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in his commentary on Surah liv. 1, prefers 1 the view that the moon was
actually split asunder because of the reading;
وَقَدِ
انْشَقّ آلْقَمَرُ (which,2 however, differs
from that adopted to the usual text of the Qur'an) but he informs us that "It has
been said that its meaning is, It will be split on the day of the Resurrection". Now
there could be no doubt whatever about the matter, had it actually occurred, and were the
Tradition 3 correct that states that Muhammad showed the people of Mecca the
moon split in two, so that Mount Hira was visible between the parts, or, as another
Tradition 4 says, one part appeared above the mountain and the tether beneath
it. In the margin of the Mishkat an attempt is made to avoid the obvious difficulty
caused by the fact that the world in general did not notice the strange sight. The writer
of the note says that the event occurred at night when men were asleep, and in a moment,
and that therefore it would not necessarily be observed in all parts of the world. (7) The
expression "The Hour"
(السّاعَةُ), with the definite Article, has a very distinct and
special meaning in both the Qur'an and the Traditions.6 It always in them means
the day of the Resurrection, as Al Baizawi admits. Now it is clear that the Resurrection
Day was not near at the time when the Suratu'l Qamar was written, for this Surah was
dictated a long time ago, before the Hijrah itself. Hence, as in this verse the Splitting
of the Moon is said to be so closely associated with the Resurrection Day's approach, the
meaning must be that, when the Resurrection draws nigh, the moon will be split. Both the
verbs in the past tense in the verse
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are thus used with a future signification, which is a usual idiom in Arabic. We
have seen that, even in Al Baizawi's time, some people thus explained the verse; and the
very fact that we are still alive today, so many years later, shows that this sign of the
approach of the Resurrection Day had not then appeared. Hence 'Abbasi well says that the
Splitting of the Moon and the appearance of Dajjal will be signs of the nearness of
the Resurrection, when they occur.
From all this we see that the Qur'an does not assert that Muhammad performed the
miracle of Splitting the Moon. Therefore this verse cannot justly be quoted as a proof
that he wrought such a miracle, nor can a miraculous event which has not yet occurred
be adduced as a proof that Muhammad 1 was an Apostle sent by God.
The one other miracle of Muhammad which some suppose to be referred to in the Qur'an is
an event which some assert to have occurred at the battle of Badr, though others deny this
and say that it took place at the battle of Hunain, or at Uhud, or at Khaibar. It is said
that a miracle is referred to in the words: "And thou threwest not when thou didst
throw, but God threw " (Suratu'l Anfal—Surah viii.—ver. 17). Al Baizawi informs 2
us that Gabriel told Muhammad at Badr to cast a handful of earth at the Quraish. When the
battle was joined, he threw some gravel in their faces, saying, "Let the faces be
disfigured." Then their eyes all became full of the gravel, and they fled, pursued by
the Muslims. When the latter were afterwards boasting of their victory and of the number
they had slain, this verse is said to have been sent
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