The Moon Splitting – Surah Al-Qamar
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Channel: Nouman Ali Khan
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AI Generated Summary ©
The speakers discuss three major views on the surah, including the split of the sun and the opinion that the split is not about the moon, but rather a figure of speech. They explain the use of "has" in various arguments and emphasize the importance of being chosen by God. The speakers also discuss issues with the split, including the Q centers in the Bible and the need for a message to be delivered. They emphasize the importance of rejecting everything except for a miracle or meal, and encourage viewers to visit Bayona's deeper look study.AI Generated Transcript ©
In other words, Allah is saying you need
something special.
Plenty What isn't special?
Is the sun not special enough?
Is the earth not special enough? Are you
not special enough?
Is history not special enough? Are these ruins
not special enough? You are surrounded
by Ayat.
Bukhadi and Muslim, the moon is being described
as splitting. I'll add, there are other narrations
in which the Quraysh came and asked the
prophet
show us a miracle, and he pointed to
the sky, and then the moon split. Those
those are narrations that are also found attributed
to Anna among others.
Now classically in tafsir,
we find 3 major views about this ayah,
the one we're about to deal with. We're
going to get into the surah, but before
we do, I want you to have this
background understanding.
So there's 3 major views. I've taken this
from Al Qutobi.
Similar things have been said by by Al
Mawarbi. Others have talked about it too. This
is just a sampling of what classical scholars
have said.
Actually. So he says, this narration is absolutely
firm.
Confirms it. Other other narrations
exist. There's no way to deny it. This
it is what it is, the moon split,
done. That's one opinion. And that's the majority.
The vast majority of classical Islamic scholarship and
tasir scholarship
accept these narrations literally, and they say the
wounded in fact split. It says what it
says. That's number 1. 2nd,
2nd
opinion, classically, this is not talking about something
that happened now. It's talking about something that's
going to happen on judgement day. The hour
has come close and the moon shall split.
The the past tense is being used because
in Arabic rhetoric, you can use past tense
for future all the time. For example, Allah
says,
The
Literally means the decision of Allah already came.
But actually,
the the decision it's referring to is the
coming of judgment day, that is not come
yet, that is
coming in the future, but he says
Similarly describing judgment day itself, he says,
It's a promise that's already been fulfilled. He
uses the past tense to talk about something
in
the future. Now, so there's a group that
says, classically also, that this ayah isn't referring
to the splitting of the moon, it's referring
to the splitting, or breaking apart of the
sun
near judgment day. Like other places in the
Quran,
or you know,
What do you mean
Right?
The moon is going to get eclipsed,
and though this is a description of the
moon getting eclipsed, or the moon falling apart
near judgment day. That also exists in classical
tradition.
They don't deny the hadith, they're basically Understand
this, they're saying that hadith may be there,
the Quran is not referring to it.
The Quran is talking about something else, that
hadith is a separate incident.
And this this might be hard for you
guys to understand. How can it be 2
separate incidents?
Let me explain.
This happens a lot. You can find a
hadith
that's talking about something,
and you can think that the is talking
about the same thing
but they're actually talking about 2 different things
for example, a famous example of that is
famous
the people of
were destroyed.
Now classically, one opinion is the people of
are the people of hell fire. Are ditches
in hell,
and they're being described as people that are
gonna be destroyed because of what they did
with believers.
And there's a long story about the people
of and a boy
who believed, and then the king tried to
kill him, and it's a long story of
us, and then all of his people were
were burnt alive, and you might be familiar
with that story.
That story doesn't fit with the Surah at
all, actually.
They're 2 separate things,
and they they even though the same phrasing
is being used. You understand?
So there were classical scholars who said that
incident may have occurred, but it doesn't have
to do with this. So this Surah is
talking about the same thing Allah talks about
in so many other places, that the the
the stars and the sky as we know
it is gonna start falling apart.
What even further is this understanding is that
what's coming in the next surah,
the same word in
is gonna be 1
The entire sky is gonna tear open and
split open. So here the moon is splitting
open, and eventually the entire sky is going
to split open. So that's our second opinion.
The third opinion interestingly,
this is the least found
is
They say the moon split
is an Arabic phrase. You guys use English
phrases all the time, like, I don't know
if you've used this one. The cat's out
of the bag now
When you say the cat's out of the
bag, there is no cat,
and there is no bag,
but everybody gets it. Do you understand?
So when you say the cat's out of
the bag, that's a figure of speech.
So one argument is actually in this side
classical poetry
that the moon splitting
was a figure of speech
for things have become clear.
So what they're saying then is,
the
hour has come near and things have become
very clear.
The hours come near and things have become
clear. That was the 3rd opinion classically,
but the first opinion I mentioned
was the majority, and the majority was no,
it in fact split.
The narrations are coming and saying they in
fact split. Now I'm gonna land myself in
trouble, but I'm going to ex ex explain
all of this. And expect So there's 3
arguments I'm gonna go in reverse. If you
accept the argument that this is talking about
judgment day,
right? That the splitting of the is not
now, it's gonna happen on judgment day. Then
the next ayah doesn't really make as much
sense.
Because
if they saw any other miracle, they would
still ignore it. Clearly means that the first
ayah is talking about
a miracle, so that doesn't It doesn't connect
anymore.
So that makes the argument weak.
The second is it's a figure of speech,
but Quran has never used this kind of
figure of speech anywhere. Every time Allah uses
a figure of speech, he has something called
and They they use these terms in
but the point is, it's very clear that
it's being used figuratively.
He doesn't use something that a vast majority
of people are like, no. No. The moon
split and somebody has, no. No. No. This
is like the cats out of the bag.
That doesn't happen because the Quran is not
unclear like that and gives code like that.
It uses, you know, I I look as
sad, the the common language, what everybody understands.
But if you accept the narration, then we
run into what I just said. You run
into a scientific problem.
How are you describing the moon splitting? And
you run into a historical problem, nobody else
saw it.
Now I'm going to tell you what I
personally, after after researching this subject myself,
after discussing it with my colleagues that are
specializing in hadith,
that are specializing in Islamic history, that are
specializing also in tafsir,
Hours and hours and hours
thinking about this,
I came to the conclusion that I am
not convinced
of the moon physically splitting,
but not because of the scientific problem,
and not because of the historical problem.
Because of another problem, and that problem I
call the Qur'anic argument problem.
But let me tell you why not the
scientific problem.
Because Quran breaks science all the time. Fire
gets cold in the Quran.
Ibrahim gets thrown in a fire, gets cold.
Doesn't it? So physics getting stopped is not
an issue in the Quran.
Young people can go to sleep in a
cave and sleep for 300 years,
and get out, and they're still young. That
happens in the Quran, and I believe it.
There's no like, oh no no, this was
suspended animation.
This was some kind of cryo chamber I
don't
I have no reason to or or the
the water splitting in the case of Musa
each parting of the body of water look
like a mountain standing. It's not, oh, no.
This was low tide. It's on low tide.
You can have 2 mountains on either side
on low tide. That doesn't make any sense.
So and then and then in Surat Al
Baqarah, a dead person is coming back to
life.
The sun is deviating from the cave in
Surat Al Kahf.
There's all kinds of unscientific
stuff happening in the Quran all the time,
and I believe in all of it.
In fact, the surah right before this one,
something really unscientific happened. The messenger sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam ascended into the heavens, didn't he?
Once you get past the ozone layer, where's
the oxygen?
Oh, yeah. You're gonna get past the oxygen.
There's no spaces.
And then you're gonna go past stars and
galaxies. The more you get closer to the
stars, the the insane temperatures that can scorch
and burn. How is this happening?
And light light
from the stars reaches my eye in maybe
up to 13,900,000,000
years, the furthest stars in the galaxy.
Light years of travel. When you look at
a star in the sky, you're looking at
1,000,000,000 of years of history. That's not the
star as it is now, that's the light
that's been traveling for 1,000,000,000 of years. But
the prophet
travels across not just 1, all 7 heavens,
and then comes back in the same night.
How? What? How?
I can't It takes me like 3 hours
to take a direct flight from Texas to
here, and he was in Jerusalem, and then
all the way This is not scientific,
and I'm completely okay with that,
because
my
can create this world of cause and effect,
and he can pause it whenever he decides.
This is not why I believe in the
Quran. I believe in the Quran on its
own merits, and once I came to believe
in it, and all of these things became
easy to believe on their own, you'd be
like, how could you believe that? How could
you believe this? How could you believe this?
You're looking at all the fruits.
The, my iman doesn't come from the fruits.
It comes from the root,
Right? That when the root is set, then
you're fine. So from that point of view,
if the moon split,
then the moon split.
And if nobody saw it, what's the big
deal?
Musa alaihi salam was in the desert,
and he saw a fire up in the
mountain. Yes or no?
He saw a fire. His family couldn't see
it. He said,
He didn't say
He said, hey, you guys see it? Nobody
could see it because nobody was meant to
see it. The only one who was supposed
to see it was who?
If anybody else saw it, they would end
up there too. Hey. What you guys doing
here?
Nobody else was meant to see it.
The same way.
In the battle of weather, you see people
double their size. Allah makes them see.
So how I will describe angels, you know,
they can they can see the enemy's neck
cut before the sword reaches. They they saw
it.
So having someone see something, and others can't
see it, happens all the time in the
Quran.
So if only the people of Mecca saw
it, and the people of 5 didn't see
it, and the people in India were like,
nice moon night, and they didn't see a
split,
completely possible.
Completely possible.
Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam can
be in the cave, right underneath at the
feet of the kuffar, and they can't see
him. Didn't that happen?
He can pass right through them when they're
blinded. Didn't that happen?
So that's not I don't have a scientific
issue with this at all.
I don't have a historicity issue with this
at all. I'll tell you why. Musa alaihi
wasalam was the leader of which nation?
The Israelites.
Yeah. He was their leader. 1st he was
leading them when he was in Egypt.
And in Egypt, is he in a Is
he in an easy situation or a tough
situation? You tell me.
He's in a tough He can't just say,
you know what? I had enough of firaun.
I'm gonna take a break.
I'm just I'm out. Give me a couple
of months. I need to detox. So he
takes his fata,
and he goes on a journey, and he
meets with Khader, and they go on a
journey in Suratul Kahf, while Firaun is doing
his thing.
That's not what's happening, so definitely that didn't
happen when he was in Egypt.
Also, the the Israelites are in captivity, you
can't exactly leave.
Then they're in the desert. Right? They cross
the water, they're in the desert. When he's
in the desert, he's leading who? The Israelites.
He leaves them for a little bit. What
did they end up doing?
Worshipping a calf. And you and you can't
say, well, I had enough of this. I'm
gonna go on a journey to find someone
knowledgeable,
and learn from them. You guys do whatever
you You cow, chicken, whatever you guys decide
is not your problem. Sounds like a you
problem. I'm done. That's not what happened either.
It seems what's clearest, Lucy describes this, what's
clearest is just like
time pauses sometimes. It's a journey in which
the Israelites didn't even realize his absence.
He goes on this journey, and he comes
back, and this journey is entirely a secret
even from the Israelites. This is why there's
no record of this journey in Jewish tradition.
It's only in the Quran.
The the Jewish tradition has the Exodus, it
has Moses in the desert, it has Moses
in Egypt, it has no Moses with There's
no there's no nothing, none of it. It's
only in the Quran.
So it's a journey.
If Allah can give a journey to my
Prophet
to the 7th heavens, and people can't even
notice, then a journey across a few mountains,
and a little bit by the sea, that's
much more possible. You understand?
Guys, sorry for the interruption in the middle
of this lecture. Just before you continue, I
wanna let you know and encourage you that
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so much.
So I have no scientific
criticism
of the moon splitting.
I also have no historical criticism of the
moon splitting.
I have another problem.
I am actually my colleagues.
My I'll tell you my go to.
I am a huge fan of, Hadith research.
I am not a Hadith researcher.
I am I don't have the brain cells
to do that kind of work. That's serious
work. So what I've done, Alhamdulillah, given the
amount of access that Allah has given me,
I have found some of the leading hadith
researchers in the world, and I show up
at their house.
And I say, hey, can I have your
WhatsApp number? Can I like, if I have
a question, can I like, text you?
And so I have contact with Doctor Akram
Nadawi, Sheikh Hussain, some others, and whenever I
have an issue, I just call them and
say, Hey, can you tell me about this
moon splitting situation? Can you tell me about
this hadith? Can you tell me about this
hadith? So you guys don't have that kind
of access. I'm just trying to Help
me
understand this, please. Help me understand this please.
Right? So what I'm about to share with
you is after a lot of these discussions,
with some of the leading hadith experts in
the world,
Including Doctor. Akram Radwi. Okay. So the problem
is not scientific or historical, the problem is
what? The Qur'anic argument. So let me now
take this session to just explain the
This is
This is different places in the Quran. Okay?
Disbelievers came to the Prophet.
Allah quotes them,
They come to him and they say, how
come no miracle comes to him from his
rabb?
How come his god doesn't give him a
miracle?
Tell them the miracles belong to Allah.
I am only a warner to give to
warn you clearly. That's my only job.
Isn't it enough for them?
That we have given the book to you
that's being read to them.
They said show us a miracle.
Tell them I'm just here to warn you,
and then Allah says isn't the book enough?
Isn't the book enough? No no show us
some special effects. Allah says is the Quran
not enough?
No show us something like, you know, like
previous Prophet. Now the Israelites said, we're not
gonna accept.
I mean, we'd love to accept you as
a prophet. You seem like a nice guy,
but we have a rule.
If you're not chosen by God, we can't
accept you. And the only way know you
we know you're chosen by God, is if
you sacrifice an animal, and a fire comes
from the sky, and barbecues the animal, that's
how we will know God has chosen you.
And until that until we see that, how
can we accept you as a prophet?
And Allah says
messengers came to you with all kinds of
miracles, and even the one you asked for,
why did you kill them still?
Allah is saying, I'm not giving it to
you.
Another time they asked for a miracle, Allah
said to the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, why
don't you take a ladder up into the
sky and bring them a miracle yourself? I
will not give it to you.
Then I'll keep reading just so you get
this point. They said in by the way,
this is gonna be Suratul Isra, the next
part. Suratul Isra. Surah Al Isra is maybe
8th or 9th or 10th year of the
sire of the Prophet
Okay? So, it's later on. Now, why is
that important? Because Suratul Qamar, the one we're
studying, is 5 years before then.
So, this is way later. What did they
say?
We won't believe in You until You you
get a waterfall, a water spring to come
out of the ground for us.
Or you all of a sudden
start growing a palm garden, a a date
palm garden.
And should have grapes too.
And a river should just explode and start
running in between the the grape the vineyard
and the palm trees. Why don't we have
a river in between 2?
Or how about you break a piece of
the sky,
as you assume it to be, and let
it come piece by piece to us?
Or Or why don't you bring God himself,
Allah himself?
Or bring the angels.
All of them, one after the other.
Or how about you bring a house made
of copper?
Or you you go hovering into the sky
in front of our eyes?
And we won't believe you until you
send a book down to us that we
can read ourselves. The book is hovering down
with like a, you know, like a drone
and lands in your hand, and then we
then we will believe in you.
Right? Did did all these requests?
Now the problem the first problem I have
is
Allah would have said, what? I didn't show
you the moon already?
I I mean, I already I split the
whole moon for you, and now you're asking
for this stuff? Did Allah even mention the
moon after
this? And that's what supposedly already happened, so
this would be the biggest evidence, wouldn't it?
It's not being
mentioned. How perfect Allah is, how can I
do any of these things? I'm just a
human being, just a man to deliver a
message.
Then, listen to this, this is called
This is really important concept. Allah says, if
We had wanted, We would have sent something
down from the sky,
like they're asking.
We would have given it to them.
Their their necks would have been humbled
if we did that.
They would have been humbled.
But if they're humbled,
they're not believing by choice, are they?
They're believing by force.
And the whole purpose of this revelation
is to make a human being believe this
message by what?
Choice. The choice would be gone.
If if angel started descending, if the flood
water even if someone submitted when the water
rose enough,
or even he was like, okay. Sign me
up.
What was
that again? Like, this
is literally what he did. Why did that
because it's a little late now, but,
you know, Allah
says,
Yeah. Whenever verbal
reminders come to them, spoken reminders come to
them, they ignore them. They wanna see something.
They wanna see something special.
They say, how come no angel comes? You
say Jibreel comes to you? I don't see
you no Jibreel.
What do you mean Jibreel comes to you?
Can I see him?
Listen to this. This is an important concept
in the Qur'an. Many of you are not
familiar with it. Allah says, if I did
send an angel that they could see,
the decision would have been made.
The death penalty would have been executed.
They won't be given any more time.
I want you to understand this rule.
Allah sent miracles to prophets. Yes or no?
Yes.
Once he sends a miracle for your eyes
to see,
then you have no choice but to reject.
When a prophet is preaching,
you can think about it, you can be
hesitant, you have time to go back and
forth, all of that stuff. Once you see
a miracle with your eyes,
once that happens, it's called
Now if you reject, you know what Allah
does? Destroy. Allah destroys you.
If this surah is early Makki
and the moon has split, has Huja been
established?
Huja has been established.
That means all of them should be
any rejection after this, they should be what?
They should be destroyed.
Allah, let's keep reading. So this is in
Surat Al Maidah.
The followers of Jesus, the disciples of Jesus,
were about to be killed because they believed
in Jesus.
And right before the roman armies are about
to come in and kill them, they just
wanna feel like we're about to lose our
lives.
I just need some comfort, so they asked
for a for a the the the last
supper, the famous poet, you know, portrait of
the last supper.
Send us a table spread from the
sky. Wouldn't that be a miracle for the
eyes? Yes or no? Yes. Yeah. That's a
miracle for the eyes.
What did I tell you about a miracle?
If you reject a miracle for the eyes,
what happens?
It's destroyed.
You get destroyed.
When they're asking for a miracle, they don't
even know they're asking for their own destruction.
That is why in Suratul and Kabut, when
they ask for a miracle, and Allah said,
Quran is enough.
In that same surah, later on he said,
They're rushing you to get punished.
They don't even know they're asking for punishment.
When the followers of Jesus asked for this
meal, you know what Isa alaihi salam told
them? Listen to these words.
God has said Allah has said, I'm sending
it down to you. So I agree. I
will send you the meal.
Fine.
And
whoever disbelieves after this meal By the way,
is he talking to believers or disbelievers?
Disbelievers. No. No. No. No. No. No. He's
talking to believers. The few
They're believers.
And this rule is so tough,
it's not even for disbelievers. This rule is
even for?
Believers. He says, whoever among you disbelieves after
this,
It's maybe the toughest ayah of adab in
the entire Quran. Allah says, I guarantee you,
I will punish that person with a punishment
that I have never punished
anyone ever in any nation with.
If you reject a miracle,
I'm not sending it. I'm not giving. Quran
is enough. Think. Think.
Think.
Hey guys. You just watched a small clip
of me explaining the Quran in-depth as part
of the deeper look series. Studying the Quran
in-depth can seem like a really intimidating thing
that's only meant for scholars. Our job at
Bayinah is to make deeper study of the
Quran accessible and easy for all of you.
So take us up on that challenge. Join
us for this study, the deeper look of
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under the deeper look section.
under the deeper look section.