Moon Split Images

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Witnessing the Moon Splitting Miracle

This article analyzes the apologetic claim that there is photographic evidence to support the Muslim belief that Prophet Muhammad split the moon.

Apologetic Claim[edit]

Many Muslims believe that while Muhammad was in Mecca, Allah split the moon as a miracle for Muhammad to the Meccans.

Today, this has lead to some Muslims claiming that there is photographic evidence to support this belief. To back up their claim, most use the following close-up pictures of the moon:


In 2007, Dr. Zaghloul El Najjar used these photos to circulate the claim that NASA had proven the Moon had split,[1] a claim that was further propagated by news services such as Jafariya News.[2] Today, due to its popularity, the same claim can be found on countless Islamic websites.


Lunar Rilles[edit]

The "spilt" you see is in fact a lunar rille. Rilles are long and deep gorges resembling canyons. A rille is typically several kilometers wide and hundreds of kilometers in length. Similar formations are found on a number of planets in the solar system, including Mars, Venus, and on a number of moons.


Types of Rilles[edit]

There are three types of rilles on the lunar surface:


Rilles can be found all over the lunar surface and they do not form a belt and therefore do not in anyway support the claim of Muslims that the moon had been split asunder.

Images of Rilles[edit]

To understand how rilles scar the surface of the moon, we have to take a look at pictures showing the moon from farther up. Do these gorges look like they are cutting the moon in two halves?

Rima Ariadaeus[edit]

The images used by Muslims are Apollo mission photographs of a rille named Rima Ariadaeus. It is found on the Moon at 6.4°N 14.0°E, and is named after the crater Ariadaeus, which marks its eastern end. It is a linear rille which is only about 300km long and barely covers 3% of the Moon's circumference.

NASA scientists Speak Out[edit]

NASA scientists have stated that no evidence exists to support the claim of the Moon being split into two or more parts in the past. In 2010, NASA scientist Brad Bailey commented, "My recommendation is to not believe everything you read on the internet. Peer-reviewed papers are the only scientifically valid sources of information out there. No current scientific evidence reports that the Moon was split into two (or more) parts and then reassembled at any point in the past."[3]

See Also[edit]


External Links[edit]