Definition of Miracle and Different Sorts of Sayings on its Definition

Miracle is referred to an extraordinary and specific act which could be only done by God’s messenger and human being is not able to carry it out.
Sometimes the word extraordinary is applied instead of miracle; this is Asharites’ impression about miracle. Generally neither the word miracle nor extraordinary is used in the Koran. These two words are used by Muslim scholars. The word used in the Koran is “Ayat” (Sign).
Miracle is a sign for prophets’ truth. It indicates his relation with God (he claims that he is sent from God to lead people). Miracle means inability, it means that people are not able to perform it and only prophets can do it.

Different kinds of sayings on miracle:
1- Some believe that miracle is the thing which happens without any reason. This view which belongs to materialists, is all wrong. Those who believe in miracle know that it is a reason for something; and if it occurs with no reason, so it could not be the reason for something, moreover if something happens without any reason, nothing can be proved in the world, even God’s existence would be impossible. Because we believe in God as then Reason of the world. If His existence could not be proved it meant that the Creation World has been created accidentally with no reason.
This definition is very wrong.

2- some others believe that miracle is replacing a reason for another. For example: the real reason for creating a baby, is sexual intercourse; if a baby is created by a non-sexual method, this is a miracle! This view is also absolutely wrong and against intellectual sciences. Because there is the law of “reason and effect” which shows the world is not a conventional system.
3- According to the last group, miracle neither negate causality law nor flout it. It dose not flout the causality law but flouts the law of nature. Therefore miracle occurs by a regular current.
According to this view, it is accepted that there is a relation between cause and effect. The real reasons for events are entirely unknown to human being, because the reasons can not be known by experiments and studying. God is the Only One Who is Aware of the real reasons. By doing experiments, human can only achieve a series of relations and correspondences but certainly it is not the causality relation.

Some believe that if miracle means performing an act by a prophet which is impossible for human to do; there are many acts as well which can be only done by a particular person, and others are not able to do it.
For example, Ferdowsi – great Persian poet- who is extremely famous for composing heroic poems; for many years no one could write such a heroic poem like his. Does it mean a miracle? Certainly not, because miracle is referred to an act which not only can be done by humans but also it is beyond human power and intelligence.


Sources :

  1. topical exegesis of the Koran

  2. Prophecy

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