Miracles, Signs and Prophecies

Though miracles may have vanished without a trace;
Come, witness them at the hand of the servants of Muhammad (sas)

“In order to prove that I am from Him, God Almighty has shown so many signs that were they to be divided among a thousand Prophets, they would suffice to establish the Prophethood of them all.”

God has informed me directly through His living Word that if I am troubled by people asking how they should know that I am from Him, I should tell them: It is sufficient proof that His heavenly signs are my witness, my prayers are accepted, knowledge of the unseen is revealed to me beforehand, and such mysteries, as are known to none other than God, are disclosed to me in advance. And the second sign is that should anyone want to challenge me in the aforesaid matters—in the acceptance of prayers, being given prior knowledge of their acceptance, and in being given knowledge of unseen matters that lie beyond the limits of human knowledge—he will surely be defeated in this challenge, be he from the East or from the West. These are the signs that have been vouchsafed to me.

I swear by God, in Whose hand is my life, that if all the people who have witnessed the signs that have been shown for my sake and for my support were to be gathered at one place, there would be no monarch on earth whose army would exceed them in numbers. Yet the earth is so full of sin that people are rejecting even these signs. Heaven has testified in my support and so has the Earth.

I emphatically claim that if a Christian were to stay in my company, he would witness a number of signs within one year. Divine signs are raining down in this place and God, Whom people have forgotten and have put His creatures in His place, is now manifesting Himself in my heart. He wants to reveal Himself. Is there anyone desirous of beholding Him?

If someone were to object, ‘Where are the miracles you speak of?’, I would not merely say that I can show them, rather, by the grace of God, I would say that God has shown so many miracles in order to prove the truth of my claim that few are the Prophets who have shown so many miracles. The truth is that He has caused a river of miracles to flow and—with the sole exception of our Holy Prophet (sas)—it is impossible to find categorical evidence of so many miracles being shown by any of the past Prophets (as). For His part, God has incontrovertibly established the point. It is now up to the people to accept it or not.

God has shown so many signs in my support that if I were to count them one by one up to this day, 16th July, 1906, I can swear by God that they are in excess of three hundred thousand. And if someone does not believe in my oath, I can provide him with proof. Some of these signs are to do with occasions when God Almighty, in keeping with His promise, protected me from being harmed by the enemy. Some of the signs are such that, in keeping with His promise, God always fulfilled my needs and my wishes. And some are of the kind whereby, in keeping with His promise

1, God brought humiliation and disgrace upon those who tried to harm me. Some signs are of the kind in which, according to His Prophecies, He made me victorious over those who filed lawsuits against me. Some are of the kind that pertain to the length of my ministry, for ever since the world was created no impostor has ever been allowed such a long period of respite. Some signs are of the kind that are manifested through observing the condition of the age—that this age is in need of an Imam. Some signs are of the kind which represent the fulfilment of my prayers in favour of my friends. Some signs are of the kind which represent the fulfilment of my prayer against malicious enemies. Some signs are of the kind in which terminally ill patients were cured and I was informed of their recovery in advance. Some signs are of the nature whereby, for my sake, God caused a number of heavenly and earthly calamities as a testimony to my claim. Some are of the sort whereby many eminent and renowned saints saw dreams in which the Holy Prophet (sas) appeared to them and testified to my claim, among these is the Sajjadah Nashin Sahib-ul-‘Alam of Sindh who has nearly one hundred thousand followers, and Khawaja Ghulam Farid of Chachrań. Some signs are such that thousands of people pledged Bai‘at at my hand only because they were informed in a dream of my truthfulness and of my being from God; while some others did so because they saw the Holy Prophet (sas) in a dream, and he told them that the end of the world is near and that this man is the last Vicegerent of God and the Promised Messiah. Some signs relate to certain eminent saints who mentioned me by name even before my birth, or before I came of age, and spoke about my being the Promised Messiah. Among these are Ne‘matullah Wali and Mian Gulab Shah of Jamalpur, District Ludhiana.

It was for me that God caused the solar and lunar eclipses in heaven during the month of Ramadan, and caused numerous other signs to be manifested on earth, and thus, in accordance with Divine practice, my truth was conclusively established. God, in Whose hand rests my life, is my witness that if you cleanse your hearts and seek other signs from God, the Omnipotent One is capable of showing a sign according to His own will and power, without being subject to any of your importunities. And I am sure that if you demand a sign from me, with a genuine desire to repent, and promise earnestly before God that if an extraordinary sign appears which is beyond human power, you will shed all this rancour and enmity and, purely for the sake of winning God’s pleasure, will enter into the pledge of Bai‘at with me, then God, being so Kind and Merciful, will certainly show you some sign. However, it is not within my power to fix a period of two or three days for showing a sign, or to do exactly as you wish. It is the prerogative of God to choose the time.

Even if a person were to strive all his life in the hope of finding some prophecy of mine about which he could assert that it has remained unfulfilled, he will not find a single one, though, out of shameless audacity or ignorance, he may say whatever he likes. I declare emphatically that there are thousands of explicit prophecies of mine that have been fulfilled with great clarity and to which hundreds of thousands of people bear witness. If you try to find precedence among past Prophets, you will not find it, with the sole exception of the Holy Prophet (sas) … I know it for a fact that the clarity with which God Almighty is manifesting Himself in this age and the way He is revealing to His servant hundreds of matters pertaining to the unseen, no parallel of it can be found in earlier times. People will soon see the Countenance of God Almighty becoming manifest in this age, as though He Himself had descended from heaven. For a long time He kept Himself hidden, and He was denied but He remained silent. Now, however, He will conceal Himself no longer and the world shall witness such manifestation of His Power as their forefathers had never seen. This shall happen because the world has become corrupt, and people no longer believe in the Creator of heaven and earth. They only pay lip service to Him, but their hearts have turned away from Him. This is why God said, ‘Now I shall create a new Heaven and a new Earth.’ This simply means that the earth had died, i.e., the hearts of the people of this earth had become cold as if they were dead, for the Countenance of God was hidden from them, and all previous heavenly signs had come to be regarded as mere tales. God, therefore, willed to create a new Earth and a new Heaven. What is that new Heaven? And what is that new Earth? The new Earth are the pure hearts whom God prepares with His own hand; they are manifested by God and He shall be manifested through them. The new Heaven are the signs that are being shown by His servant with His permission. Alas! the world treated this New Manifestation of God with hostility. They are left with nothing but tales, and their ‘God’ is none other than their own fantasies. Their hearts are awry, their will exhausted, and their eyes covered with veils.

In fact there is none of my prophecies that has remained unfulfilled. If anyone harbours any such doubt in his mind, let him come to me with honest intention, and let him present his objection face to face. If he does not receive a wholly satisfying answer, I will be liable to pay him any compensation. The fact is that these people raise objections out of meanness and not out of fair-mindedness. Had they lived in the times of other Prophets (as), they would have levelled the same objections against them as they do against me. One can show the way to a person who has eyes to see, but what can one do for him who is blinded by meanness, selfishness and arrogance? More than three thousand blessed prophecies, which are based on revelations vouchsafed to me, and which pose no threat to public peace, have already been fulfilled and hundreds of pious people have witnessed them. Many of my writings [prophecies] had been published before their time of fulfilment. But if someone still raises doubts and objections in a biased way, and does not sincerely try to gain personal experience by staying in my company, and does not inquire from those who have had such personal experience, and gives currency to misleading objections through deception and duplicity, and does not desist from dishonesty and falsehood, he becomes heir to the disbelievers who in previous times opposed the Prophets (as). May God protect His servants from the calumnies of such scheming people! Why is it that these people raise objections from a distance like thieves, and do not—like people with a clear conscience—come and present their objections face to face? And why is it that they do not care to listen to our answers? The reason is that they are well-aware of their deceit and dishonesty, and their conscience keeps warning them that if they raised face to face such absurd objections as are full of ignorance and dishonesty, they will stand roundly exposed, and their chicanery shall be laid bare once and for all, and nothing but shame and embarrassment will be their lot, and their objection will be completely demolished.

It must be remembered that there is nothing in my prophecies which does not have a precedent in the prophecies of earlier Prophets (as). But ignorant and uncouth people—bereft as they are of the subtle verities and truths of religion, and unaware as they are of the ways of God—are driven by their bias and prejudice to raise hasty objections. They are always waiting for some calamity to befall me in keeping with the verse

2 but are themselves unconscious of the verse

God Almighty deals with everyone according to one’s relationship with Him. Though the loved ones of God also suffer hardships, Divine help and succour is still clearly on their side, and He, in His honour, never allows them to be humiliated and disgraced. Nor can His love [for them] allow their name to be obliterated from the face of the earth. Also, the very essence of miracles is that when a man, with all his being, becomes God’s, and no intervening veil is left between him and his Lord, and he completes all the stages of loyalty and truthfulness which remove the veil, he then becomes heir to God and to His powers, and God Almighty shows all kinds of signs for his sake, some of which are for repelling evil while others are for bestowing good. Some of these signs pertain to his person, some to his family, some to his foes, and some to his friends. Some relate to his countrymen while others are universal. Some belong to the earth and some to heaven. Thus every kind of sign is shown for him. This stage is not too difficult to understand and we need not discuss it any further. For if, as stated earlier, someone has attained this third station, the world can never compete with him. Anyone who falls on him shall be shattered, and anyone on whom he falls will be smashed into smithereens, because his hand is the Hand of God and his countenance is the Countenance of God. And his station is beyond anyone’s reach.

Let it be known that a miracle is one of the Divine practices, or one of the acts of the Omnipotent One, that can be called supernormal. Thus, the reality of supernormal phenomena is that when those whose souls are purified transcend the ordinary human condition, and cut through their low habits, and march forward trying to gain nearness to God, He then deals with them in such a strange way—in accordance with their condition—that, as compared to the normal human state, it appears to be an altogether supernormal phenomenon. And to the extent that a person forges ahead on the path of love and devotion, having renounced his mortal state and having torn up the veils of the self, to the same extent do these miracles appear for him with greater clarity, transparency and brilliance. When the purity of the human self reaches its perfection, and one’s heart becomes totally devoid of everything other than God, and becomes suffused with His love, it is then that all his acts and deeds, gestures and motions, his conduct, his worship, and his morals, which are of the highest order, become supernormal. So vis-à-vis the condition of such a perfectly transformed man, God deals with him in a supernormal manner.

A miracle is in fact an extraordinary phenomenon, the like of which the opponent is unable to produce, even though it appears to be within human power. An example of this is the miracle of the Holy Quran that was shown to all the people of Arabia. Although, on the face of it, it seemed to be within the scope of human potential, all the people of Arabia were frustrated in their efforts to produce anything like it. Thus, for understanding the nature of miracles, the Holy Quran serves as a very clear example. It may seem to be a discourse like that of human beings, but in respect of its eloquent expression, its extremely delectable, pure and colourful diction—characterized in every instance by truth and wisdom—and its brilliant arguments that countered the arguments of the whole world, and, last but not least, in respect of its majestic prophecies, it is a matchless miracle, and one that no opponent has been able to contest despite the passage of thirteen hundred years, and none has the power to do so. The Holy Quran enjoys the distinction among all the books of the world in that it presents its prophecies, which are themselves miraculous, in a language that is also miraculous, highly eloquent, convincing, and full of truth and wisdom. In short, the true purpose of a miracle is to demonstrate the distinction between the truth and falsehood, or between the truthful and the liar. Such distinguishing phenomenon is called a miracle or a sign. A sign is an essential phenomenon without which it is neither possible to have full faith in the existence of God, nor to reap the fruit that grows out of full conviction. Since the truth of a religion is directly linked to the recognition of God, it is therefore an essential and important prerequisite of a true religion to possess the signs that conclusively and definitively prove His existence.

It is appropriate in this context to address the question that if everything is subject to the eternal laws, or is predetermined, then what is the significance of miracles? It is undoubtedly true that nothing lies outside the eternal laws or the eternal will of God and His decree, whether we are aware of it or not.

And yet the same Divine practice—also called the law of nature—has made certain things dependent upon others. Likewise, there are certain phenomena which the eternal will has made conditional upon the prayers of the holy ones, and the blessings of their holy breath, and upon their attention, their firm resolve and their glory, and has linked them to the entreaties and supplications of these people. When such phenomena occur through these means and under these conditions then, in this particular situation, they are called miracles, wonders, signs or supernormal phenomena. Here the term ‘supernormal phenomena’ should not lead someone to think that there are things which lie outside the scope of Divine practice [laws]. Because, in the present context, the expression ‘supernormal phenomena’ carries an additional significance: Although nothing lies outside the eternal practice of the God of glory, His practice that relates to mankind is of two kinds. First there are ‘ordinary practices’, which, in the form of cause and effect, apply to everyone. Second there are the ‘special practices’ which, with or without the agency of the visible causes, relate only to those who are totally lost in His love and completely given to His desire. That is to say, when a person turns completely to God and brings about a transformation in his human condition, for the sake of gaining His pleasure, then God, in accordance with his transformed state, deals with him in a special manner, which He does not practice when dealing with others. In other words, this special treatment, relatively speaking, is Khariq-e-‘Adat [supernormal], the nature of which is revealed only to those who are drawn towards God through His grace. When a person, in his eagerness to have communion with God, breaks out of his mortal habits, which intervene between him and his Lord, then, for the sake of such a person, God too breaks His customary ways. This phenomenon of ‘breaking’ is also part of the eternal practice of God and is not something novel that should be called into question. It has been the way of God since eternity that as man’s faith in Him increases, He too casts more and more light of His Omnipotence upon him. And, just as a pure and perfect relationship continues to develop from the man’s side, so do the perfect and pure bounties of God descend upon man’s outer and inner self. And just as the tidal waves of Divine love surge from the heart of His true lover, so does a pure and pristine river of love gush forth from the other side, which envelopes him and, by virtue of its Divine force, takes him to even greater heights. This matter is not only very clear but is also in conformity with our natures. One of the hallmarks of the purity of reciprocal love is that, as we advance in friendship, love and sincerity, the signs of devotion, unity and solidarity appear on both sides, and do not remain one-sided. Every person deals with his friend in an extraordinary way, compared to other people. The moment a person attains a ‘new’ life— which may be called supernormal when compared to his earlier life—the same Eternal God, through His extraordinary manifestations, reveals Himself to him as a ‘New God’; and deals with him in such a way that he could never have imagined in his earlier life. The key to miracles—which set the wonders of Nature in motion—is the transformed human soul. A genuine transformation exhibits such visible signs, and the fervent cries of love at times so overwhelm the heart, that the passionate emotions of love for God and the powerful pull of truth and conviction transport one to a state where, if he were cast into a fire, it would have no effect on him whatsoever. Likewise, if he were to be thrown before lions, wolves or bears, they would not be able to do him any harm, because, at that moment, due to the perfect and powerful manifestations of truth and love, he breaks out of the human condition and is a different being altogether. Just as fire engulfs a piece of iron and makes it seem like fire, so do such people, by virtue of being overwhelmed by the fire of love for God, begin to exhibit something of the attributes of the Great Power which has overwhelmed them. It is little wonder, therefore, that such supernormal phenomenon should occur when the servant, in his submission, comes under the complete influence of the Lord. In fact, it would be surprising if, despite such an influence, no change is brought about in the ordinary state of the person, for even a piece of iron, when it is heated in fire, starts to partially exhibit the properties of fire, and this is in total conformity with the laws of nature. But, if it is exposed to intense heat and still maintains its former state, and acquires no new characteristic, such a thing would be contrary to reason. Empirical philosophy also testifies to the necessity of such phenomena. This is no fiction. Ponder over it with true wisdom.

Remember, it is only to demonstrate the distinction between truth and falsehood that miracles are granted to men of God. The real purpose of a miracle is none other than that a distinction between a truthful one and a liar be established in the eyes of the wise and just. A miracle is shown only to the extent that is sufficient to establish such distinction. And this extent is determined by the need of the time, as is the nature of the miracles. It does not mean that whenever a prejudiced, ignorant, and evil-minded person demands a miracle, it has to be shown, no matter how contrary it is to the Divine wisdom or the need of the moment. Were it so, it would be as harmful to one’s own faith, as it would be contrary to Divine wisdom. For if the realm of miracles were to be stretched to the extent that whatever has been put off until the day of resurrection can all be witnessed in this world, then no difference would be left between this world and the hereafter. It is due to this very difference that the righteous actions and true beliefs, when adopted in this world, earn reward; but if the same beliefs and actions are adopted in the hereafter, they will not be worthy of any reward whatsoever. As is stated in the books of all Prophets as well as in the Holy Quran, no belief or deed will be of any avail on the Day of Judgement, and all affirmations of faith will be futile. For faith is considered to be faith only in so far as one believes in something hidden. But when the veil has been lifted and the sun of the spiritual realm has risen, and things have been manifested which leave no doubt about the existence of God and the Day of Judgement, to believe at such a time, or to have faith is like trying to achieve what has already been achieved. In short, a sign is not something so self-evident that the entire world is obliged to accept it, without any disagreement, excuse or hesitation; and no one, regardless of his disposition, is left with any doubt about it and even the dullest of men accepts it without a qualm.

A sign or a miracle, therefore, is not a self-evident phenomenon for men of every disposition, so that it should be accepted as soon as it is witnessed. Rather the fact is that only wise, just, righteous and truthful people derive benefit from signs. They are the ones who, on account of their intuition, far-sightedness, observation, fair-mindedness, fear of God and righteous conduct, come to realize that these phenomena are not ordinary phenomena of this world, nor could any impostor have the power to show them. They know that such things are far removed from human contrivance, and are beyond the reach of mortals, and have such a quality and distinction about them that the humble powers of man and his elaborate schemes are powerless against them. And these people, by virtue of their profound wisdom and light of intuition, understand that these phenomena possess a certain light and a fragrance which comes from the hand of God, which cannot be mistaken for any cunning, deceit, or trickery. Thus, just as sunlight alone is not enough for one to believe in the light of the sun, but it is equally necessary to have eyesight with which to see the light, similarly, in order to believe in the light of a miracle, the miracle itself is not sufficient, and the light of intuition is equally necessary. Unless he who witnesses the miracle is naturally endowed with true insight and light of reason, it is impossible for him to believe in it. But the wretched one, who is bereft of the light of intuition, does not find any satisfaction in miracles that are only meant for making a distinction, and persists in his demand that he will not accept any miracle save that which is as clear as doomsday. He demands, for instance, that someone should go to heaven and return before his very eyes holding a book in his hand; not only that, he also says that he will not believe unless he himself takes the book in his own hand and reads from it. Or, for instance, that the one who descends should bring with him a piece of the moon or the sun to illuminate the earth. Or, better still, he should descend from heaven accompanied by angels who should do wonderful things, as angels do. Or that many dead people should be resurrected through his prayer, and they should be recognized as fathers or grandfathers of so and so, who had died at such and such a time. As if this too were not enough, these resurrected people must hold rallies in different cities and deliver lectures in which they should proclaim that they are the dead who have been brought back to the world so that they may testify to the truth of a particular religion, or that they have come to bear witness that a certain person who claims to be from God is indeed from Him, for they have heard from God Himself that he is truthful.

Such are the self-conceived miracles that the majority of ignorant people, who are totally unaware of the essence of faith, are in the habit of demanding. They also demand other similarly unreasonable and absurd phenomena that are far removed from the Will of God.

Miracles are, in fact, like moonlight which is partly obscured by clouds. This light is of no use to a person who is night-blind, and, therefore, cannot see anything at night. In this world miracles have never been, nor shall ever be, manifested in the way as they will be manifested in the hereafter. For example it can never happen that two or three hundred people rise from the dead, and they should have with them both the fruits of paradise and the flames of hellfire, and they should go from town to town testifying to the truth of a Prophet, who is at that moment present among his people, and the people should recognize these people as the dead who have been brought back to life; and that the latter should raise a commotion with their sermons and lectures that this person who claims to be a Prophet is true in his claim.

Remember that such miracles have never been shown, nor will they ever be shown till the Day of Judgement. Anyone who claims that such miracles have ever been shown, is simply deluded by baseless myths and is totally unaware of the ways of God. Had such miracles ever happened, this world would cease to be what it is, and all veils would have been lifted, and faith would not have deserved any reward whatsoever.

Statement by Deputy Mr. ‘Abdullah Atham: … In response to your Mubahala [invitation to prayer duel] of yesterday, we Christians see no need of fresh miracles for old teachings; nor do we find ourselves up to the task. We have only been promised that whatever supplications we make, consistent with Divine will, shall be granted, but we have not been promised any signs, whereas you, sir, seem to take pride in showing signs. We have no objection to witnessing a sign, and if it is indeed in the interest of mankind that a decision should be reached through the showing of a sign, we, for our part, have already expressed our inability to do so; it is now up to you to show a sign if you so please.

This is what you said in yesterday’s closing statement, and this is what you have hinted at today; so there is no need to discuss the matter any further. We are both well-advanced in age, and the grave is our destination. Let us be merciful to mankind and settle the matter on the basis of some heavenly sign. You have also said that you have received special revelation to the effect that victory shall be yours in this contest, and that the Just God is surely with those who are true, therefore, this is bound to happen. We have already pointed out in reply to the summary of your statement that we are not debating with you because we consider you to be a Prophet or a Messenger or the recipient of revelation. Nor are we concerned with your personal beliefs, your arguments and your revelations. We assume that you are a Mohammedan, and are therefore having a dialogue with you on the subject of Christianity and Mohammedanism on the basis of the principles that are generally accepted by both. But as you are willing to show a sign of Divine power and are inviting us for contest in this regard, we have no objection to witnessing a sign. So here are three people, one is blind, one has an amputated leg, and one is dumb. You are welcome to cure any one of them if you can. And whatever penalty falls upon us as a result of this miracle, we shall be willing to pay. By your own admission, you believe in a God Who is not only All-Powerful in name but is truly All-Powerful; He should, therefore, have no difficulty in curing them. Why wait then, as, in your own words, God shall most surely be with the truthful. Please do have mercy on God’s creatures, and be quick about it. Moreover, you must have been informed [by God] that today you will face this situation and you must have known that this is going to happen, for the same God Who told you that victory shall be yours in this contest, must have also informed you that a blind man and other afflicted persons are going to be presented before you. So please go ahead and do as you have claimed right here in the presence of both Christians and Mohammedans.…

Statement by Hazrat Mirza Sahib: … Let it be clear that I wrote to Deputy ‘Abdullah Atham and told him that just as he considers the Christian faith to be the only means of salvation, so does the Holy Quran regard Islam as the sole way to salvation. You have made your claim on your own, while I have quoted the actual verses from the Holy Quran. But a claim without proof is of little value. This is why I said to him that the Holy Quran has described the hallmarks of those who have attained salvation, and, in keeping with these hallmarks, we find that that the followers of this Holy Book attain salvation in this very life. But do you find, in your religion, believers who posses the signs of salvation as Jesus himself has described them? For instance, it is written in Mark 16:17,

“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

So now I respectfully submit the following and beg to be forgiven if there is any harshness or bitterness in my words: With regard to the three sick persons you have presented before me, let me say that they symbolize a sign which Jesus has particularly attributed to the Christians. He says, ‘If you are a true believer then your sign will be that you will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.’ Pardon me, but if you indeed claim to be a true believer, we have here three sick persons, whom you yourselves have presented; just lay your hand on them, and if they recover we will believe that you are indeed true believers and have attained salvation. Otherwise, there is no ground for accepting your claim, because Jesus also says, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove.”5 I do not want you to remove a mountain right now, because there are no mountains around here, but we do have a very good opportunity for you, since you yourselves have presented the sick, go ahead, therefore, and lay your hand on them and just heal them! Otherwise you will not be left with any faith, not even as little as a mustard seed!

But the same cannot be said of us. Because, in the Holy Quran, Allah has never given us the special distinction that whenever we lay our hands on the sick, they will be cured. True, He has said that He shall accept our prayers as and when He pleases. And if a prayer is not worthy of acceptance, or runs counter to Divine wisdom then, at the very least, one would be apprised of it. Nowhere has He said that you have been given the power to do whatever you please. On the other hand, it seems to be the decree of Jesus (as) that he grants his followers powers such as to cure the sick, as it is written in Matthew 10:1,

“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”

It has now become incumbent upon you, and indeed a test of your faith, that you should cure these sick persons; or else you have to confess that you do not have faith even as little as a mustard seed. Remember, everyone is called to account according to his own Book. Nowhere in our Holy Quran is it stated that we would be granted such power. Rather, it clearly says:

i.e., ‘Tell them that signs are with Allah.’ He shows whatever sign He wills. Man has no power to force a sign from Him. Such things are only to be found in your Books. According to you, Jesus used to show miracles of his own power and he also transferred this power to his disciples. It is also your belief that Jesus is still alive, ever-living, self-existing, all-powerful, and knows the unseen, and that he is with you day and night and can grant whatever you wish. Therefore, you should request Jesus to cure these three sick ones as you place your hands on them, so that you are spared your faith. Otherwise, it is not appropriate that you enter into debate with the People of Truth [Muslims] claiming to be true Christians, but when you are asked to show the signs of a true Christian, you say that you do not have the power to show them. By such statements you confess that your religion is no longer a living religion. For my part, I am prepared to show the signs of a true believer, exactly as God has described them. If I fail to do so, you are free to punish me as you wish, and cut my throat with the knife of your choice.

The way in which I have been appointed to show signs, is that when, at the time of a contest, the True and Perfect Prophet (sas) is rejected, I humbly implore God, Who is my True and All-Powerful Master, to show a sign. He then shows a sign out of His own will, without being subservient or subordinate to us…I neither claim to be God nor do I have any power of my own. I am a Muslim and a follower of the Holy Quran, and it is in accordance with its teachings that I claim to be the salvation of this age. I lay no claim to Prophethood; you are either mistaken in this regard or you are saying such things for some motive of your own. Is it a must for someone who claims to receive revelation that he should be a Prophet? I am only a follower of Muhammad (sas), and I am perfectly subservient to Allah and His Prophet (sas). I hesitate to call these signs 'miracles'; in fact, in our religion, signs that are granted through true obedience to Allah and to the Holy Prophet (sas) are called karamat.

Hence, for the sake of inviting towards the truth, I once again offer the final and incontrovertible argument, that true salvation and the blessings and fruits accompanying it are found exclusively in those who are the followers of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafasa, and who truly submit to the injunctions of the Holy Quran. My demand, in keeping with the Holy Quran, is only that if there is a Christian gentleman who denies that true salvation can be achieved through the Holy Quran, he is free to seek the heavenly signs of true salvation from his Messiah and present them against me...For my part, I shall be bound to prove from the Holy Quran that I possess the signs of a true believer. But here it should be remembered that the Holy Quran does not grant us personal power or authority, in fact we shudder at the very thought of it. We know not what sign He will show. He is God and there is no god besides Him. What I can solemnly promise is that Allah the Glorious has disclosed to me that I will surely emerge victorious in every contest. But I do not know what sign He will show and in what manner. The true purpose, after all, is that the sign should be such as lies beyond human power. Should we first deify a human being and then compel him to grant us miracles? This is not what we believe, for the signs that are promised to us by God are quite general and open-ended in nature. If I turn out to be a liar in this, I am ready to accept whatever punishment you propose, even if it be death. But if you transgress the bounds of moderation and justice, and demand from me signs that ‘Lord’ Jesus himself could not show, I consider such a claim to be blasphemous. And Jesus himself used to hurl abuse at those who made such demands.

That is to say, Divine Glory is free from the criticism that any of His Messengers, or Prophets, or recipients of revelation should exhibit with their own power the supernormal phenomena that are in fact peculiar to Divinity. He says, [O Prophet] tell them that I am only a Messenger from among the mortals, and am not empowered to do anything on my own; I only obey the command of God. It is therefore foolish to demand from me only some particular signs. I can show only what God has decreed, and no more.

Many miracles were shown by the Holy Prophet (sas) on his own, without any supplication on his part. On some occasions he dipped his fingers into a mere bowlful of water and caused it to increase so much that the whole army, including camels and horses, drank of it, and yet the water remained as it was. On other occasions he would place his hand on a few pieces of bread and they would serve to satiate thousands of hungry people. At times he would bless a little milk with the touch of his lips, and would feed the whole company with it. On yet other occasions, he would put his saliva into a well of brackish water, and it would become delectably sweet. Sometimes, he would place his hand on the grievously wounded and heal them. On occasions when someone’s eyeballs fell out of his eyes during a battle, he would restore them by blessing them with his hands. He likewise performed many other miracles through his personal power, which was also accompanied by some hidden Divine power…

But it must be remembered that even though such phenomena as are performed by man on his own do in fact emanate from God, they cannot in any way equal those special acts of God which He manifests on His own without the medium of another person’s will, nor is it appropriate that this should be so. That is why, when a Prophet or a saint shows on his own authority, and without the medium of prayer, such supernormal phenomena as no man has been empowered to show through any means, method or remedy, such an act of the Prophet would remain inferior to the acts of God which He so visibly manifests with His perfect power. That is to say, a miracle shown by one’s personal power, when compared to the acts of God that are directly manifested by Him, must contain some fault or weakness, so that people who view things only superficially may not confuse the two phenomena as identical. That is why the rod of Prophet Moses (as), despite turning into a serpent on a number of occasions, always remained a rod. Similarly, the birds which are said to have been created by Jesus (as) were no more than clay, despite the fact that their miraculous flight is evident from the Holy Quran. God nowhere says that they actually became alive. But since the miracles shown by the Holy Prophet (sas) on his own were imbued with Divine Power to ultimate degree—and since he was the ultimate, loftiest, and most perfect embodiment of Divine attributes—it is hard to place his miracles within the realm of human power. Nevertheless, we do believe that even in this instance there must be some difference between the act of God and that of His Holy Prophet (sas).

The truth of the matter is that God Almighty does not do anything against the laws of nature. What He does is that He creates the causes, whether we know of them or not, and these are always present. Hence, miracles, such as splitting of the moon and

8 are also no exceptions. Rather, they too resulted from some very subtle and hidden means, and were based on true and factual science. Shortsighted people and those who are enamoured of dark philosophy cannot comprehend these things.

Another subtle point that needs to be borne in mind is that when men of God show miracles, for instance, when water is not able to drown them or fire is not able to harm them, the secret behind such manifestations is that at times when the friends of God focus their attention towards a particular thing, the All-Wise God—Whose infinite secrets man can never comprehend—shows a sign of His power, and their attention begins to exercise control in the universe. The convergence of the means which, for instance, cause the heat of the fire to cease casting its effect—whether they are related to heavenly bodies, to some hidden property of the fire itself, or to some subtle property of the body that is put in the fire, or whether it is a combination of all these—all these means come into operation through such attention and such prayer. It is thus that an extraordinary miracle is shown. But this does not cause us to lose faith in the reality of things, nor does it render knowledge useless, for such miracles are themselves a branch among the branches of Divine knowledge. They have their own dimensions, just as, for instance, the burning quality of fire has its own. Let us understand it this way: there are spiritual elements that manifest themselves by subjugating the fire, and they are peculiar to their own time and place. Human intellect falls short of understanding the secret that a perfect man is the locus for the manifestation of the spirit of God Almighty. And when the time comes for the perfect man to display this manifestation, everything begins to fear him as it fears God. You may now throw him before a beast or into a fire, he will suffer no harm; for at such moments the spirit of God Almighty is upon him and everything is bound to fear Him. This is the ultimate secret of Divine knowledge which cannot be understood without keeping company with the perfect ones. Being a very profound and rare phenomenon, every intellect is not aware of this philosophy. But, remember, everything listens to the voice of God. He has control over everything and He holds all the strings in His Hand. His wisdom knows no limit and it penetrates to the root of every particle. Nothing possesses properties that are in excess of His power. All the qualities that things may possess are within the scope of His power. He who does not believe in this is among those about whom it has been said:

Since the perfect man is the perfect manifestation of the whole world, the world is therefore drawn towards him from time to time. He is like a spider of the spiritual world and the whole world is his web. This is the secret behind miracles.

Let it be clear that signs are of two kinds: (1) Signs of warning and chastisement, which may also be called signs of Divine wrath. (2) Signs containing good news and solace, which may also be called signs of Divine mercy.

The signs of warning are manifested for the hardened disbelievers, the crooked of heart, the defiant, the faithless, and those with pharaonic dispositions, so that they may be inspired with fear and their hearts may be filled with the awe of Divine wrath and Divine majesty. The signs of glad tidings, on the other hand, are manifested for the seekers after truth and sincere believers who, in their meekness and humility, crave for perfect certainty and wish to strengthen their faith. The purpose of the signs of glad tidings is not to frighten or to intimidate, they are rather meant to bestow satisfaction upon God’s obedient servants, and to make them progress in their faith and certitude, and also to reassure their troubled hearts through love and affection. A believer, therefore, continues to receive signs of glad tidings through the Holy Quran, and keeps growing in faith and conviction. He gets assurance from the signs of glad tidings, and the disquietude—which is ingrained in human nature— disappears, and calmness descends upon his heart. By virtue of following the Book of Allah, a believer continues to receive signs related to glad tidings to the last day of his life. Signs of peace and tranquillity continue to descend on him, so that he may forever progress in his faith and in Divine knowledge, and may reach the stage of absolute certainty. Another wonderful thing about these signs of glad tidings is that they not only help a believer to advance in certainty, knowledge and faith, but also help him to progress with each passing day in his love and devotion to God, because he experiences Divine gifts, favours, and bounties—which are both obvious and hidden, manifest and latent, and which abound in the signs of glad tidings. Thus, these wonderful and effective and blessed signs of glad tidings lead the seeker to the stage of perfect knowledge and personal love, which is the highest station for the elect of God.

It is a guiding principle for a wise person to realize that, in contrast to prophecies, which may at times contain metaphors and allegorical expressions, the basic teachings have to be very clear and elaborate. Therefore, whenever there seems to be a contradiction between the teaching and a prophecy, it is imperative to give preference to the teaching. If a prophecy seems to run counter to the teaching, it should not be taken literally but should be made to conform to the teaching so that the contradiction is removed. In any case, one must give priority to the teaching, because, in addition to providing elucidation and detail, the teaching is frequently put into practice and its aims and objectives cannot remain hidden, unlike the prophecies which often remain unknown.

Let it be known that the miracles of Prophets are of two kinds: (1) Those that are purely heavenly phenomena, in which human design and reason play no part, such as the miracle of the splitting of the moon, a miracle of our lord and master, the Holy Prophet (sas). God manifested this miracle through His infinite power to manifest the majesty of His true and perfect Prophet (sas). (2) Miracles of wisdom. These are manifested with the help of the extraordinary wisdom that only comes from Divine revelation. An example of this is the miracle of Solomon referred to in the verse

11 which was witnessed by Queen Sheba and she was consequently blessed with faith.

When reason recognizes a miracle and testifies that it is from Allah, such a miracle is a thousand times better than the miracles that are related only as tales and myths. For this there are two reasons: The first is that reported miracles cannot be considered by us—who were born hundreds of years after their occurrence— as something which we ourselves have seen and experienced. And since they are only based on reports that have reached us, they can never be accorded the same degree of credence as is given to observed and tangible phenomena. Secondly, even for those who actually witnessed them, such reported miracles, as are beyond the realm of reason, cannot be truly convincing. This is because there are many wondrous feats which even conjurors can easily perform, but they are no more than cunning tricks. How then are we to convince a suspicious opponent that the wonders manifested through Prophets—such as creating a serpent, or bringing a dead man back to life—are free from the sleight of hand practised by these conjurors. These difficulties are not peculiar to our times: it is quite possible that the same questions may have risen at the time when these miracles occurred. For instance, when we look at verses 2-5 of Chapter 5, in the Gospel of John, we read:

“Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralysed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool, and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well of whatever disease he had … ”

When a person who denies the Prophethood of Jesus and his miracles reads this statement of John and learns that there was a pond which had existed in the land of Jesus for a long time, which had always possessed the peculiarity that a single dive into it was sufficient to cure every kind of disease, no matter how serious, the suspicion is sure to cross his mind that if Jesus did indeed show any miracles, he must have made use of the water of this pond to show them. Many such examples are to be found in the world, and we find them to this day. It also stands to reason that if Jesus indeed cured blind and lame people, he must have taken the formula from the pond, and must have spread this notion among the ignorant and simple people—who can’t get to the bottom of things and realize the truth—that he worked such wonders with the help of a spirit. This becomes even more evident from the fact that Jesus often came to that pond.

In short the miracles that the pond had been showing for a long time continue to cause Jesus’ opponents to view him with suspicion, and it becomes extremely difficult to prove that he was a righteous man, and was not—as the Jews believe him to be—a deceitful person and a conjuror who did not get any help from the ancient pond to work his wonders, and that he did indeed perform miracles. Although after believing in the Holy Quran one is relieved of such doubts, how can someone who does not believe in the Holy Quran, or is a Jew, or a Hindu, or a Christian, get rid of such doubts, and how can his heart be satisfied? The common people, who often behave like cattle, never even think of getting to the bottom of things. Moreover, conjurors have a lot of margin to do their tricks and people find little opportunity to discover their secrets, because these tricks last a very short time and a person finds little opportunity to scrutinize their tricks. Besides, ordinary people have no knowledge of the natural sciences, philosophy and arts, and are completely unaware of all the amazing qualities which the All-Wise has invested in the universe. Hence at every time and age they are ready to be deceived. And why should they not be deceived, for the properties of things are indeed wondrous, and ignorance only increases the wonder. For instance, flies and some other insects have this property that if they have died, but have not yet undergone significant disintegration and their organs have not yet decayed, and they have not been dead for more than two or three hours—like in the case of flies that die in water—if such creatures are buried under salt that has been properly ground, and an equal measure of ash is also sprinkled over them, they come to life and fly away. This property is so well-known that even little boys know of it, but if there is a simpleton who is unaware of it, and a fraud—claiming to be the Messiah of the flies—is to perform this trick before him and is to bring some flies back to life, mumbling some mantras all the time, and trying to give the impression that he has performed the feat through the mantras, would the simpleton have the sense or the time to go about making investigations? Do you not see that even in this very time and age frauds and cheats are playing havoc with the world? While one claims to be an alchemist and boasts of turning things into gold, another buries stones under the ground himself and then brings out a female deity in front of the Hindus, and yet another goes to the extent of mixing Jamal Gota with ink and then uses this ink to write out amulet for a simpleton so that the resulting loose motions may be attributed to the amulet. There are thousands of similar frauds and tricks being practised in this very day and age. And some deceptions are so subtle that even some wise people are taken in by them. In this age, subtle aspects of natural sciences, and physiological compositions, and amazing properties of certain forces are daily coming to light through new experiments. These new discoveries can be exploited by the pseudo miracle-workers to show novel tricks. The above discourse proves that miracles which resemble such tricks, even if they are true, are still susceptible to doubt, and there are great difficulties in establishing their truth.

The miracle of a saint is in fact the miracle of the Prophet whom he follows. This is something quite obvious and self-evident. When a manifestation depends upon complete submission to a Prophet or to a Book, and it cannot happen in any other way, it becomes obvious that though the manifestation may have taken place at the hands of the follower of a Prophet, it practically emanates from the Prophet himself. The secret as to how a Prophet’s miracle can be shown through another person is that when someone acts strictly in keeping with the injunctions of his law-bearer, and abstains from everything which he forbids, and faithfully follows the Book that he gives him, he then loses his own identity and becomes the total responsibility of his law-bearer. Thus, if the lawbearer leads unerringly on the straight path—like a skilled physician—and brings a holy book which contains remedies for the spiritual maladies of his follower, as well as provisions for his intellectual and practical progress, and the follower for his part accepts those teachings wholeheartedly, without even slightly deviating from them in form or content, then whatever signs and miracles result from such perfect submission will only be through the blessing of the law-bearing Prophet. In this way, if an extraordinary phenomenon is manifested through a saint, it will necessary be the miracle of the Prophet whom he follows.

I have mentioned time and again that Allah has granted me four kinds of signs, which I have forcefully proclaimed through writings and publications.

The first of these is the sign of the knowledge of Arabic. This sign was given to me at the time when Muhammad Hussain wrote that I did not know anything of Arabic, even though I had never claimed any knowledge of the language. Only those who are conversant with Arabic grammar and diction can realize its difficulties, and do justice to its beauty and excellence … The greatest difficulty is when I fail to find the appropriate idiom or expression. But God reveals it to me. It is easier to invent new or artificial diction than to express oneself in truly idiomatic language. Moreover, I have published books with offers of valuable prizes and I have announced that the opponents may seek help from whosoever they please, and may even employ the assistance of native Arabs, but God Almighty has assured me that they will never be able to compete with me, for this sign has been granted to me as a reflection of the miracles of the Holy Quran.

The second sign is the acceptance of prayers. During the composition of my books which are in Arabic, I have experienced the fulfilment of great many of my prayers. I have prayed at every single word, and I declare that there is no one else whose prayers have been accepted as much as mine. Of course, I make an exception of the Holy Prophet (sas), (for it is only because of him and through submission to him that all this has been given to me). I cannot say if the number of prayers that have been accepted are in the thousands or hundreds of thousands. Some of these signs of acceptance are universally acknowledged.

The third sign is that of prophecies, or the disclosure of the unseen. The fact is that at times even fortune-tellers and soothsayers predict things, by way of conjecture, and they partially come true. History tells us that in the time of the Holy Prophet (sas) too there were some soothsayers who would foretell matters relating to the unseen. Satih was one of them. But there is a world of difference between the soothsayer’s conjectural knowledge of the unseen, and the knowledge that is revealed to the Messengers of Allah, and to those who receive Divine revelations…

The fourth sign is about the profundities and subtleties of the Holy Quran. The verities of the Holy Quran cannot be disclosed to anyone but to him who is purified.

I have repeatedly asked my opponents to write a commentary on a Chapter of the Holy Quran. I will do the same and then the two may be compared. But no one has dared to take up this challenge.

These prophecies are such that they will move a righteous person to tears, and yet people persist in claiming that none of them has been fulfilled. They do not seem to realize that even they have to die one day. If the signs that have been shown to them had been shown to the people of Noah, they would not have been drowned; and if the people of Lot had been apprised of them, they would not have been showered with stones.

1 I shall humiliate him who designs to humiliate thee. [Publisher]

2 They wishfully await calamities to befall you.—Al-Taubah, 9:98 [Publisher]

3 Let evil befall them instead.—Al-Taubah, 9:98 [Publisher]

4 Whatever is going to happen has been written and the pen has dried. [Publisher]

5 Matthew, 17:20 [Publisher]

6 Al-An‘am, 6:110 [Publisher]

7 Bani Isra’il, 17:94 [Publisher]

8 Turn cold, O Fire, and be a source of peace.—Al-Anbiya’, 21:70. (This verse refers to the miracle whereby the fire became cold when Abraham (as) was thrown into it.) [Publisher]

9 They failed to respect Allah as He should be respected.—Al-An‘am, 6:92 [Publisher]

10 Those who possess true knowledge, influence the scheme of things; What has he seen of the world who has no experience of their world! [Publisher]

11 A palace paved smooth with slabs of glass.—Al-Naml, 27:45 [Publisher]

12 Which none shall touch except those who are purified.—Al-Waqi‘ah, 56:80 [Publisher]