Since emergence of Islam as one of the dominant religion, the people of the earlier Divine Books and faith, specially the Jews and Christians have started to feel a threat to their faiths as more and more people of other faiths are converting to Islam everyday that passes. For this very reason, we usually come across abject propaganda by them in the shape of hate literature and caricatures.
In one of our earlier posts "Jewish perception of Islam as Idolatrous" we put across a misleading perception by the Jews labeling Islam as Idolatrous by contending that the Muslims worshiped Muhammad (The revered last prophet of Allah) rather than the God the Jews worshiped. Please read our post on the subject with reference given below.
Today, I came across yet another concept, this time by the Christians, in which they believe that Muslims believe in the "moon god" as was done in the times before Islam. The idea was proposed by archaeologist Hugo Winckler in 1901. It was proliferated in the United States in the 1990s, first via the publication of Robert Morey's pamphlet The Moon-god Allah: In Archeology of the Middle East (1994), eventually followed by his book The Islamic Invasion: Confronting The World's Fastest-Growing Religion (2001). Morey's ideas were popularized by cartoonist and publisher Jack Chick, who drew a fictionalized cartoon story entitled "Allah Had No Son" in 1994. [1]
Many websites of Bible Societies and even otherwise of individual Christians have tried to prove that the moon-god found in the pre-Islamic era, both in Arabia and otherwise is in fact the same Allah that Muslims worship after Muhammad (peace be upon him, the Prophet of Allah) introduced "his" religion to come up with a religion to contest that of Jews and Christians. And have thus tried to present many photos of artifacts and relics showing worship of moon. They also content that Allah is the name derived from the moon-gods.
Then there is yet another question posed by the Christians: "Why is Allah never defined in the Qur'an? Why did Muhammad assume that the pagan Arabs already knew who Allah was?" Muhammad was raised in the religion of the Moon-god Allah. But he went one step further than his fellow pagan Arabs. While they believed that Allah, i.e. the Moon-god, was the greatest of all gods and the supreme deity in a pantheon of deities, Muhammad decided that Allah was not only the greatest god but the only god. My only reaction here is from my Christian friends: Has God been "defined" in the Old or New Testaments or an other holy scriptures before Islam? They wont find an answer to this but Holy Qur'an very clearly defines Allah in Allah's own words in the Holy Qur'an. In fact, one of the main themes of the Quran is to describe Allah and his oneness his attributes and actions. Here are some excerpts from the Holy Qur'an:
إِنَّنِي أَنَا اللَّـهُ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدْنِي وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِي
Allah Himself tells who He is: "Indeed, I am Allah. There is no other god except Me. So, worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance." [Al Quran, Surah Ta Ha, Chapter 20, verse 14]
Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. [Al Qur'an, Chapter 2, Surah Albaqarh, 255]
[All] praise is [due] to Allah , who created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light. Then those who disbelieve equate [others] with their Lord. It is He who created you from clay and then decreed a term and a specified time [known] to Him; then [still] you are in dispute. And He is Allah , [the only deity] in the heavens and the earth. He knows your secret and what you make public, and He knows that which you earn. [Al Quran, Surah Al-An'am Chapter 6 verses 1-3]
It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and determined for it phases - that you may know the number of years and account [of time]. Allah has not created this except in truth. He details the signs for a people who know. {Al Quran Surah Yunus Chapter 10, verse 5]There can be no more proofs that Christians would want, as these are just three references that define Allah.
It is very amazing that the Christians have tried to correlate the word Allah with moon-god while forgetting that Allah is an Arabic word and in the lands of Arab the Arabic language has been there since centuries. They object to word Allah as if Muhammad (peace be upon him, the Prophet of Allah) had coined it. It may be recalled that name "Allah" was in use even before the birth of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). A proof of that is his father was named as Abdullah (meaning: servant of Allah). Therefore it should not be misunderstood that the name of Allah was introduced by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The word Allah as translation of God also appears in countless Bibles translated into Arabic, but strangely then no Christian objects to it. Sarah Lynn Johnson, a Christian Woman married to Muslim Man also substantiate this contention in an question -answer session on "Why do some non-Muslims say Allah was the moon god of Arab polytheists before Islam?" says:
In order to be a Muslim, one must surrender oneself to God, and believe in the oneness of God, in the sense of His being the only Creator, Preserver and Nourisher. Having believed in oneness of Allah, a Must also acknowledge the Allah alone deserves to be worshiped, and thus abstains from worshiping any other thing or being.
Now coming back to the concept of moon-god Allah. In the Holy Qur'an, Allah makes it very clear that all landmarks like sun, moon and stars and every celestial object are His signs of creation and are NOT to bow down to:
Now as for the usage of moon on most of the flags of the Islamic countries does not mean that Muslims revere moon. In fact in the early days of Islam and of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islamic armies and caravans flew simple solid-colored flags (generally black, green, or white) for identification purposes. In later generations, the Muslim leaders continued to use a simple black, white or green flag with no markings, writing, or symbolism of any kind.
In fact the use of the crescent symbol on Muslim flags and roof finial on Islamic buildings originated when the Ottoman Empire won over the city of Byzantium (later known as Constantinople and Istanbul) and adopted the crescent moon and star of the Byzantium's existing flag and symbol. Thereafter other Muslim countries too started using the crescent and star combination in their flags and roof finial on masjid. [3]
No matter what idols related to the moon god have been discovered of the pre-Islam era, this does not have any effect on the post Islam era. In fact right from the day the message of Allah dawned on to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), there was no doubt as to the oneness of Allah, the one true God that was henceforth to be followed and worshiped. And with the capture of Makkah, the first thing that the Prophet of Allah dis was wipe out all 360 plus idols kept in and outside of Ka'aba and restored it as a pure and clean house of Allah as was built by Prophet Abrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismael (peace be upon them both). And thus from that day on, Islam wiped out all traces of idolatry and pagan practices from Arabia. Did any idol of moon-god figured out thereafter?
And last point to end up the useless discussion originated by the Christians to find a lame excuse to propagate against the Muslims. Over the years, the crescent moon has become a symbol of Muslim faith, like the Star of David for Jewish people, and the Cross for Christians. Muslims don’t worship the moon, nor do Jewish people worship stars or Christians worship the letter t. Please ponder over it !!
Please read a detailed Reply to Robert Morey's Moon-God Allah Myth: A Look At The Archaeological Evidence
The word Allah as translation of God also appears in countless Bibles translated into Arabic, but strangely then no Christian objects to it. Sarah Lynn Johnson, a Christian Woman married to Muslim Man also substantiate this contention in an question -answer session on "Why do some non-Muslims say Allah was the moon god of Arab polytheists before Islam?" says:
Allah is the Arabic word for God. Arab Christians also call God, “Allah.” Anyone who speaks Arabic will do this because that is the word in Arabic. My husband is Egyptian; when he refers to God while speaking English, he calls him God. When he is speaking Arabic, he calls him Allah. [2]I came across an interesting revelation in one of the Christian sites which claimed that "The reader must know that Islam, Judaism, and organized Christianity all worship a trinity of gods." Now this is the most absurd statement I have ever come across. I as a Muslim know that all Muslims squarely and flatly reject the concept of Trinity (Father, son and the holy ghost) as all Muslims strictly believe in one monotheist Allah and reject all forms of polytheism.
In order to be a Muslim, one must surrender oneself to God, and believe in the oneness of God, in the sense of His being the only Creator, Preserver and Nourisher. Having believed in oneness of Allah, a Must also acknowledge the Allah alone deserves to be worshiped, and thus abstains from worshiping any other thing or being.
Now coming back to the concept of moon-god Allah. In the Holy Qur'an, Allah makes it very clear that all landmarks like sun, moon and stars and every celestial object are His signs of creation and are NOT to bow down to:
"And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Do not bow down (prostrate) to the sun nor to the moon, but only bow down (prostrate) to "Allah" Who created them, if you (really) worship Him." [Holy Quran Surah Fussilat, 41st Chapter, verses 37-43]If this commandment does not satisfy the proponents of moon-god Allah, then they may like to read the following verse regarding the status of moon:
"They ask you about the new moons. Say: These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage." [Holy Quran Surah Al Baqarah Chapter 2, verse 189]The above two verses, thus clearly and amply make it clear that the celestial landmarks are signs of Allah's creation and to mark fixed periods of time (through sun) of the day and days and months (through moon).
Now as for the usage of moon on most of the flags of the Islamic countries does not mean that Muslims revere moon. In fact in the early days of Islam and of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islamic armies and caravans flew simple solid-colored flags (generally black, green, or white) for identification purposes. In later generations, the Muslim leaders continued to use a simple black, white or green flag with no markings, writing, or symbolism of any kind.
In fact the use of the crescent symbol on Muslim flags and roof finial on Islamic buildings originated when the Ottoman Empire won over the city of Byzantium (later known as Constantinople and Istanbul) and adopted the crescent moon and star of the Byzantium's existing flag and symbol. Thereafter other Muslim countries too started using the crescent and star combination in their flags and roof finial on masjid. [3]
No matter what idols related to the moon god have been discovered of the pre-Islam era, this does not have any effect on the post Islam era. In fact right from the day the message of Allah dawned on to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), there was no doubt as to the oneness of Allah, the one true God that was henceforth to be followed and worshiped. And with the capture of Makkah, the first thing that the Prophet of Allah dis was wipe out all 360 plus idols kept in and outside of Ka'aba and restored it as a pure and clean house of Allah as was built by Prophet Abrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismael (peace be upon them both). And thus from that day on, Islam wiped out all traces of idolatry and pagan practices from Arabia. Did any idol of moon-god figured out thereafter?
And last point to end up the useless discussion originated by the Christians to find a lame excuse to propagate against the Muslims. Over the years, the crescent moon has become a symbol of Muslim faith, like the Star of David for Jewish people, and the Cross for Christians. Muslims don’t worship the moon, nor do Jewish people worship stars or Christians worship the letter t. Please ponder over it !!
Please read a detailed Reply to Robert Morey's Moon-God Allah Myth: A Look At The Archaeological Evidence
You may read more posts on countering / responding to lies / misinformation and disinformation about Islam: The Rebuttal: Countering disinformation being spread about Islam (Reference Page)
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