Miracles of Prophet Muhammad

• The noble Quran
The polytheists of the Quraysh gathered to consult each other on a
strategy to prevent Prophet Muhammad from inviting people to Islam,
especially as the Hajj (pilgrimage) season was nearing, and the
Prophet would surely call people to embrace Islam during it. They
agreed on warning people against listening to the Prophet . Among the
pilgrims was At-Tufayl ibn 'Amr Ad-Dawsi, the chief of the tribe of
Daws. The polytheists warned him about listening to the Prophet and
claimed that he was a sorcerer and a poet, so At-Tufayl put pieces of
cotton in his ears so that he would not be able to listen to the
Prophet .
Once, At-Tufayl went to the Ka'bah and found the Prophet praying and
reciting the Quran and Allaah The Almighty willed that At-Tufayl
listened to him. When he listened, he knew that what he had listened
to was neither poetry nor magic, as At-Tufayl was a poet himself.
Thus, when the Prophet finished his prayer, At-Tufayl followed him
home and told him what the polytheists had said. Then he asked the
Prophet to explain Islam to him. When he heard the Da'wah (call) of
Islam, he believed in Allaah The Almighty, His Messenger and the Book
he was sent with. The reversion of Tufayl was one of theblessings of
the Quran. After this, he went to his tribe and invited them to Islam.
The noble Quran is the Speech of Allaah The Almighty and the eternal
miracle of His Prophet Muhammad . Allaah The Almighty sent it down to
the people of rhetoric and challengedthem to compose one Soorah
(Chapter) or even one verse like it,but they were unable to do so. The
Quran is the firm Rope of Allaah The Almighty, and whoever adheres to
it will be saved by it; whoever follows it will be guided to the right
path.
• The splitting of the moon
Imaam Al-Bukhaari and Imaam Muslim both, narrated that Abu Jahl,
Al-Waleed ibn Al-Mugheerah, Al-'Aas ibn Waa'il and a large number of
the polytheists from the Quraysh went to the Prophet and said,"O
Muhammad! If you are truthfulin what you say, then split the moon for
us into two pieces." The Prophet invoked Allaah The Almighty to split
the moon and Allaah The Almighty answered his invocation. The moon
split and people saw it andthe Prophet made them bear witness [to
that], but they disbelieved. [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
• Al-Israa' and Al-Mi'raaj (The Prophetic Journey and the Ascension)
When the polytheists intensified the harm they had inflicted on the
Prophet Allaah The Almighty wanted to relieve his pains and bring him
closer, so the journey of Al-Israa' and Al-Mi'raaj took place. Jibreel
went to the Prophet with Al-Buraaq (a riding mount). The Prophet
mounted it and he was taken from Al-Masjid Al-Haraam to Al-Masjid
Al-Aqsa where he led all the Prophets in prayer, then he was taken to
the upper heavens. During this journey, prayer was ordained, and the
Prophet returned to Makkah on the same night.
• Increasing small amounts of food
During the Battle of the Trench, the polytheists besieged Madeenah,
and the Prophet and his Companions were digging a trench around
Al-Madeenah in order to prevent the polytheists from entering it. The
Muslims ran out of food and they were starving. Jaabir wanted to
provide the Prophet and his Companions with food, but he had a small
amount of barley and a small sheep.
Thus, Jaabir went to the Prophet and invited him along with a small
number of theCompanions but the Prophet called out loudly: "O people!
Jaabir has made food for you, so let us go!" The Prophet ordered
Jaabir to wait for him before he prepared the food,and when he arrived
there, he blessed the food. The Companions entered in groups until
they all ate and the food remained the same. Jaabir said, "By Allaah!
The fighters were one thousand on that day." [Al-Bukhaari]
• The trunk of a palm tree longs for the Prophet
The Prophet used to deliver his Khutbah (sermon) while standing beside
the trunk of a date palm tree. When the Companions made a pulpit for
him, he left the trunk and stood on the pulpit. The Companions heard a
sound that was similar to the sound of a she-camel. The Prophet knew
that it was the trunk weeping for having been separated from him. He
went to it and placed his hand over it, so it calmed down. [Ahmad and
At-Tirmithi]

Muhammad Al-Faatih: about whom the Prophetgave glad tidings

For eight centuries, the conquest of Constantinople, now Istanbul
Turkey was a dream for the Muslim commanders. Ever since the era of
the revered companion, Mu`aawiyah Ibn Abu Sufyaan, there had been many
attempts to conquer it, but none had succeeded.
Every Muslim commander wantedto be the conqueror praised in the
narration in which the Prophet said: "You will conquer Constantinople
. Its commander is the best and its army (that will conquer it) is the
best."
Who was then the person about whom the Prophet gave glad tidings? It
was Muhammad Al-Faatih son of the OttomanSultan Murad II.
Muhammad Al-Faatih as a child and his excellent preparation:
Muhammad Al-Fatih was born on 27 th Rajab, 835 A.H., 30 th
March,1432. He was brought up under the supervision of his father,
Sultan Murad II, the seventh Ottoman Sultan. His father prepared and
trained him to shoulder the responsibilities of the position of a
Sultan. Muhammad Al-Fatih memorized all the Quran, learnt the
Propheticnarrations, Islamic jurisprudence,mathematics, astronomy and
theskills required for war.
He also learnt Arabic, Persian, Latin and Greek languages. He joined
his father in his battles and conquests.
His father appointed him as a ruler of a small emirate so that he
could receive practical trainingon administering state affairs under
the supervision of some of the top scholars of that time. This matter
influenced the character of the young prince andtinted his personality
with Islamic morals and manners.
Shaykh Aaq Shamsd-Deen, one of the scholars who supervised the
upbringing and education of Muhammad Al-Faatih, managed to inculcate
in his heart the spirit of Jihaad and the desire to be a person with
high ambition.
The Shaykh also told Muhammad Al-Faatih that he may be the one
referred to in the Prophetic narration mentioned above. All this
shaped the character of Muhammad Al-Faatih. He was devoted to Jihaad,
highly ambitious, widely cultured, and had deep knowledge of the
skills of war and combat.
Taking power and his efforts to achieve the glad tiding:
After the death of his father, Sultan Murad II on 5 th Muharram,852
A.H., 7 th February, 1451 A.C., Muhammad Al-Faatih took over and
became the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire . He was a strong young man,
only twenty years old, very enthusiastic and ambitious. He was
thinking of theconquest of Constantinople, the capital of the
Byzantine Empire . This dream overwhelmed him to the extent that he
would not talkabout any subject except for the conquest of
Constantinople . He would not even allow anyone who was sitting with
him to talk,except about the expected conquest.
The first step in achieving his dream was to take control of the
Strait of Bosporus so that he could prevent any support or supplies
that might come to Constantinople from Europe . So he built a huge
castle on the European seashore of the Strait of Bosporus . Along with
top senior officials, he personally participated in building the
castle. It took three months to build this castle that came to be
known as the Roman Castle. On the other bank of the Strait of Bosporus
there was the Castle of Anatolia . It then became impossible for any
ship to cross unless it obtained permission from the Ottoman forces.
At that time, a talented engineer managed to make a number of cannons
for the Sultan, Muhammad Al-Faatih . One ofthese cannons, never known
before that time, was 700 tons and its projectile weighed 1,500
kilograms.
The sound of its shell could be heard from a long distance away.It was
pulled by one hundred oxen aided by one hundred strong men. This giant
cannon was called the Sultanic Cannon.
The conquest of Constantinople and the realization of the glad tidings:
After completing his preparations, Sultan Muhammad Al-Faatih marched
to Constantinople with an army of two hundred and sixty-five thousand
fighters. This army had infantry forces as well as horsemen. Huge
cannons supported this army. The army besieged Constantinople and the
Ottoman cannons started to fire their missiles at the fortified walls
of the city day and night. From time to time, the Sultan surprised the
enemy with a new war plan until the city defenders lost control and
their forces gave up.
At dawn of Tuesday, 20 th Jumaadaa Al-Awwal, 827 A.H., 29 th May,
1453 A.C., the Ottoman forces managed to penetrate the walls and drive
away the defenders who fled. The people of Constantinople were taken
by surprise when they saw the Ottoman flags waving on their walls and
the soldiers flooding into the city.
After the Ottoman forces conquered the city, Sultan Muhammad arrived
on his horse in a great procession that included his ministers and
army commanders. Ever since that time, the Sultan was known as
Muhammad Al-Faatih (the Conqueror). The soldiers were shouting:
Mash-Allaah! Mash-Allaah! Long live our Sultan! Long live our Sultan!
The Sultan's procession marched until it reached Hagia Sophia church
where the people of the city had gathered. When they knew that the
Sultan had arrived,they bowed and prostrated and they were all weeping
and crying because they did not know their fate; what Sultan Muhammad
Al-Faatih would do to them.
When the Sultan arrived, he dismounted from his horse and prayed two
Rak`ahs thanking Allaah Who had blessed him withthis conquest. Then
the Sultan addressed the people of the city who were still bowing and
prostrating in tears:
Stand up! I am Sultan Muhammadand I would like to tell you, your
brothers, and all the people present that your lives and freedoms are
protected.
The Sultan ordered that the church be turned into a mosque and for the
first time, the call for prayer was heard from this place.Until now,
this mosque is still known as the Mosque of Hagia Sophia. He also
decided to take Constantinople as a capital of his country. It was
called Islambul, meaning the House of Islam. Later on the word was
viciously twisted to become Istanbul .
The Sultan was very tolerant and merciful with the people of the city,
and acted according to the teachings of Islam. He commanded his
soldiers to treat their prisoners of war in a good manner. The Sultan
himself paid the ransoms for a large number of prisoners of war from
his own money. He also allowed those who left the city when it was
under siege to return home.
The aftermath of the conquest of Constantinople :
Muhammad Al-Fatih attainedthis victory when he was twenty three years
old. This indicated hisearly military genius. He also deserved the
glad tidings of the Prophet who foretold that a good person would
conquer that city.
Later on, Muhammad Al-Faatih headed to complete his conquests in the
Balkan. He managed to conquer Serbia Greece Romania Albania and Bosnia
Herzegovina. He also looked forward to conquering Rome so that he
would have another source of pride in addition to the conquest of
Constantinople .
In order to achieve this great hope, he needed to conquer Italy . He
prepared a tremendous fleetfor this mission. He managed to land his
forces and a large number of cannons near the Italian city Otarant.
Consequently he managed to capture its castle in Jumaadaa Al-Awwal 885
A.H., July 1480 A.C.
Muhammad Al-Fatih decided to take Otarant as a base for his northern
military operations untilhe could reach Rome . The European world was
terrified because of this attempt and they expected the fall of the
historical city, Rome into the hands of Muhammad Al-Fatih . However,
he died suddenly (on 4 th Rabee' Al-Awwal, 886 A.H., 3 rd May, 1481
A.C.) while he was preparing to realize this dream. All Europe was
very happy when they knew about his death. The Pope of Rome ordered
that thankfulness prayer be held in churches as a means of expressing
joy and happiness over the news.
Muhammad Al-Fatih as a statesman and a sponsor of civilization
During the reign of Muhammad Al-Faatih and because of his wise
leadership and well-planned policy, the Ottoman State
reachedboundaries that it had never done before.
All these conquests were not the only achievements of
MuhammadAl-Faatih may Allaah have mercy on him. Through the help of
some of his loyal men, he managed to establish a constitution based on
the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Prophet and the Ottoman state
adhered to this constitutionfor about four centuries.
Although he was very busy, he managed to establish more than 300
mosques, 192 of which were in Istanbul alone. He also built 57
schools. Among his most famous architectural monuments are the Mosque
of Sultan Muhammad, the Mosque of Abu Ayyoob Al-Ansaari, and Sarai
Tub-Qabu Palace .
Muhammad Al-Faatih was known for his love for literature. He was a
good poet and a regularreader. He liked the company of scholars and
poets and made some of them ministers. Whenever he heard about a
greatscholar in any field, he would help and support him or ask him to
come to Istanbul in order to benefit of his knowledge.
The character of Muhammad Al-Faatih :
Muhammad Al-Faatih was a committed Muslim who abode bythe rulings of
Islamic jurisprudence. Because of the way he was brought up, he was
apious man. As for his military conduct, it was very civilized and it
was unfamiliar to Europe in its Medieval Ages.
Owing to his ambition fostered by his teachers who always encouraged
him to be the conqueror of Constantinople he managed to make the
greatest ofhis achievements by conquering this city.
Muhammad Al-Faatih managed to realize his dreams through hard,
continuous work, and well-organized planning. For example, before
besieging Constantinople he prepared for the war by making cannons,
preparing his fleet, and making use of all the factors that might
render him victorious.
Through high ambition, determination, and the effort to achieve his
goals, he managed to materialize his dream, make his hope an existing
reality which made him one of the great Muslim heroes and conquerors.

Knowledge and wisdom -provisions of the caller

From the greatest favors of Allaah and bounties upon a slave is to
facilitate means and reasonsby which he becomes one who carries out
the mission of the religion and to be among those who strive and
sacrifice all that isprecious to them, to establish the laws of Allaah
on earth and inorder for the Word of Allaah to be supreme and
uppermost and the word of the disbelievers the lower most. This high
rank and honorable one is the most dignified rank and the highest
levels. It is the rank of messengers and their way, may Allaah their
mention. This same task is to be shouldered by the scholars, who
inherited this fromthe Prophets and Messengers.
Calling people to Allaah is an obligation upon all Muslim at different
levels but it differs according to the level of knowledge, wisdom,
way, rank, profession and time. This obligation is evident from many
verses that are clear in the Quran,like the Saying of Allaah (which
means): "Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting toall
that is good, meaning Islam, enjoining virtue (meaning
Islamicmonotheism) and forbidding all evil (Polytheism and
disbelief)." [Quran 3:104].
And also like the Saying of Allaah (which means): " Say, meaning O!
Mohammad, this is my way, I invite on to Allaah with sure knowledge, I
and whosoever and I follow me and glorify, and exalted is Allaah"
[Quran 12:108].
And the Saying of Allaah (which means): "Invite to the way of your
Lord with wisdom and fair preaching and argue with them in a way that
is better" [Quran 16:125].
In order for the one who is propagating Islam to achieve positive
results in his mission, he should fulfil the following two matters:
1) Propagating based on sure knowledge: Allaah Says (what means):
"Say, this is my way , I invite on to Allaah with sure knowledge, me
and whosoever follows me and exalted is Allaah and I am not one of the
polytheist" [Quran 12:108]. It is necessary for all those who desire
to call to Allaah to have sure knowledge regarding the matter and
issue of propagation and inviting to Allaah. Some people indulge
themselves in the field of propagation without possessing any
knowledge.
Some scholars said that sure knowledge is divided into three parts:
a) Knowing what one is inviting to
b) Knowing the situation of the one invited.
c) Knowing how to invite
First: Knowing what one is inviting to; the propagator must know the
Islamic ruling on the issue he is calling to, because he might call to
something thinking that it is an obligation while it is not, and thus
obligates people with something that Allaah did not oblige them with.
Or he might warn against something thinking that it is prohibited
while it is not, and so on. Therefore, knowing what one is calling the
people to is a vital issue.
Second: Knowing the situation of the invited: the evidence for the
importance of this issue is the narration of Mu'aath when the Prophet
sent him to Yemen, he said to him: "You are approaching a group form
the people of the book , so let the first thing you call them to be
the testimony that none is worthy of beiong worshipped but Allaah".
Notice that he informed him about the situationof those whom he will
be calling, so Mu'aath, may Allaah be pleqased with him, would be
prepared and be acquainted withtheir situation and how he should
approach them. It is a mistake that a person invites or calls another
person not knowinghis situation, his arguments, the kind of falsehood
he is on or what he believes in, because he (i.e. the one being
called) might present an argument which the Muslim propagator does not
havean answer to, which results in the retreat of the truth.
Third: Knowing how to invite: This refers to the methods of
propagation, as Allaah did not leave the matter up to us, but he
guided us to the ideal way. The Prophet also guided us how to
priorities things which leads us to the second issue.
2) Adopting a wise method of calling people: One of the Names of
Allaah is Al-Hakeem, which implies wisdom, and it is mentioned many
times in the Quran in connection to knowledge. Allaah knows all
matters and decrees everything according to His knowledge, based on
what is best for the given situation and what will yield the greatest
benefit to His slaves. He is the Most Wise and Most Knowledgeable in
His words, actions, sayings and rulings.
A wise person is he who places the correct matter in the most suitable
place or situation, as defeined by Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim . This can be
attributed, in its perfect form, only to Allaah, asHe is the only One
who is All-Knowledgeable of everything and the Most Wise in His
decrees and rulings.
One of the things that reflect the wisdom of the caller to Islam is
his basing his call on knowledge, because wisdom is derived from
knowledge, as Allaah says (what means): "Invite to the way of your
Lord with wisdom…" [Quran 16:125]. What is the understanding and the
proper definition of wisdom.
Selecting the correct method along with the appropriate words is
another matter that reflects wisdom in the caller. He should address
people in a comprehensible manner, to facilitate understanding on the
part of those called.
For example, one should not talk to people about the virtue of
optionally fasting three days every month while they do not observe
the fast during the month of Ramadhaan, and so on.
Thus, a propagator of Islam should be mindful of these matters when
calling people to the pathof Allaah, lest he drives them away due to a
shortage in any of them.

Names and Attributes of Allah, - The Names of Allaah are not limited to ninety-nine.

Dought & clear, - Are there only ninety-nine names of Allaah, or are
there more than that?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Al-Bukhaari (2736) and Muslim (2677) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may
Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah has ninety-nine names,
one hundred less one. Whoever learns them will enter Paradise."
Some of the scholars (such as Ibn Hazm – may Allaah have mercy on him)
understood this hadeeth as meaning thatthe names of Allaah are limited
to this number. See al-Muhalla, 1/51
But what Ibn Hazm said is not supported by the majority of scholars.
Rather some of them (such as al-Nawawi) narrated that the scholars are
agreed that the names of Allaah are not limited to this number. It
seems that they regarded the view of Ibn Hazm as odd and as something
that should not be paid any attention.
In support of the view that the beautiful namesof Allaah are not
limited to this number, they quoted the report narrated by Ahmad
(3704) from 'Abd-Allaah ibn Mas'ood who said: The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There is no-one who
is afflicted by distress and grief, and says: 'Allaahumma inni 'abduka
ibn 'abdika ibn amatija naasyati bi yadika, maada fiyya hukmuka,
'adlun fiyya qadaa'uka. As'aluka bi kulli ismin huwa laka sammayta
bihi nafsaka aw anzaltahu fi kitaabika aw 'allamtahu ahadan min
khalqika awista'tharta bihi fi 'ilm il-ghayb 'indaka an
taj'alal-Qur'aana rabee' qalbi wa noor sadri wa jalaa' huzni wa
dhihaab hammi (O Allaah, I am Your slave, son of Your slave, son of
Your maidservant; my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is
forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every
name belonging to You which You have named Yourself with, or revealed
in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have
preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with You, that You make the
Qur'aan the life of my heart and the light of my breast, and a
departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety),' but Allaah
will take away his distress and grief, and replace it with joy." He
was asked: "O Messengerof Allaah, should we learn this?" He said: "Of
course; everyone who hears it should learn it."
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 199.
The phrase "or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with
You" indicates that there are beautiful names of Allaah that He has
kept with Him in the knowledge of the Unseen, and which noneof His
creation has come to know. This indicates that there are more
thanninety-nine Names.
Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] said concerning this hadeeth in Majmoo'
al-Fataawa (6/374):
This indicates that Allaahhas more than ninety-nine names.
And he said (22/482):
Al-Khattaabi said: This indicates that He has names that He has
preserved with Him, and that indicates that the words "Allaah has
ninety-nine names, whoever learns them will enter Paradise" mean that
there are ninety-nine of His nameswhich whoever learns them will enter
Paradise.This is like saying, "I have one thousand dirhams which I
have prepared to give in charity," even if his wealth is greater than
that. In the Qur'aan Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allaah, so call on Him by them"
[al-A'raaf 7:180]
Allaah has commanded us to call upon Him by His names in general
terms, He did not say that He has only ninety-nine names.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) stated in Sharh Saheeh Muslim
that the scholars were unanimously agreed on that, and he said:
The scholars are unanimously agreed that this hadeeth does not mean
that Allaah hasonly ninety-nine names, or that He does not have any
other names apart from these ninety-nine. Rather what the hadeethmeans
is that whoever learns these ninety-nine will enter Paradise. The
point is that one may enter Paradise by learning them, not that the
number is limited to these names.
And Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen was asked about that and replied:
The names of Allaah are not limited to a certain number. The evidence
for that is the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) in the saheeh hadeeth: "O Allaah, I am Your slave, son of
Your slave… I ask You by everyname belonging to You which You have
named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of
Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen
with You."
What Allaah has preserved in the knowledge of the unseen with Him
cannot be known and what is not known is unlimited.
With regard to the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), "Allaah has ninety-nine names, one hundred lessone.
Whoever learns them will enter Paradise," this does not mean that He
does not have any names apart from these, rather it means that whoever
learns these ninety-nine of His names will enter Paradise. This is
like when the Arabs say: "I have one hundred horses which I have
prepared for jihad for the sake of Allaah," which does not mean that
the speaker has only these hundred horses, rather these hundred are
prepared for this purpose.
Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 1/122.