Miracle

===Islam===

{{Main|Islamic view of miracles|Quran and miracles |Miracles of Muhammad}}
{{See also|Occasionalism}}
In the [[Quran]], a miracle can be defined as a supernatural intervention in the life of human beings.<ref name="EoQ-Miracle">Denis Gril, ''Miracles'', [[Encyclopedia of the Quran]]</ref> According to this definition, miracles are present "in a threefold sense: in sacred [[history]], in connection with [[Muhammad]] himself and in relation to [[revelation in Islam|revelation]]".<ref name="EoQ-Miracle"/> The Quran does not use the technical [[Arabic]] word for miracle (''Muʿd̲j̲iza'') literally meaning "that by means of which [the Prophet] confounds, overwhelms, his opponents". It rather uses the term 'Ayah' (literally meaning sign).<ref name="EoI-Miracle">A.J. Wensinck, ''Muʿd̲j̲iza'', [[Encyclopaedia of Islam|Encyclopedia of Islam]]</ref> The term ''Ayah'' is used in the Quran in the above-mentioned threefold sense: it refers to the "verses" of the Quran (believed to be the divine speech in [[Natural language|human language]]; presented by Muhammad as his chief miracle); as well as to miracles of it and the signs (particularly those of creation).<ref name="EoQ-Miracle"/><ref name="EoI-Miracle"/>

To defend the possibility of miracles and God's omnipotence against the encroachment of the independent secondary causes, some medieval [[Islamic theology|Muslim theologians]] such as [[Al-Ghazali]] rejected the idea of [[Causality|cause and effect]] in essence, but accepted it as something that facilitates humankind's investigation and comprehension of natural processes. They argued that the nature was composed of uniform atoms that were "re-created" at every instant by God. Thus, if the soil was to fall, God would have to create and re-create the accident of heaviness for as long as the soil was to fall. For Muslim theologians, the laws of nature were only the customary sequence of apparent causes: customs of God.<ref>Robert G. Mourison, The Portrayal of Nature in a Medieval Quran Commentary, Studia Islamica, 2002</ref>

[[Sufi]] biographical literature records claims of miraculous accounts of men and women. The miraculous prowess of the Sufi holy men includes ''firasa'' ([[clairvoyance]]), the ability to disappear from sight, to become completely invisible and practice ''buruz'' ([[exteriorization]]). The holy men reportedly tame wild beasts and traverse long distances in a very short time span. They could also produce food and rain in seasons of drought, heal the sick and help barren women conceive.<ref name="sufi">[https://books.google.com/books?id=4nWa8y-HiB0C&pg=PA48 The heirs of the prophet: charisma and religious authority in Shi'ite Islam By Liyakatali Takim]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sufismjournal.org/history/history.html |title=SAINTS AND MIRACLES |access-date=2010-05-06 |archive-date=2010-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227092942/http://sufismjournal.org/history/history.html |url-status=live }}</ref>