the anchor asked him about the verse:
"The Hour has drawn near,and the moon has been cleft asunder (the
people of Makkah requested Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] to show them a
miracle, so he showed them the splitting of the moon)." (Quran 54:1)
whether it contains any Quranic scientific astounding facts?
Dr. Zaghloul answered saying that he has a story to tell about this verse.
He started explaining that at a time he delivered a lecture at Cardiff
University in the West of Britain. The attendees included both Muslims
andnon-Muslims. A vital dialogue was taking place around scientific
facts included in the Noble Quran. During the course of the lecture, a
Muslim young man stood asking me, Sir Do you see in the Saying of Al
Haq Tabarak wa Ta`ala (Allah the Truth)may He be Exalted - and he
referred to the above mentioned verse - any indication to the
scientific facts included in the Quran? Dr. Najjar answered: No
because scientific astounding discoveries are interpretedthrough
science whereas amiracle is something supernatural, which may not be
interpreted through the usual. The splitting of the moon is a miracle,
which happened to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in order to prove his
prophecy. Tangible miracles are only a testimony of truth for those
who witnessed it. It is only that the incident was mentioned in Quran
and Prophet's Sunnah thatmade us believe other wise we Muslims of this
era would have never believed in it. In addition that we know for sure
that Allah is most capable of anything. At that point Dr. Zaghloul
narrated the story of moon splitting as included in Sunnah books.
He said, Sunnah books tell that five years before the immigration of
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from Mecca to Medina, a group of people from
the tribe ofQuraish came challenging him saying: Oh Muhammad if you
were really a Prophet and a Messenger bring to us a miracle to
establish this fact. So he asked them what do you want? They said in
an effort to complicate matters for him: split the moon for us.The
Messenger of ALLAH (PBUH) stood supplicating to Allah to support him
and grant him victory in this hard situation. Allah may He be Exalted
inspired him to sign towards the moon with his finger. Immediately,
the moon cleft into two parts standing far from each other for several
hours then cling back together. The pagans started claiming: Oh
Muhammad (PBUH) practiced witchcraft on us.
At this point some of the wise men explained that magic would only
affect the attendees whereas it can not maintain influenceon everybody
in general. They waited for travelers who were coming back from their
journeys. The pagans harried up to the borders of Mecca in
anticipation to meet the travelers. When the first arrivals appeared,
they asked them did you see anything extraordinary happened to the
moon? The travelers answered yes on the night (X) we saw the moon
splitting into two parts which remained asunder for sometime then
reattached. Upon this statement, a number of the group believed while
the rest remained pagans. Therefore, the verse explains "The Hour has
drawn near, and the moonhas been cleft asunder (the people of Makkah
requested Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to show them a miracle, so he showed
them the splitting of the moon). * And if they see a sign, theyturn
away, and say: This is continuous magic. *They belied the Verses of
Allah -this Quran), and followed their own lusts. And every matter
will be settled according to the kind of deeds: good deeds will take
their doers to Paradise and similarly evil deeds will take their
doersto Hell." (Quran 54:1-3) until the end of the verses which were
revealed in this regard.
Dr. Najjar continued that at this point a British Muslim young man
introduced himself as Daoud Moussa Peetcock head of the British
Islamic Party. He carried on sayingsir if you allow me I wouldlike to
add on this issue? I said please do. He explained saying: At the time
when I was searchingin religions (before he embraced Islam), a
Muslimstudent gave me as a present the translation of the meaning of
Quran. I thanked him and took it home. The first Surat I came across
when I opened the book, it was Chapter of the Moon I read"has drawn
near, and the moon has been cleft asunder". I said to myself, is this
statement logical? Is it possible for the moon to split and then
reattach what kind of power may cause this? The man explained that
this verse made me reluctant to continue reading. I became busy with
my life,yet ALLAH of course Knows how sincere I was about finding the
truth.
So,one day ALLAH made me sit to watch TV....
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