Abstract:
Meanings of some of the verses of the Qur'an, as viewed from the perspective of the Writings of the Bahá'í Faith.
Notes:
See also an updated version prepared by Mike Thomas, in PDF or Microsoft Word format (2024).
Crossreferences:
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Chapter 12page 96
CHAPTER XII:THE SUBJECT OF MIRACLES In vivid terms, the Qur'an distinguishes between believers and non-believers, the sighted and the blind, the pure-hearted and the evil, the hearing and the deaf. When Muhammad states that the "blind and the seeing are not equal", He is referring to spiritual sight. Those who are not blind those who see recognize the "Sun of Reality" immediately, finding no fundamental difference in the different Revelations of God. They to whom we gave the Scriptures before It, do in It believe. Thus, the spiritually sighted who were recipients of a Book revealed prior to the Qur'an declared their belief in the Qur'an and confirmed that they were Muslims before it was revealed, and continued to be Muslims in the light of its Revelation. The Qur'an describes the spiritually blind thus: ...Hearts have they with which they understand not, and eyes have they with which they see not, and ears have they with which they hearken not. They are like the brutes: Yea, they go more astray: these are the heedless, page 97 And though we had sent down the angels to them, and the dead had spoken to them, and we had gathered all things about them in tribes, they had not believed, unless God had willed it! but most of them do not know it. As a last resort, non-believers ask for miracles: And they say, "By no means will we believe on thee till thou cause forth-gushing rivers to gush forth in its midst; While God confirms that the revelation of miracles was within the power of the Apostles, people failed to believe in them and were chastised: Nothing hindered us from sending thee with the power of working miracles, except that the peoples of old treated them as lies. We gave to Themoud the she- camel before their very eyes, yet they maltreated her!2 We send not a prophet with miracles but to strike terror.
page 98 Bahá'u'lláh explains in His commentary on the Surih of the Sun that Thamud were a people to whom God sent His Apostle Salih,, whom they rejected after He had called upon them to be righteous. He confirms that they disobeyed the ordinances of God until they "hamstrung the She-Camel", an image also used in the Surih of Hud. The Qur'anic verses describe how God had sent this people a She-Camel and requested that it be left to graze freely, but the people disobeyed and hamstrung her. God's wrath was subsequently brought upon them and they were destroyed. The True Miracle is the Book That the true miracle of a Revelation from God is the Book which He sent down is stated and restated in the Sacred Scriptures. The Qur'an, for example, describes the deniers and non-believers who insisted upon a demonstration of miracles on the part of the Prophet, as in its depiction of those who denied Moses and called Him a "magician" or "sorcerer".3 Regarding Him, the Qur'an states: And when our signs were wrought in their very sight, they said, "This is plain magic."4
page 99 and further: And when Moses came to him with our demonstrative signs they said, "This is naught but magical device. We never heard the like among our sires of old." Clearly, a reminder is given in the Qur'an that miracles are never a convincing factor for those who doubt or disbelieve, but are a cause of greater stubbornness. When the Prophet Muhammad declared His Mission and was confronted with the same request, God revealed to Him: Yet when the truth came to them from our very presence, they said, "Unless the like powers be given to him that were given to Moses.... " But did they not disbelieve in what of old was given to Moses? They said, "Two works of sorcery have helped each other;" and they said, "We disbelieve them both. " And in response to this attitude, God further revealed: Say: Bring them a Book from before God which shall be a better guide than these, that I may follow it; if ye speak the truth.5
page 100 The true miracle, therefore, is the revealed Book. It is the irrefutable proof. It is the ill at heart who insist upon miracles. In verse 133 of Surih Ta. Ha. it was revealed: But they say, "If he come not to us with a sign from his Lord...!"6 and, in answer, God admonishes the doubting hearts: But have not clear proofs for the Koran come to them, in what is in the Books of old? That is, have the eyes of those who ask for miracles been so blinded as not to perceive in the Qur'an the explanation of the subjects in the Torah and the Evangel hitherto not understood by the wisest and most knowledgeable amongst them? Or is there a more convincing miracle than a Book that would repeat the course followed by the earlier nations and give new spiritual life to dead souls? ... What is right will he enjoin them, and forbid them what is wrong, and will allow them healthful viands and prohibit the impure, and will ease them of their burden, and of the yokes which were upon them; ...
page 101 In the Bukhari-Qastallani commentary, in a chapter entitled Attachment to the Book and to the Tradition, is recorded the following tradition attributed to the Prophet: There is no Prophet among the Prophets but was given of miracles similar to those in which I believe or upon which people believed. But what I was given was an inspiration inspired by the Almighty God unto me. I hope to be thus in the forefront of the followers on the Day of Resurrection. The commentary further explains that that "upon which people believed" refers to that which is enough for people to believe, that Muhammad's miracle is indeed the Word of the Lord of all Worlds because it is the pride of all miracles, the most sublime in station and the greatest in status. Thus, the greatest miracle of the Prophet Muhammad is the Qur'an.
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Views | 17281 views since posted 2003-09-06; last edit 2025-01-18 02:15 UTC; previous at archive.org.../mustafa_bahaullah_announcement_quran; URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org |
Language | English |
Permission | editor and publisher |
History | Scanned 2002 by Duane Troxel; Formatted 2003 by Jonah Winters. |
Share | Shortlink: bahai-library.com/184 Citation: ris/184 |
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