An Event of Low Probability
To me, all it means is an event or outcome — as I guess experts in statistics would call it — of palpably, visibly and extraordinarily low probability.
That means to me a miracle is an event or outcome that is least likely to happen. It is an event that has the lowest likelihood or probability or chance of occurring at any particular place and time — at any particular set of spacetime coordinates that is.
It is something so extraordinary, remarkable and rare that the chances of its happening in the real world are miniscule or infinitesimal. That means it is something that, on the face of it, does not and will not ordinarily happen.
As a result, a miracle to me is an event that, when reported, carries very low or near-zero credibility. In other words, it is something if someone told you it happened you would have trouble believing. Your first reaction will be something like: “No way! It can’t be true!”
Events like that are generally not known to happen — until that time. For, they run contrary to the established patterns and predictions of “normal” behavior of the world — how nature, left to itself, would “normally” behave. Generally speaking, to the extent you know and understand that is not how the world of Allah is known or supposed to work.
I am trying to drive home this point in so many different ways to make sure that we fully understand how extraordinary, remarkable and “miraculous” everything about Islam and Muslims really is. Most Muslims today have no understanding or appreciation of this fact.
Not Exceptions to the Rule
But Rules “Within” Rules
Did I say that is not how Allah’s world is generally known or supposed to work? Oh, really? But that is a different matter. No time to address it here.
For, if Allah gives me time, I may argue at a later date, with some plausibility, that that is precisely how Allah’s world is supposed to operate. It is set up — ab initio, from the beginning — to function that way.
That means what we call miracles are not “exceptions” to Allah’s rules, they are simply rules “within” Allah’s rules. Call them, if you will, sub-sections and clauses within the larger and broader framework of Allah’s laws that govern his world. Except that you need special cognitive, emotional and spiritual equipment to be able to see and recognize them and to be in tune with them.
Demystifying the Miracles:
Did the Sea Really Have a Choice?
I mean what choice did the sea have but to part, when the staff of Allah’s messenger Moses, Alaihis Salaam, struck it?
Or what choice did the poor moon have but to split when Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, pointed his finger at it?
Or what choice did the spider have but to weave its net at the mouth of the cave when he took refuge in that cave from his pursuers who wanted to kill him? And what choice did the dove have but to rush to nest and lay eggs over that net?
And what choice did the dead body have but to jump to its feet and say yes when Allah’s blessed messenger Jesus, Alaihis Salaam, in the name of God Almighty, commanded it to arise?
Not one of them, given the divine laws that govern the universe — mostly observed patterns and regularities in heaven and earth many people call laws of nature — could afford to act otherwise?
Allah’s very, very special people telling you, in the name of Allah, to do certain things and you wouldn’t do them? You must be living in a very different universe than the one created and run by Allah! The sea, the moon, the dead bodies, the spiders and doves of this world cannot dare or dream to disobey the orders given to them by Allah’s messengers in the name of Allah and under the commands of Allah.
Humanity’s Right of Choice: A Dubious Privilege?
That dubious privilege — of freedom of choice, of having the right to say yes or no — is granted only to human beings. And what a mess most of them have made of their privileged status!
Now you tell me which is the rule and which is the exception.
Well, enough about it. In how many different ways will I have to say it? But that is what the expression miracle essentially means to me in this context. And what I am trying to say here is that everything about Islam, Muslims and life in general is nothing short of a miracle — in that sense.
The Larger Miracles of History
vs.
The Everyday Miracles of Islam
But for most people, and in ordinary parlance, there is a huge difference. A miracle for most people means the parting of the sea — by Moses, Allah bless him — or the splitting of the moon — by Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. It means what people call a “supernatural” event, generally occurring within what people call a “religious” context.
No doubt they are the big, “supernatural” miracles, performed by God’s prophets and messengers, Allah bless them all. What I am talking about here are the smaller, more routine ones, if you will. I call them the Everyday Miracles of Islam and Muslims, which simply means the extraordinary things that lie scattered throughout the most routine teachings and practices of Islam.
And in practically every thing Islamic that Muslims do throughout the world.
Miracles That Stay Forever
And here is a profound difference. In general, those big miracles have come and gone. Just as they were supposed to. They appeared and disappeared within the precise limits of the time and space that Allah placed upon them.
But the everyday miracles of the Qur’an and Islam — and of the daily Islamic practice of Muslims everywhere and in every age — transcend all limitations of space and time. They are forever. They are still with us after the passage of 1400 long years, just as Allah promised in the Qur’an they will be.
