Shaqq al-Qamar: Difference between revisions

'''Shaqq al-Qamar''' (Arabic: {{ia|شَقّ القَمَر}}), or the '''splitting of the moon''', was a [[miracle]] by the [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]]. According to Islamic sources, the Prophet (s) pointed his finger to the moon, and then the moon was split into two parts. The miracle occurred in the early years after [[Bi'tha]]. Some objections have been raised about whether the story is true, and some Muslim scholars have tried to reply to these objections.

Accounts of the Shaqq al-Qamar miracle can be found in historical, hadith, and exegetical sources. The story appears in historical sources, such as ''al-Bidaya wa l-nihaya'', ''al-Fitan'', ''al-Khara'ij wa l-jara'ih'', and Miqrizi’s ''Imta' al-asma’''. Qadi 'Abd al-Rahman al-Iji takes hadiths of Shaqq al-Qamar to be mutawatir.

In Sunni sources of hadiths, the story of Shaqq al-Qamar is cited from six people: Anas b. Malik, Jubayr b. Mut'im, Hudhayfa b. Yaman, Ibn 'Abbas, 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar, and Ibn Mas'ud.  

There are two hadiths concerning Shaqq al-Qamar in Shiite sources of hadiths and Quranic exegesis:

Al-Shaykh al-Tusi in his ''al-Amali''

''Tafsir al-Qummi''

The miracle took place in the early years after the Bi'that in Mecca. 'Allama Tabataba'i maintains that it took place on the night of Dhu l-Hajja 14, 5 AH (May 6, 627).

==Polytheists’ Motivation for the Request==

Polytheists asked the Prophet (s) to split the moon because they believed that magic could only act on earthly phenomena. Thus, they asked the Prophet to do something on heavenly objects to prove that he was not a magician.

==Muslim Scholars’ Views==

Muslim scholars have adopted two approaches to Shaqq al-Qamar. The majority of Shiite and Sunni exegetes of the Qur'an acknowledge that the event did take place and take the first three verses of Sura al-Qamar to concern the miracle of Shaqq al-Qamar. With slight differences, the story appears in Shiite and Sunni books. Many scholars believe that there is consensus, tawatur, or istifada with regard to the story.

The second approach, adopted by people such as Hasan al-Basri, 'Ata' Khurasani, and Balkhi, is that the first verses of Sura al-Qamar are concerned with events happening prior to the resurrection, or ashrat al-sa'a.

The story has been challenged in different respects, such as the following:

The first objection: according to Ptolemaic cosmology, it is impossible for heavenly spheres to split from or join each other. The answer is that, on modern cosmology, this is not impossible. Moreover, the genesis of the Solar System and the appearance of meteorites constitute evidence against such a claim.

The second objection: if such a thing has happened, why is it not reported in independent historical sources? Muslims scholars tried to reply to this objection in various ways. For example, the event took place at night when many people were asleep, Arabs were not interested in the observation of the sky at the time, and other similar replies.

In recent years, a story went viral on the internet claiming that images taken of the moon by Apollo show that there was a fissure on the surface of the moon, known as Rima Ariadaeus. Zaghlul al-Najjar published a book in 2004, in which he reproduced one of the images. The claim was later denied by NASA scientists. They believe that there is no evidence that the moon was split in two and then reassembled at any point in the past. Moreover, Rima Ariadaeus is a young phenomenon.