Title: Is Believing in Miracles against Reason? Question: I have noticed that some of my interlocutors here have great difficulty accepting what are presented as miracles in the Qur'an. They feel that it is irrational to accept miracles such as the virgin birth of Christ (pbuh), the splitting of the Sea of reeds by Moses (pbuh), or Solomon (pbuh) communicating with birds and ants. My only response to this is that if we accept that this magnificent, vast universe has a Creator, then we must concede that this Creator's powers must indeed be great. What is to stop this Creator from occasionally tampering with the natural laws He has set for a specific purpose in some small corner of the universe? Another objection I hear is that when a person sees what seems to be a miracle his natural reaction is to convince himself that it was not a miracle and that his senses deceived him. Do we Muslims just accept on faith that the magnitude of God's miracles were convincing enough to remove this doubt? (On faith, I say, for we were not there to witness them). Please offer your opinion. Thank you and God bless, Omar Sarwar Answer: I fully agree with your explanation. If, indeed, believing in an All-Powerful God is not unreasonable, then why would it not be reasonable to believe God doing things, which, under the normal course of events, do not happen? As for the second part of your question, that is whether those, who were punished by the Almighty had all their doubts removed before being subjected to God's punishment or not, it is, indeed, a matter of trusting God's absolute judgment and His declaration. We, humans, can never be in a position to verify such a declaration of God, as we do not have access to the rejecters' minds and hearts. The decision could only have been taken by the One who was aware of what the hearts and minds keep concealed. Likewise, the decision could only have been challenged by someone, who had the same kind of access to man's heart and mind. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad November 14, 2001