Miracles of Jesus — Essence of Islam Vol. 3

Introduction

In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 3), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Miracles of Jesus, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.

Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 6: The Messiah and His Second Coming
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Objections Against Jesus | Next: The True Claim of Jesus »

human contrivance and under the spiritual influence of a Prophet; for, an affirmation of true creation on the part of Jesus would amount to a grave mischief and an association of partners with God. If all that is desired is proof of a miracle it is enough of a miracle for a lifeless thing to fly about for a short while. If it is alleged that any verse of the Holy Qur’an affirms that the shape of clay was invested with life or that there is historical proof that those shapes became alive and laid eggs and hatched birds and many of their race are in existence today, then a proof must be produced of such assertions. The Holy Qur’an affirms that even if the whole world joined together to create a fly it would not be able to do so, because in such a case it would become God’s partner in creation. It would be equally absurd to affirm that God Almighty had permitted him to create birds. This would be preposterous, as there is no contradiction in the Word of God, and He does not bestow such permission upon anyone. God Almighty did not bestow upon the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) permission to create even a fly. Then how could the son of Mary obtain such permission? Fear God, and do not seek to convert allegory into physical reality.

[Shahadat-ul-Qur’an, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 6, pp. 372-374, footnote]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 218]

Certain Muslim sects believe that Jesus used to fashion different types of birds and used to invest them with life by breathing into them. On this basis I have been asked that as I claim to be the like of Jesus I should also fashion a bird and make it come alive by breathing into it. It is alleged that millions of birds created by Jesus fly about everywhere and that the like of Jesus should also create some birds. The Messiah and his Second Coming 219 The answer to all these superstitions is that the verses on which they are based are allegorical and it is the height of faithlessness and patent repudiation of the basic values of Islam to construe them as meaning that God Almighty had deliberately associated Jesus in His attribute of creation; inasmuch as it would be a negation of the Godhead to believe that God Almighty should invest someone else with His special attributes and His Divinity. One of these people was asked if he could distinguish those birds that had been created by God from those that were created by Jesus, but he confessed by remaining silent that he was unable to do so.
The doctrine that some birds are the creation of God Almighty and some are the creation of Jesus is altogether vicious and amounts to polytheism. Anyone holding such a belief cannot be a Muslim…. The miracles of Prophets are of two types. One are heavenly manifestations, in which human design and reason have no part, such as the splitting of the moon, which was a miracle of our lord and master, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and was manifested by the limitless power of God Almighty as a sign of the greatness of a righteous and perfect Prophet. Secondly, intellectual miracles, which are manifested through the extraordinary intelligence of a Prophet and which resemble Divine revelation. For instance, the miracle of Solomonas, which was manifested in the shape of:

قِيلَ لَهَا ٱدۡخُلِي ٱلصَّرۡحَ ۖ فَلَمَّا رَأَتۡهُ حَسِبَتۡهُ لُجَّةٗ وَكَشَفَتۡ عَن سَاقَيۡهَا ۚ قَالَ إِنَّهُۥ صَرۡحٞ مُّمَرَّدٞ مِّن قَوَارِيرَ ۗ قَالَتۡ رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمۡتُ نَفۡسِي وَأَسۡلَمۡتُ مَعَ سُلَيۡمَٰنَ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ

“It was said to her, ‘Enter the palace.’ And when she saw it, she thought it to be a great expanse of water, and she uncovered her shanks. Solomon said, ‘It is a palace paved smooth with slabs of glass.’ She said, ‘My Lord, I indeed wronged my soul; and I submit myself with Solomon to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.’” (Surah ‘A palace paved smooth with slabs of glass.’—Al-Naml, 27:45)

185 ‘A palace paved smooth with slabs of glass.’—Al-Naml, 27:45 [Publisher] whereby the Queen of Sheba was blessed with faith. It appears that this miracle of Jesus was purely intellectual like the miracle of Solomon. History reveals that in those days people were inclined towards the useless pursuit of sleight of hand, which astonished the common people. People like those who, in the time of the Pharaoh, used to manipulate the forms of serpents and other animals and made them move like living animals, had by the time of Jesus spread into the land of the Jews who had learnt magical tricks from them as is also indicated in the Holy Qur’an. It is, therefore, not a matter of surprise that God Almighty may have instructed Jesus in some method whereby a toy fashioned out of clay could be manipulated by pressing a spring or breathing upon it so as to fly like a bird or to move on its feet. Jesus had worked with his father Joseph for twenty-two years as a carpenter, and carpentry stimulates a man’s mind towards inventing different kinds of machines and mechanical instruments.
Miracles are granted to a person in accord with the faculties that he possesses. As the spiritual faculties of our lord and master, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were well developed in the appreciation of spiritual verities, he was accordingly bestowed the miracle of the Holy Qur’an, which is comprehensive of all verities and understandings of the Divine. It should, therefore, not be a matter of surprise if Jesus displayed an intellectual miracle to his opponents, like the one displayed by his ancestor, Solomonas. Such a miracle is not beyond the reach of the intellect inasmuch as in our own time many mechanical experts are able to fashion birds that speak and move and wag their tails. I have also heard that some mechanical birds can even fly. Many The Messiah and his Second Coming 221 such toys are manufactured in Bombay, Calcutta, Europe, America and every year new one are introduced into the market.
As the Holy Qur’an often employs metaphors, these verses can be construed to mean that birds signify the illiterate and simple people whom Jesus chose as his companions, who were like birds under his care, and into whom he breathed spiritual guidance whereby they began to fly.
Moreover, it is possible that such wonders might be performed like a pastime through hypnosis. Those who are experts in ‘amal-ut-tirb [psychokinetic exercises] can, by directing the warmth of their spirits towards certain objects, make them appear as if they were alive. The human soul possesses the capacity of directing its warmth upon a lifeless object so as to make it move as if it was alive. I have seen some practitioners of this phenomenon, who so warmed a wooden tripod by the touch of their hands through the exercise of their animal spirit that it began to move, and though several people mounted on it, it could not be stopped….It should be remembered that such an object which is fashioned out of clay or wood and is warmed by a spirit through ‘amal-ut-tirb does not become alive. It remains solid and lifeless; it is only made to move by the warmth of the spirit of the mesmerist.
It should also be remembered that the Holy Qur’an does not affirm the movement or flight of such birds, nor their coming to life. It should also be kept in mind that curing diseases and influencing objects with the warmth of the spirit are all branches of mesmerism and there have always been people who healed the paralytics, the lepers and those suffering from tuberculosis through spiritual exercises….It has been conclusively established that, under Divine direction, Messiah, son of Mary, was an expert in mesmerism, like the Prophet Isaiah, though he was not as great an expert as the latter, because even the bones of Isaiah performed the miracle that when they were brought into contact with a corpse, it came back to life; but the corpses of the two thieves who were nailed to the cross at the same time with Jesus were not revived through contact with his body. In any case, these mesmeric activities of Jesus were in accord with the thinking of his age for a special purpose. It should, however, be kept in mind that mesmerism is not worthy of such appreciation as the common people imagine. Had I not looked upon it with contempt and disgust, I could, by the grace of God Almighty and with His support, have performed the same wonders as were performed by Jesus. But I prefer the spiritual method that was followed by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.) Jesus had adopted this method under Divine direction in view of the earthy and low thinking of the Jews, which had become their second nature. In truth he was not fond of this method.
One evil characteristic of this physical practice is that a person who continues to employ his emotional and intellectual faculties to heal physical maladies suffers a serious decline of the spiritual capacities, which heal spiritual ills through their influence, and is not able to achieve any remarkable success in illumining and purifying souls. That is why Jesus, who healed those afflicted with physical ailments with this method, was not able to achieve any noticeable success in impressing hearts with guidance and the Unity of God and steadfastness of faith. But the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be The Messiah and his Second Coming 223 upon him), who did not pay any attention to physical matters, and concentrated on stimulating spiritual guidance in the hearts of his people, was most successful in purifying the souls and helped thousands of God’s creatures to achieve it to the highest degree. He achieved matchless success in the spiritual reform of mankind and in bringing about inner change. The dead, whom Jesus revived by the practice ‘amal-ut-tirb, died within a few minutes, as the warmth of the spirit and its life was only temporarily stimulated in them, but those who were spiritually revived by our Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) shall live forever. My designation of mesmerism as ‘amal-ut-tirb, in which Jesus had acquired some proficiency, is under Divine direction. God Almighty disclosed to me that this art is ‘amal-ut-tirb, and it is concerning this that I received the revelation: ‘This is the tirb of whose reality people are unaware.’
It must be realized that God Almighty is Unique in respect of every one of His attributes and does not associate anyone in them. The emphasis which the clear and unambiguous verses of the Holy Qur’an give to this subject is well known. As Allah, hallowed be His name, says:

ٱلَّذِي لَهُۥ مُلۡكُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَلَمۡ يَتَّخِذۡ وَلَدٗا وَلَمۡ يَكُن لَّهُۥ شَرِيكٞ فِي ٱلۡمُلۡكِ وَخَلَقَ كُلَّ شَيۡءٖ فَقَدَّرَهُۥ تَقۡدِيرٗا وَٱتَّخَذُواْ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ ءَالِهَةٗ لَّا يَخۡلُقُونَ شَيۡـٔٗا وَهُمۡ يُخۡلَقُونَ وَلَا يَمۡلِكُونَ لِأَنفُسِهِمۡ ضَرّٗا وَلَا نَفۡعٗا وَلَا يَمۡلِكُونَ مَوۡتٗا وَلَا حَيَوٰةٗ وَلَا نُشُورٗا

“He to Whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. And He has taken unto Himself no son, and has no partner in the kingdom, and has created everything, and has ordained for it its proper measure. Yet they have taken beside Him gods, who create nothing but are themselves created, and who have no power to harm or benefit themselves and they control not death nor life nor resurrection.” (Surah Al-Furqan, 25:3-4)

(Part Number 18)

That is: ‘God is He Who alone owns the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He has no partner. He has no son nor has he any partner in His kingdom. He has created everything and has placed limits on their bodies, their power, and their life. The pagans have taken gods— beside that True God—who have not created anything and are themselves created. They do not determine any harm or benefit for themselves and do not control life nor death nor resurrection.’ God Almighty has here clearly affirmed that there is no Creator besides Him. In another verse, it is stated that the whole world together cannot create even a fly. Then it is stated that no one beside Him has control over death and life and resurrection. Had it been His way to associate any one of His creatures in these attributes, He would have made an exception of them and would not have taught His absolute Unity.
It may be asked why then has Allah the Glorious, employed the expression, ‘You will create’ with reference to Jesus. The answer would be that this is a metaphoric use of the expression as in the verse:

ثُمَّ خَلَقۡنَا ٱلنُّطۡفَةَ عَلَقَةٗ فَخَلَقۡنَا ٱلۡعَلَقَةَ مُضۡغَةٗ فَخَلَقۡنَا ٱلۡمُضۡغَةَ عِظَٰمٗا فَكَسَوۡنَا ٱلۡعِظَٰمَ لَحۡمٗا ثُمَّ أَنشَأۡنَٰهُ خَلۡقًا ءَاخَرَ ۚ فَتَبَارَكَ ٱللَّهُ أَحۡسَنُ ٱلۡخَٰلِقِينَ

“Then We fashioned the sperm into a clot; then We fashioned the clot into a shapeless lump; then We fashioned bones out of this shapeless lump; then We clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed it into another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators.” (Surah ‘So blessed be Allah, 23:15)

Without a doubt God Almighty is the true Creator and those who fashion toys of clay or wood are also creators but only metaphorically so, because their works are mere show and have no reality. If it is asked why it is not permissible for Jesusas to have fashioned birds under Divine direction which could fly by his breathing into them, by way of a miracle, the an- 187 ‘So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators.’—Al-Mu’minun, 23:15 [Publisher] The Messiah and his Second Coming 225 swer is that God does not make anyone the master of death and life or harm and benefit. Prophets seek miracles through prayer and supplication and do not possess the power to work miracles like a man has the power to use his hands and feet. Thus the power of creation is one of those Divine attributes that are never bestowed upon man and is distinct from a miracle. The essence of a miracle is that God Almighty, in order to demonstrate the truth and honour of a Prophet and the powerlessness and helplessness of his opponents, manifests something that is extraordinary or beyond imagination by His special design or in response to the prayer or supplication of the Prophet. But it is done in a manner which is not inconsistent with His attributes of Unity, Holiness and Perfection and which does not permit of anyone else’s power or design.
It is not a miracle that God Almighty should invest a human being with the power of fashioning birds of clay, which would become real birds with flesh and bones and blood and all the limbs of animals when he breathes into them. If God Almighty can make someone the agent of His attribute of creation in the case of birds, He can also bestow the full agency of His attribute of creation. In this event, partnership in Divine attributes would become permissible, though only under His direction and permission, and the comprehension of the true Creator would become doubtful in the presence of such creators whose creations would become indistinguishable from God’s. This would not be a form of miracle; it would be partnership in Godhead. Some wise people try to solve the dilemma of polytheism by asserting that the birds which Jesus created did not live for any length of time but fell down and died after a short flight. But this explanation would help only if it is held that those birds were not invested with true life but only appeared to be alive for a short time as a result of mesmeric influence….
The Holy Qur’an affirms that Jesus had been given the power to do these things as an exercise of his natural capacity, which is inherent in every human being. Jesus was not unique in this respect. Such capacity is being demonstrated in our own age. The miracles of Jesus were rendered bizarre and doubtful by the pool which had existed even before the birth of Jesus, and which also displayed wonders and a single dip into which bestowed healing upon all those afflicted with diseases such as paralysis, leukoderma, leprosy etc. And there were others who manifested similar extraordinary signs later on, and there was no such pool to cast doubt on their manifestations. The belief that Jesus fashioned birds of clay and made them come alive as real birds by breathing into them, is entirely false and polytheistic. It was only an exercise of mesmeric capacity that had been developed to some degree by his spiritual propensity. It is also possible that he made use of clay from the pool that had been activated by the Holy Spirit. His miracle was only a kind of sleight of hand and the clay remained only clay like the Samaritan’s calf. Ponder over it, because this is a magnificent point; no one comprehends it except those who have been granted great wisdom. [Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, pp. 251-263, footnote]. No other Prophet has had so many fictitious miracles attributed to him, as have been attributed to Jesusas; some ignorant ones even imagine that he had revived thousands upon thousands of the dead. The Gospels narrate a highly exaggerated statement of an occasion when all the dead buried in a graveyard, which had existed for The Messiah and his Second Coming 227 thousands of years, were revived and all of them walked into the city alive.
Anyone with wisdom can easily understand that despite the fact that millions of the dead who had been revived walked into the city and told their tales to their descendants and confirmed the truth of Jesusas, the Jews still did not believe in him. Who would credit such hard-heartedness? Indeed, if Jesus occupied himself with reviving thousands of the dead it must be recognized that the revived ones could not all have been deaf and dumb. Some of them must have been the brothers, fathers, sons, mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers and other near relatives of those who witnessed these miracles. Thus Jesusas had open to him a vast scheme for converting the disbelievers. Many of the revived dead who were related to the contemporary Jews, must have accompanied Jesusas, and he must have arranged for them to deliver public addresses in a number of cities that must have been heard with great interest and eagerness. For instance, when a revived one told his audience, ‘Many of you who are present here know me as I was buried by your hands. Now I have come to you after having heard from God’s own tongue that Jesus is true and he has revived me’. … This would have had a deep affect on the Jews and thousands upon thousands of them would have believed in him. But the Holy Qur’an and the Gospels affirm that the Jews had totally rejected Jesusas and that he was the least successful of the Prophets in his work of reform, and almost all the Jews considered him an impostor and a liar. It is worth reflecting: should this have been the result of such a great supernatural miracle? When thousands of the revived dead testified to the truth of Jesusas and affirmed that they had seen heaven which contained only the Christians who believed in Jesus, and that they had seen hell which contained Jews who had denied Jesus, how could the slightest doubt remain about the truth of Jesus? If anyone was still in doubt, his ancestors who had been revived would have punished them to death proclaiming, ‘O Ye wretches! Are you still in doubt after our testimony.’ There is no doubt, therefore, that all such alleged miracles are pure fiction.

[Brahin-e-Ahmadiyyah, part V, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 21, pp. 47-48]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 218]

Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 6: The Messiah and His Second Coming
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Objections Against Jesus | Next: The True Claim of Jesus »