Imam Reza (PBUH) has said: “Wisdom is man’s friend, and ignorance is his enemy.”

(Reference: Al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 10)

Ibn Sekkit, a great literary scholar of his era, once asked Imam Reza (PBUH):

“Why did Allah appoint different miracles to each prophet? He sent Musa/Moses with miracles of the cane and the halo hand, Isa/Jesus with the power to heal, and Muhammad with the miracle of eloquence?”

Imam Reza (PBUH) replied: “When Allah appointed Musa as a prophet, it was in an era when magic and supernatural acts were more common among people than science. Musa therefore, brought an act that people had never seen before and could not understand it through their rational. With this miracle, he was able to refute the works of the magicians and give them clear proof.

At the time of Isa, on the other hand, diseases without cure had spread throughout. Science and medication was highly in demand. Isa therefore came to them with the miracle of healing all diseases, a power not known to them, for he could give life to the dead, and heal genetic blindness and leprosy. And through his miracles, he fulfilled his proof upon the people of his time. 

However, Muhammad was appointed at a time when poetry and eloquence in language was very popular among the communities. With the revelation of the Holy Quran and its teachings, Allah refuted their reasoning.”(1)

The miracles of the previous prophets were suitable for the era in which they lived. We do not have access to most of them. The only eternal miracle that has lived its way to us is the Holy Quran: a miracle that till this day is being examined in all its different aspects, including its eloquence and language. Although the Holy Quran descended in an era where significant attention was paid to poetry and language, nevertheless the Quran was not limited to that era, rather later generations can also relate to its message and miracles. For instance, there are cases in which the Holy Quran predicts the future; and even cases in which the Quran points to secrets of creation that were discovered long after the Quran’s revelation. These facts imply that the Holy Quran was revealed by the one who knows everything about the creation of the universe. Further, this Holy Book was brought by a prophet who had not gone to any academy or school, and therefore could not have compiled the Quran himself. Indeed the Quran was descended by the Lord of the universe.

(For more information on this topic you can read The Holy Quran, the Eternal Miracle)

Roshd website offers its condolence to all Muslims upon the anniversary of the martyrdom of the kind and knowledgeable Imam of the progeny of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP), Imam Ali Ibn Musa al-Reza (PBUH).

Footnote:

1- Selection taken from “Analysis of the life of Imam Reza (PBUH)” by Muhammad Jawad Fadlullah.