سورة القمر

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ [The hour drew nigh], the Resurrection is near. After the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) there will be nothing except the Resurrection. Prophethood and messengership have come to an end. وَ انْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ [And the moon did rend asunder], the tribe of Quraysh asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) to show them a sign, so he asked Allah, and the moon was split into two halves, and they saw it with their own eyes, and then the two halves rejoined. Then they said: "This is continuous magic."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal ibn Umar said: I asked my master Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Does the awaited Mahdi's mission have a fixed time that people should know when it will be?" He said: "Far be it from Allah to fix the time of his appearance in such a way that our Shia would know it." I said: "Master, why is that?" He said: "Because the time of his appearance is the very Hour of which Allah the Exalted says: اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَ انْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ [The hour drew nigh and the moon did rend asunder]."

Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble relief): Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Mahziyar, in a hadith about the Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief), refers to some of his signs... Then he recited this word of Allah the Exalted: بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ, [Suddenly] Our command comes to it by night or by day, [for its destruction — We send a cold blast or a thunderbolt upon it,] and We reap it as though it had not flourished yesterday [as if such a field had never existed]. (Yunus/24) I said: "O my master, O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! What is meant by the command?" He said: "We are the command of Allah the Mighty and Majestic and His soldiers." I said: "O my master, O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Has the time not yet come?" He said: "اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَ انْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ [The hour drew nigh and the moon did rend asunder]."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The people of Mecca asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) to show them the greatest of signs. So he showed them the moon as two pieces, and they saw Mount Hira between the two pieces.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): On the night of Badr [when the moon is full], the polytheists were sitting with Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and said: "If you are truthful, split the moon into two halves for us." He said: "If I do this, will you believe?" They said: "Yes!" Then he pointed with his finger at the moon and it split into two parts. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) called out: "O so-and-so, and O so-and-so, bear witness!" And Ibn Mas'ud said: The moon in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was split into two halves, and the Prophet said to us: "Bear witness! Bear witness!" It is also narrated from him: "By the One in whose hand my soul is, I saw [Mount] Hira between the two halves of the moon." And it is narrated from Jubayr ibn Mut'im: "In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), the moon was split and became two pieces, on this mountain and on that mountain. People said: 'Muhammad has bewitched us.' Then someone said: 'If he has bewitched you, he has not bewitched all people!'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Yunus that he said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said to me: "Fourteen of the companions of the pass gathered on the fourteenth night of Dhul-Hijjah and said to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): 'Every prophet must have a sign; what is your sign this night?' The Prophet said: 'What do you want?' They said: 'If you have a rank with your Lord, order the moon to split into two pieces.' At that moment Jibra'il descended and said: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Allah sends you greetings and says: I have commanded everything to be at your command.' Then the Prophet raised his head and ordered the moon to split into two pieces. Suddenly the moon split into two. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) performed the prostration of thanks and our Shia also fell into prostration. Then the Prophet raised his head and they raised their heads. They said: 'Let it return as it was.' The moon returned as it was. They said: 'Let its top split apart.' Its top split apart. And the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) performed the prostration of thanks and our Shia also fell into prostration. They said: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! When our travellers return from Sham and Yemen, we will ask them what they saw on such a night; if they too have seen what we saw, we will understand that this event was from your Lord; but if they have not seen it, we will understand that this event was sorcery and that you have bewitched us with it.' Then Allah revealed: اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ [The hour drew nigh] ..."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The moon in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was split and became two halves. The people saw it, but most of them turned away. Then Allah the Exalted revealed: وَ إِنْ یَرَوْا آیَةً یُعْرِضُوا وَ یَقُولُوا سِحْرٌ مُسْتَمِرٌّ [And if they see a sign, they turn away and say: This is a continuous magic]. The polytheists said: "He has bewitched the moon! He has bewitched the moon!"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) came to carry out his mission and invited the people to Allah the Exalted, the tribes of Quraysh were amazed, and some of them said to others: "What is your view about the things Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) does from time to time — things that sorcerers and magicians cannot do?" And they gathered to ask him to split the moon in the sky into two halves and cast the two pieces from the sky to the earth. They said among themselves: "We have not heard, concerning the moon, that any of the prophets was able to do with it what was done with the sun — for that too took place at the request of Yusha ibn Nun, the successor of Musa (peace be upon him)." People used to think that the sun did not move from its place, but on account of Yusha ibn Nun (peace be upon him) the sun did move, and this deed took place. In any case, they made up their minds and went to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Set between us and yourself a sign; if you perform it, we will believe in you and confirm you." The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to them: "Ask — whatever you want, I will do for you." They said: "Our appointment with you is in the darkness of the night at the rising of the moon: that you stand at the region of al-Mash'arayn and ask your Lord, who you say has sent you, to split the moon in two and cast it from the sky to the earth, so that it becomes two parts — one piece falling on al-Mash'arayn and the other piece on al-Safa." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) replied: "Allah the Mighty and Majestic is the Greatest. I am faithful to my pledge. Are you also faithful to what you said, that you will believe in Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family)?" They said: "Yes, O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)!" The people passed the news from one to another and agreed that this would be done in the darkness of the night. The people hurried to the Ka'ba and around it until the night came and grew dark and the moon rose and cast its light. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), Ali (peace be upon him), and those who had believed in Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) prayed behind the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and performed tawaf around the Ka'ba. Abu Lahab, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan came to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and said: "Now your sorcery and magic and trickery and deception are undone. Here is the moon — so fulfil your pledge." The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Abu al-Hasan! Rise and stand towards Mount al-Safa, and run towards al-Mash'arayn, and call out with a loud voice, and say in your call: 'O Allah! O Lord of the Ka'ba, and Lord of Makkah, and of Zamzam and of al-Maqam, and Sender of the Tihami Prophet, grant permission to the moon that it be split in two and fall upon the earth, so that half of it falls upon al-Safa and the other half upon al-Mash'arayn. You have heard our secret and our whispered talk, and You are aware of all things.'" Quraysh laughed and said: "Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has sought intercession and help from Ali (peace be upon him), because he is still a child and sinless, and his request is granted." Abu Lahab said: "O nephew! Tonight Allah will gladden me by disgracing you." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Be silent! O one whose hands Allah has cut off, and whose wealth no longer profits him, and whose place is in the Fire." Abu Lahab said: "Tonight I will ruin you over this moon and its splitting in two and its being cast down to the earth; otherwise I will take these very words of yours and turn them into a surah, and quote you as saying that this speech about Abu Lahab was revealed to me." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! Go and do what I told you, and take refuge with Allah from the ignorant." Ali (peace be upon him) hurried from al-Safa towards al-Mash'arayn, and cried out and made all hear, and made the supplication. His words had not yet finished when the earth was about to swallow up its inhabitants and the sky was about to fall on the earth. Then they said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Since you cannot split the moon in two, you have bewitched us so that you can deceive us." The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Is what I have asked of Allah so easy for you? While the heavens and the earth cannot bear such a thing and have not even the strength to hear it? Stand in your places and look at the moon." Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "Then the moon split in two: one piece of it came down upon Mount al-Safa, and another piece upon al-Mash'arayn." It lit up the inside of the city of Makkah and its deserts and valleys, and the people cried out from every side: "We have believed in Allah and His Messenger!" And the hypocrites cried out: "You have destroyed us with your sorcery — do whatever you wish; by this deed of yours we will never believe in you." Then the moon returned to its station in the sky, and some of the people were reproaching others and saying to their leaders: "By Allah! We will certainly, certainly believe in Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and having believed in him we will fight and struggle against you. Indeed, the proof and demonstration have been sent down, and the excuses and pretexts have been exposed, and the truth has become manifest." On that very day Allah the Mighty and Majestic sent down Surah Abi Lahab, and the news of it reached him. Abu Lahab said: "Woe to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! In fabricating this speech he has taken account of my own words. By Allah, Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has set himself in enmity against me because I disbelieve in him and give him the lie. Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has composed verse and fabricated this speech and imagined that it is a surah which Allah has sent down upon him about me. By the right of al-Lat and al-'Uzza, if Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) were to utter about my praise something that would fill the whole horizon, I would still not believe in him; and it is enough for me to oppose Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) within his own family, by the deeds I do, even if the Lord of the Ka'ba should punish me with the Fire." On that day six hundred and twelve men believed, most of whom concealed their faith until the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) migrated. Abu Lahab died in his disbelief, and Abu Jahl was killed, and Abu Sufyan and Mu'awiya and 'Utba believed on the day of the conquest of Makkah, and al-'Abbas and Zayd ibn al-Khattab and 'Aqil ibn Abi Talib and many of them believed under the pressure of death. They are eighty persons known as al-Tulaqa, that is, "the freed ones", whose faith brings them no profit at all.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The moon was split for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and before him the sun was turned back for Yusha ibn Nun (peace be upon him).