The Obstinacy of Stubborn Disbelievers

A group who disbelieved, after witnessing all the clear miracles, said: These matters are nothing but manifest magic: “whereat the faithless among them said, ‘This is nothing but plain magic’” (fa-qāla alladhīna kafarū minhum in hādhā illā siḥrun mubīn). That is, they acknowledged the transparency of the mentioned events, but they did not accept their miraculous nature and considered the clear miracle (iʿjāz bayyīn) to be manifest magic (siḥr mubīn). Of course, it is possible that some, as a result of being immersed in ignorance, deliberately lost the power of perception, and some, with theoretical certainty about their being miracles, had practical belief in their being magical.

A group of European atheists thought that some of the stories of resurrection of the dead by Jesus (a.s.) were fabricated tales based on collusion and agreement between that dead person and Jesus, where that person would pretend to be dead and then come to life by Jesus’s permission and prayer.(196) If this group had been in the time of that sacred persona, they would have found no recourse but to say: This is manifest magic.

In any case, the extremist transgressors (tabhkārān ifrāṭī), as a result of improper friendship and friendly ignorance, attributed divinity and being the Son of God to Jesus (a.s.), while the extremist transgressors of deficiency (tabhkārān tafrīṭī), as a result of enmity, called his actions manifest magic (siḥr mubīn) and made improper accusations against him. However, all the blessings that befell Jesus (a.s.) and his mother were all from divine supports (taʾyīdāt ilāhī). Therefore, considering his actions as a sign of his divinity and being the Son of God is a false extremist delusion (tawahham ifrāṭī bāṭil), because his action was not creation by essence (khalq bi-l-dhāt), but rather he was a manifestation of the true Creator (maẓhar khāliq ḥaqīqī). And the attribution of magic is also a false deficient delusion (tawahham tafrīṭī bāṭil), because that sacred persona did not perform miraculous acts in the form of independence, but rather all those miracles were by God’s permission (bi-idhn Allāh).

Note: The denial of the deniers and the description of miracles as magic is not part of the enumerated blessings; however, God’s protection and safeguarding of Jesus (a.s.) from the accusers is among the divine blessings.