How Miracles Help Us Distinguish Prophets from Others
There are three ways for recognizing prophets: 1- Miracles 2- Studying their past, 3- References from previous prophets. Here we discuss the first one.
If one says he has been sent by God to guide people and is connected to the Creator of the world who has unlimited power and knowledge, he needs to do something others cannot do so that he can prove his truthfulness. This is called a miracle.
All messengers of God had a miracle or several miracles to prove they had been sent by God. Here are some examples:
1- The softening of iron for Davoud (David): “We gave David bounty from Us. ‘O mountains, and birds, echo (the praise of Allah) with him.’ And We softened iron for him.” (Surah Saba, Verse 10)
2- Making wind subservient to Prophet Suleiman (AS): “We made the wind subservient to him, to blow gently wherever he desired at his command.” (Surah Saad, Verse 36)
3- Sending a camel from within a mountain for Prophet Salih (AS): “Surely We are going to send the she-camel as a trial for them; therefore watch them and have patience.” (Surah Al-Qamar, Verse 27)
4- Turning Moses’ (AS) staff into a serpent: “So Moses threw down his staff and suddenly it turned into a real serpent.” (Surah Al-Aa’araf, Verse 107)
5- Turning clay into a bird by Prophet Jesus (AS): “I have brought you a miracle from your Lord. I can create for you something from clay in the form of a bird.” (Surah Al Imran, Verse 49)
Now the question is what the difference is between what prophets do and what inventors, sorcerers, magicians, and others do? Such people can also do what others cannot. Why do we not call them prophets?
Some answers to this question are as follows:
1-What these people do comes from leaning and education whereas prophets have not gone to masters and teachers to learn what they do.
2- Some of these people gain their capabilities by practicing hard. For example an ascetic who can go without sleeping or eating for forty days or an athlete who can lift up heavy weights have gained the capability through practice.
When people gathered around Prophet Salih (AS) and demanded that he bring a female camel from the mountain if he is connected to divine power, Saleh (AS) did not say: Give me some time to practice. He did it immediately.
3- What these people do usually involves materialistic objectives. For example a sorcerer or an athlete want to gain people’s attention or benefit financially. But prophets of God seek to guide people and help build an ideal society.
4- These people may commit wrongdoing but prophets of God are infallible and there is no deviation in their life.
5- A sorcerer, magician, or inventor never say what they do is exclusive to them and no one else can do it. They do not there to challenge others to do the same but prophets of God courageously say no one else is capable of doing what they do.
So there are many differences in terms of type, objective and personality between what such people do and the miracles of God’s messengers.
