Allah the Exalted said: “The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has split.” What is the view of the Salaf regarding the splitting, and how can one respond to the spectators who claim that humans have reached the moon?
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The Shaykh :[Al-Qamar 54:1] What is the view of the Salaf regarding the splitting, and how can one respond to ... the spectators who claim that humans have reached the moon? What is the problem here? The view of the Salaf is that the moon split without a doubt. First, because of this verse, as it is explicit in reporting [Al-Qamar 54:1] Second, because of the arrival of hadiths in the two Sahihs and others, from the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud and Anas ibn Malik, and others whose names do not come to my mind. All of them said that the polytheists asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for a sign, so he pointed to the moon, and it split into two halves until one half fell behind the mountain. This is an authentic hadith, and the Ummah accepted it, and it explains this verse So there is no problem for us with this prophetic miracle, among the dozens, rather hundreds, of miracles established for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
As for the questioner’s statement: how can one respond to the spectators who claim to have reached the moon?
Are we, in our capacity as Muslims, obligated first to convince every disbeliever of every legal truth we have? The answer is no. And second, is the principle of sound research to begin the discussion with the disbeliever on a detail of the religion, or do we begin with him on the root of roots? We begin first with his faith in Allah: is he a believer or an atheist? If he is a believer, we take a second step: is he a believer in the prophets and messengers, or is he a disbeliever? If he is a believer, we move to his faith in Islam, the Qur'an, and the Sunnah. At that point, the problem ends naturally. But if he is not a believer in any of these truths, it is not permissible to begin with him on the problem of the moon’s splitting; rather, we begin with the more important, then what is below it, and so on. Therefore, I advise the questioner not to consider it a problem that he cannot convince the disbeliever of the moon’s splitting, because the moon’s splitting is nothing compared to their denial of the existence of the Creator of the moon, the existence of this Great Creator who taught man what he did not know, and enabled him to ascend to the moon. This is a blessing by which Allah favored His servants, but they denied it and disbelieved in it, so they forgot Allah, and He forgot them. Therefore, the questioner should not be surprised that a Muslim cannot convince the disbeliever of the occurrence of this miracle, because this is secondary to the other legal truths that are more important than this. Then ... the questioner thinks and imagines that when the moon split, what did it become? Like a tree, if you split it, it joins back, but there remains a trace of the joining. So it seems the questioner imagines that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), who by His power made the moon two halves, is unable to return the half to its sister so that the moon becomes as it was before, such that a person at that moment, the moment each half joins the other, does not see a trace of the splitting. It is as if the questioner thinks that there must be a very deep gap that appears to those who rode to the moon today, showing that it really ... split. It is not necessary ... he imagines this imagination.
I am not saying this is impossible; it is possible that there is actually a trace of the split, and it may become apparent, or it may have no effect. So what is the danger that our brother the questioner has imagined? He says, "O our brothers, the truth is that because of our weakness as Muslims, and because of our lack of trust in ourselves first, and our blind trust in these disbelievers, we give them more trust and knowledge than they acknowledge for themselves." The fact that this disbeliever went up to the moon—did he discover the entire moon? Do you see that he has encompassed both sides of the moon, as is said today that they have scanned, toured, and explored it? I, with my limited reading and exposure, have not learned that they have discovered anything of the moon to this day except what the common people say: "except the camel's ear". So it is necessary that this split becomes apparent to them if it has an effect. It is not necessary. The bottom line is that I see our brothers should not occupy themselves with this, because it is very secondary. The major problem is that we try to convince these people of Islam and faith in it.
The Hour has come near, and the moon has split [in two].
اقتربت الساعة وانشق القمرThe Hour has come near, and the moon has split [in two].
اقتربت الساعة وانشق القمرand the moon has split
وانشق القمرAs for the questioner’s statement: how can one respond to the spectators who claim to have reached the moon?
Are we, in our capacity as Muslims, obligated first to convince every disbeliever of every legal truth we have? The answer is no. And second, is the principle of sound research to begin the discussion with the disbeliever on a detail of the religion, or do we begin with him on the root of roots? We begin first with his faith in Allah: is he a believer or an atheist? If he is a believer, we take a second step: is he a believer in the prophets and messengers, or is he a disbeliever? If he is a believer, we move to his faith in Islam, the Qur'an, and the Sunnah. At that point, the problem ends naturally. But if he is not a believer in any of these truths, it is not permissible to begin with him on the problem of the moon’s splitting; rather, we begin with the more important, then what is below it, and so on. Therefore, I advise the questioner not to consider it a problem that he cannot convince the disbeliever of the moon’s splitting, because the moon’s splitting is nothing compared to their denial of the existence of the Creator of the moon, the existence of this Great Creator who taught man what he did not know, and enabled him to ascend to the moon. This is a blessing by which Allah favored His servants, but they denied it and disbelieved in it, so they forgot Allah, and He forgot them. Therefore, the questioner should not be surprised that a Muslim cannot convince the disbeliever of the occurrence of this miracle, because this is secondary to the other legal truths that are more important than this. Then ... the questioner thinks and imagines that when the moon split, what did it become? Like a tree, if you split it, it joins back, but there remains a trace of the joining. So it seems the questioner imagines that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), who by His power made the moon two halves, is unable to return the half to its sister so that the moon becomes as it was before, such that a person at that moment, the moment each half joins the other, does not see a trace of the splitting. It is as if the questioner thinks that there must be a very deep gap that appears to those who rode to the moon today, showing that it really ... split. It is not necessary ... he imagines this imagination.
I am not saying this is impossible; it is possible that there is actually a trace of the split, and it may become apparent, or it may have no effect. So what is the danger that our brother the questioner has imagined? He says, "O our brothers, the truth is that because of our weakness as Muslims, and because of our lack of trust in ourselves first, and our blind trust in these disbelievers, we give them more trust and knowledge than they acknowledge for themselves." The fact that this disbeliever went up to the moon—did he discover the entire moon? Do you see that he has encompassed both sides of the moon, as is said today that they have scanned, toured, and explored it? I, with my limited reading and exposure, have not learned that they have discovered anything of the moon to this day except what the common people say: "except the camel's ear". So it is necessary that this split becomes apparent to them if it has an effect. It is not necessary. The bottom line is that I see our brothers should not occupy themselves with this, because it is very secondary. The major problem is that we try to convince these people of Islam and faith in it.