If you are asked whether the moon split in the time of the prophet or not. It would somehow be hard to give an answer, especially if you are not truly aware of any hadith or Quran verse that explain such a thing.
In reality, you have the intuition that it could happen, after all, Allah brings out a she-camel from a mountain.
That said, you shouldn’t base your answer on the splitting of the moon on intuition, but rather proof. And that’s what you will get here.
Allah, Most High, says: ” The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder (the people of Makkah requested Prophet Muhammad to show them a miracle, so he showed them the splitting of the moon).
And if they see a sign, they turn away, and say: “This is continuous magic.” They belied (the Verses of Allah, this Qur’an), and followed their own lusts. And every matter will be settled [according to the kind
of deeds (for the doer of good deeds, his deeds will take him to Paradise, and similarly evil deeds will take their doers to Hell)] ”. (Soorah Al-Qamar 54:1-3)
The Muslims are agreed upon the occurrence that the moon split at the time of the prophet, during his time. A number of Hadeeth have been reported concurrently concerning that from various routes in such a way that they denote decisiveness in
the view of the one who comprehends that and reflects on it.
Anas reported (that): “The people of Makkah demanded that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, show them (some) signs (miracles) and he split the moon in Makkah twice.” He recited: “The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder.” (Soorah Al-Qamar 54:1)
Ibn ‘Abbas narrated: “The moon was split into two parts during the lifetime of the Prophet.” Related by AlBukhari and Muslim.
Al-Hafiz Abu Nu‘aim reported that Ibn ‘Abbas said concerning the Verse: “The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder” that “the polytheists gathered in the presence of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Among them were Al-Waleed Ibn Al-Mugheerah, Abu Jahl, Al-‘As Ibn Wa’il, Al-‘As Ibn Hisham, Al-Aswad Ibn ‘Abd Yaghooth, Al-‘As Ibn Al-Muttalib, Zam‘ah Ibn AlAswad, Nadhr Ibn Al-Harith and their cohorts.
They said to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: “If indeed you are truthful, then split the moon into two halves for us; one half over Abu Qubays and the other half above Qu’ayqi’an.” The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to them: “If I do so will you believe?” they replied in affirmative. It was on a night of a full moon and Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, asked Allah to grant him what they had requested.
The moon split into two halves; one half on Abu Qubays and the other on Qu’ayqi’an. Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, called out: “O Aba Salamah Ibn ‘Abd Al-Asad and Al-Arqam Ibn Al-Arqam bear witness (to this)!”
Part of this article is taken from: Al-Bidayah wa’l-Nihayah by Ibn Khateer.
