The Miracles of the Prophet

Al-Qastallani's treatment of prophetic miracles (mu'jizat) follows the established Sunni theological framework. A miracle is defined as an extraordinary act that breaks the normal order of created things, performed at the hand of a prophet in conjunction with his prophetic claim, in a manner that challenges opponents to produce its like and that they cannot. By this definition, the primary and greatest miracle of the Prophet Muhammad is the Quran: an Arabic text of such literary, intellectual, and spiritual excellence that the entirety of humanity and jinn cannot produce a comparable work. Al-Qastallani discusses the inimitability (i'jaz) of the Quran in detail, noting that scholars have identified multiple dimensions of this inimitability, including its linguistic beauty, its internal consistency, its precise predictive content, and its inexhaustible spiritual depth that continues to yield meaning across generations.

Beyond the Quran, the Seerah tradition preserves numerous accounts of extraordinary events associated with the Prophet. Al-Qastallani approaches these with the methodology of the hadith scholar, distinguishing between those with rigorously authenticated chains and those that are supplementary. Among the most widely authenticated material miracles is the splitting of the moon (inshiqaq al-qamar), attested in the Quran itself (54:1-2) and confirmed by multiple Companion narrations. Al-Qastallani notes that this miracle was public, occurring in the presence of the Quraysh who challenged the Prophet, and that the Quran's reference to it confirms it beyond any possible doubt about the hadith chains.

The Night Journey and Ascension (Isra' wal-Mi'raj) are treated as both a miracle of the highest order and a gift of spiritual closeness that was uniquely prophetic. The Prophet's body was transported from Makkah to Jerusalem and then ascended through the heavens in a single night, and he returned before dawn. Al-Qastallani discusses the scholarly positions on whether the journey was bodily or spiritual, presenting the majority Sunni view that it was a bodily journey in the waking state. He notes that the Quran's use of the word 'abd (servant) in referring to the Prophet during the Night Journey indicates his full human physicality. The miracles associated with the Journey, including the encounter with the prophets in each heaven, are recorded with chains of transmission and scholarly commentary.

Other authenticated miracles include the multiplication of water and food to meet the needs of the community at critical moments. At Hudaybiyya, the Companions found a well nearly dry, and the Prophet's arrow was placed in it, after which the water flowed abundantly for the entire party of over a thousand people. Food was multiplied on several occasions, including the famous incident of Jabir ibn Abd Allah who had slaughtered a single small animal and prepared a modest amount of bread, which the Prophet blessed and which fed a gathering of nearly a thousand men. Al-Qastallani presents these narrations as evidence of the prophetic connection to divine power, while maintaining the theological clarity that the miracles were acts of God performed through the Prophet, not independent powers of the Prophet himself.