Splitting of the moon

May God forgive me and guide me regarding any sign that would have been misinterpreted in this study and elsewhere. May He always guide us to a better understanding of His profound scripture so we can purify ourselves and increase our knowledge.

The goal of this article is to publish important discoveries regarding one of the most profound Quranic prophecy, namely, the “splitting of the moon”, event described in 54:1, and identified as being related to the first manned mission to the moon (Apollo 11) over four decades ago.

Unfortunately, some of the people who have acknowledged the fulfillment of this prophecy have often mixed truth with falsehood (mixing it alongside baseless numerology) or did not explain it as well as it deserves. At the same time, traditional Sunni and Shia Islam are not at ease with the miracle because it endangers their personal beliefs in hadiths which claim that the moon was split in two halves at the time of the prophet: In this particular case, the unstoppable power of the Quranic prophecy will relegate those hadiths as mere falsehood.

We will first explain what we already know, that is to say the extraordinary and simple mathematical miracle hidden behind 54:1 which relates to the Apollo 11 mission to the moon on 20 July 1969, followed by the fact that the same miracle “splits” the Quran in a way that reveals in a stunning manner the Hijri Islamic lunar year of the event.

We will then prove that the exact date (month and day) of the splitting of the moon that occurred on 6 Jumaada al-awal 1389 in the Islamic calendar is miraculously encoded in the Quran. This will expose people who have so far claimed that the miracle is false. This new discovery takes the miracle to an even higher level and will present a new test for people who insist upon following baseless hadiths instead of the Quran alone. We will explain in this article that the key to understanding fully the miracle revolves around doing exactly what verse 54:1 says, that is to say symbolically “split the moon”, which implies “dividing” the 27 words “moon” that occur in the Quran in accordance with the “separation” established in 54:1. If you do not have time to read the entire article right away, do not miss part 4 and the conclusion as you would miss something truly important.

Table of contents

1. Verse 54:1: A historic prophecy

1.1 Sura “the moon”:

1.2 Definition of the verb “inshaqqa”

1.3 Sidereal month versus Synodic month

1.4 The splitting of the moon

2. The year of the splitting of the moon encoded in the Glorious Quran

3. The most obvious “separation” in 54:1 points at the night of decree (laylatul qadr) in the lunar calendar

4. Important discovery: The day and month of the splitting of the moon in 1389 AH coded in the Glorious Quran

5. Splitting of the moon according to Hadiths

6. The splitting of the moon and the miracle of 19

Conclusion

1. Verse 54:1: A historic prophecy

1.1 Sura “the moon”:

اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ

(54:1) The hour (day of judgment) has come closer, and the moon has split.

وَإِن يَرَوْا آيَةً يُعْرِضُوا وَيَقُولُوا سِحْرٌ مُّسْتَمِرٌّ

(54:2) And if they see a sign/miracle, they turn away and say: “This is endless manipulation”.

وَكَذَّبُوا وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءَهُمْ وَكُلُّ أَمْرٍ مُّسْتَقِرٌّ

(54:3) And they denied (it) and followed their desires, but there is a settlement for every matter.

وَلَقَدْ جَاءَهُم مِّنَ الْأَنبَاءِ مَا فِيهِ مُزْدَجَرٌ

(54:4) But, indeed, information came to them that should have prevented them (from rejecting the miracle).

حِكْمَةٌ بَالِغَةٌ فَمَا تُغْنِ النُّذُرُ

(54:5) Profound wisdom! But warnings have been to no avail!

54:1 explains that “the splitting of the moon” is a sign that the upcoming end of the world will have gotten closer once it is fulfilled. I would like to point out here that it is absolutely forbidden to even attempt to predict the end of the world; so even though the verse gives us an important clue, truthful believers will not even attempt to search for it as it leads to perdition. The following verses are a divine warning for people who would be tempted to do that:

يَسْأَلُكَ النَّاسُ عَنِ السَّاعَةِ قُلْ إِنَّمَا عِلْمُهَا

عِندَ اللَّهِ وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّ السَّاعَةَ تَكُونُ قَرِيبًا

(33:63) People ask you [O Muhammad] about the hour (the end of the world). Proclaim!: “Its knowledge rests exclusively (انما = innamâ = exclusive particle) with God!” And what will make you know? It may be that the hour is near.

إِنَّ السَّاعَةَ آتِيَةٌ أَكَادُ أُخْفِيهَا لِتُجْزَىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا تَسْعَىٰ

(20:15) In truth, the hour will come; I have willed to keep it hidden, so that every soul may be recompensed for what it strove for.

54:1-5 also teach us that there is a miracle associated with the “splitting of the moon” which most people will reject treating the signs as “endless manipulation” (54:2). God tells us that “informations” regarding “the splitting of the moon” will come that should have deterred people from rejecting it (54:4). God says it is “profound wisdom” but that people will not reform and continue to follow their desires (54:3 and 54:5).

Keep in mind these verses as you read the article, as it contains powerful informations regarding the splitting of the moon and lessons to draw from it.

1.2 Definition of the verb “inshaqqa”

One critical word to understand in 54:1 is the verb “inshaqqa” (ٱنشَقَّ = form VII verb of the root “shaqqa” = شقق). The verb is used in the past tense which is commonly used for future prophecies in the Quran such as the end of the world (for instance: 6:31, 6:40, 78:19-20), and also because of the succession of events in the verse: First the hour “came closer” (اقْتَرَبَتِ = past tense), then, as a result, the moon has split (ٱنشَقّ = past tense).

The root “shaqqa” means “to divide”, “to cut”, “to split”, “to separate”, “to cleave”, etc…

The verb “inshaqqa” means “to divide”, “to split”, “to separate” and has been used five times in the Quran (19:90, 54:1, 55:3, 69:16, 84:1). Let us put 54:1 aside for a moment and let’s focus two verses that summarize the use of the verb in the Quran:

تَكَادُ السَّمَاوَاتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ وَتَنشَقُّ الْأَرْضُ وَتَخِرُّ الْجِبَالُ هَدًّا

(19:90) The heavens almost get torn apart as a result; the earth cracks open and the mountains collapse in devastation.

فَإِذَا انشَقَّتِ السَّمَاءُ فَكَانَتْ وَرْدَةً كَالدِّهَانِ

(55:37) And when the heaven is split and turns like rose color paint.

As we can see, the use of the verb in the Quran simply never means “to divide in half” or “to cleave” as people have incorrectly translated it under the influence of hadiths claiming that the moon was split in two halves at the time of Muhammad.

When it comes to 54:1, there is no devastating event like in the above verses because of the “split” experienced by the moon, and it is merely “a sign” regarding the end of the world. (54:1-2). The meaning is therefore different from 19:90 and 55:3, and it is why I chose a neutral translation in line with the definition of the verb without falling in the trap of splitting the moon in two halves:

اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ

(54:1) The hour (day of judgment) has come closer, and the moon has split.

Remark : I translated the word “sihrun” (سِحْرٌ) in 54:2 by “manipulation” and not “magic” because the word has both meanings in the Quran. The first meaning is supernatural science like the one revealed by the angels of Babylon (2:102), and the second is the one found in verse 6:177 where the meaning is to “trick the eyes of people”. In 10:81 when Moses calls what the magicians do “magic” (السِّحْرُ), he is talking about “tricking the eyes and the mind” that is to say “manipulation” and not about anything supernatural. People who reject the prophecy of the “splitting of the moon” call the signs “endless manipulation” and do not think it has anything to do with something supernatural, as we will see.

1.3 Sidereal month versus synodic month

The word “moon” occurs 27 times in the Quran which is an allegory of the fact that the moon orbits the earth accomplishing a complete 360° revolution in 27.3 days (this is called a sidereal month) and even though it takes us an average of 29.53 days to see the new moon reappear in the sky from the earth vantage point (called synodic month): “A synodic month is longer than a sidereal month because the Earth-Moon system is orbiting the Sun in the same direction as the Moon is orbiting the Earth. Therefore, the Sun appears to move with respect to the stars, and it takes about 2.2 days longer for the Moon to return to the same apparent position with respect to the Sun” (quoted from Wikipedia).

The 27 words “moon” in the Quran:

6:77 (1); 6:96 (1); 7:54 (1); 10:5 (1); 12:4 (1); 13:2 (1); 14:33 (1); 16:12 (1); 21:33 (1); 22:18 (1); 25:61 (1); 29:61 (1); 31:29 (1); 35:13 (1); 36:39 (1); 36:40 (1); 39:5 (1); 41:37 (2); 54:1 (1); 55:5 (1); 71:16 (1); 74:32 (1); 75:8 (1); 75:9 (1); 84:18 (1); 91:2 (1) = 27 occurrences.

The word “moon” occurs for the 20^th time from the beginning of the Quran in verse 54:1 and we will explain and prove in this article how critical it is to acknowledge that:

People who follow blindly the teachings of Rashad Khalifa (a false messenger) and insist upon seeing number 19 everywhere even when it is not there will typically claim that it is the 19^th occurrence of the word “the moon” (القمر, with the article “al”), because they purposely choose to disregard “a shining moon” (قمرا منيرا, without the article “al”) in 25:61. It is baseless numerology and actually does not make sense since the expression “a shining moon” evidently refers to our moon and not to another moon in a different planetary system:

تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ فِي السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَاجًا وَقَمَرًا مُّنِيرًا

(25:61) Most blessed is the One who placed constellations in the sky, and placed in it a lamp (the sun), and a shining moon (our moon).

Again, we will see later the extreme importance of correctly identifying the word “moon” as being the 20^th word moon in 54:1, instead of manipulating numbers to create artificial multiples of 19.

1.4 The splitting of the moon

One of the greatest events in the history of mankind is when Apollo 11 – the first manned mission ever to the moon – landed on the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969 at 20:18 UTC (Universal time).

“Houston Tranquility base here, the eagle has landed”.

Neil Armstrong : « That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind ».

After completing various scientific assignments and collecting 21 kilograms of lunar rocks, the lunar module left the moon surface at very exactly 17:54:1 UTC (Universal Time) carrying the lunar rocks and fulfilling a profound prophecy. The NASA website writes: “The LM [lunar module] lifted off from the Moon at 17:54:01 UT on 21 July after 21 hours, 36 minutes on the lunar surface.”

(https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1969-059C).

About half a billion humans around the globe witnessed these historic moments on TV and radio stations: At the precise time the lunar module took off, and despite the different time zones around the globe, every human being on earth had in common the fact that Apollo 11 separated itself from the moon carrying lunar rocks at 54 minutes and 1 second, which is why sura 54 verse 1 was chosen by God to engrave the splitting of the moon prophecy.

What we are witnessing here is that the moon did not split in two halves as hadiths followers blindly believe, but that the Quranic prophecy is symbolical as lunar rocks were lifted up from moon and transported to earth. We will discover in the next section and in part 4 that there is also a profoundly meaningful symbolic dimension hidden in the Quran which reveals the year and exact date of the prophecy when it comes to the “splitting of the moon”.

This stunning sign shows that God has absolute control about future events to the very minute and second, despite the fact that it was foretold in the Holy Quran about 1400 lunar years before it was fulfilled.

We have not even scratched the surface of the miracle at this point, so before you accept it or reject it, let’s proceed.

2. The year of the splitting of the moon encoded in the Glorious Quran

It is absolutely legitimate at this point to wonder if this is just a coincidence. But what if we were to show you how the precise lunar year of the event in the Islamic calendar is coded in the Quran, and later in the article the exact day during that year, would you accept that it is a miracle, or would you reject it?

Would you instead, if it is the case, still believe hadiths that claim that the moon was split in two halves at the time of the prophet, or realize that you were indeed misled and that it is time to reevaluate your personal beliefs regarding the authenticity of hadiths and consider following the pure Quran instead?

The splitting of the moon which occurred at 17:54:1 (Universal Time) was fulfilled in the Muslim lunar calendar on 6 Jumaada Al-awal 1389 A.H. (6/5/1389 = 21/07/1969). Let us bear in mind the exact language of verse: 54:1: “the moon has split”. It is both a physical and symbolic meaning as well, and we will witness especially in part 4 how verse 54:1 divinely separates the 27 words “moon” to reveal the exact day of the prophecy. What we will say for now is that verse 54:1 separates 54:1 and the rest of the Quran to reveal all aspects regarding the date of the prophecy. With this is mind, let us witness the following:

3. The most obvious “separation” in 54:1 points at the night of decree (Laylatul qadr) in the lunar calendar

As shown in part 1.3, 54:1 is the 20^th occurrence of the word “moon” since the beginning of the Quran (out of 27 occurrences). We explained in section 1.3, that number 27 refers first and foremost to the 27 days that it takes for the moon to orbit the earth completely (sidereal month). We also pointed at the fact that it takes 29.5 days for us to visually see the new moon reappear in the sky from the earth vantage point.

Several Quranic systems symbolize an entire year, for example the 365 words « day » or the 12 words « month » found in the Holy Quran (a mathematical miracle proves that both a solar and 354 average lunar year are superposed in the 365 words « day » system, which is documented in the article « miracle of the word day »). By the way, the 12 words « month » always refer to a lunar year, and it is certainly not a coincidence if the word « day » occurs 354 times (average lunar year) between the first and last word « month » in the Quran. One of the secrets regarding the 27 words “moon” is that they also symbolize a 354 day lunar calendar in the Quran, as is suggested by verse 10:5 which points out that the sun and the moon enable us to count the years and time in general:

هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ ضِيَاءً وَالْقَمَرَ نُورًا وَقَدَّرَهُ

مَنَازِلَ لِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَ مَا خَلَقَ

اللَّهُ ذَٰلِكَ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ يُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ

(10:5) He is the one who established the sun as a radiant light, and the moon as a light to which he determined the phases, in order for you to know the number of years and the count of time. He explains the signs for people who believe.

The representation of a lunar year with 27 words « moon » is actually logical based on the fact that there are 354 days in a lunar year because it indirectly reveals a Quranic sign:

It is scientifically undeniable that the moon orbits the earth an average of 13 times per lunar year, and not 12 times like people who are not familiar with the sidereal cycle of the moon might think. Number 13 is thus the link or common denominator between the 27 words “moon” and a 354 day average lunar year:

27.3 days (average sidereal month) × 13 rotations around the earth = 354.9 lunar days (average lunar year is 354.36).

Another way to calculate:

354.36 lunar days / 27.3 sidereal days = 12.98021978021978 rotations = 13 average rotations in a lunar year.

The reader should bear in mind that the Quran operates exactly like science, especially when it comes to astronomy, that is to say through establishing averages, because a month or a lunar year is never exact to the next and variations can be quite substantial (a single synodic month can vary from 29.18 days to 29.93 days), even if averages in the long term are very stable. All this to say that those who would be tempted to criticize the fact that the Quran does not match precisely the averages established by science (like 27 words “moon” or “day”) would only reveal their complete ignorance of scientific facts, as well as their disingenuous behavior as the Quran indicates averages through a number of very carefully chosen words (day, days, moon, sun, month, etc…) and you simply can’t split words in thirds or halves.

In addition, the Quran did encode a miraculously precise ratio between a solar and lunar year in the 365 words “day” system (see “miracle of the word day” on this website).

Therefore, coding the lunar calendar year in the entire Quran with 27 words “moon” implies prior knowledge of the fact that there are an average of 13 rotations of the moon around the earth in a lunar year.

Assuming that the 27 words “moon” also symbolically represent an entire lunar year, we have to see verse 54:1 as being particularly meaningful as it acknowledges a key “division” in the lunar calendar: 54:1 is the 20^th occurrence of the word “moon” out of 27, therefore, we can “divide” the 20^th word “moon” by 27 to pinpoint a particular day in the lunar calendar:

20/27 = 0.7407407407407407.

There are 354.36648 days in the lunar calendar, so let’s multiply this ratio by the number of days in a lunar year:

354.36648 × 0.7407407407407407

= 262.4936888888889 days.

This is the 262^nd day of the lunar year.

We can also calculate in the following manner: The average lunar year is 354 days:

354 × 0.7407407407407407 = 262.222… days,

What is quite stunning about this calculation is that the 262^nd day of the lunar calendar happens to be the first possible night for the night of decree in the lunar calendar ( Laylatul Qadr, the 27^th night of Ramadan, and date of the revelation of the Holy Quran), which the Quran says is more important than 1000 lunar months (97:3).

Ramadan is the 9^th month; therefore, we multiply 29.5 days × 8 and add 27 days to calculate the theoretical day of the lunar year for Laylatul Qadr:

8 × 29.53 days = 236.24 days.

236.24 + 27 days = 263.24 = 263^rd day.

The new day starts at sunset in Islam. It is a fact that if the first moon of the lunar year rises shortly after sunset (for instance 1 or a few hours), the first day of the Islamic year will start at the next sunset, and the actual Islamic calendar will have lost about a day: This is why the first possible day for Laylatul Qadr is the 262^nd day.

As explained in the article “miracle of Laylatul Qadr” on this website, one of the ways the “blessed night” is coded in the Quran is that in the 365 words “day” system (where both the 354 day lunar calendar and 365 day solar calendars are superposed), the 262^nd word “day” occurs in verse 42:7, which is the only verse in the 365 words “day” system that mentions the revelation of the Quran:

(42:7) And We thus revealed to you (O Muhammad) an Arabic Quran so you may warn the mother of the cities (Mecca) and all those around it, and warn about the Day (262nd occurrence in the Quran) of Summoning, for which there is no doubt: Some [will be sent] to Heaven, and some to the blazing fire.

42:7 is also the 243^rd verse of the 365 words “day” system, and 243 = 27 × 9, another profound hidden sign of the “day” system which symbolized the 27^th day of the 9^th moon (Ramadan).

In other words – and with a simple fraction (20/27 into the lunar year) – 54:1 symbolically “splits” or “divides” the lunar year pointing precisely at Laylatul Qadr! This is the first clue that we are right to assume that the 27 words of the Quran do symbolize an entire lunar year, and this hidden meaning behind verse 54:1 is going to be very helpful to understand how the day and month of the splitting of the moon miracle is coded in 54:1.

4. Important discovery: The day and month of the splitting of the moon in 1389 AH coded in the Glorious Quran

The official date of the “splitting of the moon” is the 6th day of Jumaada al-awal 1389 AH (After Hijri) à 17:54:1 UTC (Universal Time). It is the fifth Islamic month since the beginning of the lunar year (6/5/1389 AH), and it thus corresponds to four full months (4 × 29.5 days) + 6 days into the year 1389 AH:

4 × 29.5 (average lunar month) = 118 days.

118 days + 6 days = 124 days

The exact date is therefore the 124^th day of the Islamic year 1389 AH.

Regarding to the prophecy of the splitting of the moon, we are going to follow a very similar model as in the previous section in order to determine the number of days in the lunar the year 1389, except that this time, we are going to divide the 7 (words) “moon” after 54:1 by the 20 (words) “moon” up to 54:1, instead of dividing by all the words “moon” in the Quran (27). The first reason for this calculation is because the meaning of verse 54:1 indicates that “the moon has split”, and one of the meaning of the word “inshaqqa” is precisely “to divide”. “Dividing” the number of “moons” in the Quran before and after 54:1 is the secret symbolic key hidden in the Quran to unveil the exact date. The last 7 words “moon” are located in the section of the 1389 verses right after 54:1 (symbolical separation of the moon) which we saw reveals the lunar year of the prophecy in the hegira calendar (1389 AH). It is thus logical that the last 7 words “moon” will be the number that will serve as a basis to encode the date of the prophecy, and not the first 20 words “moon” until 54:1. The second reason to divide 7 “moons” by 20 “moons” is that in the prophecy, the separation is final: The lunar rocks that left the moon at 17:54:1 UTC on 7/21/1969 (6 Jumaada al-awal 1389 AH) creating a symbolical separation will never come back to the moon. As a result, it does not make sense in this particular context to divide the 7 words “moon” by all 27 words “moon” like in the previous section, but only to divide by what remains of the moon after its symbolical split, that is to say the first 20 words until 54:1. Symbolically speaking, the first 20 words “moon” represent the moon after the accomplishment of the “splitting of the moon” prophecy, and the last 7 words “moon” symbolize the lunar rocks transported by the American lunar module to earth.

Let’s make this symbolical division:

The length of a lunar year based on averages has been calculated by modern science as 354.367055772 days. Every lunar year’s exact length varies by a few minutes or hours, so it is but a very close average. Let us quote here Wikipedia:

“The actual time between lunations [lunar months] may range from about 29.18 to about 29.93 days. The long-term average duration [of a synodic lunar month] is 29.530587981 days (29 d 12 h 44 min 2.8016 s).

So like we did previously to pinpoint “laylatul Qadr”, let’s multiply the ratio of 0.35 (7 moons after 54:1 divided/split by 20 moons up to 54:1) by 354.367055772 days in order to witness what I consider a great miracle:

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

Praise be to God Lord of the Universe!

This profound miracle is the kind of reason why true Islam, based on the Quran alone (splitting of the moon Bukhari hadiths quoted in the next section are obviously false, as are all other hadiths), will triumph on earth God willing, as promised by God Almighty in the Glorious Quran (9:33, 61:9).

God Almighty says:

سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ

أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ

(41:53) We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and within their souls until it is manifestly proven unto them that, indeed, it is the truth. Does not your Lord suffice, that He is Witness over all things?

I strongly encourage people to verify for themselves that the date of the splitting of the moon on July 21, 1969, corresponds precisely to 6 Jumaada al-awal 1389 AH (6/5/1389).

Just in case some people would try to deny the facts, here are no less than six websites where you can convert 7/21/1969 into the Islamic calendar starting with the date converter of the Institute of Oriental Studies of University of Zurich:

– Hijri/Gregorian date converter tool of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Zurich :

http://www.oriold.uzh.ch/static/hegira.html

– Hijri/Gregorian date converter tool of the muslimphilosophy.com:

http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/hijri.htm

– Hijri/Gregorian date converter tool of the Iranian chamber society website:

http://www.iranchamber.com/calendar/converter/iranian_calendar_converter.php

– Hijri/Gregorian date converter tool of Assabile.com website:

http://www.assabile.com/convert-date-hijri-gregorian.htm

– Hijri/Gregorian date converter tool of Fourmilab’s calendar converter

http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/calendar/

– Another useful Hijri/Gregorian date converter tool:

http://www.bsswebsite.me.uk/Daysanddates/hijridate.htm

Even the most ardent opponent of the miracle on the internet, Mr. Jochen Katz, acknowledges that the event took place on 6 Jumaada al-awal 1389 AH (6/5/1389):

http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/katz/rebuttals/taslaman/moonlanding_date.html

By the way, his article is right on target exposing Mr. Harun Yahya’s baseless numerology, who even picked the wrong year in the Muslim calendar (1390 instead of 1389). Mr. Harun Yahya tried to match baseless gematrical value calculations with an incorrect date.

The above 16^th century painting describes the splitting of the moon according to hadiths. Muhammad (face veiled) splits the moon in two halves by pointing at it with his fingers.

5. Splitting of the moon according to Hadiths

Sunni Muslims typically cite hadiths to claim that the splitting of the moon occurred at the time of the prophet. Here are several accounts of the story:

Sahih Bukhari 5:58:209:

Narrated ‘Abdullah: “The moon was split (into two pieces) while we were with the Prophet in Mina. He said, “Be witnesses.” Then a Piece of the moon went towards the mountain.”

Sahih Bukhari 4:56:830

Narrated Abdullah bin Masud: “During the lifetime of the Prophet the moon was split into two parts and on that the Prophet said, ‘Bear witness (to thus).'”

Sahih Bukhari 5:58:208

Narrated Anas bin Malik: “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.”

That last hadiths is even more doubtful than the others as it would imply an extremely large gap for the “people of Mecca” to be able to see the Hiram Mountain in between the two parts of the moon.

Sahih Bukhary, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 387:

Narrated Ibn Masud:

During the lifetime of Allah’s Apostle the moon was split into two parts; one part remained over the mountain, and the other part went beyond the mountain. On that, Allah’s Apostle said, “Witness this miracle.”

Sahih Muslim, Book 039, Number 6725:

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Abdullah b. Mas’ud (who said): We were along with Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) at Mina, when the moon was split up into two. One of its parts was behind the mountain and the other one was on this side of the mountain. Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said to us: “Bear witness to this”.

I think this is the best of this series of hadiths: One part of the moon on one side of the mountain, and the other part behind!

Sahih Muslim, Book 039, Number 6726:

‘Abdullah b. Mas’ud reported that the moon was split up in two parts during the lifetime of Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him). The mountain covered one of its parts and one part of it was above the mountain and Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: “Bear witness to this”.

We see here that people who collected those hadiths in the middle ages did not know about the real size of the moon, nor that one half of the moon could not be in front of a mountain and the other half behind. Those hadiths will seem amusing to some, but in reality they are blasphemes against God, Islam, and our prophet. They are lies that ridicule Islam. They were declared “sahih” (authentic) by people who strayed off the right path and bullied the ummah to believe in them just like they still do today.

The historical record of the chronological order of revelations of suras actually corroborates that the splitting of the moon was not fulfilled at the time of the prophet because at least two suras revealed well after sura 54 inform us that disbelievers were wondering why Muhammad hadn’t received any miracle:

وَيَقُولُونَ لَوْلَا أُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ آيَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِ فَقُلْ إِنَّمَا

الْغَيْبُ لِلَّهِ فَانتَظِرُوا إِنِّي مَعَكُم مِّنَ الْمُنتَظِرِينَ

(10:20) And they say: “Why has no miracle been sent to him from his Lord? Then, say [O Muhammad]: “The realm of the unknown belongs to God alone, so wait, and indeed I will wait along with you”.

وَقَالُوا لَوْلَا أُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ آيَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِ قُلْ

إِنَّمَا الْآيَاتُ عِندَ اللَّهِ وَإِنَّمَا أَنَا نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ

(29:50) And they said, “Why have no signs been sent to him from his Lord?!”. Say: “The realm of the unknown belongs to God alone, and I am no other than a clear warner”.

If our holy prophet had split the moon in two halves like hadiths claim, such a question would not even have come to their minds – even if they had rejected the miracle – because they would have known full well in their hearts that indeed a miracle had been revealed to Muhammad. Furthermore, the prophet would have reminded them that the moon was split if it had been the case. On the contrary, he admitted long after sura “the moon” (in 10:20, 29:50 above) that God hadn’t given him a miracle like some previous messengers like Moses or Jesus, and that they had to wait: “so wait, and indeed I will wait along with you”.

By the way, the fulfillment of the prophecy of the splitting of the moon is a vibrant example that illustrates why Muhammad was ordered to say: “wait, and indeed I will wait along with you”, in order for miracles to be accomplished.

For information, sura 54 was the 37^th sura revealed, while sura 10 and sura 29 were the 51^st and 85^th suras revealed respectively.

Some Sunni Muslims have spread a hoax on the internet claiming that the following picture proves that the moon was split into two parts:

This is a NASA photograph from Apollo 10 in 1969: It shows one of many rilles (faults) on the surface of the moon, and has been claimed to be evidence of the splitting of the moon confirming the hadiths version. The Nasa actually responded and clarified that such rilles are numerous on the surface of the moon and do not even circle its entire circumference (they can be several hundreds of kilometers in length). The splitting of the moon hoax is about as intelligent as claiming that the San Andreas Fault is proof that the earth was split in two parts:

San Andreas fault in California:

Question for intelligent people: Was planet earth split into two parts?!

How much time will it take for the Muslim world to come to its senses and realize that Hadiths are the very core of the disease that affects the world of Islam?

Muhammad al-Bukhari was born on 19 July 810 and died in September 870. His hadiths were therefore written down for the first time about two centuries after the death of the prophet; claiming that they are authentic simply defies human intelligence. His hadiths often contradict the message of the Quran and even contradict themselves on numerous occasions (https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Contradictions_in_the_Hadith). The tragedy is that Sunni scholars have “canonized” them declaring them the most reliable source after the Quran and anyone who dares to point at their numerous weaknesses is typically considered as a deviant or an infidel.

In reality, the facts are even worse because when a hadith contradicts the Quran, they give preference to the hadiths which then supersedes the Quran in their minds. The Catholics committed the same type of sin claiming that the pope is infallible.

In the end, Sunni scholars have deviated as far as declaring that the hadiths regarding stoning to death the adulterer abrogate Quranic law:

Sahih Bukhari 8:82:805

Narrated Jabir bin Abdullah Al-Ansari: A man from the tribe of Bani Aslam came to Allah’s Apostle and Informed him that he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and bore witness four times against himself. Allah’s Apostle ordered him to be stoned to death as he was a married Person.

This hadith violates the Quranic law for fornication or adultery (the Quran makes no difference between the two) which is 100 mild lashes.

Another similar extreme example is the Bukhari hadith which claims that the apostate shall be put to death:

Sahih Bukhari (84:57)

[In the words of] “Allah’s Apostle, ‘Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.'”

This again blatantly violates the Quranic law which decrees that “there shall be no compulsion in religion” (2:256).

Hadiths completely desecrate the message of Islam and people are free to read my article entitled “hadiths the cancer of Islam” for extensive Quranic proofs as regards why the Quran actually forbids “any hadith other than God and His verses” (45:6) when it comes to religious matters.

Bukhari hadiths about “the splitting of the moon” and others are no different than the examples we just cited, and people can compare them with the verifiable evidence described in this article, which proves that the splitting of the moon described in 54:1 occurred when Apollo 11 separated itself from the moon surface transporting lunar rocks to our planet on 6/5/1389 AH at 17:54:1 UTC.

Anyone who will decide to continue to believe in the splitting of the moon hadiths after the proofs described in this article will be guilty of rejecting profound Quranic signs, and for spreading lies about God and His messenger.

6. The splitting of the moon and the miracle of 19

God uses mathematical signs in our daily lives to manifest His miracles and the main calendar in use on earth at the time of the splitting of the moon is obviously the Gregorian calendar and the date of the miracle is July 21, 1969, or 21/07/1969 in international format. Let us concatenate this sequence:

21/07/1969 = 21071969 =

19 × 67 (19^th prime number) × 16553

Not only is the concatenated date a multiple of 19, it is also multiple of 67, the 19^th prime number, also gematrical value of the word “proof” (بَيِّنَة = bayyinat), which occurs precisely 19 times in the Holy Quran in its simple singular form. The miracle of 19 was initially discovered by Rashad Khalifa in 1974, 1406 lunar years (19 × 74) after the revelation of the Quran. Obviously, the miracle of 19 is mentioned in sura 74 (74:30). In other words, the date of the splitting of the moon [21071969 = 19 × 67 (19^th prime number, GV of the word “proof”) × 16553] can be seen as a sign that God was about to reveal to mankind the “proof”, i.e. the miracle of 19, sign which will eventually convince the human race of the divine origin of the Quran (74:31). Rashad Khalifa was able to identify early aspects of the miracle of 19 by studying the Quran with computers at the university of Phoenix in Arizona. Therefore, just like the splitting of the moon miracle is the result of an unprecedented technological prowess achieved by mankind, the miracle of 19 was discovered thanks to computers, and God chose to manifest a major sign based on the miracle of 19 through the date of Splitting of the moon.

Conclusion

اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ

(54:1) The hour (day of judgment) has come closer, and the moon has split.

وَإِن يَرَوْا آيَةً يُعْرِضُوا وَيَقُولُوا سِحْرٌ مُّسْتَمِرٌّ

(54:2) And if they see a sign/miracle, they turn away and say: “endless manipulation”.

وَكَذَّبُوا وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءَهُمْ وَكُلُّ أَمْرٍ مُّسْتَقِرٌّ

(54:3) And they denied (it) and followed their desires, but there is a settlement for every matter.

وَلَقَدْ جَاءَهُم مِّنَ الْأَنبَاءِ مَا فِيهِ مُزْدَجَرٌ

(54:4) But, indeed, information came to them that should have prevented them (from rejecting the miracle).

حِكْمَةٌ بَالِغَةٌ فَمَا تُغْنِ النُّذُرُ

(54:5) Profound wisdom! But warnings have been to no avail !

The event described in sura 54:1 is highly symbolical as well as physical as Apollo 11 separated itself from the moon carrying lunar rocks on 21 July 1969 at 17:54:1 UTC. This date corresponds to 6 Jumaada al-awal 1389 AH in the Muslim calendar (6/5/1389) and the hundreds of millions of human watching or listening to the event in their respective time zones all had in common that the event occurred at 54 minutes and 1 second, matching the sura and verse number of the Quranic prophecy. The “separation” acknowledged at the end of verse 54:1 leaves 1389 verses until the end of the Quran, which, amazingly, corresponds to the lunar year of the first manned mission to the moon. This confirms that the Islamic calendar is acknowledged by God in the Quran, and confirms that the Hafs version of counting suras and verses is correct between 54:1 and 114:6 (this is the version accepted almost unanimously in the world today). By the way, the “even and odd miracle” of the Quran confirms all 6236 verses and 114 suras of the Quran, so the 1389 verses between 54:1 and 114:6 further confirm the miracle.

In the Islamic lunar calendar, the splitting of the moon occurred on 6 Jumaada al-awal 1389 AH (After Hijri) at 17:54:1 UTC (Universal Time). This is the fifth month since the beginning of the lunar year (6/5/1389 AH). The average lunar month is 29.5 days, so let’s multiply 29.5 by the first four months = 29.5 × 4 = 118 days. The date of the event is 6 days into the fifth month, so let’s add 6 days to 118 days:

118 + 6 = 124 days

The Quran is a numerically structured book (83:9-20) and there are 27 words “moon” in the Quran. The word “moon” symbolizes the lunar calendar (10:5) and the Quranic secret is that all 27 words “moon” as a whole symbolize an entire lunar year in the Quran just like the 12 words “month” or the 365 words “day” found in the Quran. Understanding this provides a basis for “dividing” (the very meaning of the word “inshaqqa” in 54:1) the last 7 words Moon of the Quran by the first 20 words “moon” up to 54:1. The intent is to attempt to unveil the precise date of the prophecy in 1389 AH. The last seven words “moon” are on the side of the “split” left after 54:1, which leaves 1389 verses until the end of the Quran (year of the Quranic prophecy), and it is why they are divided by the first 20 words “moon” which in this particular context symbolize the moon after Apollo 11 took off from the moon.

7/20 = 0.35. This divinely arranged ratio simply needs to be multiplied by the precise number of days in a lunar year (354.367…) to unveil the number of days into lunar year 1389 AH at the time of the “splitting of the moon”:

354.367 × 0.35 = 124.02845 lunar days

124 days is exactly the number of days into the year 1389 AH that we have just calculated above and which corresponds exactly to 6 Jumaada al-awal 1389 AH, the date of the splitting of the moon. This is how the ratio between 7 words “moon” on one side and 20 words “moon” up to verse 54:1 relate to a lunar year as a whole and miraculously yields the very day and month of the splitting of the moon prophesied in 54:1. Glory to God, what a PROFOUND miracle!

This not only proves that the Quran is the divine word of God who controls future events in the universe to the very year, month, day, minute and second, but it exposes at the same time the hadiths that were written starting two centuries after the death of the prophet and that claimed that the moon was split in two halves at the time of the prophet.

Hadiths disfigure Islam and it is time for true and peaceful Islam to triumph in the world, God willing.

The date of the splitting of the moon coded with 19:

God uses mathematical signs in our daily lives to manifest His miracles and the date of the miracle is July 21, 1969, or 21/07/1969 in international format. Let us concatenate this sequence: 21/07/1969 = 21071969 = 19 × 67 (19^th prime number) × 16553. Not only is the concatenated date a multiple of 19, it is also multiple of 67, the 19^th prime number, also gematrical value of the word “proof” (بَيِّنَة = bayyinat), which occurs 19 times in the Holy Quran in its simple singular form. The miracle of 19 was about to be discovered in 1974, and the date of the splitting of the moon miracle was a prophetic sign.

At the end of the day, acknowledging the miracle of the splitting of the moon and other miracles of the Quran is a matter of sincerity: God’s signs are overwhelmingly clear for the sincere and increase their faith. They are also an opportunity for people who witness them to reject them (6:25), thus revealing their true face.

This website is a call to every Muslim and believer to embrace and spread the pure message of the Quran alone around him or her and to march to establish the kingdom of God in the world, God willing. Do not keep this profound miracle for yourself and share it with as many people as you can (you can do this right now using the icons below).

سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ

أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ

إِن نَّشَأْ نُنَزِّلْ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ آيَةً فَظَلَّتْ أَعْنَاقُهُمْ لَهَا خَاضِعِينَ

(26:4) If We willed, We could send down to them from heaven a miracle to which they would bend their necks in humility.

Article published on 12/03/2016, revised on 5/23/2023.