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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A New Analysis of Wahhabi Doctrines The Miracles {Karamah} of the Saints of God {Awliya’ Allah} Another point upon which the Wahhabis differ with the Sunnis and the Shi`ah is the issue of miracles { karamat }. All Muslim sects regard the prophets ( 'a ) as people who performed miracles { karamat } and wondrous feats { mu'jizah } because the Qur'an bears witness to the authenticity of this point.

Concerning the infallible Imams ( 'a ), however, the only group that does not recognize them to have performed miracles and treat them as equal to others in the possession or otherwise of this merit is the Wahhabis. The Shi`ah characterize the infallible Imams ( 'a ) with having miraculous and marvelous powers, substantiating this fact with religious traditions and historical accounts.

Now, if anyone believes that there is a difference between a mu'jizah and a karamah , emphasizing that mu'jizah refers to that which is performed by the prophets as narrated in the Qur'an while karamah refers to that which is performed by the infallible Imams ( 'a ) as narrated in the traditions, it must be said that in any case, the pure Imams ( 'a ) possess powers and forces which the common people undoubtedly do not possess, and it makes no difference whether you call it as mu'jizah or karamah .

It is said that some of the real Gnostics and mystics { 'urafa '} possess this power and to a lower degree.

It is thus stated in the book, Fath al-Majid : The miracles { karamah } of the saints of God { awliya' Allah } are the products of divine attraction and grace, and this affair does not depend upon the person or his knowledge and intention—like the karamah of 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) on numerous occasions and the karamah of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) when he came to Iran and talked to Prophet Daniel in the town of Shush.

Similarly, at the time when Medina was afflicted with famine, 'Umar participated in the prayer for rain and it came. It must not remain unstated that we do not have reliable historical evidence concerning 'Umar's coming to Iran and the town of Shush in particular. It was rather 'Ali ibn Abi Talib ( 'a ) who had come to Shush and talked with Prophet Daniel ( 'a ).

With regard to the famine, it must also be said that what has been recorded in reliable sources is that at the request of 'Umar, 'Abbas the uncle of the Prophet (s) performed this prayer.