There are few great miracles that Allah permitted for the people to behold His power and reinforce in them their conviction about the Prophet hood of Muhammad (Pbuh). The splitting of the moon mentioned in Surah Al-Qamar is one such miracle. It is also mentioned in authentic hadith. “The hour (of Judgment) is nigh, and the moon is cleft asunder. But if they see a Sign, they turn away, and say "This is (but) transient magic (Surah Al-Qamar 54: 1-2)".
In an attempt to stump Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), many of the idolaters of Mecca from the tribe of Quraish stood in front of him and demanded from him a sign that no one could deny. “If you truly are a Prophet that has been appointed by Allah, then split the moon in half. Let it be in such a way that one half will appear over the Mount Abu Qubais and the other half will be seen over Mount Quayqian”. This led to Allah splitting the moon right before their very eyes at a night with one half standing over Mount Abu Qubais and the other half over Mount Quayqian. This miracle was shown all of a sudden to specific people that were present there, including some polytheists and some companions of the Prophet. It was a temporary thing just as many miracles of the past had been sent to a specific people and were lost to time, so was this splitting of the moon a transitory thing.
The Prophet (Pbuh) mentioned it and said “You bear witness yourselves”. All witnessed it yet the polytheists rejected it. In doing so, they simply lied and followed their desire. The companions of Prophet- being honest and just however proclaimed that the incident has taken place. This incident was the reason why the verse, “The moon is cleft asunder” was sent down. Allah mentioned that even if the disbelievers see the moon split before their eyes and are told that it is sign that Day of Judgment is near, they will turn away their faces in disbelief as they always do and will say it is nothing but shear magic as usual.
None of the stubborn polytheists who witnessed this miracle along with deniers of the Quran denied this but tried to reject it by calling a “Magic!”. No information that this event did not exist in history is given. If this miracle had not occurred, polytheists who did not disregard using even a small event against Islam for denigration would have certainly denied this event which is narrated in the Quran. Their failure of denying shows that there is no doubt about the occurring of this event.
This baffled crowd in Mecca alleged that the Prophet (Pbuh) must have cast some sort of spell, witch craft or black magic on their eyes. But since he would not be able to do this to people that were not present there so they decided to ask from people outside of Mecca to confirm if they too saw what they saw. The people at far flung distances too confirmed witnessing this phenomenon of the moon splitting proving that this great sign was witnessed in other places as well. However, when the idolaters of Quraish found themselves cornered, they decided not to accept it. Most Christians and Israelis have always denied the Miracles of Prophet (Pbuh). They would doubt him as a magician who would show illusions. But in reality this miracle did happen and the proof to it is in Quran.
People living in other parts of the world witnessed the splitting of the moon as well, which happened 18 June 1178, corresponding with Dhul-Hijjah 29, 573 on the Islamic calendar. National Geographic archives record that on June 18, 1178, five monks in Canterbury, England, reported having witnessed an unusual phenomenon in the sky. The monks reported an impact in which “the upper horn [of the moon] split in two” and a “flaming torch sprang up, spewing out, over a considerable distance, fire, hot coals and sparks.”
The King of Malabar- Chakrawati Farmas, in India witnessed the splitting of the moon and had a journey to the Arab peninsula to meet the Holy Prophet and be a Muslim.The incident relating to King Chakrawati Farmas is documented in an old manuscript. “There is a very old tradition in Malabar, South-West Coast of India, that Chakrawati Farmas, one of their kings, had observed the splitting of the moon, the celebrated miracle of the Holy Prophet (Pbuh) at Mecca, and learning on inquiry that there was a prediction of the coming of a Messenger of God from Arabia, he appointed his son as regent and set out to meet him. He embraced Islam at the hand of the Prophet, and when returning home, at the direction of the Prophet, died at the port of Zafar, Yemen, where the tomb of the “Indian king” was piously visited for many centuries”.
It is due to this incident about their king, the people of Malabar became the first community in India to accept Islam. Subsequently, they increased their trade with Arabs, as the Arab ships used to pass by their shores on the way to China before the advent of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh).
This incident is not that widely mentioned in the history of other nations. One reason to this might be the time zone difference. This event took place at night. While it would be daytime in the other parts of the world or the people over there might be deeper into the night and be asleep; therefore, it is normal that it was not seen in the other parts. Another very reasonable possibility might be that they were simply not the intended audience. It is not difficult for Allah to show some people a sign and not allow others to notice it.
There might arise a question of gravitational disturbance from the minds of someone from the present times. Why such disturbance didn’t happen when the moon was being split? There is no remotely reasonable natural process that could cause a body to split in two to a degree sufficient to be visible from earth without catastrophic effects for both the earth and the moon. The answer is yet so straight. This was a supernatural phenomenon, something that transcended the natural order so why should one expect a super natural event to have the natural effects? Isn’t it easy for an Omnipotent Allah to cleave an astronomical object in a miraculous way and at the same time miraculously suspend any of the expected impact.
Every single miracle that is mentioned in "Quran" decades ago eventually turns out to be a new theory obeying laws of physics. Today’s modern man takes great pride in challenging what is impossible. What would have been unimaginable then, may become imaginable someday. That is the beauty of a human mind which itself is the creation of Allah Almighty; so there should be no doubt in believing that Allah Himself can do even far more than that.
A miracle by definition contradicts all the known natural and scientific laws. Since it doesn’t make any sense to the man so one attributes it to be the work of God. The purpose and nature of these extraordinary events is such that they help in creating and enhancing faith in the Divine. Since in these events the ordinary operation of nature is overruled, suspended or modified, one cannot explain it by common sense. Science fails to explain it. So here faith jumps in and labels it as a miracle. It is in no way less than the demonstration of God’s power in action. The world still holds many wonders that keep depicting miraculous phenomena. But the question arises “why should one even search for an evidence about a miracle?” Faith is far more salient and important than science. One should refrain from making miracles scientific as it only demeans the science while annuls the miraculous quality of the belief.
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