We gave a commandment to Adam before, but he forgot; and We found in him no resolve (to disobey)” (20:115). There was no intention on the part of Adam to disobey the Divine commandment; it was simply forgetfulness that brought about the disobedience. In 2:36, where the same incident is related, the word used instead of disobedience is a derivation of zallat which means a slip or a mistake. Thus, individually, none of the prophets is spoken of in the Holy Qur’ān as having committed a sin, and therefore the doctrine of the sinlessness of the prophets is unassailable.

Conception of miracles in Islām

The word employed in the Holy Qur’ān for miracle is āyat, the primary meaning of which is an apparent sign or mark by which a thing is known (R). As there used, it generally carries one of two significations, an indication, evidence or proof, and a Divine message or communication. In the first sense, it includes the miracle in its meaning, and in the second, a verse of the Qurān. The adoption of the same word to indicate a Divine message and its proof is noteworthy. It shows that the Divine message itself is first and foremost proof of its own truth, and hence it is that the Holy Qur’ān has always been looked upon by all Muslims as the greatest miracle of the Holy Prophet. And it is indeed the greatest miracle ever vouchsafed to a prophet because it stands in need of no other evidence whatever, but is itself a living proof of its own truth for all time.

Christian writers on Islām are generally of opinion that though the Holy Qur’ān records certain miracles of other prophets, it denies that any signs at all were vouchsafed to Holy Prophet Muḥammad save and except the Holy Book itself. It is true that the Quranic conception of miracles is quite different from that of the Christian. In Christianity, miracles are all in all. Not only do they take the place of argument, but the central doctrine of the Christian religion is itself based on an alleged miracle. For what is the rising of Jesus from the dead but a miracle? And a miracle, too, without a shred of evidence. Yet if Jesus did not rise from the dead, the pillar on which the whole structure of Christianity rests crashes to the ground. The basic doctrine of Christianity thus being a miracle, it is not surprising that,