Medieval Christians held Muhammad’s lack of miracles as decisive against his prophethood

Evidence

The other point of great importance was the mediaeval objection to the Islamic teaching that revelation might come down to solve problems of a transient nature. When the implications of this objection are considered, it will be seen that the objection extends to any revelation related to the circumstances of a prophet at a time and place; it implies, in fact, all the detailed objections that were made to the character of Muhammad, and to his history, and that were thought definitively to preclude his claim to prophethood. Always contrasted with the true elements in the Qur’an were the false ones; always associated with the Qur’anic picture of Christ was the Qur’anic picture of Muhammad - largely negatively, the absence of any ‘praise’ of Muhammad in the Qur’an at all. His prophethood was seen as alien to all known prophethood; non-prophetic, untruthful in utterance, evil of life, unverified by miracles. This absence of miracles was considered one of the most damning weaknesses in the Muslim case; on the one hand, said the Christians, Muhammad denied the need, because he had not the gift; and, on the other, his followers, embarrassed by the lack and realising the need, attributed bogus miracles to him, in spite of his own denial. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1524

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Ancient criteria of prophecy were applied selectively to predetermine Muhammad’s failure; Aquinas denied Islam any authority because it lacked miracles and true documents