Bayyinat al-Rasul wa Mu'jizatuhu
- Author died
- 1445 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Iman
Bayyinat al-Rasul wa Mu'jizatuhu (The Evidences of the Messenger and His Miracles) is a treatise by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Majid al-Zindani (d. 1445 AH / 2024 CE) addressing the proofs of the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ, spanning textual prophecies, scientific insights in scripture, rational and linguistic arguments, sensory miracles, and eschatological foretellings.
Background and Purpose
Al-Zindani composed the work to offer a concise exposition of the evidences (bayyinat) and miracles with which God supported the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Emphasizing that Muhammad's mission was directed to all humanity across successive eras, the author posits that the proofs of his message were designed to remain renewed and accessible to individuals of differing cultures, scientific backgrounds, and intellectual capacities. The work was also framed as a response to contemporary secular philosophies, media influences, and intellectual doubts, aiming to provide Muslims with reasoned justifications for their faith beyond mere cultural convention.
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into five main chapters:
- Chapter One: Prophetic Glad Tidings (al-Bisharat): Documents foretellings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ preserved in the scriptures and sacred texts of Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Zoroastrians. The author quotes passages in their original languages, treating them as external testimonies to the Prophet's unlettered status, name, lineage, place of revelation, and personal attributes.
- Chapter Two: The Scientific Miracle in the Quran and Sunnah (al-Mu'jiza al-'Ilmiyya fi al-Qur'an wa al-Sunnah): Examines cosmological, biological, and geological phenomena mentioned in the Quran and Prophetic traditions that correspond to modern scientific discoveries. Topics analyzed include the aquatic barrier between salt and fresh waters, the function of the frontal lobe (al-nasiya), the root structure of mountains (awtad), chlorophyll and plant germination, the descent of iron, optical darkness and internal waves in deep seas, the physiological production of milk, and embryological stages described in hadith literature after the forty-second day of development.
- Chapter Three: The Challenge of the Quran (al-Tahaddi bi al-Qur'an): Explores the unique nature of the Quran as an everlasting rational and literary miracle. It discusses Arabic eloquence (fasaha), the inability of contemporaries to meet the Quranic challenge, its internal coherence, its psychological and spiritual impact, and its accurate disclosures of unseen events spanning the distant past (such as the figure of Haman), the Prophet's era, and the future.
- Chapter Four: Supernatural Miracles (al-Mu'jiza al-Khariqa): Gathers historical sensory miracles attributed to the Prophet ﷺ during both the Meccan and Medinan periods. It highlights the method of hadith criticism and transmission that documents these events, detailing occurrences such as the splitting of the moon, the Night Journey and Ascension (al-Isra wa al-Mi'raj), divine protection during the emigration (Hijrah), military support during the battles of Badr and the Trench, the miraculous multiplication of scarce food and water, the healing of illnesses, and the submission of trees and animals.
- Chapter Five: The True Promise (al-Wa'd al-Haqq): Concludes with eschatological realities conveyed through revelation, covering death, the intermediate state (barzakh), the Day of Resurrection, the gathering, the Great Intercession, the reckoning, the balance, the Basin (hawd), the Bridge (al-sirat), and descriptions of Paradise and Hellfire.
Publication and Reception
The work was published in Yemen by the Research Center of Iman University, going through multiple printings, including a fifth edition in 1425 AH / 2004 CE. The book forms part of al-Zindani's broader efforts in scientific exegesis (al-i'jaz al-'ilmi). While widely circulated among students and general readers, this genre and al-Zindani's methodological approach have drawn critiques from certain traditional scholars, such as Abd al-Karim al-Humayd, who criticized the tendency to harmonize religious texts with contemporary scientific theories over early exegetical traditions.
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