He clarified that one of the underlying wisdoms in all of this was the wide diffusion of His signs on earth—signs that attest to the truthfulness of His prophets. Moses had already reported that Allah had spoken to him and had written the Torah for him, so Allah produced marvels whose remembrance would remain in the world. Part of that was His hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, a measure that led inevitably to the destruction of Pharaoh and his entire people. Pharaoh, after all, was an obstinate denier of the Maker, rejecting His lordship and refusing to acknowledge Him; accordingly, the signs sent against him matched his condition.

As for the Children of Israel during the time of the Messiah, they already acknowledged the first Scripture and therefore did not need the kind of proofs Moses required. In the same way, Muḥammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not have to establish the very concept of prophethood, for earlier messengers had already secured that, and his people conceded the existence of the Creator. What was needed was only the confirmation of his own prophethood. Even so, Allah displayed through him signs comparable to—and greater than—those of his predecessors. Yet he was not furnished with the annihilating signs whose deniers deserve an immediate, all-encompassing punishment, such as befell the people of Pharaoh, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Shuʿayb, and others.

For this reason Allah explains in the Qur’an that when such decisive signs arrive, they bring no benefit—people would simply acquiesce to them—but instead bring harm, for if they were then to deny those signs they would deserve the exterminating punishment. Where a preventing factor exists and the requisite cause is absent, the act is not fitting—so say the majority who affirm divine wisdom, As for one who does not explain matters in terms of causes,