Microsoft Word When the Moon Split Final

The polytheists demand a sign 
The Makkan pagans had been shown many signs that 
confirmed the truthfulness of Muhammad’s claim to be a 
prophet, but they ignored them all. Although they were not 
prepared to accept any further signs, they demanded that 
Muhammad show them clear proof from Allah that he was 
indeed a messenger. Their intention of course was simply to 
humiliate him before the people. 
One day, the pagans were assembled at the Ka’bah and sent 
for the Prophet . The Prophet hurried to meet them, 
thinking that they wished to discuss the possibility of entering 
Islam. He sat down with them to hear the same demands they had 
made before: “Muhammad, you tell us that the prophet’s had 

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signs: Musa [Moses] had a miraculous staff, Saleh had a camel, 
and Isa [Jesus] resurrected the dead. The prophets of yore came 
with clear signs. We want you to also show us something to 
confirm that you are like them.” Prophets, the Quraysh thought, 
should have power to perform miracles at will. They did not 
understand that Allah performed these miracles through His 
prophets. 
Deaf, dumb and blind, as Allah charaterises them in the 
Qur’an, the disbelievers refused to see the numerous signs of 
Allah manifest in His creation and in the Qur’an. Instead, they 
wanted to see flamboyant acts of sorcery. Accordingly, they asked 
the Prophet to do any of the following: turn Mount Safa into a 
mountain of gold, carry the mountains somewhere else and 
change the surrounding area into a wide valley, cause a spring to 
gush forth, or bring back to life their ancestors so that they could 
testify that Muhammad was truly a prophet. 
Allah mentions in the Qur’an: “We shall not believe in you 
until you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth; or 
you have a garden of date trees and grapevines, and you cause the 
rivers to gush forth in their midst; or you cause the sky to fall in 
pieces as you have claimed will happen; or you bring Allah and 
the angels before us face to face; or you ascend into the heavens. 
No, we shall not even believe in your ascension until you bring us 
a book that we can read!” (17: 90-93) 
The pagans claimed that if the Prophet perfomed any of 
these miracles, they would embrace Islam. This promise is also 
mentioned in the Qur’an: “They swear their strongest oaths by 
Allah that if they were given a sign, they would believe.” (6: 109) 
Prophet prayed to Allah asking Him to show the pagans 
one of the signs they asked for. Jibreel then came to the Prophet 
with Allah’s answer: the Prophet could chose between two 
options. The first choice was that the pagans would be given one 
of the signs on one condition: if they remained unbelievers after 

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seeing the sign, they would be punished more severely than 
anyone else in the world. The second choice was that they would 
not be shown the signs they requested, but the door of 
repentence and mercy would remain open for them. The Prophet 
wisely told Jibreel: “The door of repentance and mercy should 
remain open.” 
The Qur’an records Allah’s answer to the pagans who 
demanded that Muhammad perform a spectacular miracle: 
“Say: Glory to my Lord! Am I not but a man and sent as a 
messenger?” (17: 93) 
This verse makes it clear that Muhammad , like all 
prophets, had no power of his own to perform such miracles, but 
that Allah determines when, where, and how His signs will be 
revealed. The prophets were given such signs to prove that they 
were messengers. Allah says: “Say: Certainly all signs are in the 
power of Allah. But what will make you realise that even if they 
received a sign, they would not believe.” (6: 109) 
As for the pagans who demanded to see a clear sign, Allah 
told the Prophet in the Qur’an: “Even if I send angels to them, 
and the dead speak to them face to face, and I gather all things 
before their very eyes, they would not believe unless it be My 
wish. But most of them ignore the truth.” (6: 111) 
And Allah said: “If there were a Qur’an with which 
mountains could be moved, or the earth rent asunder and the 
dead made to speak, it would be this one. Truly, the command 
rests with Allah. Do the believers not know that had Allah willed, 
He could have guided all mankind.” (13: 31) 
In this way, Allah instructed the Prophet and the believers 
to stop trying to justify their faith. The onus was on the 
unbelievers to come to Islam. And how could they believe if 
Allah, to Whom guidance belonged, had not willed it?