How Does One Know if Something is a Miracle and a Sign from Allah?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
There is a video of a man saying if God is real, then the lightning will strike, and at that moment, lightning stroke, is this a miracle from Allah (Most High), and how can we tell if something is a miracle from Allah (Most High)
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
Whatever exists is a wave in continuous motion from Allah (Most High). All of these and other laws make human life possible. However, Allah (Most High) has determined them, so He is not bound by them. Therefore, He may sometimes change the normal flow of events to allow a Prophet to perform what we call a prophetic miracle (mujiza), which is an extraordinary event that Allah (Most High) brings about at the hands of a Prophet to prove his Prophethood, strengthen the believer’s faith, and break the unbelievers’ stubbornness’.
Other types break conventional norms and appear to others as a divine sign of grace and support to its opposite, as a mark of humiliation.
Suppose it is a saintly miracle performed by Awliya. In that case, it is called an honoring miracle (karama), a miracle that appears upon an ordinary Muslim is called a helping miracle [ma’una], those that reveal humiliation are called an exposing miracle [‘ihana], then finally, a misleading miracle [‘istidraj] to those who have brought about the divine wrath through either disobedience by way of their corrupted religious belief or sinful acts.[Sawi, Hashiya al-Sawi’ Ala Jawhara al-Tahwhid]
We can understand from the above that a supernatural act may be a sign of Allah’s good favor or proof of one’s misguidance, appearing to Muslims or Non-Muslims alike.
Check these links as well:
miracles Archives – SeekersGuidance
I pray this helps with your question.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.
He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.
He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.
He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.
