually devoid of any material power or influence, and in spite of the systematic, negative propaganda against Islam and Muslims.

In conclusion, it is only fitting to quote here the glowing tribute given to him by the French historian Henry Lamartine, in his Histoire dela Turquie, Paris 1854, Vol II, pp. 276-77:

If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls. … The forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was twofold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with words.

Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?

May Allah’s blessings and peace be upon Muhammad, his family and Companions.Ameen.