The Crescent: A Symbol, Not an Icon
- From: "Faris Jawad" <ana_faris_bila_jawad@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 16:22:20 -0400
The Crescent: A Symbol, Not an Icon
by Sister Heba Ezzat and Professor Shahul Hameed.
Let me start by saying that there is no revealed or specific symbol for
Islam, as a religion. Islam is a monotheist religion with a pure concept and
understanding of The Creator as a transcendental God. It is fully against
incarnation. That is why the Islamic art and architecture is very distinct
and you would not find any statues or even pictures of Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh). Even the messenger of Allah was considered a man, who simply
conveyed a message and was never considered an icon of Islam.
A simple symbol is quite different than an icon. A symbol refers to a
meaning, while an icon tries to capture a transcendental meaning by turning
it into an incarnated form. This idea also is very much related to the
Christian claim of Trinity and the claim of the incarnation of God in Jesus.
That is why icons have a "holy" interpretation in Christian practices and
the "embodiment" of meaning is a common feature, even in their ceremonies.
This case is completely the opposite in Islam, which is highly
transcendental; symbols are symbols! They are just pointing to a meaning and
are never attempting to turn it into an immanent presence. They are neither
trying to capture the sacred into an icon, which embodies it.
What prompted some Muslims to use the crescent, as a symbol on their flag,
was the starting of the fast during the month of Ramadan, when the crescent
appears. The crescent marks the beginning of the Islamic months, as Muslims
follow the lunar calendar, not the Gregorian calendar. The crescent is not a
"holy symbol". Islam does not believe in any "holy idols" or symbols to be
worshipped!
The Holy Qur'an says in Surah 2, verse 189:
*{They ask you concerning the new moons. Say: They are but times appointed
for [the benefit of] men, and [for] the pilgrimage . . .}*
Lately, some accusations have been spread, which claimed that the crescent
is a "holy symbol" of Islam and that it is originally a pagan symbol. The
Christian apologist, Dr. Robert Morey, has spread the argument that the
pre-Islamic Semitic world was the home to widespread worship of a moon god
or goddess named "Allah". The problem with this kind of speculations, about
pre-Islamic deities from the Semitic world, as in this case, is the fact
that any inscription prior to the advent of Islam is also prior to the
introduction of diacritical marks in the Semitic languages.
Why is this a problem? Well, if one claims to have found evidence of a moon
god named "Allah" in Palestine, Syria, or Lebanon, this claim applies to the
respective deities of both Christianity and Islam. One of the basic Hebrew
words for God, Eloh, can easily be pronounced alah without the diacritical
marks. Not surprisingly, the Aramaic word for God is alah! This word, in the
standard script or the Estrangela script is spelled alap-lamad-heh (ALH),
which are the exactly corresponding letters to the Hebrew eloh. The Arabic
word for God, Allah, is spelled in a very similar way. It is even related to
the more generic word for deity, ilah.
We notice here the obvious linguistic and etymological connections between
the respective words for God, in these closely related Semitic languages. We
have, as clear examples: Allah, Alah, and Eloh being related to ilah, Eel,
and El, respectively. So, if the tri-theists (or the Trinitarians) want to
claim that Allah/Alah was the name of a tribal moon god, and that worship of
such a deity is a gross pagan practice, they should not trust their Bible
for including this deity in its text! Nor should they believe in Jesus'
calling on this very deity, while on the cross (as per the Biblical
account).
.
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