THE SPLITTING OF THE MOON WAS ONE OF THE MIRACLE PERFORMED
BY PROPHET MUHAMMAD صلى الله
عليه وسلم & A PROPHECY OF THE BIBLE!
By:
Shahid Bin Waheed شاهد
بن وحيد
بسم الله الرحمن
الرحيم
الحمدلله
رب العالمين والصلوة
والسلام على اشرف
الانبياء وسيدالمرسلين
نبينا محمد صل
ا لله عليه وعلى
آله واصحابه وازواجه
اجمعين - امابعد
All the praises and thanks be to Allaah, Sustainer of the Universe, and blessing and salutation to be the most distinguish of the Messengers and foremost among the Prophets, our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allaah be on him and on his wives, children and Companions.
There
seems to be some kind of fallacious notion and/or disinformation advanced by
pseudo-Islaamic cult[s], Christian missionaries and sadly by a renowned Muslim website, this
treatise will set the record straight and refute all claims that Glorious
Qur’aan 54.1 is/was a prophecy (which is far
from truth), and the alleged moon landing
has nothing to do with Ayaah آيه 54:1 as erroneously claimed.
HarunYahay.com claims in its book
titled: “Signs of the Last Day”
that I quote below with its entirety without any editing and/or alteration in brown text, and the
highlighted parts are contrary to facts of Glorious Qur’aan and/or Islaam.
THE SPLITTING OF THE MOON
The 54th Surah of
the Qur'an is called "Surat al-Qamar." In English qamar
means moon. In several instances, this Surah tells about the destruction that
befell the people of Nuh, Ad, Thamud, Lut and Pharaoh, because they rejected
the warnings of the prophets. At the same time, there is a very important
message stated in the first verse, concerning the Last Day.
The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split. (Surat al-Qamar:
1)
The word "split" used in this verse is the
Arabic shaqqa, which in Arabic it has various meanings. In some commentaries on
the Qur'an, the meaning "split" is preferred. But shaqqa in Arabic
can also mean "ploughing" or "digging" the earth.
As an example of the first usage, we can refer to the 26th
verse of Surat al-Abasa:
We pour down plentiful
water, then split the earth into furrows. Then We make grain grow in it, and
grapes and herbs and olives and dates. (Surah 'Abasa: 25-29)
It can be clearly seen that the meaning of shaqqa
here is not to "split." It means to plough the earth in order to grow
various plants.
If we went back to
the year 1969, we would see one of the great wonders of the Qur'an. The
experiments carried out on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969, may be
hinting at the fulfilment of news given 1,400 years ago in Surat al-Qamar. On
that date, American astronauts set foot on the moon. Digging at the lunar soil
they carried out scientific experiments and collected samples of stones and
soil. It is surely very interesting that these developments are in complete
agreement with the statements in the verse.
The exploration of
the moon is identified with the words Neil Armstrong said upon setting foot on
the moon: "One small step for [a] man; one giant leap for mankind."3This
was an historic moment in space research; it was an event documented by
cameras, and everyone from that time to this has witnessed it. As it is stated
in the first verse of Surat al-Qamar, this great event may also be a sign of
the Last Day. It may be a sign that the world is in the End Times before the
Judgment. (Allah surely knows best)
Finally, let us
point out that there is a very important warning following these verses. There
is a reminder that these signs are an important opportunity for people to turn
from error, and that those who do not heed these warnings will be disappointed
when they will be brought back to life on that Day of Judgment which is described
in the Qur'an as "something unspeakably terrible":
The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split. If they see a
Sign they turn away, saying "There is no end to this witchcraft!"
They have denied the truth and followed their whims and desires, but everything
has its time. News has come to them which contains a threat: consummate wisdom
- but warnings are profitless. Turn away from them then. On the Day the
Summoner summons them to something unspeakably terrible, they will emerge from
their graves with downcast eyes, like swarming locusts, necks outstretched,
eyes transfixed, rushing headlong to the Summoner. The disbelievers will say,
"This is a pitiless day!" (Surat al-Qamar: 1-8)
We must make this
clear, however: The phenomenon of the splitting of the moon is, of course, one
of the miracles vouchsafed by Allah to our Prophet (saas). This miracle is
revealed as follows in one hadith:
The people of Mecca asked Allah's Apostle to show them a
miracle. So he showed them the moon split in two halves between which they saw
the Hiram' mountain. (Bukhari)
The miracle described above is the phenomenon of splitting of
the moon revealed in the verse. However, since the Qur'an is a book which
addresses all times it is also possible that it is referring to the landing on
the moon in our own age. (Allah surely knows best)
|
The word "split" used in this verse is the
Arabic shaqqa, which in Arabic it has various meanings. In some commentaries
on the Qur'an, the meaning "split" is preferred. But shaqqa in Arabic
can also mean "ploughing" or "digging" the earth. As an example of the first usage, we can refer to the 26th
verse of Surat al-Abasa: We pour down
plentiful water, then split the earth into furrows. Then We make grain grow
in it, and grapes and herbs and olives and dates. (Surah 'Abasa: 25-29) It can be clearly seen that the meaning of shaqqa
here is not to "split." It means to plough the earth in order to
grow various plants. |
The
words used in Ayaat آيات 54:1 and 80:26 of Glorious Qur’aan have
been derived from the same root (radical) letters i.e. ش ق ق
In Ayaah آيه 80:26,
it reads, شَقَقْنَا [We split][ثُمَّ
شَقَقْنَا
الأَرْضَ شَقًّا]
And in Ayaah آيه 54:1, it reads, انْشَقَّ [and has been cleft asunder]
[اقْتَرَبَتِ
السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ
الْقَمَرُ]
But the word Shaqqa شقّا does not mean "ploughing" or "digging" the earth as
fallaciously claimed by the author under any rule. The Arabic word for “dig” is/are يحفر،
يكدّ whereas
the Arabic word for plow/plough is مِحراث and both words do not connotes to the word Shaqqa شقّا. In fact, there is no word
used in the Glorious Qur’aan, which may mean (remotely) dig/digging and/or plough/ploughing.
Obviously
the author has erroneously
asserted that some how the words [شَقَقْنَا & انْشَقَّ] used in Ayaat آيات 54:1 and 80:26 have the same and/or identical meaning. But both words are poles apart in meaning, context and
implications. And most importantly it cannot be taken as alleged “prophecy”
of Glorious Qur’aan by using Ayaah آيه 54:1 as pretext, while using far fetched
assumption based on the meaning of Ayaah آيه 80:26. I am not sure why Muslim[s] may
utter such absurdity?
Isaiah 24:23!
024:023 Then the
moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall
reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
The above verse has three prophecies
mentioned in it. First, it is referring to the miracle of moon splitting شق القمر that Prophet
Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم performed and has mentioned earlier (see Glorious Qur’aan
54:1-3), the second thing that this verse is describing is the
conquest of Khaiyber خيبر by Muslims. Khaiyber خيبر was a very the strong hold of Jews. The third thing in
the same verse is about (Isra اسرا) Mera’aj
معراج (see Glorious
Qur’aan 17:1, 60; 53: 10, 12, 14-18; 94:1). In other words this verse
contains THREE prophecies about Prophet Muhammad. All three prophecies have come
to pass!
اقْتَرَبَتِ
السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ
الْقَمَرُ (1) وَإِنْ
يَرَوْا آيَةً
يُعْرِضُوا وَيَقُولُوا
سِحْرٌ مُسْتَمِرٌّ
(2) وَكَذَّبُوا
وَاتَّبَعُوا
أَهْوَاءَهُمْ
وَكُلُّ أَمْرٍ
مُسْتَقِرٌّ
(3)
The Hour
has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder (the people of Makkah
requested Prophet Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم to show them a miracle, so he showed them the splitting of the
moon). {1} (2) And if they see a sign, they turn away,
and say: "This is continuous magic." (3) They belied (the Verses of
Allâh - this Qur’ân), and followed their own lusts. And every matter will be
settled (according to the kind of deeds: good deeds will take their doers to
Paradise, and similarly evil deeds will take their doers to Hell). (Glorious Qur’aan 54:1-3)
{1} (V.54: 1) Narrated Anas رضي
الله عنه: The people of Makkah asked the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم to show them a sign (miracle). So he showed them (the
miracle) of the cleaving of the moon. ( Sahih Al-Bukhari , Vol.6, Hadîth No.390).
Miraj (Glorious Qur’aan 17:1)
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي
أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ
لَيْلًا مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ
الْحَرَامِ إِلَى
الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى
الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا
حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ
مِنْ آيَاتِنَا
إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ
الْبَصِيرُ
Glorified (and Exalted) be He
(Allâh) (above all that (evil) they associate with Him) {1}
Who took His slave (Muhammad صلى
الله عليه و سلم) for a journey by night from Al-Masjid-al-Harâm (at
Makkah) to Al-Masjid-al-Aqsâ (in
Jerusalem), the neighborhood whereof We have blessed, in order that We might
show him (Muhammad صلى الله
عليه و سلم) of Our Ayât (proofs,
evidence, lessons, signs, etc.). Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer {2}
.
{1} (V.17: 1)وقد روى طلحة بن عبيد الله أنه قال للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ما معنى سبحان الله؟ قال تنزيه الله من كل سوء؛
{2} (V.17: 1) Narrated Jâbir bin ‘Abdullâh رضي الله عنهما that he heard Allâh’s Messenger صلى الله عليه
وسلم
saying, "When the people of Quraish did not believe me (i.e. in the story
of my Isrâ’ - (Night Journey)), I stood up in
Al-Hijr and Allâh displayed Jerusalem in front of me, and I began describing it
to them while I was looking at it. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol.5, Hadith No.226).
(Also see Glorious Qur’aan 17:60;
53: 10, 12, 14-18; 94:1)
In conclusion, we learn that
landing of the moon in 1969 has nothing to do with Ayaah آيه
54:1 and/or 80:26 or both. Muslims and non-Muslims must know and understand
that Glorious Qur’aan is not a book of
science; it is rather a book of guidance. However, there are scientific realities in the Qur’aan.
To learn about some prophecies of the Glorious Qur’aan that came to pass,
please click here.
And to learn about some of the prophecies in the Ahadeeth that came to pass,
please click here.
Friday,
December 24, 2004
Further reading: