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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Spirituality of the Shi‘ism and Other Discourses Discourse Twenty: The Account of Shaqq al-Qamar and the Evening Star Is the miracle of “shaqq al-qamar” (halving of the moon) in agreement with the Qur’an and traditions [akhbār]? Can it be sanctioned by the laws of human logic and reason even though the size of the moon is in no way analogous to the size of the Holy Prophet’s (S) hand—i.e. the container and the contained are entirely disproportionate?

The story of shaqq al-qamar is a trustworthy reality, the truth of which has been verified by the Qur’an and traditions. Even so, the narrations that cite this occurrence vary. Because each of these narrations is a “single tradition” [khabar-e wāhid]—they each have a single transmitter—and are thus undependable, we cannot rely on and discuss the qualities that are cited in each of them.

That which can be extracted from them all together is that the moon was split into two halves at the gesture of the Holy Prophet (S) and this is also what the Noble Qur’an indicates.

It is self-evident that after we accept the feasibility of miracles by the prophets we cannot deny a specific miracle performed by them especially after the Holy Qur’an—which is itself a miracle—verifies its occurrence. Essentially, there are no rational explanations against miracles except mere unlikelihood. There may, of course, be causes for events beyond those we know of that can produce unusual events.

Response to the critics of shaqq al-qamar Some critics say that the cleaving of the moon which is indicated in the Qur’anic verse is something that will occur on the Day of Resurrection when the natural world is destroyed and is not something that was done by the hand of the Holy Prophet (S). The next verse negates this presumption.