The “Manifest” Signs

The signs that God granted to Christ (a.s.) - “I have certainly brought you a sign from your Lord” - are also called “manifest” (bayyināt): “and We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, manifest proofs, and confirmed him with the Holy Spirit.”(389) And manifest proofs (bayyināt) means clear evidence that cannot be denied.

An extraordinary act that is beyond the capability of ordinary humans is a sign (āya) (miracle), whether it is hidden and imperceptible or manifest and perceptible. An imperceptible miracle is a non-manifest sign; like knowledge of the unseen and reporting about it, for which there is no perceptible criterion for its validity, but its possibility can be understood through rational measures. A perceptible miracle is a manifest sign. A manifest miracle is like the she-camel of Ṣāliḥ (a.s.): “We gave Thamud the she-camel as an eye-opener.”(390) God has called many of the miracles of the prophets (a.s.) manifest proofs (bayyināt), and the miracles of Christ (a.s.) are among them; for example, healing one born blind is a manifest miracle that is perceptible to all, hence He says that We gave Jesus (a.s.) manifest proofs, meaning an undeniable miracle that is not exclusive to experts and that everyone can see and accept. Such a miracle is clear evidence.

The mention of healing the blind (akmah) and the leper (abraṣ): “And I heal the blind and the leper” is because these types of miracles (healing blindness and leprosy) are clear and perceptible to all, and does not mean that his miracles of healing the sick were limited to these two cases and that he did not heal other diseases, although there is no Qur’anic evidence for this. The point is that the aforementioned verse does not indicate that Christ’s (a.s.) healing miracles were restricted to these two mentioned cases and deny anything beyond them.