Documents of the Right Word

master surpassing his collegues in his art. So Muhammad (alaihi
‘s-salâm) might have been the most eloquent of the poets of his
time. He might have uttered things that could not be expressed by
the poets of his time. If this were supposed to be mu’jiz, anything
that were done by a pre-eminent master of any branch at any time
but which could not be done by his colleagues, would necessarily
be said to be mu’jiz, which, in its turn, would be an absurd
statement.”
Answer: Mu’jiz means that which happens at one time and
bears a great value because it cannot be done by most people of
that time and which has been done at the highest level by those
who have been able to do it and which it is unanimously admitted
will not be surpassed by human power and which could be
surpassed, if ever, only by a person who is believed to manage it by
Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Will. Something without these qualities cannot be
called a mu’jiza. Magic was known as such during the time of the
Prophet Mûsâ [1]
(‘alaihi ‘s-salâm); in those days, those who
practised sorcery knew that the highest degree of magic was to
conjure up unreal, nonexistent things or illusions in [others’]
imagination as if they were existent. When they saw that the rod of
Mûsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) became a large serpent and ate the snakes
which were of their own witchery, they saw that it was beyond the
boundaries of magic and above human power. Thus they believed
[in the prophethood of] Mûsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm). Pharaoh, being
unaware of this reality, had the wrong impression that Mûsâ
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) was the leader of the wizards and taught them
magic. The same was the case with medicine during the time of ’Îsâ
(’alaihi ’s-salâm); it was at a very advanced level. Doctors took
pride in their achievements. Famous specialists said that their
medical knowledge would not suffice to revivify the dead or to
open the eyes of congenital blind people. They believed that such
people could be cured only by Allâhu ta’âlâ. During the time of
Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm) the arts of poetry and eloquence had
reached the highest levels. Poets boasted to one another about the
eloquence in their poetry. In fact, the seven odes with the best
prosody won the admiration of poets and were hung on the door
of the Ka’ba. No one could write the like of them. This is written
in detail in history books. When Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam) brought Qur’ân al-kerîm, conflicts arose among the
people. Some denied the fact that it was the Word of Allâhu ta’âlâ
and died as unbelievers. Some poets, seeing the i’jâz in Qur’ân al-
[1] Moses.
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