Rabi al-Awwal is a blessed month in which Muslims give renewed attention to the life, character, and rank of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Any serious study of his miracles, however, has to begin with the Prophet (SAW) himself. His greatness in Islam does not depend upon extraordinary events. The Quran establishes his rank in more fundamental terms such as that he (SAW) is the Messenger of Allah, the final Prophet, the recipient of revelation, and the example whom believers are commanded to follow.
Allah (SWT) says, “Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example for whoever has hope in Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah often.” (The Clear Quran®, 33:21) and elsewhere, “And you are truly a man of outstanding character […]” (The Clear Quran®, 68:4).
These verses place his character, obedience, and prophetic mission at the center of how Muslims understand him. His truthfulness before revelation, his patience under persecution, his mercy in victory, his concern for his community, and his complete devotion to Allah (SWT) are not secondary details in the sirah, they are among the clearest indications of the kind of man Allah (SWT) chose to carry the final message. The Quran also describes the Prophet (SAW) in terms that distinguish the scope of his mission. Allah (SWT) says, “We have sent you O Prophet only as a mercy for the whole world.” (The Clear Quran®, 21:107), and, “[…] and elevated your renown for you?” (The Clear Quran®, 94:4).
Muslim scholars understood these verses as part of a broader picture of prophetic distinction: Allah (SWT) honored His Messenger (SAW) through revelation, through the preservation and spread of his message, through the love placed for him in the hearts of believers, and through signs that confirmed his truthfulness. It is within this framework that the miracles of the Prophet (SAW) should be read. They were not the basis of his moral authority, nor were their stories preserved merely because they were extraordinary. They belonged to the proofs and signs of prophethood, and they were always subordinate to the central fact of revelation itself. The greatest and enduring miracle granted to the Prophet (SAW) was The Quran, whose challenge, guidance, and transmission remain present in every generation. Among the signs reported in The Quran, hadith, and sirah are a number of events associated with the heavens. These accounts are especially significant because they place moments from the Prophet’s (SAW) life within a scale larger than ordinary human experience. At times, what occurred in the heavens served as a sign before those who witnessed it. At other times, the Prophet (SAW) was granted access to realities that lay beyond normal human perception. The early Muslim community did not preserve these reports as folklore. They transmitted them through the same scholarly disciplines by which the sayings, actions, and biography of the Prophet (SAW) were preserved, and later scholars discussed their meanings, evidentiary basis, and theological significance.
To read these accounts in the month of Rabi al-Awwal is therefore to do more than collect remarkable episodes from the sirah. It is to consider how Allah (SWT) honored His final Messenger, how the natural and celestial order could become the setting for signs of prophethood, and how those signs were understood by the generations that received and transmitted them. The five miracles examined in this article belong to that larger history. Each offers a different perspective on the Prophet’s (SAW) mission, and together they provide a striking account of the signs Allah (SWT) granted to the one He (SWT) sent as a mercy to the worlds.
1. The Prophet (SAW) sees Jibraeel (as) in his true form
Among the most extraordinary experiences granted to the Prophet (SAW) was seeing the archangel Jibraeel (as) in the form in which Allah (SWT) created him. The Quran refers to this encounter in Surah an-Najm when He (SWT) says, “And he certainly saw that angel descend a second time at the Lote Tree of the most extreme limit in the seventh heaven—near which is the Garden of Eternal Residence—while the Lote Tree was overwhelmed with heavenly splendours! The Prophet’s sight never wandered, nor did it overreach. He certainly saw some of his Lord’s greatest signs.” (The Clear Quran®, 53:15-18). Muslim exegetes understood these verses, on the basis of reports from the companions, as referring to the Prophet (SAW) seeing archangel Jibraeel (as) in his original angelic form. Lady Ayesha bint Abu Bakr (ra) explained that the Prophet (SAW) saw Jibraeel (as) in his true form on two occasions, and Ibn Mas’ud transmitted that the angel had 600 wings. These reports are preserved in Sahih Muslim and other major hadith collections.
This was not the form in which Jibraeel (as) ordinarily appeared to the Prophet (SAW). Revelation often came while the angel remained unseen, and on some occasions Jibraeel (as) appeared in the form of a man. To see him as Allah (SWT) had actually created him belonged to a very different order of experience. In one report, the Prophet (SAW) described seeing Jibraeel (as) filling the horizon. The scale of the vision is important. The angel entrusted with bringing revelation to the prophets was himself one of the greatest creations of Allah (SWT), and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was permitted to see him directly. What other human beings knew only as part of the unseen world became, for the Messenger of Allah (SAW), something witnessed with his own sight. The first of these encounters is associated with the beginning of revelation. After the experience in the Cave of Hira, the Prophet (SAW) saw Jibraeel (as) upon the horizon, an event that made clear the reality of the revelation he (SAW) had received and the magnitude of the task now placed before him. The second occurred in connection with the heavenly ascent, near Sidrat al-Muntaha, the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.
The Quran’s description is restrained, “The Prophet’s sight never wandered, nor did it overreach,” classical commentators drew attention to the composure of the Prophet (SAW) in the presence of what he (SAW) was shown. Faced with signs beyond ordinary human experience, he (SAW) neither turned away nor looked beyond what Allah (SWT) had permitted him to see.
The account also tells us something important about the Prophet’s (SAW) relationship to the unseen. Islam does not present him as a man who possessed unrestricted knowledge of hidden realities. The Quran repeatedly establishes that knowledge of the unseen belongs to Allah (SWT) and that His messengers know only what He (SWT) chooses to disclose to them. What the Prophet (SAW) saw of Jibraeel (as) was, therefore, an honor granted by Allah (SWT), not an independent ability. The distinction matters because it preserves every prophetic miracle; however elevated the Messengers (peace be upon them all) may be, they remain the servants of Allah (SWT).
Seeing Jibraeel (as) in his true form also gives greater weight to what revelation meant in the Prophet’s (SAW) life. The Quran was not the product of contemplation, imagination, or private religious experience. It was a revelation transmitted to him through an angel whom he (SAW) knew, encountered, and on rare occasions saw in the form in which Allah (SWT) had created him. The sight of Jibraeel (as) filling the horizon, and later at the boundary of the highest heavens, therefore, belongs among the greatest signs that the Prophet (SAW) was permitted to witness. It was a personal honor, but also a confirmation of the source and seriousness of the revelation he (SAW) was commanded to deliver.
2. The Prophet (SAW) was shown the moment when Heaven and Hell eclipsed
One of the most striking events recorded in the hadith literature occurred during a solar eclipse in Madinah. The Prophet (SAW) led the people in Salat al-Kusuf, the eclipse prayer and, during the prayer, he (SAW) was shown realities that ordinarily belong to the unseen. He (SAW) later told his companions that Paradise and Hell had been presented before him. The account is transmitted through several companions and is recorded in both Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, giving it a firm place in the canonical hadith tradition. In the report of ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Abbas (ra), the companions noticed the Prophet (SAW) reaching forward during the prayer and then drawing back. When they asked him about it afterward, he (SAW) explained, “I saw Paradise, and I reached for a cluster of its fruit. Had I taken it, you would have eaten from it for as long as this world remains. Then I saw the Fire, and I have never seen a sight more terrible than what I saw today.” The narration continues with details of some of the people he (SAW) saw being punished. The episode is, therefore, not merely an account of a vision, but also part of the Prophet’s (SAW) instruction to his community concerning accountability before Allah (SWT).
The setting of the event is important. A solar eclipse was itself an occasion that could provoke fear and speculation. When the eclipse occurred on the day the Prophet’s (SAW) son Ibrahim (as) died, some people assumed that the sun had eclipsed because of his death. The Prophet (SAW) immediately rejected this idea, saying that the sun and the moon are two of the signs of Allah (SWT) and do not eclipse because of the death or life of anyone. He (SAW) directed the people instead to prayer, supplication, and remembrance of Allah (SWT). In doing so, he (SAW) removed the eclipse from the realm of superstition and placed it within a theological understanding of the natural world. During that same act of worship, however, Allah (SWT) allowed him to see beyond the visible world. Paradise and Hell, which The Quran describes repeatedly but which human beings originally known only through revelation, were shown to him directly. The event thus illustrates an important aspect of his prophethood: the Prophet (SAW) taught the unseen not on the basis of speculation, but through revelation and, on certain occasions, through direct experiences granted to him by Allah (SWT).
The account also reveals something of the seriousness with which the Prophet (SAW) spoke about the Hereafter. His descriptions of Paradise and Hell were not abstract theological claims. On this occasion, he (SAW) stood before his companions having been shown both during prayer. The eclipse became more than a celestial event. It was the setting in which Allah (SWT) gave His Messenger (SAW) a direct view of the realities toward which every human life is ultimately moving.
3. The splitting of the moon
The splitting of the moon is among the clearest celestial miracles associated with the Prophet (SAW), and it is one of the few such events mentioned directly in The Quran. Allah (SWT) says, “The Hour has drawn near and the moon was split in two. Yet, whenever they see a sign, they turn away, saying, ‘Same old magic!’” (The Clear Quran®, 54:1-2) The classical exegetical tradition generally understood these verses as referring to an event that occurred during the Prophet’s (SAW) lifetime in Makkah. The wording of the passage is significant that The Quran does not merely state that the moon split, but immediately records the reaction of those who witnessed the sign and dismissed it as magic. For scholars of tafsir, this connection between the sign and the response of the Quraysh was an important indication that the verse referred to a historical event rather than only to a future sign of the Last Day.
The hadith literature provides further detail. ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud (ra) reported that the moon split into two parts during the lifetime of the Prophet (SAW), after which the Prophet (SAW) said to those present, “Bear witness.” This report is found in both Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Other narrations concerning the event are transmitted from companions including Anas ibn Malik, Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Umar. Because the incident is supported by both The Quranic text and multiple hadith reports, it received sustained attention from major exegetes and hadith scholars, including al-Tabari, al-Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, and others. They differed over some of the details surrounding the event, as scholars often do when assessing individual narrations, but the dominant position in the classical tradition was that the moon was split as a miracle during the Makkan period.
What gives the episode particular importance is not simply the scale of the miracle, but the way The Quran frames the response to it. The Quraysh had repeatedly demanded signs from the Prophet (SAW), yet the appearance of a sign did not necessarily produce belief. The Quran presents their reaction as an example of a recurring problem in the history of revelation—evidence does not benefit a person who has already decided to reject its implications. Earlier peoples had responded in much the same way to the signs of their prophets. The miracle therefore became not only a confirmation of the Prophet’s (SAW) truthfulness, but also an exposure of the refusal of his opponents to accept what they had asked to see. The event also illustrates an important principle in Islamic theology. The Prophet (SAW) did not possess independent authority over the moon or any other part of creation. A mu’jizah, or prophetic miracle, occurs by the will of Allah (SWT) and serves as a sign in support of a messenger. The miracle therefore points in two directions at once. It confirms the one through whom the sign is given, while ultimately directing attention to the power of Allah (SWT), who alone governs the heavens and the earth.
In the case of the splitting of the moon, a familiar object in the night sky became, for a moment, a sign connected to the mission of the final Prophet (SAW). The event remains one of the most striking examples in the Islamic sources of the honor Allah (SWT) granted His Messenger and of the signs by which his prophethood was confirmed.
4. The guarding of the heavens at the beginning of Revelation
The beginning of revelation was accompanied by a change in the heavens that The Quran records in the words of the jinn themselves. In Surah Al-Jinn, “Earlier we tried to reach heaven for news, only to find it filled with stern guards and shooting stars. We used to take up positions there for eavesdropping, but whoever dares eavesdrop now will find a flare lying in wait for them.” (The Clear Quran®, 72:8-9) Classical exegets understood these verses in connection with the jinn’s former practice of attempting to listen to reports from the heavens and then passing fragments of what they heard to soothsayers. With the advent of the Prophet (SAW) and the descent of The Quran, access to those reports was restricted, and those who attempted to listen were driven away. The point is not that the heavens had previously been without divine protection, but that the commencement of the final revelation was marked by an intensified guarding of the celestial realm.
A report from Ibn Abbas (ra), recorded in Sahih Muslim and in related form in Sahih Bukhari, explains how the jinn themselves came to understand what had happened. When they were prevented from listening and found themselves pursued by shooting stars, they concluded that some significant event must have taken place on earth. Groups of them dispersed in search of its cause. One group encountered the Prophet (SAW) at Nakhlah while he (SAW) was reciting The Quran during prayer. They stopped to listen and recognized that this revelation was connected to the change they had encountered in the heavens. The Quran preserves their response, “Say, O Prophet, ‘It has been revealed to me that a group of jinn listened to the Quran, and said to their fellow jinn: ‘Indeed, we have heard a wondrous recitation. It leads to Right Guidance so we believed in it, and we will never associate anyone with our Lord ˹in worship.’” (The Clear Quran®, 72:1-2) Their encounter with the Prophet (SAW) thus links the celestial event directly to the beginning of his mission.
The episode also has an important theological function in The Quran. The Prophet (SAW) emerged in a society in which claims to hidden knowledge were often associated with soothsayers and their supposed access to the jinn. The Quran sharply distinguishes revelation from that world. Muhammad (SAW) did not derive The Quran from occult sources, nor from beings attempting to steal fragments of heavenly information. Revelation came from Allah (SWT) through Jibraeel (as), and the means by which it was transmitted were protected from interference. Other Quranic passages speak of the heavens being guarded from rebellious devils who seek to listen, only to be pursued by a shihab, a flaming projectile. (The Clear Quran®, 37:6-10) Read together, these passages present the beginning of the Prophet’s (SAW) mission as an event whose significance was not confined to Makkah or even to the human world.
For that reason, the guarding of the heavens belongs among the more striking celestial signs connected with the coming of the final Prophet (SAW). It marked the commencement of a new stage in the history of revelation, in which The Quran was to be conveyed to humanity as the final divine scripture. The jinn who witnessed the change did not merely recognize that something unusual had occurred, they traced it to The Quran, believed in its message, and carried that message back to their own people. The event therefore serves both as a sign of the protection of revelation and as an indication of the wider scope of the Prophet’s (SAW) mission.
5. Al-’Isra and al-Mi’raj
The Night Journey and Ascension represent the most extensive celestial experience granted to the Prophet Muhamamd (SAW) and form an appropriate conclusion to any discussion of the heavenly signs associated with his life. The Quran refers explicitly to the first stage of the journey in the opening verse of Surah al-Isra, “Glory be to the One Who took His servant Muḥammad by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” (The Clear Quran®, 17:1) The verse is notable for its description of the Prophet (SAW) as “His servant” at the moment of an extraordinary divine favor. Muslims scholars repeatedly observed that servitude to Allah (SWT) was not diminished by the Prophet’s (SAW) elevation; rather, it was the very basis of his distinction. He (SAW) was taken from Makkah to Jerusalem, and, according to the authentic hadith reports, then raised through the heavens, where he (SAW) encountered earlier prophets and was shown matters belonging to the unseen.
The details of the Mi’raj are transmitted in numerous reports found in Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and other hadith collections. During the ascent, the Prophet (SAW) met Prophet Adam (as), Prophet Yahya (as), Prophet Isa (as), Prophet Yusuf (as), Prophet Idris (as), Prophet Harun (as), and Prophet Ibrahim (as) at different levels of the heavens. These encounters placed his mission within the continuous history of revelation. The religion he (SAW) brought was not detached from the messages of the prophets who preceded him, it confirmed the same fundamental call to the worship of Allah (SWT) while completing the prophetic succession. The presence of these prophets during the ascent therefore carried particular significance for Muhammad (SAW) as the final Messenger. Their meeting affirmed both the continuity of prophethood and the position entrusted to him at its conclusion. The Mi’raj was also the occasion on which the five daily prayers were prescribed.
The well-known hadith relates that 50 prayers were initially made obligatory before the number was reduced to five, while their reward remained that of 50. This detail gives the event an enduring importance that extends far beyond its miraculous character. The ascent was not simply an experience witnessed by the Prophet (SAW) and then left in the past. It resulted in an obligation that structures the daily life of every Muslim. The connection is especially significant because salah itself is the most regular expression of the believer’s servitude to Allah (SWT). The Prophet (SAW) was raised through the heavens and returned with an act of worship by which his community would turn repeatedly to their Lord. The Quran states that the Prophet (SAW) was shown, “He certainly saw some of his Lord’s greatest signs.” (The Clear Quran®, 53:18)
Muslim exegets have discussed the precise context and interpretation of the surrounding verses of Surah an-Najm in considerable detail, particularly concerning the Prophet’s (SAW) vision and what he (SAW) was permitted to see. The authentic reports nevertheless make clear that the Mi’raj involved encounters and sights beyond normal human experience. What is equally important is that the Prophet (SAW) returned from the journey and continued his mission on earth. The extraordinary nature of the ascent did not lead him away from the responsibilities of prophethood. He (SAW) returned to a hostile Makkan society, continued to call his people to Allah (SWT), taught those who believed, and endured the opposition that followed. Al-Isra and Al-Mi’raj therefore bring together many of the themes that appear throughout the celestial signs of the Prophet’s (SAW) life such as divine power, the confirmation of prophethood, the reality of the unseen, and the special rank Allah (SWT) granted His Messenger (SAW). Yet the event also preserves the central principle that runs through all of these miracles. However great the sign, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) remained the servant and Messenger of Allah. The journey through the heavens was among the highest honors granted to him, but its purpose was never to detach him from the message he (SAW) carried. It confirmed that message, connected him to the prophets who had come before him, and returned him to his community with one of the greatest obligations of Islam.
The heavens and the Final Messenger (SAW)
The celestial miracles associated with the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) form part of the evidence of his prophethood and the divine support given to his mission. The splitting of the moon, the guarding of the heavens, the visions granted to him during eclipse, and al-’Isra wa al-Mi’raj all point to the truth of the revelation he (SAW) carried and the honor Allah (SWT) bestowed upon him. These events were not preserved simply because they were extraordinary, but because they confirmed the message with which he (SAW) was entrusted.
At the same time, the Prophet’s (SAW) greatness does not rest on miracles alone. His greatest and enduring miracle is The Quran, and his lasting legacy is the guidance he (SAW) taught and embodied. Rabi al-Awwal is therefore not only a time to remember remarkable events from his life, but also to reflect on the character, message, and example of the one whom Allah (SWT) sent as a mercy to the worlds. To honor him is to know him, love him, and follow the guidance he (SAW) brought.
