Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 282
282 held but is guilty of an attack upon their intelligence and integrity. It is the duty therefore of every right-thinking person to refute allegations of this kind as they amount not to praise but to defamation of the persons concerning whom they are made. The Quran, on the other hand, not only does not deny but positively claims that God makes His Prophets the means of certain kinds of manifestations which do not in any manner contravene His fundamental laws. This is a truth which cannot be controverted and this is the kind of miracle that the Quran claims for the Holy Prophet. Is it not a miracle that God should vouchsafe to a human being the sure knowledge of things hidden in the womb of the future? Is it not a miracle for God to bestow success and victory upon a weak and humble person not possessed of any visible means against strong, powerful and numerous opponents? The Quran claims not only that it is unique in itself but also that God bestowed upon the Holy Prophet the knowledge of things hidden and that He constantly manifested His power and glory in support of the Holy Prophet. How can it then be said that the Quran does not attribute any miracles to the Holy Prophet? In truth it makes that claim repeatedly. Was it not a miracle that the Holy Prophet was warned of severe opposition and persecution on the part of the Meccans when he himself had no reason to suspect that he would become the object of such opposition and persecution? Was it not a miracle that he was informed that he would have to migrate from Mecca and that even the time of the migration was indicated in advance? Was it not a miracle that several years before the Battle of Badr he was informed that such a conflict would take place in which the Muslims would be victorious and their enemies would be vanquished and that even the time of the conflict was specified? Was it not a miracle that the Holy Prophet was informed years before the event not only that he would have to migrate from Mecca but also that he would re-enter Mecca as a victor? Was it not a miracle that after the defeat of the Romans by the Persians in Syria the Holy Prophet was informed that within nine years the Romans would vanquish the Persians? Was it not a miracle that the Holy Prophet was told that Islam would spread throughout Arabia and would then prevail against all other Faiths? When every one of these events came to pass at its appointed time, what doubt could there have been left that every one of them constituted a miracle? All these matters and many others of a similar kind are narrated in the Quran. Then how can it be said that the Quran disclaims miracles on the part of the Holy Prophet? Those who are responsible for this assertion have been misled into making it on account of their lack of knowledge of the Arabic language and idiom and the style of the Quran. Where, for instance, the Quran says: "And nothing could hinder Us from sending Signs, except that the former people rejected them," 361 it does not mean, as Christian writers appear to have apprehended, that God declines to show any further Signs. The verse means that people for whose benefit Signs were shown in previous ages did not accept them and this might have been a reason for showing no further Signs, but God would