The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 462
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 462 and they have always existed since time immemorial. As such, the account which relates to the feast of Jābir bin ‘Abdullāh ra is also a link in this very holy chain. Moreover, since this miracle was only manifested upon the believers, according to divine practice, the veil of concealment in this incident was relatively less. A study of the life of the Holy Prophet sa demonstrates that this occurrence was not a sole incident. As a matter of fact, many such occurrences are found to have taken place in the life of the Holy Prophet sa , which are established by authentic narrations, and God-willing, some of them shall be mentioned ahead at their appropriate place. However, as is apparent from the fundamental purpose of miracles and the Holy Qur’ān also establishes the same, it should be remembered that in miracles, the individual person of the Messenger is only a means or intermediary and the actual moving force is the Being of God. In other words, a Messenger does not have the ability to manifest a miracle when and how he pleases, whenever he so desires. In fact, the phenomenon of miracles is based solely on the Will and Wisdom of God, and He manifests miracles when and how He choses through a Messenger. Although the concentration and prayer of a Messenger absorbs and brings about the occurrence of miracles, but the actual command to manifest a miracle remains with God and His hidden power works its wonders through the Messenger. If a divine commandment is not issued, the personal power of a Messenger cannot manifest miracles and it is obvious that divine command is only issued when a real need or genuine wisdom requires it. At this instance, it is also necessary to mention that generally, since false and fabricated narrations or exaggerated tales are often publicised in the context of miracles, one must exercise extreme caution in accepting narrations of this kind. Only those narrations should be accepted which are proven to be true in terms of Riwāyat and Dirāyat , and are established as being true according to those fundamental conditions which we have mentioned above. That is to say, they are reliable according to principles of testimony, they do not contradict a divine custom, promise or divine attribute, they possess a characteristic which is beyond human knowledge and power, and the occurrence is not so plainly clear that it contradicts the principle of faith in the unseen. Otherwise, the result shall be that false and fabricated tales will become a part of authentic history and completely conceal the truth and an erroneous understanding of miracles and extraordinary happenings shall become prevalent in the world, which instead of becoming a means of leading