Rule Fifty: The Messenger’s signs—his miracles—are those that the Creator Himself discloses and initiates. Whatever the deniers display or demand of him does not qualify as signs at all; it is merely obstinate grandstanding meant to defeat and embarrass.
This explains the difference between such arbitrary demands and the true signs, which are the proofs and evidences of the Messenger’s veracity, the truthfulness of every other messenger, and the soundness of every report Allah has conveyed. These are conclusive proofs: whoever grasps them as they ought to be grasped is compelled to acknowledge the certainty of the realities to which they point.
In this sense the hadith states, “No messenger did Allah ever send without granting him signs through which people believed.”
As for the signs Allah granted Muhammad—may peace and blessings be upon him—they are beyond limit or enumeration, owing to their sheer number, their power, and their clarity; praise be to Allah. Consequently, no human being has any excuse left after them.
Hence it becomes clear that the deniers’ insistence on specific, hand-picked signs is not of this sort. Their real intention is simply that they have resolved to cling to their false creed and to refuse to follow the Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him.
When he invited them to faith and showed them unmistakable proofs, they attempted to justify themselves before the simple-minded and the foolish by saying, “Bring us this sign and that sign if you are truthful; and if you do not, we will never believe you.” Such a stance would not be countenanced by even the least fair-minded person. For that reason Allah informs us that, were He to grant them exactly what they demand, they would still not believe, because they have already settled upon contentment with their religion after recognizing the truth and then rejecting it.
Moreover, this attitude betrays their ignorance, both with respect to the present moment and to their ultimate fate. As for the present: the established pattern is that those who propose such signs do not genuinely seek the truth; when the sign does come and they still refuse to believe, they are promptly overtaken by an immediate punishment. As for the ultimate end: they have categorically—