The birth of a perfectly healthy baby seems miraculous, barren land coming to life, the growing of green leaves on the trees in the spring after a harsh, cold winter is also a miraculous event. However, a miracle in its true sense is an extraordinary event that breaks the laws of nature; it is only brought about by Allah Almighty. Miracles are performed through the permission of Allah, and miracles are sent only for the Prophets of Allah. The Prophets were sent by Allah to guide mankind. Throughout history, there were disbelievers who rejected the call of the Prophets. To refute the claim that the Prophets were imposters, to support and give credibility to the Prophets and to show the people remarkable signs that these were indeed Prophets with a Divine message, Allah gave these Prophets miracles. When Pharaoh failed to respond to the call of Prophet Musa (Moses) – peace be upon him - Allah gave Prophet Musa several miracles. The miracle that saved Prophet Musa and his people was the splitting of the sea; the believers passed through the sea and escaped. When Pharaoh and his army tried to follow them, the waves engulfed the army and Pharaoh, and they drowned. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was also granted miracles by the power of Allah. The Noble Qur'an is the greatest of miracles. The Arabs were known for their skill in eloquence, oration, language, and prose. When the disbelievers tried to even imitate one verse, they failed miserably. The Noble Qur'an's fine composition of words, articulateness, eloquence, succinctness, informing of future events which occurred exactly as was mentioned in the Holy Book, its profound meaning, and rhyming prose overwhelmed the Arabs, in spite of their fame as masters of the language. The Noble Qur'an was not the only miracle sent to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The disbelievers in Makkah were unhappy with what Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was preaching, that their idols were not gods, that there was only One God, that all men were created equal, that the Arab man was no better than the black man. To stop the Prophet (peace be upon him) from preaching, they went to him and argued, "Oh, Muhammad! If you are truthful, then show us a sign. Split the moon for us into two parts." The Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed to Allah to grant him this miracle. It was in the middle of the month, it was a full moon in a clear night sky. Some people had gathered around outside, waiting in anticipation and silence, craning their necks to the horizon, their eyes fixed upon the moon. Allah gave the command, and the moon began to split. Slowly it split, until its two sides parted. Everyone witnessed it, those inside the city and even Bedouins from surrounding areas rushed to Makkah and confirmed that they had seen the moon split. The splitting of the moon affirmed the faith of those who were already believing Muslims and it brought conviction to those who had doubts and had wavering faith. Due to their arrogance and fear that the masses would follow Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the disbelievers of Quraysh claimed that it was an illusion. Another miracle given to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was that he brought blessings to water and food, making a small supply of water and food multiply, becoming abundant for his companions. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had been traveling with approximately 1,500 men. They ran out of water; they needed water to perform ablution and the men were complaining of thirst. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon) asked for whatever water they had left. Jabir brought him a leather skin with only a few remaining drops of water in it. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) squeezed the water sac, praying humbly to Allah to impart His blessings on it. The water sac swelled up and the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked his companions to bring him a large bowl. With his hand under the mouth of the water sac and the large bowl beneath his hand, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) began pouring the water over his fingers, and the water continued to flow profusely. The water started gushing between his fingers like a fountain, and all the men performed ablution and drank until their thirst was quenched. There were 1,500 men; this narration is authentic and is recorded in Sahih Bukhari. After the Prophet's migration from Makkah to Madinah, he stayed in the house of Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari. His host, Al-Ansari prepared a meal to feed two people, the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) and his friend, Abu Bakr. The Prophet (peace be upon him) told Al-Ansari to invite thirty more from the people of Madinah. When the Prophet saw Al-Ansari's reluctance, he repeated the request. Due to the blessings from Allah, the men came and ate until they were satisfied, and the pot was still full of food. Again, they shared the meal with sixty more men, and then ninety men, and there was still food left over for Al-Ansari's family. The following narration was reported in Sahih Bukhari. On the expedition of Tabuk, the Muslim army went hungry. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked them to gather whatever food they had. Everyone brought a few pieces of dates and put them on a mat; it amounted to about four handfuls of dates. The Prophet (peace be upon him) invoked the blessings of Allah, and told everyone to come eat, none in the whole army left empty-handed, and there were even more dates remaining. One of the companions who witnessed this miracle said, "I realized from the way that increase was obtained that if the whole world had come, the food still would have been sufficient." Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the prophet of mercy, not just for mankind but for all of creation. One of his miracles was to relieve a camel of its suffering. One day, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was in the garden of a man in Madinah. There was a camel in that garden; it groaned and shed tears. The camel cried out and the Prophet (peace be upon him) at that moment understood the camel's language. He (peace be upon him) wiped its tears and it became calm. The Prophet (peace be upon him) inquired about the owner of the camel. When its owner approached, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Do you not fear Allah in this animal which Allah has put in your possession? It has complained to me that you starve it and overwork it." This tradition was recorded in the books of Ahmad and Abu Dawood. Another miracle that Allah granted only to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), is that every time he (peace be upon him) supplicated for rain, the rain would fall. In the mosque in Madinah, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) would give the Friday sermon, he used to stand by a date palm tree and sometimes lean on its trunk. An Ansari woman's son built a pulpit for the Prophet (peace be upon him) and when the Prophet (peace be upon him) ascended the pulpit to give the sermon, the date palm tree began to weep and sob. The Prophet (peace be upon him) went to it, rubbing his hands over its trunk to soothe it until it stopped crying. This was yet another of the many miracles of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
