6 Mind-Blowing Facts about the Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction from Islamic History

Imad Ahmed
3 Jumada al Ula 1442

On Monday 21 December – the date of the Winter Solstice no less – the planets of Jupiter and Saturn will meet up in the sky in what is known as the ‘Great Conjunction’.

Whilst many Muslims today do not believe in any real significance in these planetary meet-ups, what many modern Muslims do not know is conjunctions have held great significance in the past for Muslims, for all sorts of reasons. For example:

Did you know that early medieval Muslim and non Muslim astronomers recorded that the Prophet Muhammad was born under the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction? 

Some astronomers – Muslim and non-Muslim - even said that the conjunction at the birth of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ marked a new age, being the birth of Islam.

Whether you're Muslim or not - read below for more fun facts about the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction that every one will find super interesting!

You’ll also learn how to sight the conjunction on Monday 21 December too!

The Great Conjunction

Before we begin…what is a conjunction?

A ‘conjunction’ simply means when the orbits of two or more celestial bodies line up, such that they look like they are meeting one another in our sky - in this sense, an eclipse is also a ‘conjunction’ of the sun and the moon.

Many ancient cultures judged the Saturn and Jupiter conjunction to be particularly auspicious or portentous, because they are the two ‘greatest’ planets in our solar system - and hence it is known as the ‘Great Conjunction’.

A conjunction is when celestial bodies line up, so they look like they're meeting in our sky here on Earth.

Jupiter & Saturn in the same telescope lens. December 19 2020. They'll get closer until the 21st (Twitter @daviddayag)

These two planets come into conjunction about once every 20 years. Each time there is a Great Conjunction, the two planets appear in a new sign of the zodiac.

Although they occur every 20 years, not all ‘Great Conjunctions’ are equal! For example, some are visible, some are not visible. To illustrate, our last conjunction occurred in the year 2000, but because the planets were only above the horizon in the day time, they were invisible to our eyes.

Conjunctions remain in the same trigon (i.e. type of zodiacal sign: wind, water, air or fire) for around 240 years before they switch to another trigon. After around 960 years, the whole cycle starts again. In medieval astrology, the switch from one trigon to another was seen as particularly auspicious, and they were known as ‘Greater’ or ‘Grand’ Conjunctions. 

 On Monday 21 December 2020, the conjunction will be one of these special ‘Grand Conjunctions’, being visible, and shifting its trigon – moving to an ‘Air’ sign after hundreds of years.

A series of great conjunctions and their zodiac shifts. Illustration from the astronomer and mathematician Kepler's book 'De Stella Nova' (1606)

This conjunction is also visually more spectacular than we’ve seen in centuries! The last time the planets have been this close and observable was in 1226, around 800 years ago! 

Overall, it means we’re in for a spectacular night sky treat, not to be seen again for quite some time.

Here are 6 Mind-Blowing Facts about the Jupiter-Saturn ‘Great Conjunction’ from Islamic History

1.
The Prophet Muhammad was born under a Great Conjunction 

According to some of the earliest written sources by Muslim and non-Muslim astronomers, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born shortly after a Great Conjunction.

This was a widely held notion in the Medieval Islamic period, and appears in many sources that we have today.

Old picture of the place of birth of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Arabic caption: “Constructed by (Caliph) Sultan Sulaiman Khan, upon the location where the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born. He built a magnificent dome and minaret upon this location in the year 935AH (1528 CE)”

Current place of Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ birth. A library stands there today.

One of the earliest written sources for this is found in the works of Mashallah b. Athari (d. 815), a Persian Jewish astronomer who worked as a court astronomer for the Abbasid Caliphs. He writes that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born under the Great Conjunction in the constellation of Scorpio.

Another early source of this we have is from one of the greatest Muslim astronomers of Baghdad, Abu Mashar (d. 866). He was a prolific writer and polymath, and wrote around 50 books that we know of. He studied Islamic Sciences and hadith at a young age, and then specialised in astronomy in his 50s until his death, employed by the Abbasid Caliph in his courts. In the West he is seen as a hugely important figure in modern astronomy, and is known as Albumasar. .

Woodcutting from a Latin translation of Abul Mashar's (Albumasar) Introduction to Astronomy, Venice, 1513

2.
Muslim Astronomers Used the Great Conjunction to Date the Prophet Muhammad’s Birth According to the Gregorian Calendar

One of the most common dates given for the Gregorian Calendar for the date of the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ birth is 20 April 571. But how did we come to this date?

Dating anything in early Islam according to the Gregorian Calendar is notoriously difficult.

Two of the main reasons dating things before the Prophet Muhammad’s Hajj is so challenging is because:

1. Arabic sources themselves often differ about the date of events. For example, the date of the Propeht’s birth has variously been given as: 2^nd, 4^th, 8^th, 10^th, 12^th, and 27^th of Rabi al Awwal. Some historians dispute whether the Prophet Muhmmad was even born in Rabi al Awwal.
   
   
2. The pre Islamic Arabs used to manipulate their calendar with a practice called Nasi – until the Prophet Muhammad banned it! Pre-Islamic Arabs would periodically change the order of the months, and sometimes would add a 13^th month, so the lunar months would match the solar calendar. This was banned by the Quran, and again by the Prophet Muhammad in his farewell sermon at Hajj. As we don’t know exactly how pre-Islamic Arabs changed their calendar year on year, it means that dating anything before the Prophet Muhammad’s farewell sermon is even harder!

So how did we come up with the date of 20 April 571 for the Prophet Muhammad’s birthdate?

Muslim astronomer Mahmoud Pasha Effendi (d. 1885) came up with an ingenious method. 

He corroborated multiple sources, including non-Islamic Calendar sources which offered a date for the Prophet Muhammad’s birth. He then used astronomical data, such as the birth of new moons, and the established belief of early Muslim astronomers who said that the Prophet Muhammad was born shortly after the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Scorpio.

Bringing these sources together helped him arrive at the date of Monday 20 April 571.

Pasha also uses astronomy to date the Prophet’s birth to the Islamic Calendar, and offers 9 Rabi al Awwal. Regular moonsighters (such as we at the New Crescent Society) would also add that the moon for Rabi ul Awwal may have been sighted a day later due to cloudy weather, opening up 8 Rabi al Awwal as a possibility too!

If you came to our Astronomy & Islam show with the Royal Observatory during the month of Rabi al Awwal this year, you would have been lucky enough to see our SPECIAL Planetarium show!

In this show we went back in time and looked at Makkah’s night sky when the Prophet Muhammad was born. And of course, we were treated to see the beautiful pattern of Jupiter and Saturn sitting close to one another in the sky.

3.
Astronomers Believe that the ‘Star of Bethlehem’ of Jesus’ Nativity was actually a Great Conjunction

The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn has been seen as a huge portent, associated with a change in order, a new age, or a new epoch, across many ancient cultures.

But did you know that some Christian astronomers also believe that the Star of Bethlehem that was the portent for Jesus’ birth was actually a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction? 

Rather than the Star of Bethlehem being a particularly bright star or a comet, these astronomers believe that Jupiter and Saturn came so close to one another, they appeared as a single star. So the three wise men, the Magi, were actually following the Great Conjunction!

This theory was proposed by the famous German astronomer and mathematician, Johannes Kepler.

 

Johannes Kepler, 1610

According to the Royal Observatory Greenwich:

“Kepler is also associated with the idea that it was the close conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn that created the 'star'.

In fact, there were three conjunctions, when the two planets were close to one another in the sky, but none of these were close enough that they'd appear as one object.

However, such an event could have been of religious or astrological significance”

The Three Wise Men (Magi) of the Bible Story

It’s fun to think that this year’s conjunction is happening on the Winter Solstice / Christmas period, which is when modern Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus.

For this reason, it’s also being called the Star of Bethlehem in the papers! 

The Telegraph

The Evening Standard is a London-based newspaper

Evening Standard

Other news outlets:

Papers are loving this story!

4. 
Some Jewish Astronomers believe that the Great Conjunction also marked Moses' birth

According to Jewish historian Professor Jeremy Brown, author of New Heavens and a New Earth: Jewish Reception to Copernican Thought, rabbis were very interested on the portents of planetary conjunctions, particularly of the Saturn and Jupiter conjunction. 

The most famous of these was the Sephardic Spanish Abraham Ibn Ezra (d. 1167) a "biblical commentator, grammarian poet and astronomer". Ibn Ezra believed that these Great Conjunctions took place when prophets were born, including Moses, Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad. Ibn Ezra writes  “and the conjunction [of Saturn and Jupiter] in the sign of Scorpio took place before the emergence of the prophet of the Muslims.” 

Ibn Ezra is known as Abenezra in the West, and has a crater named in his honour on the moon.

The Abenezra lunar crater 

Another medieval Jewish astronomer, Abraham ibn Habban (d. 1145) also detailed how the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter was portentous in the life of Moses, and subsequently the whole course of Jewish history. According to ibn Habban "Moses was born under the influence of a conjunction, he fled Egypt during one, and stayed in Midian until there was a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the constellation of Scorpio."

You can read much more about Jewish astronomers' writings on Great Conjunctions here.

5.
Muslim Rulers Born under a Conjunction Used it as a Sign of their Authority

Muslims rulers in the past viewed being born under the conjunction as being very auspicious, and were very proud about it. Those who were born under a conjunction would put 'Sahib e Qiran' into their title, which is translated to 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction' - though it could refer to a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, or other planetary conjunctions too.

The most famous Muslim ruler who claimed to be born under this conjunction was Timur, commonly known as Tamerlane in English. He is one of the most illustrious and influential rulers in world history, and founder of the Timurd dynasty, from whom the Indian Mughals descended.

Sahib e Qiran, Emperor Timur (d. 1405)

Timur's Empire upon his death

The term Sahib Qiran also features in the Persian Epic story, Hamza-nama, a series of fictional tales and fabulous stories about the Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ uncle, Hamza ibn Adbul Mutallib. 

In these stories, Amir Hamza travels the world, conquers his enemies, and brings peace and justice to wherever he goes. Amir Hamza's title in the stories is Sahib Qiran, which of course means 'the one born under the conjunction', but also it holds the connotation of 'world conqueror'.

Page from Emperor Akbar's copy of Hamzanama, epic tales of Amir Hamza Sahib e Qiran

The famous Mughal King Shah Jahan, a descendent of Timur, was also born under a conjunction. He is most famous today for building the Taj Mahal for his most beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. 

Shah Jahan named himself Sahib Qiran Thani, which could be translated to ‘Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction II’.

Shah Jahan was very proud of the fact that he was born under the conjunction, and it was his preferred title. Indeed, Shah Jahan had both his coins minted with this title, as well as his own personal seal (a ring which was used to sign official documents).

The Taj Mahal, commissioned by Shah Jahan, the self-styled Sahib Qiran Thani

Shah Jahan's coins, minted with the title Sahib Qiran Thani, Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction II

Shah Jahan's seal with the title Sahib Qiran Thani. Picture is inverted for the benefit of Arabic/Persian readers

Shah Jahan's 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction' seal, above, was sold at Christie's auction house recently for $795,000. An expensive title!

6.
Persian and Arab Historians & Astronomers Believed that Conjunctions Marked World Events and Epochs

You know how when you go into a library and buy history books, they’re often arranged in Centuries? You can buy a book on 15^th centruty history, or 21^st century history?

Well, remember, a century is a human way of measuring time that we’ve constructed ourselves.

In the past, Arab and Persian astronomers and historians viewed the world in a series of planetary cycles. 

For almost all ancient cultures, celestial bodies have been used as the basis of measuring time. Days were measured by using the sun, and months were measured using the moon's cycle. In a similar fashion, astronomers and historians would arrange historical eras according to 'epochs' of planetary conjunctions - and even viewed the passage of world events as a series of epochs governed by planetary cycles. 

In fact, the Arabic word for 'epoch', QARN, comes from the same root as the word for conjunction - QIRAN.

For example, Abbasid court astronomer Mashallah ibn Athari developed a system of arranging histories into:

• "Minor" conjunctions occurring every 20 years, every time Jupiter and Saturn met. This would typically mark a new local political era. 
• "Middle" conjunctions occurred every 240 years or so, when the conjunction had shifted triplicity (between earth, fire, wind and water signs), and represented more major political shifts, perhaps at a dynasty level. 
• "Grand" conjunctions, occurring approximately once every 960 years, represented monumental changes. This was when the conjunctions had cycled through all four of the zodiac triplicities, and returned back to its origin.

Similar and other schemes have been employed by other Muslim astronomers, such as al Kindi, Abul Mashar and others. 

Ibn Khaldun also writes about political epochs being linked to planetary cycles at length. Here is just one example of an astronomer that he quotes, amongst many:

"Jirash b. Ahmad al-Hasib [an astronomer] said in the book that he composed for Nizam al-Mulk: "The return of Mars to Scorpio has an important influence upon the Muslim religious group, because it is its significator. The birth of the Prophet took place when the two superior planets were in conjunction in the sign of Scorpio. Whenever the conjunction reoccurs there, trouble is brewing for the caliphs. There is much illness among scholars and religious personalities, and their conditions are reduced. Occasionally, houses of worship are destroyed. It has been said that the conjunction occurred at the deaths of 'Ali, of the Umayyad Marwan, and of the `Abbasid al-Mutawakkil. If such judgments are taken into consideration, together with the judgments based upon the conjunctions, they are exceedingly reliable."

Don’t worry, not all the astronomers that Ibn Khaldun quotes augur such bad luck! 

There are many more interpretations on the topic of the conjunction that you can look at too: do take a look at some viral Twitter threads posted recently about Muslim astronomers, conjunctions and the passage of epochs. Author of A Scheme of Heaven, Alex Boxer, has written a free article where you can also learn more here. A charming discussion of astronomer's arrangement of history, and subsequent predictions based on their conjunctions can be found in Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddamah (Chapter 3, section 52 - page 675 onwards).

WOW! So how can I see the conjunction? 

Taken from NASA's website

Viewing the conjunction is quite easy, and in fact, VERY similar to how to sight a new crescent.

Simple observe the point of sunset, and around 30 minutes later, look to the LEFT of this region.

Here’s a 60 second video on how to sight the New Crescent. You simply apply the same method - but look a 'bit more' to the left of the sunset point. 

You'll have about until 5:30 or 6pm to see the two planets in the sky, depending on your location in the UK. They'll be close enough to capture in one telescope frame, and to the naked eye they may even look like a single, bright star.

Alternatively, you can download an app on your phone, such as SkyView or Stellarium, which can show you on the screen where the planets are.

Those of us who’ve been watching the crescent over the last week have seen a beautiful sight of the crescent moon, Jupiter and Saturn all close to one another. This is how it’s looked this week in Slough, Berkshire:

Slough, Berkshire UK. Thursday 17 December 2020.

And this is how they've been in the sky over the last few days:

Incredible!

Happy sky watching!

We’d love to hear from you!

If you find out what  any other cultures associate with the Great Conjunction, drop them in the comments!

Of course, for many Muslims today, astrology is total superstition! This article is not intended to make you believe any of the myths around the Great Conjunction – but simply seeks to inform you about some of the ways it has been viewed in the past.

So, take a look outside on Monday evening – it will be stunning. And don’t forget to send us your pictures!!!

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