The types of humans who have supernatural perception

Prophets

God has chosen certain individuals so that they might know Him. He made them connecting links between Himself and His servants.

They are to acquaint their fellow men with what is good for them and to urge them to let themselves be guided aright. They are to make it their task to keep their fellow men out of the fire of Hell and to show them the path to salvation.

Muhammad said:

The information they give is intrinsically and necessarily true.

The sign by which this type of human being can be recognized is that, in the state of inspiration, they seem to be removed from those who are present. This is accompanied by a feeling of being choked that looks like swooning or unconsciousness but has nothing to do with either.

In reality, it is an immersion in and encounter with the spiritual kingdom, the result of perceptions congenial to them but entirely foreign to the ordinary perceptions of men.

These extraordinary perceptions are then brought down to the level of human perceptions in the form of some speech sound the person who receives the revelation hears and is able to to understand, or in the form of an individual delivering the divine message to him.

This state of remoteness then leaves him, but he retains the content of the given revelation.

When Muhammad was asked about revelation, he said

During that process, the person who receives the revelation shows inexplicable signs of strain and choking.

A tradition says:

“There was some anxiety in connection with the revelation that he had to calm.”

God says in the Qur’an

Because the act of receiving revelations leads to such conditions, the polytheists used to accuse the prophets of being possessed by jinn.

They said:

“He has a jinni as his doubleganger, or companion.”

The outward appearance of the condition they observed misled them.

Another sign by which inspired human beings can be recognized is the fact that even before receiving revelations, they are good, innocent, and averse to any blameworthy, sinful action.

This is what is meant by ‘ismah (immunity from sin and error, infallibility).

It looks as if, by nature, they were disposed to avoid and shunblameworthy actions, and as if such actions were the negation of their very nature.

When Muhammad was a young man he carried stones with his uncle al-‘Abbas to restore the Ka’bah. He was carrying them in his cloak, and thus, he was undressed.

As this was unbecoming, he fell down in a swoon that lasted until he was covered with his cloak.

On another occasion, he was invited to a wedding party where there was much merrymaking. He fell fast asleep, and slept until the sun rose. Thus, he had nothing to do with the things the others did on that occasion. God kept him from all that.

It was his nature. He even avoided food that was considered objectionable. Thus, he never touched onions or garlic. When he was asked about it, he said:

Khadijah asked Mohammad what the revelation was like. She asked him to embrace her. When he did so, it left him.

Khadijah, thereupon, said that it was an angel, and not a devil, meaning that a devil would not come close to a woman.

She also asked him what garments he liked best for the angel to wear during the revelation, and he replied, “White and green ones.”

Khadijah then said that it was an angel, meaning that green and white are the colors of goodness and of the angels. Black, on the other hand, is the color of evil and of the devils.

Another sign by which inspired human beings can be recognized is that they make propaganda for religion and divine worship by means of prayer, almsgiving, and chastity.

Khadijah and Abu Bakr took that conduct as proof of Muhammad’s truthfulness. They did not need any further proof of his mission beyond his conduct and character.

According to the Sahih, when Heraclius received the Prophet’s letter in which he was asked to become a Muslim, he is said to have called the Qurashites who could be found in his country, among them Abu Sufyan, and to have asked them about Muhammad’s condition. One of the questions he asked concerned the things Muhammad commanded them to do.

Abu Sufyan’s reply was: “Prayer, almsgiving, gifts, and chastity.”

Similar replies were given to all the other questions Heraclius asked.

Heraclius’ comment was: “If it is all really as you say, he is a prophet and he will take possession of this very ground upon which I am standing.”

The “chastity” to which Heraclius referred is ‘ismah (immunity from sin and error, infallibility).

Heraclius considered ‘ismah and propaganda for religion and divine worship as proofs of the genuineness of a prophetical mission, and did not require a miracle. This story, therefore, is proof that these qualities are among the signs of prophecy.

Another sign by which (inspired human beings can be recognized) is the fact that they have prestige among their people.

According to the Sahih, God “sent no prophet who did not enjoy the protection of his people.” 248

Another recension reads: “. . . who did not enjoy wealth among his people.”

This is al-Hakim’s correction of the two Sahihs 250. Abu Sufyan replied to Heraclius’ question concerning Muhammad’s standing among the Qurashites, (by saying) that he had prestige among them.

Heraclius said, “Whenever messengers are sent, they have prestige among their people.” 251

That means that such a man has group feeling and influence which protect him from harm at the hands of unbelievers, until he has delivered the messages of his Lord and achieved the degree of complete perfection with respect to his religion and religious organization that God intended for him.

“Wonders” are actions that are impossible for other humans to achieve. They are, therefore, called “miracles.” They are not within the ability of men, but beyond their power. There is a difference of opinion as to how they occur and as to how they prove the truth of the prophets. Speculative theologians base themselves on the doctrine of the “voluntary agent” 254 and say that miracles occur through the power of God, and not through the action of the prophet. The Mu’tazilah maintain that human actions proceed from man himself.

Still, miracles do not belong to the type of actions that human beings perform. According to all (schools), the prophet’s place in the performance of miracles is (circumscribed by) the “advance challenge” (tahaddi) 255 which he offers by divine permission. That is, the prophet uses the miracles before they occur as proof of the truth of his claims.

They thus take the place of an explicit statement from God to the effect that a particular prophet is truthful, and they are definite proof of the truth. An evidential miracle is the combination of a “wonder” and the “advance challenge” (tahaddi) that (announces) it. Therefore, the latter constitutes part of the miracle.

The notion of the speculative theologians (concerning the “voluntary agent”) is self-explanatory. (The “voluntary agent”) is (just) one. For they hold that “essential” means (being just one). 255a

According to the notion of the speculative theologians, the “advance challenge” (tahaddi) is what makes the difference between (miracles, on the one hand), and acts of divine grace and sorcery (on the other), since (the latter) two need no confirmation of their truthfulness. The “advance challenge” (if it occurs at all in these cases) exists (in them) only by chance.

In the opinion of those who admit the existence of acts of divine grace, if an “advance challenge” (tahaddi) occurs in connection with them, and if it is proof of them, it is proof only of saintliness, which is different from prophecy. This is why Professor Abu Ishaq 256 and others did not admit the occurrence of wonders as acts of divine grace.

They wanted to avoid confusion between the “advance challenge” (tahaddi) of the saint and prophecy. We, however, have (just) shown that there is a difference between the two.

The “advance challenge” (tahaddi) of a saint is concerned with other things than that of a prophet. There can be no doubt that the report on the authority of Professor Abu Ishaq is not clear and has often led to denial of (the possibility) that the wonders of the prophets could have been wrought by (saints), on the grounds that each of the two groups has its own kind of wonders. The Mu’tazilah do not admit the occurrence of acts of divine grace, because wonders do not belong to the actions of man that are customary and allow of no break (in the customary process).

A liar cannot produce miracles.

According to the Ash’arites, this is absurd because the essential part of a miracle is defined as “confirmation of truthfulness and right guidance.”

Were a miracle to occur under the contrary conditions, proof would become doubt, guidance misguidance, and, I might add, the confirmation of truthfulness, untruth. Realities would become absurdities, and the essential qualities would be turned upside down.

According to the Mu’tazilah, fraudulent miracles are absurd, because it is improper for proofs to turn into doubts and for guidance to turn into misguidance.

The philosophers hold that wonders are acts of the prophet (who performs them, even though they have no place in the power (of the prophet himself). This isbased upon their doctrine that (there exists) an essential and necessary (causality) and that events develop out of each other according to conditions and reasons that (always) come up anew and, in the last instance, go back to the Necessary per se that acts per se and not by choice.

In their opinion, the prophetical soul has special essential qualities which produce wonders, with the help of the power of (the Necessary per se) and the obedience of the elements to Him for purposes of generation.

The role of the prophet (in this process), in their opinion, is that through those qualities that God put into him, he is by nature fitted for being active among (all) created things, whenever he addresses himself to them and concentrates on them.

They hold that wonders are wrought by the prophet (himself), whether there is an “advance challenge” (tahaddi) or not. They are evidence of the prophet’s truthfulness, in as much as they prove that he is active among the created things, such activity constituting a special quality of the prophetic soul, not because they take the place of a clear assertion of his truthfulness.

In their opinion, therefore, (wonders) are no definitive proof (of the prophet’s truthfulness), as they are in the opinion of the speculative theologians.

“Advance awareness,” for them, does not constitute part of the miracle. It does not stand out as the thing that differentiates (miracles) from acts of divine grace. They hold that (miracles) are differentiated from sorcery by the fact that a prophet is by nature fitted for good actions and averse to evil deeds.

Therefore, he could not do evil through the wonders he works. The opposite is the case with the sorcerer. All his actions are evil and done for evil purposes.258 Further, (miracles) are differentiated from acts of divine grace by the fact that the wonders of a prophet are of an unusual character, such as ascending to heaven, passing through solid bodies, reviving the dead, conversing with angels, and flying through the air.

The wonders of a saint, on the other hand, are of a lower order, such as making much out of little, speaking about something that will happen in the future, and similar things inferior to the power of action of prophets.

A prophet can produce the wonders of saints, but a saint is not able to produce anything like the wonders of prophets. This has been confirmed by the Sufis in what they have written about the mystic path and reported of their ecstatic experiences.

The noble Qur’an is the greatest, noblest, and clearest miracle.

Wonders are as a rule wrought by a prophet separately and apart from the revelation he receives. The miracle comes as evidence for it(s truthfulness).

The Qur’an, on the other hand, is in itself the claimed revelation. It is itself the wondrous miracle. It is its own proof.

It requires no outside proof, as do the other wonders wrought in connection with revelations. It is the clearest proof that can be, because it unites in itself both the proof and what is to be proved.

This is the meaning of Muhammad’s statement, “Every prophet was given signs likely to provide reassurance for mankind. What I have been given is a revelation that was revealed to me. Therefore, I hope to have the greatest number of followers on the day of resurrection.” 259a

He refers to the fact that a miracle which is identical with the revelation (confirmed by it), is of such clarity and force of evidence that it will be found truthful, because of its clarity, by the greatest number of people.

Therefore, many are those who consider (the Prophet) truthful and believe. They are the “followers,” the nation of Islam.

All this indicates that the Qur’an is alone among the divine books, in that our Prophet received it directly in the words and phrases in which it appears. In this respect, it differs from the Torah, the Gospel, and other heavenly books.

The prophets received them in the form of ideas during the state of revelation. After theirreturn to a human state, they expressed those ideas in their own ordinary words.

Therefore, those books do not have “inimitability.” 262 Inimitability is restricted to the Qur’an. The other prophets received their books in a manner similar to that in which our Prophet received (certain) ideas that he attributed to God, such as are found in many traditions. 263

The fact that he received the Qur’an directly, in its literal form, is attested by the following statement of Muhammad on the authority of his Lord who said= “Do not set your tongue in motion to make haste with (the revelation of the Qur’an). It is up to us to put it together and to recite it.” 264

The reason for the revelation of these verses was Muhammad’s haste to study the (Qur’anic) verses, because he feared that he might forget (them), and because he wished to keep the directly and literally revealed text in memory.

God guaranteed him that He (Himself) would “keep” it in the following verse= “We revealed the reminder, and we are keeping it.” 265 This is the meaning of “keeping” which is peculiar to the Qur’an.

Many verses of the Qur’an show that He directly and literally revealed the Qur’an, of which every surah is inimitable. Our Prophet wrought no greater miracle than the Qur’an and the fact that he united the Arabs in his mission. “If you had expended all the treasures on earth, you would have achieved no unity among them. But God achieved unity among them.” 266

The evidence that lies in the superiority of Muhammad’s rank over that of the other prophets and in the exaltedness of his position.