Miracle
in Islam - Mujiza or Ayah?
By: Khurshid Imam
*************************************
A.
Mujiza or Ayah?
The triliteral root ʿayn jīm zāy (ع ج ز) occurs 26 times in the Quran. Arabic word 'mujiza' is derived from it. It means "that by means of which
[the Prophet] confounds, overwhelms, his opponents" or in simple words
“miracle”.
Generally, we use the word 'miracle' or 'mujiza' to describe something that
perplexes human mind and can't be explained. For many events mentioned in the
Quran, we use these terms.
However, the shocking fact is that Qur'an does not
use the technical Arabic word (مُعْجِزَة Muʿjiza) for 'miracle'. When we go
through statements in Quran that talk about so-called-miraculous events, we do
not find the Arabic word 'mujiza'
mentioned in the text.
Instead of 'mujiza',
Quran uses the term 'Ayah' (literally meaning sign) to describe such events
[what we call as miracles].
B. Quran as witness
Let us ponder over few examples from Quran
1. Prophet Salih and the
miracle of the she-camel:
Prophet Salih referred to the she-camel as 'Ayah' of Allah. In general, people
think that the she-camel was sent as 'mujiza
or miracle but Quran says that she was an Ayah
from Allah. Refer Quran 7:73
In English translations you can see the word
"Miracle" added in bracket in front of the word 'ayah'.
2. Prophet Moses and
miracles for Firaun:
Quran
describes all miracles shown to firaun
as ‘Ayah’ of Allah.
Then
[Musa (Moses)] showed him the great AYAH (usually translated as miracles).
Quran 79:20
But
[Fir'aun (Pharaoh)] belied and
disobeyed. Quran 79:21
Quran is saying that Prophet Moses
showed ‘Ayah’ to Firaun. We know that
Moses showed many events to Firaun
that we understand as miracle.
➢
Quran 20:22 – Stick as snake was an Ayah and not Mujiza.
➢
Quran 20:56 – Allah showed all Ayah to Firaun.
➢
Quran 20:72 – Magicians surrendered
and believed in Ayah shown to them.
➢
Quran 10:92 – Preservation of Firaun’s body is an Ayah from Allah.
➢
Quran 7:106-109 – Firaun asked Moses to show the Ayah, Moses showed the Ayah of snake and
stick and magicians were surprised to see; they attributed this event to
sorcery.
Quran 7:130-132 refers to “years of
drought and shortage of crops” as ‘Ayah’.
Similarly, events of flood, locusts, lice, frogs, blood are referred to as Ayah of Allah sent for Firaun.
C. What
difference it makes whether it is ‘Mujiza’
or ‘Ayah’?
One may question: what is the big
deal in use of word ‘Ayah’ or absence
of word ‘Mujiza’?
When we use word ‘miracle’ or ‘Mujiza’ for an event then we assume it
to be:
✓
Super natural event
✓
Something that is beyond human
perception
✓
Something that goes against laws of
nature.
However, Quran attributes these events to be Ayah of Allah. Arabic word ‘Ayah’ is
difficult to translate in any language because it comes solely from Allah.
Loosely, we can translate it as ‘Sign’. Ayah of Allah are of two types:
➢ In the
Quran: Every sentence in the Quran is an Ayah of Allah.
➢ Outside
the Quran: Everything surrounding us reflect Ayah of Allah.
1.
Time and again Allah urges readers of Quran to deeply
ponder over Ayah of Allah.
2.
Quran also says that in the ‘work’ of Allah there is Ayah
for those who think.
Ayah of Allah
is for human beings to ponder upon, derive guidance and benefit. When we assume
that it’s not an Ayah but a super
natural event then we deprive mankind of the benefits of Ayah.
We keep on discovering and knowing more details of Ayah or 'signs' of Allah.
For example, Quran 2:164 says that those who use ‘aql’ or intellect will find many things
from following Ayah of Allah:
- Creation of
heavens and the earth
- Alternation of day
and night
- Sailing of ship
through oceans
- Rain
- Moving Creatures
- Movement of wind
Quran says that all above events are Ayah of Allah for those who use intellect / AQL.
Today, science has discovered many aspects of above Ayah of Allah, which earlier people did
not know. The more people pondered over above Ayah of Allah, more knowledge they gained.
Similarly, the more we will ponder over so-called-miracles
or ‘Mujiza’, better we will
understand its mechanism. Mujiza is
neither super natural nor it’s against the laws of nature. If we ponder over it
more, we will be able to explain its mechanism better.
D. Conclusion
1.
Quran uses the Arabic word ‘Ayah’ to indicate events that we deem as miracle. Quran never uses the
word ‘Mujiza’ in context with such
events.
2.
With the passage of time, we keep on moving from less
knowledge domain to more knowledge domain.
3.
Whatever the so-called-miracle occurred in the past, they
occurred as part of God's laws. We might discover many of these laws in future. We will explore more and more
regarding Ayah of Allah.
4.
Miracles of Quran are
for us to ponder over and derive the guidance.
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