The Proof of Prophethood

perform magic and incantation, they do not resemble the wonders
of [a Prophet’s] splitting the sea, bringing a dead person back to
life, restoring sight to a blind person, or curing a person whose
illness has become hopeless from the medical point of view.
Therefore, they are not confused with mu’jizas, which are wonders.
13 — “Occurrence of a mu’jiza is known either by seeing or by
hearing reports which are tawâtur. [1]
A report cannot be
considered factual even if it is tawâtur. Therefore, those who have
not seen a mu’jiza will not know of a Prophet, for there may be
liars among those who report it as tawâtur: that is, commonly
known.
Answer: In most worldly affairs, reports that are
communicated through tawâtur are believed. For example, such
facts as there being a city named Delhi, that the earth is larger than
the moon and smaller than the sun, that Muhammad the
Conqueror conquered Istanbul from the Byzantine Greeks are
believed by hearing them from others.
14 — “We have studied religions. We have found things that
are contradictory to reason and science. Thus, we have concluded
that they have not been revealed by Allah. Examples of these are
the permission given to cause pain to an animal for the purpose of
eating; fasting at certain times; the prohibition of eating and
drinking some delicious foods and drinks; the commandment
imposing troublesome journeys for the purpose of visiting certain
places; performing sa’y and tawâf like insane people or children,
throwing pebbles without any certain target, kissing a valueless
stone, the prohibition of looking at a free but ugly woman, and the
permission to look at pretty jâriyas.”
Answer: Even if the intellect could distinguish good from bad
and if we were to admit that Allâhu ta’âlâ must command His
human slaves to do useful things, it is obvious that the intellect
could not have the ability to grasp the benefit of the things
mentioned in this question. This inability of the intellect does not
show the absence of their value. Allâhu ta’âlâ has given these
commandments because He knows their worth. As we have
explained before, there are many things that the intellect cannot
comprehend but which are comprehended by the power of
prophethood. We shall explain this with more detail at the
beginning of the second article.
[1] Tawâtur is the state of being widespread or being reported by most
people, which is a document for authenticity and makes denial
impossible.
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