The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 5) — Page 137
PT. 27 AL-QAMAR taking into consideration the forceful language in which it has been mentioned in the Quran, the incident appears to be something more than a mere lunar eclipse. It indeed constituted a great miracle shown by the Prophet at the insistent demand of disbelievers (see Bukhārī & Muslim). It seems to be a vision of the Holy Prophet in which the Companions of the Holy Prophet and some of the Quraish were made to share just as the rod turning into a serpent was a vision of Moses in which the magicians were made to share. Alternatively, it may be that just as the striking of seawater by Moses with his rod coincided with the ebb of the tide and thus assumed the character of a miracle, because God alone knew when the sea would recede and it was He Who commanded Moses to strike the waters at the time of recession, similarly God may have commanded the Holy Prophet to show the miracle of the cleaving asunder of the moon at a time when a heavenly body was to take such a position in front of the moon that it caused the moon to appear to the beholders as split into two parts. But the most plausible explanation, which is also possessed of very deep spiritual significance of this, one of the most outstanding miracles shown by the Holy Prophet, lies in the fact that the moon was the national emblem of the Arabs and the symbol of their political power, just as the sun at that time was the national ensign of the Persians. When Şafiyyah, the daughter of Ḥuyay bin Akhtab, a leader of the Jews of CH. 54 Khaibar, mentioned to her father that she had seen in a dream that the moon had fallen into her lap, he slapped her face saying that she wanted to marry the leader of the Arabs. After the fall of Khaibar Safiyyah's dream was fulfilled when she was married to the Holy Prophet (Zurqānī & Usdul-Ghābbah). Similarly, ‘Ā'ishah had seen a dream that three moons had fallen in her private apartment which saw its fulfilment when the Holy Prophet, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar were buried there one after the other (Mu'aṭṭa', Kitābul-Janā'iz). According to this sense of the word, the verse would signify that the hour of destruction of their political power with which the disbelieving Arabs had been threatened in 53:58 has already arrived. The word act (Hour) in that case would refer to the Battle of Badr in which all the chiefs and leaders of the Quraish were killed and the foundations of the complete destruction of their power were laid. Thus the verse constituted a mighty prophecy which met with remarkable fulfilment, nearly eight or nine years after its announcement. Moreover, the Holy Prophet has been called "illuminating moon" (Ta³) in the Quran. In this sense of the word the verse would mean that after the Holy Prophet's separation from the Quraish, the "Hour" of the destruction of their power would arrive, and it happened likewise. About a year after the Migration of the Holy Prophet to Medina, the Battle of Badr was fought which broke the Quraishite power. 3033