2. Karamat (miracles)
2.1. Definition of karamah (miracle) in linguistic terms and in Islamic terminology, and the categories thereof
2.1.1. Definition of karamah (miracle) in linguistic terms and in Islamic terminology
i. In linguistic terms, the word karamah refers to honoring (ikram), which means venerating and holding in high esteem. The root word karuma is indicative of honor.
ii. Definition of karamah in Islamic terminology
A karamah is an extraordinary event that is not accompanied by any claim of prophethood and is not a precursor to prophethood. It appears at the hands of a person who seems to be righteous, in addition to having sound belief and striving to do righteous deeds.
2.1.2. Categories of karamat
The scholars have stated that karamat may be divided into two categories:
i. The first category has to do with knowledge and understanding the true nature of things
ii. The second category has to do with abilities and impacts
Ibn ‘Uthaymin said, “Karamat may be divided into two categories, one having to do with knowledge and foretelling future events, and the other having to do with abilities and impacts.
As for that which has to do with knowledge, it means that the individual attains of knowledge and understanding what others cannot.
As for that which has to do with understanding the true nature of things, it means that things are made clear to him and he becomes aware of their reality in such a way as does not happen to others.
As for abilities and impacts, that is like what happened to Maryam when she shook the trunk of the palm tree and fresh dates fell down.
2.2. Evidence and examples of karamat
2.2.1. Evidence for the occurrence of karamat in the Qur’an and Sunnah
i. Evidence for the occurrence of karamat in the Holy Qur’an
a. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says in the story of Maryam (peace be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning), "Every time Zakariyâ entered the chamber to see her, he found some provisions with her. He said: O Maryam, where has this come from? She said: From Allah; for Allah grants provision without measure to whom He will."
(Al ‘Imran 3:37)
Al-Sa‘di said, “This verse indicates that miracles and extraordinary events (karamat) may happen to the close friends of Allah, as has been mentioned in many reports, contrary to those who deny that.”
b. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says regarding the people of the cave (interpretation of the meaning), "They remained in their cave for three hundred years, plus nine." (al-Kahf 18:25) Al-Shirbini said, “One of the things that prove that it is possible for karamat to happen for the close friends of Allah is the story of the people of the cave.”
ii. Evidence for the occurrence of karamat in the Sunnah
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, “Whilst a man was in the wilderness, he heard a voice in a cloud (saying): Irrigate the garden of So and so. The cloud moved and sent its water onto stony ground, where there was one of these channels that absorbed all of that water. He followed the water, and found a man standing in his garden and diverting that water with his shovel. He said to him: O slave of Allah, what is your name? He said: So and so – the same name that he had heard from the cloud. He said to him: O slave of Allah, why did you ask me about my name? He said: I heard a voice in the cloud from which this water came, saying: Irrigate the garden of So and so, and it was your name. What will you do with it? He said: As you have said this, I will tell you this: I look at what it produces, and I give one third in charity, my family and I eat one third, and I use one third as seeds for the next crop.” (Muslim) Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Qurtubi said, “This hadith confirms the existence of karamat of the close friends of Allah (awliya’).”
Some comments of the scholars affirming the karamat of the close friends of Allah:
i. Al-Tahhawi said, “We do not give precedence to any of the ‘awliya’ over any of the prophets (peace be upon them), and we say: One prophet is better than all the awliya’, and we believe in what has been narrated soundly by trustworthy narrators regarding their karamat.”
ii. Muhammad Khalil Harras said, “There are mutawatir texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and events in the past and at present, which indicate that Allah bestows karamat on His close friends who follow the guidance of their prophets…
and karamat are still happening and will never cease in this ummah until the Day of Resurrection. The fact that many Muslims witness them is the greatest proof.”
2.2.2. Examples of karamat of the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them)
1. It was narrated that ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Abu Bakr brought one guest or some guests, but he went to spend the evening with the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). When he came, my mother said to him: What kept you away from your guest – or from your guests – tonight? He said: Have you not given them supper? She said: We offered the food to him – or to them – but they – or he – refused to eat. Abu Bakr got angry, so he rebuked me and swore that he would not eat the food. I hid myself, and he said: O ignorant boy! His wife also swore that she would not eat any of it until he ate some of it, and the guest or guests also swore that they would not eat any of it until he ate. Abu Bakr said: It seems that this is from the Shaytan. So he called for the food and ate, and they ate. Every time they took a mouthful of food, the food increased from underneath by more than that mouthful. He said (to his wife): O sister of Banu Firas, what is this? She said: O apple of my eye, the food is now more than it was before we started to eat. So they ate and sent some of it to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). (al-Bukhari, Muslim) Ibn Rajab said, “From this hadith we learn many things… one of which is affirmation of the karamat of the close friends of Allah and extraordinary events with which they were blessed. This is the view of the majority of Ahl al-Sunnah.”
2. It was narrated from Mutarrif ibn ‘Abdillah, from ‘Imran ibn Husayn, that he said: “You should realise, O Mutarrif, that the angels would greet me with salaam and I would hear the greeting level with my ears, when entering the house and when entering rooms in the house, but when I got cauterised that stopped. When he recovered, he spoke to him and said: You should know, O Mutarrif, that what I lost has come back to me, but do not tell anyone about it, O Mutarrif, until I die.” (al-Hakim)
3. Differences between karamat and devilish feats:
There are many differences between the karamat of the close friends of Allah and what may resemble them of devilish feats. One of these differences is that the cause of the karamat of the close friends of Allah is faith and guarding against evil (taqwa), whereas the cause of devilish feats is doing what Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) have forbidden.
Al-Shafa‘i said, “If you see a man walking on water or flying through the air, do not be deceived by him until you measure his condition against the Qur’an and Sunnah.”
Ibn Abi Hamzah said, “Extraordinary feats could happen to one who is strong and true in faith and one who is a heretic. In the case of the heretics, it is by way of letting them get carried away with their mischief and tempting them further in the way of misguidance. The way to know the difference between the two – between what is a karamah and what is a trial and temptation – is by seeing how closely the person follows the Qur’an and Sunnah.”
Ibn Taymiyah said regarding those who perform extraordinary feats with the help of the devils, “They are accompanied by the devils who descend upon them and disclose to them some hidden matters, and they are able to do some extraordinary feats that are akin to magic, and they are like the soothsayers and magicians upon whom the devils descend.”
One of those who will perform great extraordinary feats with the help of the devils at the end of time is the false messiah, the Dajjal. Those feats include the following:
It was narrated from al-Nawwas ibn Sam‘an (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said about the Dajjal, “He will come to a people and call them, and they will believe in him and respond to his call. Then he will command the sky and it will rain, and he will command the earth and it will bring forth produce. ... Then he will come to another people and call them, and they will reject what he says, so he will leave them and they will be afflicted with drought and famine, with none of their wealth in their hands…” (Muslim)
Abu’l-Abbas al-Qurtubi said, “What this hadith refers to is things that could possibly happen at a time when there will be many extraordinary feats, like what is mentioned in sound, proven reports which speak of the extraordinary feats that the Dajjal will perform.”
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami said, “As for the difference between karamat and magic, it is as follows: as for the extraordinary feat that is not accompanied by any claim of prophethood, if it occurs at the hands of a righteous man who fulfils his duty towards Allah and towards people, it is a karamah. If it occurs at the hands of someone who is not like that, then it is magic or it happens in order to let him get carried away in his evil deeds. … Distinguishing the righteous man mentioned above from others is clear and there is nothing subtle about it, for they do not have similar bearing and their manners and etiquette are not the same. Regardless of how the one who is not righteous dresses or presents himself, some of the stench of his evil deeds or words will inevitably leak out, which will distinguish him from the one who is righteous.”
Ibn Baz said, “The karamat that are granted to the close friends of Allah are proven according to Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama‘ah, and the criterion by which you will recognise that is that the individual adheres to the Qur’an and Sunnah.”
4. The difference between a mu‘jizah and a karamah
One of the differences between a mu‘jizah and a karamah is that the mu‘jizah is accompanied by a claim of prophethood, unlike the karamah. The one at whose hands a karamah occurs does not claim to be a prophet; rather the karamah happens to him by virtue of his following the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and adhering to his teachings.
Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi said, “You should understand that mu‘jizat and karamat are the same in the sense that they are extraordinary events, but they differ in two ways:
Firstly: that which is indicative of the truthfulness of the prophets is called a mu‘jizah, and that which is bestowed upon the close friends of Allah (awliya’) is called a karamah, by way of distinguishing between them.
Secondly: The one at whose hands a mu‘jizah occurs does not try to conceal his miracles; rather he does it openly and challenges his opponents thereby, saying: If you do not believe me, then produce something like this. The one on whom a karamah is bestowed tries his utmost to conceal it.
Thirdly: The one to whom a mu‘jizah is granted is safe from drifting away from the path of righteousness, and is protected from disbelief and sin after he performs the miracle. In contrast, the one to whom a karamah is granted is not safe from drifting away from the path of righteousness. “
Ibn Taymiyah said, “The close friends of Allah (awliya’) are of lower standing than the prophets and messengers, so the karamat of any one of them do not reach the level of the mu‘jizat of the messengers.”
Some of the scholars are of the view that the karamat of the close friends of Allah (awliya’) do in fact come under the heading of the mu‘jizat of the prophets, because karamat only happened to the wali by virtue of his following the Messenger. Therefore every karamah that is granted to a wali is one of the mu‘jizat of the Messenger according to whose teachings he worships Allah.”
Using the word mu‘jizah for the miracles granted to the prophets and using the word karamah for the extraordinary feats granted to the close friend of Allah is a matter of terminology. These words are not found in the Qur’an and Sunnah; rather the scholars agreed on this terminology later on. However, their meanings are connected to what is stated in the religious texts.
One of the matters having to do with distinguishing the karamah from other extraordinary feats is distinguishing between the wali at whose hands it is possible for a karamah to occur and the one who is of higher status than him, namely a prophet.
Karamat are indicative of being a close friend of Allah (wali) but they are not indicative of infallibility:
It is obligatory to obey the Prophet in all situations, but it is not obligatory to obey a wali in all situations, except when there is clear shar‘i evidence. One of the differences between a mu‘jizah and a karamah is that the karamah happens only when the wali needs it. As for the mu‘jizah, it is for the people’s needs and to guide them. If the wali needs the karamah to strengthen his own faith, he will receive as much as is sufficient to strengthen his faith; if he needs it to relieve him of some distressing situation or to help someone for whom he is praying, he will receive enough to relieve his distress or to answer his prayer. The greatest of karamat is adhering to the religion of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.
Al-Qushayri said, “You should understand that the greatest of karamat for the close friends of Allah (awliya’) is continuing to receive divine help that enables them to persist in obeying Allah and protects them from committing sins and infractions.”
Ibn Abi’l-‘Izz said, “The karamah is adhering steadfastly to righteousness.”
aqadia
