The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page cccxxxiv
GENERAL INTRODUCTION 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" (17:60), 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 not cease to manifest His Signs on that account. The people rejected the Signs shown by the earlier Prophets and yet Signs were shown in support of later Prophets; thus there was no reason why Signs should not have been shown in support of the Holy Prophet of Islam. Again, when in answer to the demands of disbelievers the Holy Prophet was directed in the Quran to say that he was but a human being like unto others, it did not mean that God did not show Signs in his support. All that was meant was that Signs were shown by God and that the Holy Prophet could not produce them at his will. This is a fundamental truth and the statement of it by the Quran enhances our appreciation of it. Which of the two persons is a follower of the truth and which of them is in error: he who affirms that God had handed over His attributes and authority to some of His creatures or he who proclaims that he is but a creature of God and that God makes His Signs manifest through His beloved servants? In addition to prophecies the Quran makes mention of other miracles also. For instance, it refers to the following miracle. On the occasion of the Migration the Holy Prophet, accompanied by Abu Bakr, left Mecca and took refuge in Thaur Cave, three miles from Mecca. When the Meccans discovered cccviii