The Miracle of the Moon Splitting

As-salamu `alaykum

What does the first verse of Surat Al-Qamar in the Qur'an mean
exactly? I heard from some people that the splitting actually
happened at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and
that scientists proved that.

Let us first examine closely the first verse of Surat Al-Qamar
(chapter 54) and read it in context of the following verse(s) and the
whole surah. The first verse says what means:
*{The Hour has drawn near, and the moon is cloven.}*

The verse refers to the cosmic event that occurred in the lifetime of
the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), by Allah's will, in order
to support His prophet against the arrogant pagan Arabs in Makkah, at
the peak of their resistance and hostility, and in response to their
challenging the Prophet to bring them a sign.

This is supported by careful reading of the rest of Surat Al-Qamar,
as follows:

1. The following two verses of Surat Al-Qamar say what means:
     *{And in case they see a sign, they veer away and say, "A
continuous sorcery!" And they have cried lies and closely followed
their prejudices; and every command is settled.}* (Al-Qamar 54:2-3)

So, the pagans of Makkah belied what they had already seen with their
own eyes, claiming that what they actually did see was merely a sort
of witchcraft that affected either their own sight, or the appearance
of the moon in their eyes.

2. The following paragraphs of Surat Al-Qamar highlight the
similitude between the situation of Arab pagans and that of the
previous nations, who belied the visible signs and miracles of the
respective prophets: Noah (verses 8-16), Hud (verses 17-21), Salih
(verses 22-31), Lut (verses 32-39), and, finally, Moses (verses 40-
42). This similitude is introduced by the following verses, which say
what means:
    *{And indeed there have already come to them such tidings wherein
there is a scaring. A consummate wisdom; yet in no way do warnings
avail.}* (Al-Qamar 54:4-5)

3. Hence, the first verse of Surat Al-Qamar documents an actual
event, and not something that would occur in the future towards the
end of the world. Towards that time a totally different event will
occur, which is that the moon will be attracted to the sun. The
Qur'an says what means:
    *{He asks, "When will be the Day of the Resurrection?" Yet, when
the sight is dazed, and the moon eclipses, and the sun and the moon
are gathered together}* (Al-Qiyamah 75:6-9)

The meaning of this verse is in agreement with modern science. It is
now known that the moon has been gradually moving away from the earth
at the rate of 3 centimeters per year. One day it should fall within
the stronger gravity of the sun, pulling the moon to it.

3. The statement *{The Hour has drawn near}* is apt. The earth and
universe are billions of years old, so the past 15 centuries since
the moon splitting are a minute fraction of the long history of the
universe from creation to the Last Day, which could still come at any
moment. This is in line with the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon
him):

Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Allah's
Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "I and the Last Hour have been
sent like this." (By "this" he means to indicate the short time
between his mission and the Day of Judgment.)

Evidence from Authentic Prophetic Hadith :-

The event of the moon splitting has been reported in a number of
authentically reported Hadith narrations, through more than three
different chains of narration (that is, almost mutawatir):

Narrated `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud: "During the lifetime of the Prophet,
the moon was split into two parts and on that the Prophet said, `Bear
witness [to this]'" (Al-Bukhari).

Narrated Anas ibn Malik: "The Makkan people requested Allah's
Messenger to show them a miracle, and so he showed them the splitting
of the moon" (Al-Bukhari).

Narrated `Abdullah ibn `Abbas: "The moon was split into two parts
during the lifetime of the Prophet" (Al-Bukhari).

Other Supporting Arguments

A miracle, by definition, is a supernatural event beyond the laws of
science; it is fulfilled only by Allah's will and power. It has
significance and can be confirmed only by those who directly
witnessed the event in time. So, why should we seek material proofs
of the occurrence of the moon division some fifteen centuries ago?

Of interest, however, are some recently related observations made
during exploration of the lunar surface. Enormously long (hundreds of
kilometers) and deep (ranging hundreds of meters to tens of
kilometers) ruptures, straight and curved, were detected. These
ruptures are traversed with huge depressions such as Mare Orientalis,
which is 1,000 km in diameter 9 km deep. It has been argued that such
phenomena cannot be explained by the impact of asteroid-size objects
or as being lunar rills induced by tensional cracks. One suggested
explanation was that these could result from a splitting and
reassembling event. (Reported by Dr. Zaghlul An-Naggar, Al-Ahram
newspaper, Cairo, Sept. 23, 2002; Signs of Scientific Inimitability
of the Noble Qur'an, 4th ed., (International Shorouq Bookshop, 2002)
pp .49-52.

In the same work, Dr. Zaghloul also cited an Indian historical
manuscript (India Office Library, London, manuscript #2807/152-173),
which says that this incident -observed by the Indian king of
Malibar, Chakrawati Farmas-was the starting point of Islam spreading
to India. When he heard that this was a miracle seen by Makkan pagans
to support the Prophet, he and all his people embraced Islam.

Also of interest could be a similar event of a moon splitting,
recently observed by the space ship Voyager in 1986. Miranda, one of
the five moons of the planet Uranus, was hit by a large piece of
planetary debris that split it into a number of fragments, which
later reassembled by gravity. Photographs of the event were recorded
published in the National Geographic magazine (August 1986).