The first condition is that the act be of a kind that none but Allah—glorified be He—can perform. This stipulation is indispensable, for were someone to rise in an age during which the coming of messengers is conceivable, claim prophethood, and then present as his “miracle” the mere ability to move, be still, stand, or sit, such conduct would not qualify as a miracle nor serve as proof of his truthfulness, since ordinary people can do the same. Miracles must instead resemble the parting of the sea, the splitting of the moon, and similar wonders that lie utterly beyond human power.

The second condition is that the act disrupt the normal course of nature. This must be required because, if a claimant to prophethood were to say, “My sign is that night follows day and that the sun rises from the East,” his claim would contain no miracle. Although these phenomena are indeed within Allah’s power alone, they are not wrought on the claimant’s behalf; they existed prior to his assertion and persist while he is making it. His claim, therefore, carries no more evidentiary weight than anyone else’s. A Messenger’s proof must possess an aspect that attests to his veracity. Accordingly, he would say, “The evidence of my sincerity is that Allah, Exalted is He, will suspend the habitual order for the sake of my claim to His message—He will turn this staff into a serpent, split this rock so that a she-camel emerges from within it, cause water to spring from between my fingers as it gushes from a fountain, or manifest some other sign that breaks the natural order, such marvels being solely within the power of the Sovereign of earth and heaven.”

When such signs appear, they assume the place of the Lord’s own words—were we able to hear Him—declaring: “He speaks the truth; I have sent him.” An illustration of this, and to Allah and His Messenger belongs the highest analogy, would be a group assembled in the presence of an earthly king. One of the king’s attendants, within the king’s sight and hearing, proclaims: “The king commands you, O people, to do such-and-such, and my proof is that the king will verify me by a particular act—namely, that he will remove his ring from his finger to confirm my claim.” If, after hearing the man’s statement, the king then performs the very deed cited as evidence, that action stands in place of his speaking the words: “He is truthful in what he has attributed to me.”

In the same way, when Allah performs an act that none but He can accomplish, breaking the habitual order at the hand of His Messenger, that deed stands in place of His speech—were we able to hear it—saying: “My servant is truthful in claiming My message; I have sent him to you, so listen to him and obey.”