…for Yours are the Hand, the Authority, the Kingdom and the Dominion, the age of all ages and the eternity of eternities. Amen, amen. (1)

He added: “Muhammad ﷺ was granted two signs from the treasures of the Throne (2): the closing verses of Sūrah al-Baqarah—‘The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and so do the believers…’—to the end of the passage (al-Baqarah 2:285-286).”

The Story of the Sun’s Being Held Back

This took place for Joshua son of Nun, son of Ephraim, son of Joseph, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham the Friend of the All-Merciful (peace be upon them all). He was the prophet of the Children of Israel after Moses (peace be upon him); he led them out of the wilderness and, after a siege and bitter fighting, brought them into Jerusalem. The conquest was about to be completed after the ʿAsr prayer on a Friday, but the sun was on the verge of setting and the Sabbath about to begin, which would have prevented them from continuing the battle. Joshua looked at the sun and said, “You are under command, and I am under command.” Then he prayed, “O Allah, hold it back for me.” Allah therefore restrained it until the town was taken, after which it set.

We have already cited, in the Stories of the Prophets, the ḥadīth reported by Muslim through ʿAbd al-Razzaq, from Maʿmar ibn Hammām, from Abū Hurayrah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “A prophet among the prophets went forth on a campaign. When he approached a town after having prayed ʿAsr—or thereabouts—he said to the sun, ‘You are under command and I am under command. O Allah, hold it back for me for a while.’ (3) So it was held back for him until Allah granted him victory…”—the ḥadīth continues at length.

That prophet was Joshua son of Nun, as is shown by the report recorded by Imām Aḥmad: Aswad ibn ʿĀmir narrated to us; Abū Bakr ibn Hishām narrated from Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, from Abū Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, “The sun was never held back for any human being except Joshua (peace be upon him) on the nights when he marched toward Jerusalem.” (4) This wording is unique to Aḥmad, and its chain meets the criterion of al-Bukhārī.

Given this, the splitting of the moon into two halves—one appearing beyond Mount Ḥirāʾ and the other on this side—is an even greater miracle than the temporary halting of the sun. Earlier, in the section on proofs, we mentioned the ḥadīth concerning the sun’s being returned after it had set and discussed what has been said about it; Allah knows best.

Our shaykh, the eminent scholar Abū al-Maʿālī ibn al-Zamlakānī, said: “As for the sun’s being stopped for Joshua during his fight against the tyrants, the moon was split in two for our Prophet ﷺ, and the moon’s being cleft into two pieces is a more conclusive sign than the sun’s being arrested in its course.”