La Luna: A “Bite-Size” Lunar Miracle

As I was pondering a passage in the Qur’ān in which the word “al-Qamar” — the Arabic word for “the Moon” — appeared, I wondered if the word had any other meanings or metaphorical usage. When I looked at the (excellent) Quranic Arabic Corpus page, I noticed that it lists a total of 27 occurrences of al-Qamar in the Qur’an. 

“Twenty-seven?” I thought to myself. “That’s only a few days shorter than the length of the lunar month.” 

You see, this possible association — between 27 occurrences and the 29.5-day-long lunar month — popped up so naturally in my mind because as someone who has been reading the Qur’an since my childhood, it is impossible not to be overpowered by its never-ending wonders and miracles that greet you seemingly every time you open its pages. 

Yes, miracles, some of which are so profound and comprehensive that it would take volumes to show them in all their glory; others that are “bite-size,” so to speak — delightful wonders that can potentially be noticed by anyone who reads the Qur’an with an open mind and a sincere heart, and it would increase their faith and warm their heart. 

So, I had this nagging feeling because the Qur’an never has a near miss. Never. Anytime it dangles a “marvel” or a “sign” in front of us that looks close-but-not-exact, you can be sure that there is a twist that we missed. And when we finally figure it out, we realize that the connection is even more perfect and beautiful than we had initially suspected. 

As I was pondering these, I remembered a verse that mentions the “new moon.” Because there is a separate word for “crescent” in Arabic —  al-Hilāl (الهلال) — this verse was not in the list for al-Qamar I had just looked up. I found out that the verse I had was  the singular appearance of  al-Hilālin the Qur’an (Q2:189): 

…يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلْأَهِلَّةِ  قُلْ هِىَ مَوَٰقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَٱلْحَجِّ

They ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about (the phases of) the crescent moons. Say, “They are a means for people to determine time and pilgrimage…

Notice that the verse actually mentions al-Hilāl in plural, “the crescent moons”, which refers to the gradual growth of the new moon in the days after its first appearance. We will return to this detail later.

This verse brought the total mentions of the moon to 28. 

The discussion about the new moon made me think of the  “full moon” but I didn’t remember it being mentioned in the Qur’an. My loyal friend chatGPT reminded me that the Arabic word for the full moon “Badr” is also the name of a location between Mecca and Madina, which happens to be where the most famous battle of the Islamic history was fought — the Battle of Badr. And this battle is mentioned by name in the Quran (Q3:123): 

وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ ۖ  فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

Indeed, Allah made you victorious at Badr when you were ˹vastly˺ outnumbered. So be mindful of Allah, perhaps you will be grateful. 

What is perhaps more surprising is that although this battle is recounted quite extensively in the Qur’an, the name Badr occurs only once in the Qur’an — just like the full moon appearing in only one single night!