Is Asking for Miracles Transgression in Ones Duas?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I have read some of the answers on SeekersGuidance regarding miracles. It is stated that it’s not the proper manner to ask Allah Most High for something impossible. There are stories of the pious who were given miracles, like the mother of Jesus and the people of the cave. Why do they say it’s transgression in dua, yet there were miracles in the past? Can you ask Allah to cure one permanently blind, or is it sinful to ask for the impossible?
Please can you clarify so I can better understand what if someone was stuck in a calamity and there is no hope and the only thing that can save him is a miracle? I was listening to a Shaykh and his video. He said you can ask for miracles, and then I hear it’s not allowed because it’s sinful.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
We cannot ask or expect miracles of the magnitude of the Prophets (peace be upon them all). However, an honorary miracle (karama) can occur by the righteous, or a helping miracle (ma‘una) can appear through an ordinary Muslim, and this is what is meant when scholars say we can ask for miracles. Those who say we are not allowed refer to the former, which is a supernatural occurrence befitting prophets.
Supernatural Events Are of a Few Types:
A Prophetic Miracle (mu‘jiza) is the change of the normal flow of events to allow a Prophet to perform what we call an extraordinary event that Allah Most High brings to prove his Prophethood, strengthen the believer’s faith, and break the unbelievers’ stubbornness’.
Honoring Miracle (karama) is a saintly miracle that occurs and is performed by the righteous (Awliya).
Helping Miracle (ma‘una) is a miracle that appears upon an ordinary Muslim.
(Ihana) exposing miracles are those types that break conventional norms and appear to others as a divine sign of grace and support to its opposite, as a mark of humiliation. These supernatural events reveal humiliation.
(Istidraj) is a misleading miracle to corrupt and oppressors who have brought about the divine wrath through either disobedience by way of their corrupted religious belief or sinful acts. [Sawi, Hashiyat al-Sawi ‘Ala Jawharat al-Tahwhid;
Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; ‘Ala’ al-din Ibn ‘Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya; Taqi Usmani, Fiqh al-Buyu‘; Rada al-Haq, Fatawa Darul ulum Zakariyya; Tahtawi, Hashiyat al-Tahtawi ‘ala Maraqi al-Falah; Nahlawi, al-Durar al-Mubaha; Ibn Adam al-Atyubi, Al-Bahr al-Muhit al-Thajjaj Fi Sharh Sahih al-Muslim]
You can search for more related answers on SeekersGuidance Answers.
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction, in sha’ Allah.
Related:
- Supplication is the Essence of Worship: The Reality and Proper Manners of Asking Allah (Dua). [Course]
- Connecting to Allah through Supplication: Learn Deeper Meanings of Dua. [Course]
- Is It Halal To Make Dua For Superpowers?
- Miracles Archives.
- Istikhara, The Prayer of Seeking Guidance: The Ultimate Guide – A Reader.
- How Does One Perform The Prayer Of Need (Salat al-Haja)?
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersGuidance?
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught 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 the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
