❝The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has split. Yet whenever they see a miracle, they turn away, and say, “Continuous magic.” They lied, and followed their opinions, but everything has its time.❞ [1]
The moon split in two was one of the many miracles attributed to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). By Allah’s permission, this miracle was performed during a night of the full moon in Mecca when the Prophet was challenged by the disbelievers to prove his prophethood.
How did the miracle of the moon splitting occur?
The miracle of the splitting of the moon occurred before the migration to Medina upon the demands of the polytheists with the permission of God and it was shown by the prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) as narrated by many of his companions.
The Quraish polytheists said to the prophet Muhammad (ﷺ):
“If you truly are a Prophet that has been appointed by Allah, then split the moon in half. Let it be in such a way that one half will appear over the Mount Abu Qubais and the other half will be seen over Mount Quayqian.”
The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked:
“If I do it, will you become Muslims?”
The polytheists answered:
“Yes, we will.”
Narrated Anas bin Malik: The people of Mecca asked Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) to show them a miracle. So he showed them the moon split in two halves between which they saw the Hira’ mountain. [2]
Narrated Ibn Masud: During the lifetime of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) the moon was split into two parts; one part remained over the mountain, and the other part went beyond the mountain. On that, Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Witness this miracle.” [3]
However, the polytheists said “Muhammad cast a spell on us!”
Narrated Muhammad bin Jubair bin Mut’im from his father who said: “The moon was split during the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) until it became as two sections, one above this mountain and one above that mountain. So they said: ‘Muhammad has cast a spell upon us.’ Some of them said: ‘If he could cast a spell upon us, he can not cast a spell upon all of the people.'” [4]
They asked the people who came from every everywhere.
“Yes! We also did see the moon in that state! We saw the moon as split! They informed that the moon was split. [5]
The Moon Split Witnessed in England:
People living in other parts of the world witnessed the splitting of the moon as well, which happened 18 June 1178, corresponding with Dhul-Hijjah 29, 573 on the Islamic calendar.
The Moon Split Witnessed in India:
“There is a very old tradition in Malabar, South-West Coast of India, that Chakrawati Farmas, one of their kings, had observed the splitting of the moon, the celebrated miracle of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) at Mecca, and learning on inquiry that there was a prediction of the coming of a Messenger of God from Arabia, he appointed his son as regent and set out to meet him. He embraced Islam at the hand of the Prophet, and when returning home, at the direction of the Prophet, died at the port of Zafar, Yemen, where the tomb of the “Indian king” was piously visited for many centuries.” [8]
References:
[1] Quran 54:1-3
[2] Sahih al-Bukhari 3868
[3] Sahih al-Bukhari: Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 387
[4] Jami Tirmidhi: Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3289
[5] Bayhaqi, V. 2, p. 267
[6] https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jun18/monks-may-witness-moon-split-two/
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gervase_of_Canterbury#Gervase_and_the_Moon
[8] http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/farmas.html