Indeed this is a manifest advantage.

Indeed this is a manifest advantage.” [^4] No doubt, the gushing forth of fountains from the rock which Hadrat Musa ( ‘a ) stroke with his staff, the creation of a real bird out of clay, the healing of incurable ailments and the revival of the dead by Hadrat ‘Isa ( ‘a ), and Hadrat Sulayman’s ( ‘a ) knowledge of the logic and language of birds are extraordinary affairs which are considered as kinds of acts of supernatural power and authority.

Given that many Qur’anic verses point to the supernatural power of the worthy servants of God, will our belief in the purport of these explicit verses of the Qur’an, which bespeak of the extraordinary power of such great divine people, be regarded as tantamount to polytheism { shirk } or innovation in religion { bid‘ah }? From this, it becomes evident that the belief that righteous servants of God have supernatural power does not mean that they are regarded as gods or authors of divine acts.

If such a belief were to imply their divinity { uluhiyyah } and lordship { rububiyyah }, then according to the Qur’an such prophets like Musa, ‘Isa, Sulayman, and others ( ‘a ) would be taken to be gods, whereas all Muslims know that the Holy Qur’an considers great divine people as righteous servants of God.

Thus, it is obvious that if in the belief that the nearest ones to God have supernatural power, we can consider this power to be relying on the inexhaustible power of God and regard great divine people as instruments for manifesting divine power.

This belief will not only mean rejection of polytheism but it will also be totally congruent with the principle of true monotheism because the criterion of monotheism and Unity of God is attributing every power in the world to God and believing that He is the author of every power and every movement. [^1]: Surah ar-Ra‘d 13:38. [^2]: Surah al-Baqarah 2:60. [^3]: Surah Al ‘Imran 3:49. [^4]: Surah an-Naml 27:16. Previous…