Sūrah Raʿd 13:7
Those who have fallen into disbelief say, "Why was no miracle sent down to him from his Lord?" Say, "I am only a warner, and for every people there is a guide who shows them the truth and the good."
Sūrah Yūnus 10:20
They say, "Why was no miracle sent down to him from his Lord?" Say, "The unseen is for Allah alone. So wait; I too am among those who wait."
Those who claim that there were no miracles or proofs other than the Qur'an during the time of Prophet Muḥammad bring forward verses like these. What they actually show, however, is simply that Allah did not display a miracle at the moment the disbelievers demanded one. This is not unique to Muḥammad; the same principle applies to every prophet:
Sūrah Ibrāhīm 14:11
Their messengers said to them, "We are only humans like you, but Allah bestows His favor on whomever He wills among His servants. It is not for us, without Allah's permission, to bring you any proof. So let the believers rely upon Allah alone."
Sūrah Raʿd 13:38
By Allah, We sent messengers before you, and provided them with wives and descendants. No messenger could bring a miracle, except by Allah's leave. For every appointed term there is a Book.
Sūrah Mū'min 40:78
By Allah, We sent messengers before you. We have related to you some of their stories, and some We have not related. No messenger can bring a miracle except by Allah's permission. When Allah's command comes, judgment will be rendered with truth, and those who sought to nullify the truth will be utterly defeated.
Sūrah Hūd 11:32–34
32 They said, "O Nūḥ! You have argued with us and gone far beyond bounds. If you are truthful, bring upon us what you threaten us with."
33 Nūḥ replied, "Only Allah can bring it upon you if He wills, and you will find yourselves powerless to prevent it.
34 If Allah were to lead you astray, then even if I gave you good advice, it would do you no benefit. He is your Lord, and to Him you will be returned."
When we read the Book in its entirety, we see that prophets who were given wondrous signs did not always display them on demand—this is no trivial matter, and our Lord knows best when, where, and to whom such proofs should be shown. Often the messengers simply respond negatively to those demanding miracles, and yet when Allah wills, the wonder comes to pass. The final Prophet was no exception: the verses do not say that there can never be any proof beyond the Qur'an, but rather that at that moment, merely because the disbelievers demanded it, no additional miracle was granted.
As the verses also make clear, Allah aided the Prophet and the believing community in battle through angels, and thus a form of divine wrath fell upon the disbelievers—just as earlier the people of Pharaoh and other unbelieving nations faced calamity, here it occurred on the battlefield against the Arab polytheists, albeit in a slightly different manner.
Again, as the Qur'an describes, when sudden collective punishment descends upon a disbelieving people, the righteous and the wicked stand separated from one another:
Sūrah Aʿrāf 7:64
They denied him, so We saved him and those with him in the Ark, and drowned those who denied Our signs. They were a blind folk.
Sūrah Hūd 11:58
And when Our command came, We delivered Hūd and those who believed with him by a mercy from Us, and saved them from a harsh punishment.
Sūrah Hūd 11:66
And when Our command came, We saved Ṣāliḥ and those who believed with him by Our mercy. That Day, [they] were saved from disgrace. Indeed, your Lord—He is the Powerful, the Exalted in Might.
Sūrah Hūd 11:94
And when Our command came, We saved Shuʿayb and those who believed with him by Our mercy. The shriek seized the wrongdoers, and they lay prostrate in their homes.
Sūrah Fuṣṣilat 41:18
We saved those who believed; they were protected.
Thus, as we have said, a variant of this collective punishment occurred in the time of Prophet Muḥammad as well. First, a call was made to separate the believers from the disbelievers:
Sūrah Al-Anfāl 8:74
Those who believed and emigrated and strove in the way of Allah, and those who gave shelter and aid—they are allies of one another. And those who believed but did not emigrate—you owe no duty of protection to them until they emigrate. If they seek your protection in the matter of religion, you must grant it, unless they turn away, for then they are guilty of wrongdoing.
Sūrah Al-Fatḥ 48:25
It is they who turned you back from your lands, preventing the Muslims from making their way to the Sacred Mosque to offer sacrifice. Had they been unaware, we would have punished them with a painful torment.
And again, a direct demand for divine punishment:
Sūrah Al-Anfāl 8:32–33
32 They said, "Our Lord, if this is indeed the truth from You, then let stones rain upon us from the sky—or bring us a painful punishment."
33 But Allah would never have punished them while you were among them, nor if they had sought forgiveness, for Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
Sūrah Ḥijr 15:6–8
6 They cried out, "O you to whom the Reminder has been sent down! You are surely insane!"
7 "Bring us the angels, if you are truthful."
8 We only send down the angels with truth and for a specified term, and then the matter is decided, and they will not be reprieved.
Sūrah Al-Anʿām 6:47
Say, "Consider: if the punishment of Allah were to come upon you suddenly or openly, who would be destroyed apart from the wrongdoers?"
From these verses we sense that a calamity similar to those of former peoples was impending for the disbelievers of the Prophet's age:
Sūrah Yūnus 10:102–103
102 They await only as those before them awaited. Say, "Wait; I am with you among those who wait."
103 Then We deliver Our messengers and those who believe. Thus it is Our duty to save the believers.
Sūrah Naḥl 16:33
What are they waiting for? Will the angels come to them, or the command of your Lord arrive? Indeed, former peoples did similarly, and Allah wronged them not, but they wronged themselves.
Sūrah Baqarah 2:210
Do they await Allah and the angels descending upon them in shades of clouds, while the matter is already concluded? And to Allah all matters are returned.
Sūrah Anʿām 6:158
What are they waiting for? Will the angels come to them, or your Lord come, or some of your Lord's signs come? On the day that some of your Lord's signs do come, no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before or earned any good through its faith. Say, "Wait; we are waiting with you."
Thus, after the righteous and the wicked had been set apart, and they faced one another, some of what the disbelievers demanded suddenly befell them:
Sūrah Al-Anfāl 8:9, 12
9 Remember when you prayed for help from your Lord, and He answered you: "I will send a thousand angels, one after another,
12 [Allah] revealed to the angels: "I am with you; so strengthen those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip."
When the host of angels appeared, Satan, who had promised aid to the disbelievers, fled, saying at verse 48:
"I am disassociated from you. I see what you do not see; I fear Allah, and Allah's punishment is severe."
And in verse 50:
"If you could only see the angels when they take the souls of those who disbelieve—they strike their faces and their backs, [saying], 'Taste the punishment of the burning fire.'"
Sūrah Al-Aḥzāb 33:9–10
9 O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah upon you—when armies came against you, and We sent upon them a wind and unseen forces that you did not see. And Allah is ever, of what you do, Seeing.
And finally, in Sūrah At-Tawbah 9:25–26:
25 Allah had already given you victory in many battlefields, and on the day of Hunayn, when your great numbers pleased you, but they availed you nothing, and the earth seemed confined for you with its vastness, then you turned back, fleeing.
26 Then Allah sent down His calm upon His Messenger and upon the believers and sent down armies you did not see. And He punished the disbelievers; and that is the recompense of the disbelievers.
This time the calamity arrived by way of angels. Unlike earlier punishments, not every disbeliever was destroyed—yet those on the battlefield all tasted humiliation and retribution. The parallels with Pharaoh's fate and the suffering of his followers are clear: the righteous were separated and saved when the two sides met.
Peace and love.
