Friday, April 12, 2013

Sky Watch: Crescent Moon Minaret Topper

I always get miffed when Muslims insist to me that the crescent moon is not a symbol of Islam.  Here in Saudi Arabia, just about every mosque with a minaret is topped off with a crescent moon.  The insistence that it is not a symbol of Islam is beyond me ...




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4 comments:

Jerry Mc Kenna said...

As far as I can determine the symbol comes from the Byzantine empire, and was adopted by the Turks after they conquered Constantinople. Given how it was used afterwards it has become a default symbol for mosques. So, it may not have any theological meaning but it is used as a symbol for a mosque. One unfortunate aspect of the symbol today is that it allow the crazies to claim that the Muslim god is a moon god.

eden said...

Great shot!

Susie of Arabia said...

Hi Jerry - I just get tired of hearing that the crescent moon is not symbolic of Islam. It's atop almost every minaret that I have seen and almost every mosque has a minaret. Plus, the sighting of the crescent moon is the key marking the beginning and the ending of the holy month of Ramadan. So it has become a "symbol" of Islam whether they want to admit it or not...

Susie of Arabia said...

Thanks, Eden - When I first arrived in KSA 5 yrs ago, my mission was to photograph all the minarets here in Jeddah. I realize now that it was an impossible goal. There are just too many!