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Should We Believe that Muhammad Split the Moon?

Should We Believe that Muhammad Split the Moon?

Last updated on: August 27, 2026 at 6:00 pm by Todd Weller

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Should We Believe that Muhammad Split the Moon? 2026-08-27T17:25:52-05:00 Todd Weller

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Muslim apologists often claim that Muhammad performed incredible miracles. This is not surprising, as there are multiple hadith that attest to these so-called miracles. There is, however, a huge problem:

These miracles, should Muhammad have performed them, would make Allah, the supposed author of the Quran, out to be a liar.

First, before we look at the Quran and see how Muslims throw Allah under the bus by making him out to be a liar, let’s consult later Muslim sources and see two supposed miracles of Muhammad.

The Magic of the Moon

One of the most well-known fables of Muhammad’s miracle-producing prophethood entails an event that would be truly incredible should it have occurred. Muhammad split the moon in half.

Dawhagandists love this miracle as it has multiple sources within Muslim tradition attesting to it, even though it seems not to have been known by any other group of people.

Here are some of the Hadith referring to this miracle claim:

Our first stop is Sahih Muslim 2802c:

Anas reported that the moon was split up in two parts, and in the hadith recorded in Abu Dawud, the words are:

” The moon was split up into two parts during the life of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ).”

What do we see?

It appears that, at base level, the moon itself was split into two parts during the lifetime of Muhammad. Yet, this doesn’t seem to indicate that this was Muhammad’s doing.

Let’s consult another hadith for more information.

Take a peek at Sahih al-Bukhari 3869:

Narrated `Abdullah:

“The moon was split ( into two pieces ) while we were with the Prophet (ﷺ) in Mina. He said, “Be witnesses.” Then a Piece of the moon went towards the mountain.”

What do we see?

We see that Muhammad appears to have commanded his followers to be witnesses to a specific event. And then, a part of the moon seems to have broken off and moved in the direction of a mountain in the region. Let’s keep looking for more information.

Here is Sahih al-Bukhari 3637:

Narrated Anas:

“That the Meccan people requested Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) to show them a miracle, and so he showed them the splitting of the moon.”

What do we see?

Well, it seems that the people of Mecca were requesting a miracle from Muhammad. This happens quite often in the Quranic literature, as we’ll see in a minute. Muhammad (or Allah) seems to have acquiesced to their request.

The moon was split before their eyes. One thing that is curious to me here is that the hadith is not clear on how long the moon remained split. Is there a hadith that tells us this information?

Let’s look at Sahih al-Bukhari 4864:

Narrated Ibn Masud:

“During the lifetime of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), the moon was split into two parts; one part remained over the mountain, and the other part went beyond the mountain. On that, Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Witness this miracle.”

What do we see?

It appears that the moon…remained… split for some period of time. One part of the moon went behind the mountain range outside of Mecca, while the other remained above the mountain range. Of course, we still do not have the duration of time that is communicated to us. But we, in another Hadith, at least receive a purpose for the alleged miracle. This hadith is chronicled in Mishkat al-Masabih.

Let’s look at Mishkat al-Misabih 5855 together:

Ibn Mas’ud said that in the time of God’s messenger, the moon was split in two portions, one above the mountain and one below it, and God’s messenger said, “Testify.” [*] *A call to the people to testify to his prophetic office, or to the miracle. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

What do we see?

Well, in order to prove that Muhammad was a prophet, he had to perform a miracle. Allah knew this well enough to fulfill the request of the people of Mecca.

Multiple Attestation

Notice, there are multiple sources referring back to this one miracle that Muhammad performed. Yet, it seems that the moon was never put back together unless I’ve missed the hadith somewhere. If there is an explanation for how the moon rejoined, then please add such hadith below, and I’ll gladly edit this section.

Just because there is attestation of an event from multiple sources doesn’t prove that the event has happened. It may add to its credibility, but as we will see, there simply doesn’t seem to be an expectation for Muhammad to have performed ANY miracles in the first place. Before I explain why, we need to look at one other miracle claim: The Gushing of Water.

The Military Expedition

While on a military expedition in the blistering heat of the Arabian morning, Muhammad’s soldiers were low on water. They must, before their prayer, perform ablution, a cleaning ritual which prepares them to engage in their ritual of prostrating in submission to Allah.

Even worse, the men do not have water to drink. Muhammad, seeing that his soldiers do not have enough water, decides to act. He places his hand in a bowl of water, spreads his hand out, and commands his men to perform ablution and drink from the water. One man himself reports that he saw water gushing out of his fingers.

Here is one of the sources recording this miracle:

Sahih al-Bukhari 5639 states:

Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah:

“I was with the Prophet (ﷺ) and the time for the `Asr prayer became due. We had no water with us except a little, which was put in a vessel and was brought to the Prophet (ﷺ). He put his hand into it and spread out his fingers and then said, “Come along! Hurry up! All those who want to perform ablution. The blessing is from Allah.” I saw the water gushing out from his fingers. So the people performed the ablution and drank, and I tried to drink more of that water (beyond my thirst and capacity), for I knew that it was a blessing. The sub-narrator said: I asked Jabir, “How many persons were you then?” He replied, “We were one thousand four hundred men.” Salim said: Jabir said, 1500.”

What do we see?

Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, faithful Jihadist and companion of the Messenger of Allah, reports that Muhammad provided enough water from his fingertips to fill the ablution and hydration needs of 1500 thirsty men in the Arabian wilderness.

The Miracle Claims of Muhammad Come to a Head

You’re probably wondering why this is an issue. After all, many major religions, at least on some base level, believe in some miracles.

Christianity teaches that Jesus and the prophets perform miracles, and that Christians today can perform miracles should Yahweh choose to use them in that way.

Jews, of course, alongside Christians, believe that Yahweh split the sea when freeing the Hebrews from the Egyptians and that 10 plagues literally happened.

Hindus believe that the gods can be appeased and that their worship of them gives them some sort of divine favor.

Atheists believe in at least one miracle, the universe being born from nothing, or that it’s eternal whilst retaining its energy for an infinite amount of time.

Miracles are not new in the grand scheme of worldview-building.

So what is the issue with Islam having these miracle claims?

…

The issue is that we should not expect Muhammad to perform such miracles. Embedded within the Quran itself are expectations for Muhammadan miracles that leave the reader wanting.

Let’s see some examples:

First, here’s Surah 6:37.

Allah states:

“They ask, “Why has no ˹other˺ sign been sent down to him from his Lord?” Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Allah certainly has the power to send down a sign”—though most of them do not know.”

Notice that the unbelievers appear to be requesting a sign from Muhammad, presumably to confirm his message and his prophethood.

What does Muhammad say in response?

Well, it’s the equivalent of saying “…If God wanted to, then he would. But he doesn’t want to.”

In the very next verse, a sign is mentioned…birds flying in the air as a flock or a community.

Why is there no mention of future signs that Muhammad would perform as evidence of his prophethood?

Let’s look now at Surah 6:109

“They swear by Allah their most solemn oaths that if a sign were to come to them, they would certainly believe in it. Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Signs are only with Allah.” What will make you ˹believers˺ realize that even if a sign were to come to them, they still would not believe?”

Here, we see that even if Allah had produced some sort of signs, then the people would not believe. This may be a fair assertion. Even Jesus refused to give certain signs to the Scribes and Pharisees. But at least Jesus promised a sign in the future.

Muhammad refused this entirely.

Moreover, Allah said that the reason that he won’t produce a sign is that he ultimately causes people to believe in him whether he sends them a sign or not.

Therefore, there is no point in him showing a sign. This is just verses later.

There is no mention of an expectation of Muhammad having miracles.

No mention of a future moon-splitting.

Nothing about a magical watery finger.

Let’s look at yet another example of Muhammad lacking miracles.

Surah 13:7 States the following:

“The disbelievers say, “If only a sign could be sent down to him from his Lord.” You ˹O Prophet˺ are only a warner. And every people had a guide.”

Notice, there, again, is no promise of a future miracle, nor a sign from Allah and his messenger. Ibn Kathir helps us out in his tafsir, explaining that the disbelievers were seeking a sign like the prophets before Muhammad. This would be fair if he continuously affirmed scriptures before him and saw himself in line with the very Prophets that he (supposedly) calls the people back to. Muhammad is called a warner. And according to Kathir, this means that his job is simply to share the message of Allah to the people.

It is not to perform signs.

This being said, there is one Surah where Allah DOES point to a miracle of some sort. Let’s see what Allah says.

In Surah 20:133, Allah says:

“They demand, “If only he could bring us a sign from his Lord!” Have they not ˹already˺ received a confirmation of what is in earlier Scriptures?”

What is the miracle that is being given to disbelievers? The confirmation of their previous scriptures. There is no mention or expectation of future miracles, nor is there a promise of a future moon-splitting or a future sign of any kind. There is only… the confirmation of the previous scripture.

So because Muhammad remembered some things about a previous Scripture, we’re supposed to believe in him and his deity?

Even worse, as I’ve shown before, Muhammad got many things WRONG about these previous scriptures that he was supposed to be confirming.

This surely can’t be the best sign that Allah has.

(By the way, you can see my article on some of Muhammad’s Mistakes HERE.)

Islam Has a Serious Problem

Again, the issue is not necessarily the CLAIM that Muhammad split the moon, or that there is a CLAIM that water gushed from his finger. The issue is that there is no reason to believe these miracles occurred based on the expectations that the Quran places on him.

If the Quran predicted that Muhammad would perform miracles in the future, then we’d be having a very different conversation. However, there is no ayat that hints at this when read within the proper context.

The claims of these miracles arise, perhaps, hundreds of years after Muhammad’s death and are placed on Muhammad due to some sort of implicit embarrassment.

The obvious issue of miracles (or lack thereof) would not be lost on the followers of Allah and his messenger, especially if they are zealously piecing together Muhammad’s history.

Of course, Muslim Chroniclers, having interacted more with their Jewish and Christian Dhimma, would be aware of miraculous expectations around Prophets, and therefore would have placed miracles at the fingertips of Muhammad. This would be incredibly plausible if they were trying to make Muhammad palatable to a non-Muslim audience.

But I digress. Let’s keep our eye on the ball. There simply is no Quranic evidence for, or expectation of, Muhammad producing any miracle or sign, especially to the extent of the two which have been laid out in this article.