Three Questions by a Christian and their Answers — Page 17
17 is a magician and a great liar. Since the unbelievers called the Holy Prophet sa a magician, and later accepted the same signs as miracles, and the whole of the Arabian Peninsula accepted Islam and became forever a witness to the mira- cles of the Holy Prophet sa , it is, therefore, wrong to say that these people could have denied the miracles in such a categorical manner even though it went against their common perception. On the other hand, the context makes it as clear as day that wherever the Holy Quran mentions the objection of the un- believers that no signs have been given to the Holy Prophet sa , it also clarifies that these people are only speak- ing of the signs of their own asking. 21 21 Let it be clear that the demand for signs by the unbelievers has been mentioned in the Holy Quran in more than just a few places. When we look at these verses together, we find that the non-believers of Mecca asked for three kinds of signs: (1) Signs of chastisement, which were a product of their own imagination; (2) Signs of chastisement, which had visited earlier people or had come to them as warning; (3) Signs which completely lift the veil of the unseen, and thus negate the concept of belief in the unseen. In answer to their demand of signs of chastisement, the Holy Quran tells them to wait, for Divine chastisement will certainly come. Although Allah refuses to repeat the signs of chastisement which had been re- jected earlier, such signs have certainly been promised, and they appeared in the form of wars [between the Muslims and the unbeliev- ers]. The demand for the third kind of sign has been rejected outright, and this is how it should have been, for the unbelievers had said: 'We shall only believe when we see a ladder placed between heaven and Contd…