Re: The Crescent: A Symbol, Not an Icon

....of beheading.

"Faris Jawad" <ana_faris_bila_jawad@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5kX%e.572$2F2.103173@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 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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