Salam alaykum,

MBlogs are a series of articles that will be written by 10 year-old Maryam. She has intended to use this platform to write articles about what she has learnt with the intention of benefitting herself and others. May Allah protect and preserve her, make her from the youth who were raised in His Love and obedience, and allow her to be a beacon of light wherever she goes. Allahumma Ameen.

A Mu’jiza

A Mu’jiza is a miracle, but a miracle in this context only applies to a Prophet. A miracle is something that goes against the laws of the universe. For example, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed at the moon and it split, but if anyone else tried, it wouldn’t work. Most of the prophets, if not all of them, had a miracle. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) of course had many miracles, the greatest of them being the Quran and how it was revealed.

A Karama

However, if a miraculous, event happens to a Wali (a friend of God), it’s called a Karama. Many Awliyah (Friends of God) have such experiences, especially the Awliya in Tarim, Hadramout. Even to this day people still regularly have karamaat. A good example of this is Habib Alawi, who lived around 200 years ago. He was once sitting in the masjid with his son Habib Abu Bakr, when his wife entered and said that there was no food for dinner that night. So, Habib Alawi told his son to go to the grave of Imam Umar Al Mihdar (a big scholar in Tarim) and tell him what his mother said; that night a man came and gave them a large amount of food then disappeared and no one saw him since.

Karamaat are of different types, we even have one story which is like “The Genie and the Lamp”. A nephew of Habib AbdAllah bin Hussain bin Tahir once served an Indian man in Madinah tul Munawara and before the man died he gave him a lamp and said, “If you need anything open the lamp”; so he went home and forgot about it. After some time there came a day when he opened it and a servant (khadim) came out and asked him what he wanted, he said l want all the jewels of the ocean. The khadim disappeared and came back with the jewels still wet, the nephew was shocked and told him to take it back, then he threw the lamp away. The next day when he was doing musafaha (greeting and shaking hands) with Habib AbdAllah, Habib AbdAllah asked him where the lamp was! He told Habib that he had thrown it away. Habib AbdAllah had of course had kashf (unveiling) to be able to find out this information.

In conclusion, a Mu’jiza is for a prophet and a Karama is for a Wali (Friend of God). Allah has given the people who are sincere to him great things. In sha Allah we can all become sincere so we too can be given great things by Allah. Ameen.

Maryam Siddiqah (age 10)