Q. I am told that the Prophet (peace be upon him) divided the moon into two and later put it back in its original form. Is this true? Is there any evidence to support this?
Farooq Khan
A. The parting of the moon is a fact, but the Prophet did not do it. How could he when he was an ordinary human being, like all of us, except for the fact that he was chosen by God to receive and deliver His last message to mankind? God who is able to accomplish any purpose of His did it. Many a Qur’anic verse ends with the comment: “God has sway over all things.”
The evidence confirming this event is in the Qur’an. Surah 54, The Moon, or Al-Qamar, starts as follows: “The Last Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been split. Yet whenever they see a sign, they turn away and say: ‘It is but sorcery extended.’” (54: 1-2) When you analyze the first verse carefully, you find that it consists of a warning about the Day of Judgment, which is indicated here as the Last Hour, and a piece of news speaking about a certain event, namely, the parting of the moon. There are also several Hadiths that mention the event. One is reported by Abdullah ibn Massood who says: “The moon was split into two parts during the lifetime of the Prophet and people looked at it. The Prophet said to all people: ‘Bear witness.’” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim).
Further evidence is that the Qur’an stated this fact very clearly, confronting with it the idolaters who denied God’s message, and none of them is reported to have denied the event. They acknowledged it, but they sought to dismiss it by saying that it was sorcery. They claimed that the Prophet put a spell over them to see the moon in two. But then some of them suggested “if Muhammad has managed to cast a spell on us, he cannot do so with all people. Let us wait until some travelers arrive and ask them.” They did and all travelers arriving in Makkah confirmed seeing the moon parted in two. Hence the unbelievers alleged, as the Qur’anic verse states, “it is but sorcery extended.”
But why should we wonder at God’s ability to split the moon in two, or into many smaller fragments, if He so wills? Do we not believe that He is able to accomplish any purpose of His? Think of the recent huge earthquake that caused the tsunami that killed around a quarter of a million people in countries thousands of miles apart. It caused the movement of one of the largest islands of Indonesia, and made some small islands disappear and others emerge.
Then reflect what would be the effect of a similar earthquake lasting ten minutes instead of 20 seconds, and what if such a longer earthquake was ten times as strong.
It could split the earth into several parts. Besides, the creation of the moon itself and the way it functions, the cycle it follows, and the change of its position and shape every night provide a much greater sign for us to contemplate. We must remember, however, that all this occurs by God’s will, not by any of His creatures, not even the Prophet.
