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The Moon
القمر
In the Quran
هُوَ ٱلَّذِي جَعَلَ ٱلشَّمۡسَ ضِيَآءٗ وَٱلۡقَمَرَ نُورٗا وَقَدَّرَهُۥ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعۡلَمُواْ عَدَدَ ٱلسِّنِينَ وَٱلۡحِسَابَۚ مَا خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ ذَٰلِكَ إِلَّا بِٱلۡحَقِّۚ يُفَصِّلُ ٱلۡأٓيَٰتِ لِقَوۡمٖ يَعۡلَمُونَ ٥ “It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and determined for it phases - that you may know the number of years and account [of time]. Allah has not created this except in truth. He details the signs for a people who know”
Translation of the meaning · Saheeh International
The word for “moon” (qamar) occurs 27 times in 26 verses · Quranic Arabic Corpus lemma count
How we count
We count every word in the Quran that the Quranic Arabic Corpus tags with this word's dictionary form (lemma). Counting by root would mix different words, so we don't.
The number is given for reference only. We don't attach any meaning or significance to it.
qac-lemma-word-token@0.4
وَٱلۡقَمَرَ قَدَّرۡنَٰهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّىٰ عَادَ كَٱلۡعُرۡجُونِ ٱلۡقَدِيمِ ٣٩ “And the moon - We have determined for it phases, until it returns [appearing] like the old date stalk”
Translation of the meaning · Saheeh International
وَمِنۡ ءَايَٰتِهِ ٱلَّيۡلُ وَٱلنَّهَارُ وَٱلشَّمۡسُ وَٱلۡقَمَرُۚ لَا تَسۡجُدُواْ لِلشَّمۡسِ وَلَا لِلۡقَمَرِ وَٱسۡجُدُواْۤ لِلَّهِۤ ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَهُنَّ إِن كُنتُمۡ إِيَّاهُ تَعۡبُدُونَ ٣٧ “And of His signs are the night and day and the sun and moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostate to Allah, who created them, if it should be Him that you worship”
Translation of the meaning · Saheeh International
Commentary · al-Tabari (d. 310 AH)
Jami' al-Bayan 'an Ta'wil Ay al-Quran · جامع البيان عن تأويل آي القرآن10:5
هو الذي أضاء الشمسَ وأنار القمر= ﴿وقدّره منازل﴾ ، يقول: قضاه فسوّاه منازلَ، لا يجاوزها ولا يقصر دُونها، على حالٍ واحدةٍ أبدًا.Reviewer's summary (not a translation)
He is the One who made the sun shine and the moon give light, and He set the moon's stations: He decreed and ordered them so that it neither passes them nor falls short of them, always in the same way. (Researcher's paraphrase of al-Tabari.)
Quoted word for word from the book · Source
Explanation (not Quran text)
The Quran presents the sun and the moon as signs pointing to their Creator: He made the sun a source of brightness and the moon a light, and set the moon's phases so people can count the years and keep time (10:5; 36:39). The Quran also says that the sun and the moon are not to be worshipped; prostration belongs to Allah who created them (41:37). The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught that eclipses are among the signs of Allah and do not happen because of anyone's death or birth (al-Bukhari 1042), and he linked the start and end of the Ramadan fast to sighting the new crescent (al-Bukhari 1909).
In the hadith
Numbering: standard Bukhari numbering (Fath al-Bari)
حَدَّثَنَا أَصْبَغُ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي ابْنُ وَهْبٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي عَمْرٌو، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْقَاسِمِ، حَدَّثَهُ عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يُخْبِرُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم. " إِنَّ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ لاَ يَخْسِفَانِ لِمَوْتِ أَحَدٍ وَلاَ لِحَيَاتِهِ، وَلَكِنَّهُمَا آيَتَانِ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ، فَإِذَا رَأَيْتُمُوهَا فَصَلُّوا ".
Narrated Ibn `Umar:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of the death or life (i.e. birth) of someone but they are two signs amongst the signs of Allah. When you see them offer the prayer
Number checked in a dataset mirror; a scholar's check against the printed edition is pending.
Numbering: standard Bukhari numbering (Fath al-Bari)
حَدَّثَنَا آدَمُ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ زِيَادٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ يَقُولُ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَوْ قَالَ قَالَ أَبُو الْقَاسِمِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " صُومُوا لِرُؤْيَتِهِ، وَأَفْطِرُوا لِرُؤْيَتِهِ، فَإِنْ غُبِّيَ عَلَيْكُمْ فَأَكْمِلُوا عِدَّةَ شَعْبَانَ ثَلاَثِينَ ".
Narrated Abu Huraira:The Prophet (ﷺ) or Abul-Qasim said, "Start fasting on seeing the crescent (of Ramadan), and give up fasting on seeing the crescent (of Shawwal), and if the sky is overcast (and you cannot see it), complete thirty days of Sha'ban
Number checked in a dataset mirror; a scholar's check against the printed edition is pending.
In Muslim civilisation
Because Islamic months begin with the new crescent, astronomers in Muslim civilisation developed tables and instruments for timekeeping and for predicting when the crescent becomes visible.
Sources
- King, D. A. (1996). Astronomy and Islamic society: Qibla, gnomonics and timekeeping. In R. Rashed (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, vol. 1. London: Routledge.
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