When are Miracles shown?
A) Is every state of a prophet extraordinary?:
Although every state of prophets can be evidence and proof that they are right and they are prophets, they do not have to be extraordinary or karamahs because they are human beings after all. God Almighty sent people someone among them as a prophet so that he would be a guide and leader for them in their good deeds that would make them attain happiness in the world and the hereafter and so that he would teach them something with his every deed. If prophets had always done extraordinary things they would not have been true guides for people. It would have been impossible for them to be teachers for their nations.59
Therefore, all prophets acted in accordance with the laws that Allah imposed in the universe (adatullah) called laws of creation except for some miracles and some special states called khasais. They suffered from cold, agonies; they were insulted and tortured by their nations. They put on armors, shot arrows, were wounded and sometimes were martyred in battles. Thus, all of their actions became examples to followed for their ummahs.60
B) Why are Miracles Shown?:
All prophets were given some extraordinary states by Allah against the people who denied their prophethood; they occasionally showed some miracles when it was necessary. As a matter of fact, miracles are shown to make people accept prophethood. Thanks to the miracles shown by prophets, people accepted and approved their prophethood.
However, prophets never showed obvious miracles that everybody would have to accept willy-nilly because it is against the issue of trial, which is the reason why man was created. It is necessary for trial to leave the door open for the mind but not to deprive the mind of will and the right of choice.
The mind is given the right to prefer between belief and unbelief freely. If the miracles had been so obvious as impossible to deny, the mind would not have had any right to choose. Like Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), Abu Jahl would have had to believe and approve prophethood; then, the meaning of trial and the wisdom behind testing would have disappeared. The spirit of Hazrat Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, who was at the highest level, and the spirit of Abu Jahl al-Lain, who was at the lowest level, would have become at equal levels.
Therefore, some people did not believe miracles by saying they were “magic” and “prophecy” even when they were shown obvious miracles. If there had not been such concepts that people could use as excuses and pretexts, that is, if miracles had taken place so obviously that people would not have denied, it would have been compulsory to believe and belief would not have been a virtue or merit. It would have been contrary to the issue of trial and the divine wisdom.61
59 Because of that wisdom, prophets were not chosen among angels but among human beings. If angels had been sent as prophets to human beings, they could not have been guides and imams for human beings. Then, it is obvious how groundless and invalid are the thoughts of the straying people that they put forward only to find an excuse for not accepting the Prophet: “If only an angel had been sent us as a prophet.”
Source:
60 Sözler, 192; Mektûbat, 94; Muhâkemât, 45
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