Islam, once an obscure Middle Eastern religion, has rapidly grown into the second largest religion in the world. There are presently more Muslims than Episcopalians in the United States!
What attraction does Islam hold for its followers? What part does it play in shaping the outlook and attitudes of nearly one billion people? Here is what you need to know about Islam.
The Muslim scholar, Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah, in his book, Introduction to Islam, states that “the custodian and repository of the original teachings of Islam” are found above all in the “Quran and the Hadith” (p. 250).
There are no recorded miracles of Muhammad in the Quran. After his death, Muhammad’s disciples began to invent miracles for him because they had to escape the stigma that their prophet was inferior to the miracles of Moses, Jesus, and the pagan soothsayers. The following is a summary of the miracles of Muhammad found in the Hadith.
I. The Moon Cut in Half.
When the Meccans asked Muhammad to do a miracle to prove that he was Allah’s prophet, he supposedly reached up with his sword and cut the moon in half. (Hadith vol. 4, nos. 830, 831, 832; vol. 5, nos, 208, 209, 210, 211; vol. 6, nos. 387, 388, 389,390)
How and by whom the two halves of the moon were joined back together is not told. (Surely, an even greater miracle!) This so-called miracle means either Muhammad had a very BIG sword or that the moon was very SMALL. Historically, the Arabs at that time believed that the sun and the moon were the size that they appeared to the human eye. Thus the moon was about the size of a basketball. Muhammad evidently had no problem cutting such a small moon in half. This “miracle” is very doubtful for if the Meccans had seen Muhammad cut the moon in half, why did he have to conquer them by military force? Would not such a glorious “miracle” convert them?
II. A Cry Baby Palm Tree.
A palm tree cried like a baby because Muhammad used a wooden pulpit to preach from instead of standing beneath the tree to preach. Muhammad left his pulpit and caressed the trunk of the tree until it stopped crying. (Hadith vol. 2, no. 41; vol. 4, no. 783)
III. Water in the Wilderness.
On one occasion when the Muslims needed water, Muhammad called for a bowl. He, then, made water flow out of his fingernails into the bowl until everyone had all the water they needed. (Hadith vol. 1, nos.170, 194; vol. 4, nos. 773, 774,775, 776, 779) How many people drank the water? One Hadith (tradition) says seventy (vol. 4, no. 774). Another Hadith states eighty (vol. 4, no. 775). Yet another Hadith says around three hundred (vol. 4, no. 772). But then others say fifteen hundred (vol. 4, no. 776 and vol. 5, no. 473). Two things are demonstrated from the conflicting numbers of 70, 80, 300, and 1,500. The Hadiths often contradict each other and the miracles of Muhammad got bigger and better each time they were told!
IV. Multiplying Bread.
Muhammad fed the multitudes by multiplying bread, just as Jesus did in the Bible. He even had the people come up in groups of ten to further mimic the miracle of Jesus. Hadith vol. 4, nos, 778, 781.)
V. Shouting Foods.
Food would shout out loud and glorify Allah as Muhammad ate it. The picture of someone calmly eating talking bread and meat is incredible, if not absurd. (Hadith vol. 4, no. 779)
VI. The Open Grave.
When a man, who had once been a Muslim and then reconverted back to Christianity, died and was buried, the earth would not accept his body, but would throw his body out of the grave. (Hadith vol. 4, no. 814)
VII. Multiplying Dates.
Muhammad multiplied several heaps of dates to cover the debt of a Muslim. (Hadith vol. 4, 780)
VIII. Muhammad’s Chest Split Open.
Gabriel opened Muhammad’s chest and washed his insides with Zamzam water. Gabriel, then, took wisdom and faith and poured them into Muhammad’s chest and closed it up. (Hadith vol. 1, no. 345)
IX. The Night Journey.
The night journey of Muhammad to Jerusalem and then through seven heavens where he talked with Adam, Idris, Moses, Jesus, and Abraham is considered by some to be the greatest miracle of Muhammad, surpassed only by the Quran itself. Hadith vol. 1, nos, 211, 345.)
X. Memories in a Sheet.
Muhammad enabled one of his followers to remember the Hadiths by having the man take off his sheet and lay it on the ground. Then Muhammad went through the motion of picking something up and then scooping it into the sheet. He then told the man to put his sheet back on and the man never forgot anything after that (Hadith vol. 1, no. 119; vol. 4, no. 841)
XI. The Rain Maker.
When a drought threatened the people, they went to Muhammad and asked him to pray to Allah for rain. After he prayed, it rained. (Hadith vol. 2, no. 55.)
XII. A Drought Maker.
When the tribes of Mudar refused to accept Muhammad as Allah’s prophet, he cursed them in prayer stating drought and famine would destroy them for seven years. Within a year, the people were reduced to eating hides, carcasses, and rotten dead animals. Hadith vol. 2, nos. 120, 121.)
XIII. A Prophecy of Wind.
Muhammad was able to predict that a strong wind was going to blow. He warned the people to prepare for it. One man who did not heed his warning was blown away to a mountain called Haiy. (Hadith vol. 2, no. 559.)
XIV. A Prophecy on Dates(the fruit)
Muhammad was able to estimate the number of dates a garment would contain before it was harvested. Hadith vol. 2, no. 559.)
XV. Healing the Eyes With Spit.
Muhammad healed a man with eye trouble by spitting in his eyes. The man never had eye trouble after that. (Hadith vol. 4, no. 192; vol. 5, no. 51.) All manner of diseases could be cured by Muhammad’s spit according to the Hadith vol. 7, nos. 641 and 642.
XVI. His Spit Becomes Water.
When Muhammad spit into a dry well, it filled with enough water to satisfy 1,400 men and their camels. (Hadith vol. 4, no. 777; vol. 5, nos. 471, 472.)
XVII. Multiplied Water.
Muhammad multiplied the water in two water skins to satisfy all the people and, yet, the skins were more full at the end than at the beginning. (Hadith vol. 4, no. 771.)
XVIII. Miracles by Rubbing.
Muhammad healed a broken leg by rubbing it. (Hadith vol. 5, no. 371.)
XIX. Healings Through Recitation.
Snake bites, scorpion stings, and all kinds of illnesses were healed by Muhammad by waving his hand over the wound, reciting the Quran, and the applying of his spit to the wound. (Hadith vol. 7, nos. 637-642.)
XX. Dream Interpretation.
Muhammad would interpret the dreams of others as well as his own dreams. He claimed that the dream of a Muslim is “one of the forty-six parts of the prophetism”. Thus, he was involved in the occult art of dream interpretation. (Hadith vol. 2, no. 468; vol. 9, nos. 111-171.)
Conclusions. Some of the miracles are clearly copied from the miracles of Moses (ex. III), Jesus (ex. IV, XVI), and pagan prophets (ex. IX). The rest reflect the occultic practices prevalent in the 7th century of Muhammad’s day (ex. XIX).
The Driving Force. The driving force of the Hadith is the all-consuming question, “What must I do to be forgiven by Allah and to be admitted into paradise?” In the Hadith, Muhammad does not give us vague generalities. He tells the reader exactly what to do, how to do it, and in what order to do it. He gives specific rules for urination and whether or not you follow these urination rules determines whether or not you end up in hellfire or paradise. #1 You must not face Mecca when urination or defecation (vol. 1, nos. 146, 147, 150, 151.) #2 You must not use your right hand to hold or wipe yourself (vol. 1, nos. 155, 156.) #3 You must wash your privates after going to the bathroom (vol. 1, nos. 152-154, 157.) Yet, Muhammad ordered people to drink camel urine mixed in milk as medicine! (Hadith vol. 1, no. 234.)
My friend, Jesus is Lord, not Allah! Jesus Christ died for your sins and arose from the dead for your justification. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:16-17