Throughout the world, many common views and misunderstandings that nurture hate and disdain and hinder mutual understanding and cooperation among the people; are present and popular.
The one we are talking about here is the widespread belief in the West claiming that Muslims worship the Moon. The supporters of this theory argue that the Moon god in Arabia was called Hubal and its statue was put on the Kaaba and called "al-Ilah" and hence the Muslims pray towards the Kaaba, the site of the moon god, and the term "al-Ilah" was turned into "Allah", how the Muslims call God.
There are also other things they use in their theory as the use of the crescent as a symbol for the Islamic world and the crescent put over the minarets of the mosques in the Islamic countries.
The word "moon" was mentioned in the Qur'an many times but the most relevant verses and the ones that clearly rebut these doubts are the following:
"When he (Ibrahim, the prophet called Abraham in English) saw the moon rising in splendour, he said: "This is my Lord." But when the moon set, he said: "Unless my Lord guide me, I shall surely be among those who go astray."". (surah 6, verse 77).
This shows us that Allah, the Lord, is definitely different than the moon.
"Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Adore not the sun and the moon, but adore Allah, Who created them, if it is Him ye wish to serve." (surah 41, Verse 37).
This is an order to worship Allah and prostrate to Him, not the Moon or the Sun.
And many other verses deal with the creation of the Moon as:
"He it is that cleaveth the daybreak (from the dark): He makes the night for rest and tranquillity, and the sun and moon for the reckoning (of time): such is the judgment and ordering of (Him), the Exalted in Power, the Omniscient." (surah 6, verse 96).
"Your Guardian-Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, then He established Himself on the Throne (of authority): He draweth the night as a veil o'er the day, each seeking the other in rapid succession: He created the sun, the moon, and the stars, (all) governed by laws under His Command. Is it not His to create and to govern? Blessed be Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds!" (surah 7, verse 54).
"It is He Who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for it; that ye might know the number of years and the count (of time). Nowise did Allah create this but in truth and righteousness. (Thus) doth He explain His Signs in detail, for those who understand." (surah 10, verse 5).
"Allah is He Who raised the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; then He established Himself on the Throne (of Authority); He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His Law)! Each one runs (its course) for a term appointed. He doth regulate all affairs, explaining the Signs in detail, that ye may believe with certainty in the meeting with your Lord". (surah 13, verse 2).
"And He hath made subject to you the sun and the moon, both diligently pursuing their courses: and the Night and the Day hath He (also) made subject to you." (surah 14, verse 33).
"He has made subject to you the Night and the Day; the Sun and the Moon; and the Stars are in subjection by His Command: verily in this are Signs for men who are wise." (surah 16, verse 12).
"It is He Who created the Night and the Day, and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course." (surah 21, verse 33).
"Seest thou not that Allah merges Night into Day and He merges Day into Night; that He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law), each running its course for a term appointed; and that Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do?" (surah 31, verse 29).
"He merges Night into Day, and He merges Day into Night, and He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His Law): each one runs its course for a term appointed. Such is Allah your Lord: to Him belongs all Dominion. And those whom ye invoke besides Him have not the least power." (surah 35, verse 13).
"And the Moon, We have measured for it mansions (to traverse) till it returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk." (surah 36, verse 39).
"It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to law)." (surah 36, verse 40).
"He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law) each one follows a course for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in Power, He Who forgives again and again?" (surah 39, verse 5).
When the Holy Qur'an says that Allah created the Moon, this surely means that the Moon is no god and is not Allah.
The Moon was also mentioned in some Hadiths (Prophet Muhammad's Sayings) from which we mention the following:
The sun eclipsed in the life-time of Allah's Apostle on the day when his son (called Ibrahim) died. So the people said that the sun had eclipsed because of the death of Ibrahim. Allah's Apostle (Muhammad) said, "The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of the death or life (i.e. birth) of some-one. When you see the eclipse pray and invoke Allah."
"Allah will gather all the people and say, ‘Whoever used to worship anything should follow that thing.’ So he who used to worship the sun, will follow it; and he who used to worship the moon will follow it and he who used to worship false deities will follow them".. in the continuation of the hadith, the people who followed the moon will fall in Hell.
There is some evidence too that Hubal or the Moon is not Allah that the Muslims worship from the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing of God be upon him):
In the battle of Uhud, the distinction between the followers of Allah (the Muslims) and the followers of Hubal (the pagans) is made clear by the statements of Prophet Muhammad and Abu Sufyan. Ibn Hisham narrates in the biography of the Prophet:
When Abu Sufyan wanted to leave he went to the top of the mountain and shouted loudly saying, 'You have done a fine work; victory in war goes by turns. Today in exchange for the day (of Badr). Show your superiority, Hubal,' i.e. vindicate your religion. The apostle told ‘Umar to get up and answer him and say, God [Allah] is most high and most glorious. We are not equal. Our dead are in paradise; your dead are in hell.
So, when a man that is fighting the Muslims, that worship Allah, says words like: (Show your superiority, Hubal) and (O Hubal, be high), this makes no possibility that Allah is Hubal.
At the conquest of Mecca, the Prophet entered the Kaaba and found on its walls from the inside images of the angels and prophets. The angels were imaged as beautiful women and the idols (statues) of the gods of the Arabs was around the Kaaba and the one of Hubal was inside the Kaaba. The Prophet pointed at all these statues with a rod in his hand and said: "Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish" (Qur'an: surah 17, verse 81).
And then he ordered the statues and the images to be destroyed and they were destroyed (including the statue of Hubal).
Moreover, the worship of Hubal did not originate in Arabia, it was brought to Mecca from the Levant or Mesopotamia and that is why the Arabs believed that Allah is the Supreme God and considered three goddesses to be His daughters (Allat, Manat and al-‘Uzza) and Hubal was not a member of this "holy family" of the pagans.
Then, Islam came to emphasize that Allah (God) is the One and Only that have no sons or daughters; the fact mentioned in: " Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him" (Qur'an: surah 112, verses 1-4).
And as for the use the crescent use in the Islamic world, I say that the utilization of the crescent as a symbol of Islam arose mainly in the Ottoman Empire; not for a religious reason, but because the Ottomans had to use a symbol that is more related to Islam in the Russo-Turkish War from 1876 to 1878, rather than a Red Cross; for fear that a symbol of a cross would alienate the Muslim soldiers. Hence, the red crescent became a counterpart for the Red Cross and its use spread throughout the Islamic world till it is now used by 33 societies of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
And as for the crescents over the minarets of the mosques, the minarets and the domes are simply not compulsory to be added to the design of the mosque as many mosques are built without minarets or mosques at all. The minaret was invented at first for the Mo'azzen (a man calling for prayer) to stand in it high up for his voice in the Adhan (call for prayer) to reach the people.
It should be noted that the crescent was not a symbol used for Islam by Prophet Muhammad or any other early Muslim rulers, as the Islamic religion is, in fact, against appointing "Holy Symbols" (so that during the early centuries of Islam, Muslim authorities simply didn't want any geometric symbols to be used to symbolize Islam, in the way that the cross symbolizes Christianity, the menorah was a symbol of Judaism, etc.). This is why early Islamic coins were covered with Arabic writing, but contained no visual symbols.
That was an attempt of my side to clarify the matter and let the truth shine, one I hope to be successful.
More information is available at:
http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Qur...es/Allah/hubal
Tell me what you think about it and please rate this thread; and if there is any fault here, it is not the Islam's, it is simply mine and if there is something I don’t have the answer to, there is others who surely have.
