AyaSeerah

Year 9 of prophethood · 5 BH (618 CE)

The second year in the valley — and the moon

The siege continues while a sign is given at Minā and dismissed.

His age
48
Where
Shiʿb Abī Ṭālib, Makkah
Counted as
5 BH

On the dating: The sources place the splitting of the moon somewhere in the last years of the Makkan period; the exact year is not fixed.

The year

The hunger continued. Individual men of Quraysh could not stop themselves sending food in at night; Hishām ibn ʿAmr was bringing loaded camels to the mouth of the valley and leaving them, and Abū Jahl tried to block him openly.

In this Makkan period Quraysh demanded a sign, and the moon was split in two — Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه said the mountain of Ḥirāʾ was seen between the halves. They watched it and said: sorcery, and continuing sorcery. Sūrat al-Qamar opens with the event and with the verdict they gave.

This is the year to be honest with yourself about what evidence does. People who have decided in advance can watch a sign and file it away. The Qur'an then repeats, six times in one sūrah: 'And We have made the Qur'an easy to remember, so is there any who will take heed?'

What happened, event by event

Three years in the valley

c. 7–5 BH · Shiʿb Abī Ṭālib

For about three years they lived shut in, buying only what sympathisers smuggled in at night at cruel prices, sometimes eating tree leaves. The call did not pause: he ﷺ used the Ḥajj seasons, when the boycott lifted, to keep meeting pilgrims.

Chapter: The boycott and the Year of Sorrow

The splitting of the moon

c. 8–5 BH · Minā, Makkah

Makkah demanded a miracle, and the moon was split in two until they could see the mountain between the halves. They called it magic. Sūrat al-Qamar opens with the event and with their verdict on it.

Chapter: Going public — and the persecution

The Qur'an alongside this year

  • 54. Al-Qamar — Al-Qamar — the splitting of the moon and its refrain.

Answer from memory