The Positions (Places) of the Moon (Mansions)

In the Koran God (may He be exalted) provides a real picture of the moon that shows its luminous face and of His graces to us made mansions (places) for this moon so we may know the dates, saying, “And the moon, We have measured for it mansions (to traverse) till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk.”

God (may He be exalted) says, “And a sign for them is the night. We remove from it [the light of] day, so they are [left] in darkness. And the sun runs [on course] toward its stopping point. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing. And the moon We have determined for it phases, until it returns [appearing] like the old date stalk. It is not allowable for the sun to reach the moon, nor does the night overtake the day, but each, in an orbit, is floating.” (Sura Yasin, ayat 37-40).

Allah be He blessed and exalted reminds us of His many graces such as the grace of day and night and the grace of the sun and moon, and from His mercy on He subjected for them the moon with its mansions, so that everything is of precise order and all these creations float in their orbits and this order never breaks down.

Ibn Kathir said that what is meant by the moon’s mansions are the places of the moon as the moon when it first appears is small, then increases until it becomes full (full moon) and then decreases again till it returns to its first state being the course of one month.

In the explanation of Al kashaaf, the (old dried curved date stalk) means that the moon returns to be like an old curved stem of a palm tree.

ABDULDAEM AL KAHEEL