“The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split.” [al-Qamar: 1] (1)

“And if they behold a sign, they turn away and say, ‘Perpetual sorcery!’” [al-Qamar: 2] (2)

“They denied it and pursued their own desires, yet every matter will come to rest.” [al-Qamar: 3] (3)

“Messages had already reached them containing adequate deterrence,” [al-Qamar: 4] (4)

“perfect wisdom—yet warnings are of no avail.” [al-Qamar: 5] (5)

“So turn away from them. On the Day the Caller summons to something dreadful,” [al-Qamar: 6] (6)

“their eyes humbled, they will emerge from the graves as though they were scattered locusts.” [al-Qamar: 7] (7)

Thus He mentioned the nearness of the Hour and the splitting of the moon, and He placed the miraculous sign in the moon’s rending rather than in the sun or the other heavenly bodies, for the moon is nearer to the earth than the sun and the stars. The rupture occurred in it alone, not in the rest of the celestial sphere, because it is the luminous body in which a split is plainly visible to anyone who looks at it, leaving no room for doubt. And if that very body could admit of being split, then the region that contains it is even more likely to allow such a thing. People actually saw it with their own eyes.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to recite this surah in the largest public gatherings—such as the Friday Prayer and the two ‘Id prayers—so that the people might hear the verses it contains about prophethood, their proofs, and the lessons they impart. All the people acknowledged this and did not deny it; hence the splitting of the moon was a fact commonly known among them.

In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim it is related that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb asked Abū Wāqid al-Laythī: