When The Moon Split

The moon splits in half

The absence of any spectacular miracle such as they had demanded convinced the Quraysh that they had found Muhammad’s weakness. Now they asked him to show tham any sign. If Muhammad couldn’t produce even a small sign, the Quraysh believed that it would show everyone that he was a false prophet, Muhammad would be silenced at last.

The Prophet (bpuh) prayed to Allah and asked Him to show the Quraysh a sign.

Finally, Allah gave the Quraysh clear evidence: the moon split in half so that each half appeared on either side of Mount Hira. “Be you all witness,” the Prophet (bpuh) said.

At first, the pagans could not believe what they saw. The moon had been split in two before their eyes. After the initial shock, however, they determined it was nothing but the sorcery of the son of Abu Kabsha. “Maybe he has put a spell on us, so let’s wait until some travellers arrive in Makkah and ask them if they also saw it.”

As soon as some travellers arrived in Makkah, the Makkans asked them if they had seen the strange sight. The travelers confirmed they too had seen the wondrous sight of the cleft moon.

Now there was no doubt about what they had witnessed, but the Quraysh stubbornly clutched their disbelief.