The only rose of my fate, sweet musk-scented hair

My enshrouding sphere, You bestow abundantly,

Wings of the angel lay down for you on the way to the Lote-tree.¹

The Station of Two-Bows’ Length, the highest peak of all,

You are the breath of the original nature,² the cosmos’ lofty call.

You are the rain of mercy and compassion from the most Supreme,

You are the Master of existence, prior even to Adam.

O the Ocean of Light! Would your grace cascade from a fountain?

The myriads of hearts would each become for you a crystal pool.

Black Locks you must be called, O the Beloved,

I wonder if my cry can reach you, dull, enfeebled.

My troubles are far too many, and I myself possess no cures at all,

I spent summers in vain, and am left in poverty in the fall.

“Perhaps a hand will be extended,” I thought, “if I knock on your door,”

“Perhaps my Master could find a cure for this sinner.”

I am afraid to hear you say, “Who is he?”

Then, all abodes would become a dungeon for me.

You are a cure for troubles, let this heart burn,

O the Beloved of the Merciful; to ashes let it burn.

Moons split at your command,³

Nothing but a full moon is seen in your face.

Purest water pours down from your fingers quenching armies,⁴

The hardest hearts soften in rapture with your breath.

Your blessed saliva is a heavenly river and a salve for the wounded,

Every moment in your company is time spent in heaven.

Black Locks I say, for the color of the Hira cave

Is united in harmony with that of the Miraj night.

Hajar al-Asad⁵ is imbued in black,

Inspired by the black of your hair, O the Beloved with rosebud lips.

Black Locks I say, for the pitch black of the Ka‘ba,

Draining the color of your eyes, as if from Kawthar.

O Black Locks, come before laments are no longer of use,

O Black Locks, come before my life comes to a close.

O Black Locks, come before my love fades in my heart,

O Black Locks, come before the Angel descends to take this life away.

With sparkling light, bestow upon me the horizons of future,

May all the horror on the road change into glory.

Burying my face into your prints in the dust,

Burning in flames, crying your name “O Muhammad!”

I wish to reach the land beyond, thirsty and tired,

On my lips, may cries of “water” and “Lord” become entwined.

Perhaps my burning could be the lowest of mercy,

A kiss from an angel whispering “He” while touching.

O Black Locks, all my days roam in this way,

Each ordeal passes engulfed in longing for you.

Stop this pain, put an end to this longing,

Uproot and hurl away this torment of separation from my heart.

Hurl it away to the unknown or to extermination,

Burn this heart forever with your light of reunion.

________________________

1. sidrat al-muntaha: (the Lote-tree of the Boundary) a station which the Prophet was raised during his Ascension.

2. fitrat: the original state in which humans are created by God

3. One of the well known miracles of the Prophet was “splitting the moon.” Once, the most staunched idolaters of Mecca came and asked him to show them a miracle to prove his mission. The Prophet prayed and the moon split. One half of the moon appeared above a mountain while the other half appeared above another mountain. This miracle is confirmed by the following verse: The Hour has approached and the moon split (Qamar 54:1).

4. This verse refers to one of the Prophet’s miracles. The Prophet dipped his fingers into a pot of water and immediately after he took them out, from each water flowed like a fountain.

5. Hajar al-Asad is the black stone that is found in one of the corners of the Ka‘ba in Mecca. Pilgrims start circumambulation from the corner on which this stone is placed.

Most Christian faith groups teach that Jesus was conceived by his mother Mary while she was still a virgin. This is believed to have been accomplished without an act of sexual intercourse. This doctrine is usually called the “virgin birth,” although the term “virgin conception” would be much more accurate. Biblical references commonly cited about the virgin birth are Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23. Various polls have found that about 80% of American adults believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. This exceeds the total number of American adults who identify themselves as Christian or Muslim. The Qur’an, the direct words of God, dictated by an angel to Prophet Muhammad, has two main references to Mary’s virginal status at the conception of Jesus: 19:16 to 22 contains a birth narrative, while 21:91 confirms her virginity. Almost 100% of Muslim adults in the world believe in the virgin birth of Jesus.

The question that frequently comes up in the minds of many is the same: How did Mary conceive? There have been different ways of explaining this. For some people, the natural phenomenon of parthenogenesis provides such an explanation. Some animal species can reproduce from an unfertilized oocyte, in a process called parthenogenesis. Although this phenomenon is quite common in plants and insects, it does not appear in any creature above the level of the amphibians. No verified case of parthenogenesis has occurred in humans, and it is considered impossible for species as complex as the higher apes or humans³ An additional complexity would be that Jesus would have been female after the parthenogenetic division of an XX oocyte, since he would have lacked the Y chromosome normally contributed by a human father. Parthenogenesis is not, therefore, a logical explanation to account for the virgin birth of Jesus.

The birth of Jesus without a biological father, in fact, should be viewed as a supernatural event-a miracle, to be more accurate. It would be useful to define here what we mean by miracle. Although a miracle is a supernatural phenomenon, there is a minimal natural cause for the miracle, which is then caused to happen by God, as appropriate. Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, touched a small portion of food with his blessed hands; and this food became sufficient for an entire army. Likewise, he poured water from a flask onto his hands, and the water was made enough to satisfy hundreds of people. Even though God Almighty assigns a duty to natural causes-even if the influence of the natural cause is not more than 1-3%-we should accept that in miracles it may not always be possible to have a materialistic interpretation for everything. By definition, miracles are extraordinary events that God Almighty grants to His messengers to prove their prophethood and strengthen the believers’ faith. To insist on their essential rationality is to deny their existence as miracles, and hence an objection to the revelation at some level. The universe operates according to God’s fixed laws, which allow us to discover the divine laws of nature and make scientific progress. However, God has determined these laws and therefore He is not bound by them. He may sometimes annul a law or change the ordinary flow of events to allow a Prophet to perform what we call a miracle⁴

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi comments on the miracles in his magnum opus, The Words, as follows:

By relating the prophets’ spiritual and moral perfections, the Qur’an encourages people to benefit from them. By presenting their miracles, the Qur’an urges people to achieve something similar through science. It may even be said that, like spiritual and moral attainments, material attainments and wonders were first given to humanity as gifts through prophetic miracles. . . . [Miracles] comprise numerous indications of guidance. By relating these miracles, the Qur’an shows the ultimate goal of scientific and technological developments, and specifies their final aims, toward which it urges humanity⁵

So what else can we learn from the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus? Does it indicate any specific scientific discovery? In this respect, we may refer to at least one other explanation by which a virgin conception could have been occurred, turning again to the Qur’an for an answer, as there is no contradiction between the Qur’an, the Word of God, and laws of nature, which have been designed by God. In verse 3:37 “… her Lord accepted her with gracious favor and enabled to her a good growth” the word nabat is used to describe Mary’s growth, literally meaning “plant” in Arabic. Alongside the miracle of Mary’s sustenance, could this verse be encouraging us to study the plant world to observe how plants reproduce?

Many flowering plants can reproduce by self-fertilization because a single flower produces both eggs and sperm cells. Flowers contain two sets of structures that are important for fertilization. The first is an organ that contains pollen grains, each of which contains two male sperm cells. The second is an organ that contains one or more ovaries, each of which contains egg cells (oocytes) (Fig.1). At fertilization, the pollen delivers two sperm cells to the ovary, where one sperm cell fuses with the egg cell, and the fertilized egg grows to form an embryo⁶ A question naturally arises at this point. Could a human being have two different reproductive cell types (both oocyte and sperm) at the same time? The simple answer is “yes.”

In some persons, both ovarian and testicular tissues are present, either in the same or in opposite gonads⁷ About 13% of these persons are derived from more than one zygote and are known as chimeras (chi 46,XX/46,XY)⁸ Cases with normal male and normal female phenotypes have been ascertained as an incidental finding⁹ Chimeras are the result of the fusion of two zygotes to form a single embryo and they contain cells from two separate zygotes in a single organism¹⁰ The fusion of two zygotes may occur soon after fertilization, producing an individual with genetically different kinds of tissue. If the fused zygotes are of different sexes, then the individual develops both ovarian and testicular tissues¹¹ The majority of these people are best reared as females and many pregnancies with living offspring have been reported in persons reared as females;¹² in contrast, only one person has apparently fathered a child¹³ The wisdom of the Qur’an is no doubt beyond the current level of scientific development and the human mind, and what we may deduce from verse 3:37 and scientific research, in fact, is little more than mere speculation. We certainly do not mean to suggest that Mary was a hermaphrodite; the Qur’an clearly states that she was a woman (5:75). Rather, it may be possible that she could have been a woman who had been derived from the fusion of two different embryos; i.e. a chimera.

The statement in the Qur’an (3:37) may demonstrate that Mary could have been a chimera of XX/XY type, and she might have been created by the fusion of two embryos to become one. Of course, God Almighty knows best. And whatever our limited explanation may be, it is clear that Mary co-operated in the formation of Jesus’ body just as every other mother co-operates in the formation of the body of her child. In the end, whether one looks to science or not for an understanding of the deeper mysteries of life, there is consensus among the great majority of Christians and Muslims that Jesus came to earth by means of a virgin birth. And the virgin birth of Jesus was a miracle.

Notes

1. Moore KL, Persaud TVN, The Developing Human, Clinically Oriented Embryology, 7th ed. Saunders, Philadelphia, 2003, p. 16.
2. ibid.
3. ibid.
4. M.Fethullah Gulen, The Essentials of the Islamic Faith, The Light, Inc., NJ:2005, pp. 193-4.
5. Said Nursi, The Words, The Twentieth Word, The Light, Inc. NJ: 2005, p. 267.
6. Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, Raff M, Roberts K, Walter P. Molecular Biology of the Cell, ed Gibbs S. 4th ed. New York: Taylor & Francis Group; 2002, pp. 1243-1246.
7. Behrman RE, Kliegman RM, Jenson HB. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics 17th ed. Saunders, Philadelphia, 2004, p. 1945.
8. ibid.
9. Tanaka Y, Fujiwara K, Yamauchi H, Mikami Y, Kohno I. Pregnancy in a woman with a Y chromosome after removal of an ovarian dysgerminoma. Gynecol Oncol. 2000; 79: 519-521.
10. Strachan T, Read AP. Human Molecular Genetics. 3rd ed. New York: Taylor & Francis Group; 2004, p. 110.
11. ibid.
12. Haqq CM, Donahoe PK. Regulation of sexual dimorphism in mammals. Physiol Rev. 1998; 78: 1-33.
13. Krob G, Braun A, Kuhnle U. True hermaphroditism: geographical distribution, clinical findings, chromosomes and gonadal histology. Eur J Pediatr. 1994; 153: 2-10.

These “interpretations” attempt to show that there is no such thing as a miracle and that everything in the world obeys the immutable laws of nature. According to such a view, all miracles narrated by the Holy books either must be reinterpreted, or if this is not possible-rejected.

The use of science as an argument against the possibility of the extraordinary acts of God is conceptually incorrect; today’s science starts from the assumption of the impossibility of miracles. In other words, scientists believe that miracles are impossible. Yet, a belief in the opposite is no less a legitimate position to adopt. Therefore, science’s statement that miracles are impossible is based on the assumption that they are impossible; this is not a logically acceptable argument.

There is a need to prepare the ground for such arguments by considering the definitions of science and its method. We have to realize the limits of the scientific method that is based on observations and experiments. The reliability of the human mind and its perception and the relativity of time are some of other issues that need to be considered.

Whatever happens around us is normally bound to a time scale. Billions of living creatures are born every day; some by cell division, others through the long process of pregnancy. Since these events abound in nature we consider them to be normal, nothing extraordinary. On the contrary, if we were to witness a child being conceived and born in one minute, as if someone had pressed the fast forward button, we would be amazed. In this case, a miracle would have occurred, not by the violation of the cause and effect principle, but rather from a change in time scale. Thus, our familiarity with phenomena is very important in distinguishing between a miracle and a non-miracle.

Science is based on what we can observe and what is understood from these observations by making generalizations. First of all, we cannot observe every moment and every place in the universe. Our experiments are limited in space and time. For example, if all experiments done by us confirmed Newton’s second law, F=ma, we still would not be able to rigorously prove that this law still holds true in some distant galaxy. We could not even prove that it were true for Earth throughout all of its history; it is not possible to say that that things happened in such and such way simply because they happen in that way today! However, at this point the scientific method with all its pros and cons comes into play to assert that this law is true for all of the Universe, for all of its past and future. This fact alone is enough to demonstrate that science has its limits.

Many miracles of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, happened in the presence of many of his followers or enemies. The splitting of the Moon, walking trees, and talking stones were just a few. One could try to explain these by saying that the people who witnessed them had undergone hypnosis or were having dreams; however there are miracles that resulted in people being able to drink water from his fingers or plenty of food emerging from a small amount. It is impossible to deceive one’s friends with a small lie even for a short time (the cold fusion scandal of 1989 should be a good example!); how could somebody possibly deceive thousands of enemies for fourteen hundred years? Thus, it is impossible to deny the authenticity of the miracles of Prophet Muhammad.

Before the advent of positivism, miracles were used as a powerful means to convince people in the truth of religions. Prophet Jesus was born without a father, Prophet Moses parted the sea and crossed it without drowning, Prophet Abraham emerged unharmed from the fire and Prophet Muhammad split the Moon and ascended to the Heavens; these are among the most prominent examples of miracles.

However, nowadays because of scientific “terror” people are afraid even to mention miracles. People have been so affected by scientific dogma that everything unusual is categorized as being nothing more than a “fairy tale.” The reason for this historical error is the inability of science to draw a demarcating line between observations and interpretations to date.

Positivism has its roots in the 16th century and thus all religions were affected by its destructive dogma. Before that time, people made explanations for natural phenomena, saying “a seed starts to evolve to produce a tree, it rains because the tree needs water, and the tree produces fruit because people need to eat,” or other simplistic explanations.

The realization of the fact that the same phenomenon can be interpreted in several ways brought up the question of what the mechanism was that lay behind the process. This in turn lead people to discover the cause and effect relationship inherent in nature. As a result, ordinary events were interpreted as happening without any interference from God, leaving the concept of God to be found only in the realm of miracles. However, the next century was to come with even more destructive dogmas, presented under the guise of science.

The modern usage of the term “laws of nature” was first coined in the 17th century. Scientists of the time believed that physical and biological systems were self-regulating and God was only “the first cause” capable of changing the laws of nature. However, Locke and Hume argued on the basis of Newton’s physics that the natural laws were unchangeable and hence miracles were impossible. In the 17th century, with its notion of an impotent God, the foundation of religious beliefs was shattered, but not to the same extent as happened in the 19th century.

In the 19th century, developments in quantum physics brought about new points of view. The already existing notion of an impotent God made people suppose that Divine Power was limited to conducting probabilities. When it was discovered that particle motion and interactions were based on probability, they began to think that God’s power was limited at the micro level, as well as believing that He was unable to change physical laws or work miracles.

Nowadays, the biologic uncertainty that was produced by molecular biology and “the exploratory journeys” into the depths of the cell has caused a significant debate, particularly in the discipline of sociobiology. In biology, you can arrive at a decision based on statistics. However, it is impossible to reach a result that is as precise and universally accepted as a formula in physics; this is because living systems maintain their lives in a continuously changing, but stable dynamic equilibrium. For example, we cannot say that there are 763 pores on the leaf of an apple tree, or that there are 5,891,633 erythrocytes in a cubic millimeter of blood, but we can express some relations based on some approximations and averages.

Having said this, we cannot tie the situation of miracles to the principle of uncertainty; in an inorganic physical world there is a much stronger determinacy than there is in biology. For instance, an apple that is separated from the tree falls to the ground because of gravity. However, we encounter large uncertainty when we get to the level of subatomic particles. Heisenberg’s Principle of Uncertainty states this very clearly. Therefore, if we were to descend to the subatomic level for miracles like the splitting of the Red Sea or the division of the Moon that were witnessed in the inorganic world, we come across an indeterminacy of physical laws rather than a determinacy. In fact, it may not be correct to call this uncertainty, because although it may be uncertain for us, it is not uncertain for the Creator; therefore, it may be better to call this determinacy based on the knowledge, will, power, and free choice of the Creator.

In order to form a common ground or argument against miracles, it would be necessary to say that all rumors are incorrect and to refuse to believe all the people who claimed that they had witnessed these miracles. However, scientists have concluded that the rumors are false only because they think that miracles are impossible; namely, they remain in the same vicious circle. Yet, according to the main principle of logic, just one confirmation against thousands of denials is enough to be a proof. For example, if one person were to find a black swan, even if one million people claim that there is no such thing as a black swan and even if they say that they have searched the entire world, all these claims about the nonexistence of the black swan will be refuted. The miracles of the prophets took place for the most part in front of large crowds and have been transmitted to us as centuries as real events, not just rumors that can be disproved.

Hume’s point of view attacking miracles has been shown to be lacking valid support as well. According to Hume, every event has a unique cause and the event can be explained if this unique cause is known. Logically this is an erroneous view. One event may have multiple causes; in particular, causes that influence the events that occur in the dimension belonging to the different layers of living beings do not have to be confined to material events. Causes that are of a different nature that affect the same object may produce different outcomes; the same causes, on the other hand, may generate different outcomes because of a hidden characteristic of the object that is beyond the range of our knowledge. These elements are not controversial; on the contrary, they complement each other. By the same reasoning, it does not go against being “scientific” to explain miracles as being a product of Divine Power rather than a result of an incorrect observation or an unknown cause. Moreover, such an interpretation does not need a cause and effect relationship that will continue as a chain.

Medawar points out precisely that scientific understanding has limits “. . . The last questions of Karl Popper are even now being asked by children. How did everything begin? Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Rigid and fanatical positivism did not consider these questions as real questions or neglected them. According to positivism these questions are only asked by the stupid, and only charlatans dare to answer them. However, the avoidance of these questions does not satisfy people because they are meaningful both for the people asking them and for the ones trying to answer them. It is a universally accepted fact that it is not in the realm of science to provide answers to such questions. As a matter of fact, the scientific approach has some definite limits.”

When we consider miracles, we can apply this approach as follows: it is impossible to verify or refute the miracles based on scientific measures. Moreover, the fact that we understand the mechanism behind a miracle does not prevent it from being a miracle.

In conclusion, it is easy to deny the possibility of miracles by finding scientific interpretations for them. However, to go down the opposite road is more profitable. Realizing that the refutation of miracles is no more scientific than the acceptance of them and that there is considerable evidence in their support will urge us to understand the limits of science and its methods.

The end of those who witnessed a miracle and did not believe, even though they had asked for the miracle to be performed, was always disappointment; they experienced one disaster after another. While mentioning former prophets and tribes, the Quran gives many examples of this. Expressed differently, a miracle is an important test by which golden spirits are purified of dust, earth and mud.

However, a miracle has never occurred in such a way that a persons free-will was by force taken from them nor has anyone ever been forced to believe. It has always been desired that the people who encountered the miracle should use their own free-will to evaluate the miraculous event and to arrive at their own conclusion; in religion, responsibility only appears when connected with intelligence and free-will. When these do not exist, as with other creatures, then there can be no responsibility for our actions. Looking at the matter from a different angle, were a miracle to occur as clearly, for example, as if God exists were to be written in the stars above, human will would be totally nullified. In this situation, the difference in quality between the people who are like diamonds and the people who are like coal would not be apparent, and humans would become travellers on a mandatory path, as are all other creatures.

Thus, we can say that the first goal of miracles is to provide a tangible proof when inviting people to faith, giving them something to accept and believe in or to reject and continue in their disbelief, according to their free will. But there is more to miracles than this; with miracles God indicates the limits of knowledge and technology that mankind can eventually attain. The difference between a miracle and technological/scientific advances is that while the prophets are able to perform miracles without tools or technology, ordinary people can succeed in similar acts only with the help of the material and technology that they have produced.

Common Features of Prophets

Every chosen person who was sent with a sacred duty, such as saving mankind from darkness and introducing them to the light, was supported with phenomena like miracles and was given a message for the people to whom the miracle was addressed. Many hearts have surrendered to the enlightened atmosphere of faith, yet many others have died in the arms of eternal deprivation only because they refused to believe in such an important blessing.

Addressing human intelligence and will, the Quran frequently mentions many miracles performed by the prophets. While it would not be possible to mention them all in one article, I would like to relate some of them in order to give an idea about some of these miracles, and then go on to discuss the main topic of the miracles of Jesus.

Generally, miracles occur and finish at the time they are performed, but some miracles which were given to the final prophet, like the miracle of the Quran, continue to be miraculous. In the environment in which it was revealed, the word had a special sovereignty of eloquence, and in this respect the Quran is a miracle sent in a way that has never been equaled.

Each prophet was sent miracles in line with the skills of the people of his era. As magic was of great importance at the time of Moses, his miracles usually took on the form of removing the things the sorcerors had created and by displaying greater skills. Due to the popularity of medicine at the time of Jesus, his miracles were usually related to knowledge in medicine. Thus, the prophets established an important superiority over those whom they were addressing, and by speaking a language that could be understood, they were able to draw attention to themselves and to make their voices heard more easily.

When miracles are viewed from the perspective of pushing back the boundaries of science and technology, Solomons riding on the wind and covering the distance it would take one month to travel in the time between morning and evening demonstrated that great distances could be traversed using the wind. Looking at this miracle with hindsight, we can see that it showed us that humans would be able to utilize the blessing of the wind, and we could even say that it indicated that in the future we would be able to harness it with craft (for example planes, rockets and other means of transport) and, consequently, would be able to travel long distances in a short time. At the same time, Moses bringing forth water by hitting his rod on the ground shows that man can reach many of the treasures that God has hidden for him underground. The main message behind all of these miracles encourages humans to learn from the practical examples of the prophets and to produce results by evaluating our heritage of knowledge and by using our intelligence.

The revelations that God sent were not aimed at only one target; rather the words were loaded with multiple meanings. Accordingly, every event in His statements has many aspects and it is necessary for other people to notice these and present them. The main goal of divine declarations is for the people living today to decipher the language of the miracles and to know how to use their message for the sake of science and technology.

The goal in front of people today is to understand what these miracles mean for today and to utilize this information for progress and development.

The Miracles of Jesus

Jesus (pbuh) was a prophet and, according to Quranic teaching, he has a special place before God. He is one of the five greatest prophets called masters of determination. If we evaluate him in regard to the geography and the ethnic, social and political structure in which he lived and the people to whom he was sent, we see that he faced people who gave precedence to materialism, who did not believe in anything but what they could see and who were persistent, stubborn and intractable in their tribal ideas. Such conditions demonstrate his greatness. The people naturally expected a miracle. In fact, more than expected, the Quran reveals their desires and mentions how they put pressure on Jesus to perform a miracle. When looked at from this perspective, there are many extraordinary events that he accomplished. Among his major miracles we can mention raising the dead, healing blindness and leprosy, blowing life into a bird made from clay, giving news of what happened in peoples houses and bringing down a banquet from the sky.

Miracles before Apostleship

Actually Jesus life is almost a miracle from beginning to end: his being born from a pure spirit like Mary, who had devoted herself to the temple; coming into physical existence as a spirit from God, even though he had no father; speaking in the cradle; and rising to the heavens from among the people. Moreover, the good tidings that he would be a prophet were given before he was born, and his name was given by God, also before he was born. However, because these oc-curred before his duty as messenger began, they are considered to be outside the realm of miracles in the general meaning and they are seen rather as signs emphasizing his place and importance before God. For whatever reason, the end result is that an extraordinary event occurred that would not have been possible under ordinary circumstances. This necessitates attention being focused on Jesus in a different way.

His conception and birth represent a first in human history. Creating Adam without a mother and father, God, in time, created Jesus without a father as well and showed this change in his creation as a sign to all mankind. The Quranic verse related to this draws attention to his creation: Jesus in Gods Sight is like Adam: created him from dust, then He said to him: Be, and there he was. (This is) the truth from your Lord; so do not be not be one of the doubters. (3/59, 60) This verse explains that when Gods power is a matter of consideration, other causes are silent and the pen of power prevails. For this reason, one of Jesus names in the Quran is ruhullah (spirit of God).

Almost as soon as he was born, when people began to accuse Mary, Jesus spoke and exonerated his pure mother, Mary; while he was still in the cradle the duty of prophethood that would later be given to him by his Lord was outlined. In the verse that gives the good news of Jesus birth, it is stated, He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity, and he shall be (of the company) of the righteous. (3/46) His speech is given as follows: He said: I am indeed a servant of God: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; and He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; (He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; so peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)! (19/30, 31, 32, 33)

Stating, Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute (19/34), the Quran has the final say on the debates regarding Jesus. It both emphasizes his mothers innocence and indicates that Jesus, who was then still a baby, would be a prophet in the future, inviting people to salvation.

If we look at the heart of the matter, for a society of people who did not understand anything but materialism and were closed to spirituality, Jesus conception as the spirit of God and the extraordinary events surrounding his birth must have been the first shock in the name of divine truth to which they would be called in the future. Today, just as great shocks are needed in the treatment of certain illnesses, extraordinary events are needed sometimes in order for society to be freed from bigotry and for general convictions to be turned in the desired direction. Thus, the atmosphere was softened in preparation for the miracles that Jesus would perform later in his mission, and a kind of foundation was prepared for Gods wishes to be comprehended by society.

Miracles After Apostleship

Of course, Jesus miracles were not limited to his birth. On the contrary, after having started his life with a great miracle, Jesus went on to perform many miracles in support of his prophethood. Some of the miracles that were given to his prophethood are mentioned in the Quran as follows, when the angels are talking to Mary about Jesus: And God will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel, and (appoint him) an apostle to the Children of Israel, (with this message): I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Gods leave: and I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Gods leave; and declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe; (I have come to you) to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear God, and obey me. It is God who is my Lord and your Lord; then worship Him. This is a way that is straight. (3/48, 49, 50, 51) As can be understood, these words belong to the angels and were said before the events occurred. While describing Jesus position, they mention the miracles that will occur through him and give passages from dialogue between him and the tribe.

In addition to emphasizing the same topic, another verse relates what happened to Jesus from the first day: Then will God say: O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother. Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel. And behold! Thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and thou breathest into it, and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers, by My leave. And behold! Thou bringest forth the dead by My leave. And behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst show them the Clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: This is nothing but evident magic. (5/113)

Another of Jesus miracles is the feast that was provided when his people wanted to eat food from heaven. This event is related in the Quran in a sura entitled Al-Maidah:

Behold! The Disciples said: O Jesus the son of Mary! Can thy Lord send down to us a Table set (with viands) from heaven? Said Jesus: Fear God, if ye have faith. They said: We only wish to eat thereof and satisfy our hearts, and to know that thou hast indeed told us the truth; and that we ourselves may be witnesses to the miracle.’ Said Jesus the son of Mary: ‘ God our Lord! Send us from heaven a Table set (with viands), that there may be for us — for the first and the last of us ” a solemn festival and a Sign from Thee; and provide for our sustenance, for Thou art the best Sustainer (of our needs). God said: I will send it down unto you: but if any of you after that resisteth faith, I will punish him as I have not inflicted on any one among all the peoples. (5/115, 116, 117, 118)

Jesus was made superior from the beginning with extraordinary acts and strengthened by God with these miracles. In the following verse, God indicates that it is time for the people to recognize the values Jesus has brought and to surrender to them: We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of Apostles; We gave Jesus the son of Mary clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit. Is it that whenever there comes to you an Apostle with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride? ” Some ye called imposters, and others ye slay! 92/87) It is implied here that every command supported by God requires absolute obedience and, at the same time, that we must not stray form the divine path because of doubts raised by our egos and Satan.

Generally there have always been those who prefer to take a reactionary attitude towards all the prophets and to remain closed to new things. Such travellers on the path of darkness label every extraordinary miracle they see as magic. They did not think any differently about Jesus or the events that occurred than they did to any other previous miracles. Jesus reply to this was no different from that of the former prophets. With the satisfaction of performing his duty without fault, Jesus said, as every prophet before him had:

God is truly your Lord and my Lord; so worship Him. That is a straight path. (19/36) Saying this, he left everyone alone to follow their will. This was necessary, as after this, those who wanted to come would; they would be able to find the right path and gain salvation, while those who prefer the darkness will be sacrificed to their own egos.

It is possible to summarize Jesus miracles as follows, according to the way in which they appear in the Quran:

1- Raising the dead.

2- Breathing life into a bird made from clay.

3- Making the blind see.

4- Curing leprosy.

5- Giving news of what was going on inside houses.

6- Being strengthened by the Holy Spirit.

7- Bringing down a banquet from the heavens.

The first thing that strikes one about all of these is that most of Jesus miracles were related to the field of medicine. During his time there were important developments in this area and people were frequently confronted with these. For this reason, his miracles of healing, which cured many problems that were not curable at that time, gained the attention of medical authorities, especially since he had not been educated in this field and had no equipment. They agreed that his results had to have been accomplished with divine assistance.

As we have discussed here, miracles not only contain certain messages for those witnessing the event, but they also demonstrate many things to those who come after. When looked at from this perspective, God is saying many things to the people of today through the miracles performed by Jesus. At first glance, the most obvious message is that it is possible for many things that we perceive as inanimate to be animated by giving them energy; problems with sight and every kind of skin disease can be cured, even if we have not yet found the cure today. All of these are important matters that medicine should be addressing today; there is a cure for every illness. One of the most important duties of experts in the medical field is to find cures from the pharmacy of the universe.

If we look at the banquet that came from the heavens and the way in which the people benefited from the divine blessings in this feast, we can understand that there are many blessings hidden in the heavens, and that it is the duty of man, who has been blessed with intelligence and judgement, to fully investigate these. If we can knock on the doors of mercy in the language of science and technology in the light of this miracle of Jesus, it may be possible for man to reach many feasts full of blessings beyond this world.

Jesus Departure

Like his birth, Jesus departure from mankind was another miracle. God did not leave Jesus in the hands of those who wanted to kill him and, in the words of the Quran, he was raised to the heavens with another miracle, being taken from among mankind to a different plane of life. According to the Quran, that they said (in boast), We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of God “but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not. Nay God raised him up unto Himself; and God is Exalted in Power, Wise. (4/157, 158)

This detail can be found in another verse explaining this matter: Behold! God said: O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return to me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute. As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help. (3/55, 56)

As can be seen, Jesus life, which was full of miracles, changed dimension with yet another miracle, and he was honored with immortality. Moreover, some narrations regarding his return close to the time of Doomsday to call people to the truth once more are proof that these kinds of miracles will continue in the future.

The End of Time and Jesus

Almost all religions mention a final savior in the future who will turn mankind to the true path once again. There are some narrations in the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that Jesus will come again at the end of time and eliminate the idea of atheism. Commenting on these narrations and stating that they are absolutely authentic, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi said, Only a wondrous and miraculous person with an esteemed following will be able to kill and change the calling of the Antichrist who will protect himself with acts of magic, magnetism and spiritualism and enchant everyone. That person is Jesus.

The second coming of Jesus is, of course, within the realm of possibility, when Gods power is taken into consideration, but it should not be forgotten that these kinds of narrations can be metaphorical as well; what may be being implied here is that the idea of atheism will be eliminated and that a victory of faith will be experienced. In this way the path of Jesus and the path of the Spirit of Truth will be united and humanity, once again knowing goodness, beauty, peace and contentment, will live a life imbued with faith.

It is true that prophets are like children of the same mother. All their values are shared ones; their Lord is one; their guidance is one; their aim is one. The world is in need, more than ever, of their message, a message that is to be presented by people whose goal is faith.

Reference

See Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Words, 20th Word, Second Station.

Behold! The angels said: O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to God. (Quran 3/45)

Explaining that life is not just one dimensional, Bediuzzaman says that, just as religious martyrs continue to live on another plane of life, Hzr, Elijah, Enoch and Jesus are also on a different plane, and he discusses questions concerning the second coming of Jesus. See Bediuzzaman, Letters, First Letter.

The Antichrist means one who shows falsehood as the truth and the truth as falsehood. There are narrations that a perverted meaning of the idea of faith will be active at the end of time. In this respect, it can mean the person or persons opposed to faith and those who act in accordance with the perverted meaning of faith. When the matter of Jesus killing the Antichrist is looked at in this respect, it can be understood that Jesus, representing faith, will eliminate the Antichrist, representing falsehood, and thoughts belonging to him from society. On a plane where there are no physical bodies, this event can be seen as both sides representing a spiritual personality, thus it can be evaluated within a faith-falsehood framework.

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Rays, Fifth Ray, Second Station, 13th Point.