the splitting of the moon
انشقاق القمر
between 610 and 622 CE
The sign the people of Mecca asked of the Prophet ﷺ: he showed them the moon in two halves until they saw Mount Hira between them 1; in another report they said 'Muhammad has bewitched us'. Ibn Mas'ud reports 'the moon split while we were with the Prophet at Mina; he said: bear witness — and one part went toward the mountain', and once said it split at Mecca 2; Ibn 'Abbas reports the moon split in the Prophet's lifetime 3. Muslims read the event in the opening of Surat al-Qamar 'the Hour has drawn near and the moon has split'.
At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Overview
The sayings in the Sahih of al-Bukhari relate that the people of Mecca asked the Prophet for a sign, and he showed them the moon split into two halves, until they saw Hira between them. 1
The reports
In another report they said: "Muhammad has bewitched us." 1
Ibn Mas'ud relates that the moon split while they were with the Prophet at Mina, and he said: bear witness. A group went off toward the mountain. He once said it split in Mecca. 2
Ibn Abbas relates that the moon split in the time of the Messenger of God. 3
In the Qur'an
Muslims read this event in the opening of the surah of al-Qamar: al-Qamar 1. 1
The hadiths do not give the year of the event, which falls in the Meccan period after the mission began. Fixing the year needs an additional source.
Connections
- Occurred at
- Mecca
- Had participant
- Muhammad· Abdullah ibn Mas'ud· Abdullah ibn Abbas
- Part of
- The Prophetic Era
People and things also explored
The Hijra· The three years of the secret call· The first migration to Abyssinia· Mecca· The pause of revelation (Fatra)· The Isra and Mi'raj· Dawn of Islam· The Life of Muhammad
Sources
- Sahih al-Bukhari, 3868
- Sahih al-Bukhari, 3869
- Sahih al-Bukhari, 3870
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “the splitting of the moon”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/splitting-of-the-moon/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.