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Did Jesus Actually Work His Miracles?
وَيُعَلِّمُهُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَٱلْحِكْمَةَ وَٱلتَّوْرَىٰةَ وَٱلْإِنجِيلَ وَرَسُولًا إِلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ أَنِّى قَدْ جِئْتُكُم بِـَٔايَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ ۖ أَنِّىٓ أَخْلُقُ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلطِّينِ كَهَيْـَٔةِ ٱلطَّيْرِ فَأَنفُخُ فِيهِ فَيَكُونُ طَيْرًۢا بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَأُبْرِئُ ٱلْأَكْمَهَ وَٱلْأَبْرَصَ وَأُحْىِ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَأُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا تَأْكُلُونَ وَمَا تَدَّخِرُونَ فِى بُيُوتِكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَةً لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
“And He will teach him the Book and wisdom, the Torah and the Evangel. And a messenger to the Children of Israel, ‘I have certainly brought you a sign from your Lord: I will create for you out of clay the form of a bird, then I will breathe into it, and it will become a bird by God’s leave. And I heal the blind and the leper and I revive the dead by God’s leave. And I will tell you what you have eaten and what you have stored in your houses. There is indeed a sign in that for you, should you be faithful’” (3:48–49)
The question
Does the verse say that Jesus actually made the bird, healed the blind and the leper and raised the dead, or only that he had the power to do so?
Views answered: the author of al-Manār and his student Rashīd Riḍā
Jawādī Āmulī’s argument
The author of al-Manār holds that the verse speaks only of Jesus’ power to work these wonders, not of their happening, and no trustworthy report says they happened; he reads the story of Abraham’s birds (2:260) the same way. Rashīd Riḍā grants that 5:110, where God reminds Jesus of these blessings on the Day of Resurrection, might show they happened, unless it too means only the power he was given. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī answers that this goes against the plain sense, and that its source is an unwillingness to accept miracles at all: making the less clear verse the basis and bending the clearer one to it is interpretation by personal opinion (tafsīr bi-l-raʾy). Nor can the miracles be put off to the Return (rajʿah): the Qur’an describes Jesus with them as the messenger to the Children of Israel, while at the Return he will be one of the helpers of the awaited Imam, not a messenger.
Views compared
The views are given as al-Tasnim reports them. Each point opens al-Tasnim at that place.
What the verse says Read →
The author of al-Manār
The apparent meaning speaks of Jesus’ power and the possibility of these acts, not that they happened; the reports that they did are not trustworthy.Jawādī Āmulī
This goes against the plain sense of the verses.Abraham’s birds (2:260) Read →
The author of al-Manār
The verse only tells Abraham what to do, as a teacher answers a pupil; it does not show he did it.Jawādī Āmulī
With the same explanation he denies many of the miracles of Sūrat al-Baqarah.5:110 on the Day of Resurrection Read →
Rashīd Riḍā
The verse might show the miracles happened, unless God is reminding Jesus of the power he had, not of acts he did.Jawādī Āmulī
He knows this is against the apparent meaning; making the less clear verse the basis and bending the clearer one is interpretation by personal opinion (tafsīr bi-l-raʾy).At the Return? Read →
A possible suggestion
The miracles in Āl ʿImrān may not have happened in his lifetime; he may bring them at the Return (rajʿah).Jawādī Āmulī
The Qur’an gives him these signs as the messenger to the Children of Israel; at the Return he will be among the helpers of the awaited Imam, not a messenger.Reading guide
Each step opens al-Tasnim at that point.