Page 10 of 18: Miracles

One worked no miracles. The other works many of them, even today.

Muhammad

He can perform no miracles, according to Allah’s own account of him in the Quran. However, in the hadith, his admirers have a strong motive to puff up their beloved prophet with miracle stories. But the Quran contradicts their accounts.

In the following Meccan verse in Sura 17, Muhammad answers the charge that he cannot work miracles. Allah commands his messenger to "say" the following to his critics.

17:93 . . . Say, "Glory to my Lord. Am I anything but a mortal, a messenger?" . . . (Haleem)

In this next Meccan verse, people again question Muhammad about this inability to work miracles.

13:7 The disbelievers say: "Why has no miracle been sent down to him from his Lord?" But you [Muhammad] are only there to give warning . . . (Haleem, my insertion)

It is an ironical fact that the Quran is clearer about Jesus’ miracles than it is about Muhammad’s (non)miracles: "And I [Jesus] heal him who was born blind, and the leper, and I bring to life by Allah’s leave [permission]" (Sura 3:49, Hilali and Khan). Why did not the Quran explicitly and loudly and unambiguously declare Muhammad’s miracles, as it does about the miracles of Jesus?

Jesus

After his death, two discouraged disciples matter-of-factly recount what they observed to a seeming stranger (the resurrected Jesus):

19 About Jesus of Nazareth, they replied: "He was a prophet powerful in word and deed before God and all the people." (Luke 24:19)

This one summary verse in Luke represents many that tell of his miracles. A very short list follows:

• Healing lepers (Matthew 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-42; Luke 5:12-13, 17:11-19);
• Healing the blind (Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 8:22-26, 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43);
• Calming the storm (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:37-41; Luke 8:22-25);
• Walking on water (Matthew 14:25 and Mark 6:48-51);
• Feeding 4,000 and 5,000 (Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:35-55, 8:1-9; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:6-13)

These two articles explain Muhammad’s inability to work miracles: here and here. They reply to Islamic polemics and cite more verses in the Quran.