Bukhari

Hadith Commentary:
This refutes those who say regarding the verse: ﴿اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ﴾ “The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split.” (al-Qamar: 1:54), that the meaning of “inshaqqa” is like “yanshaqqu”—that is, the moon will split (in the future). The objection that, had the moon split, astronomers, mathematicians, and engineers of the world would have recorded this event, since it was a wondrous occurrence, is baseless. This is because the splitting occurred only for a moment; it is not known whether people in other lands even saw it or not. It is possible that they were asleep or occupied with their own affairs. The greatest proof of the authenticity of this event is that, had the moon not split, when the Qur’an revealed “inshaqqa al-qamar” (the moon has split), all the disbelievers and opponents of Islam would have immediately begun to deny it. They used to oppose the Qur’an even in matters of truth, so how much more would they have objected and rained down denials if such an event had not occurred and yet the Qur’an stated that it had.

(Wahidi)

The incident of the splitting of the moon is explicitly mentioned in the Noble Qur’an and in authentic hadiths. For a believing Muslim, there is no need for any evidence beyond these. Nevertheless, in history, there are also accounts of people from various countries who witnessed it, and upon investigating the truth, they became Muslim.

Its details will come at another place.

Hadith Commentary:
➊
All these hadiths mention the miracle of the splitting of the moon (shaqq al-qamar), the details of which we have explained under hadiths: 3636, 3637, and 3638. In any case, the incident of the moon splitting is explicitly mentioned in the Noble Qur’an and in authentic hadiths. For a Muslim, no further evidence is needed beyond these. The greatest proof of the authenticity of this event is that if the moon had not split, the disbelievers and opponents would have denied the verse in which the splitting of the moon is mentioned. Allah the Exalted says:
﴿اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ﴾ “The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has split.” (al-Qamar: 1: 54)
If this event had not occurred, the disbelievers would have unleashed a barrage of objections against the Muslims.

➋
Some people object that if the splitting of the moon occurred at night, then people all over the world would have seen it, and it would not have been limited to only the people of Makkah.
The answer to this objection is that it is not necessary for such a celestial event to be witnessed by everyone, because at night, people are generally unaware and asleep. Their doors are also closed; on this basis, this objection is baseless. When the moon is eclipsed, very few people witness it, and furthermore, an eclipse is only visible in certain countries. Therefore, it is not necessary for the splitting of the moon to have been seen by everyone in the world. The details of the countries in which the splitting of the moon was witnessed have been mentioned in the discussion of miracles.

Hadith Commentary:
The splitting of the moon is such a miracle that was not granted to any prophet before you. Although it is also a sign of the Day of Judgment which has already occurred, there are several objections from the deniers regarding this miracle, the details of which are as follows:

➊ In the Noble Qur’an it is stated:
“When the Hour draws near and the moon is split.” (: al-Qamar: 1/54)
In the future, this will happen, as is clarified in other places regarding the solar system.

The answer to this is that the disbelievers calling the splitting of the moon magic itself is proof that this was a sensory miracle that had already occurred.

➋ If the event did happen, then a large number of people should have known about it.

The answer to this is that the event took place at night, not during the day. At night, most people are asleep, and at that time, in half the world it was daytime anyway. In the remaining half of the world, it could only be seen in those places that were east of Mina. Moreover, this splitting of the moon occurred only for a moment—who would have seen it? Even so, people in the surrounding areas gave testimony to it.

➌ This is an important historical event; it should be mentioned somewhere.

The answer to this is that, according to us, authentic history can only be obtained from the books of hadith, and this event is present in all the books of hadith. Furthermore, history is not entirely devoid of recording this event. It is mentioned in Tarikh Farishta that the Maharaja of Malabar saw this event with his own eyes, and this very event became the reason for his accepting Islam.

➍ If the moon had changed its orbit or started moving out of its orbit, these things would have been mentioned by astronomers before.

The answer to this is that when nothing of the sort happened, rather the moon split in two for a moment and immediately returned to its original state, what would astronomers mention in such circumstances?

➎ Nowadays, those who have gone to the moon have observed that there is a deep crack present there. Observers say that this is the very crack that occurred on the moon during the miracle of the splitting of the moon.

And Allah knows best.

Explanation:
1:
The Day of Judgment has drawn near and the moon has split into two ().