What is the ruling on placing the crescent on minarets, as I have heard that this is an innovation?
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The questioner : Noble Shaykh, what is the ruling on placing the crescent on minarets? I have heard that this is an innovation.
The Shaykh : Regarding this question, I would like to read a question that was directed to me and which I answered. It says:The questioner : We discussed with some workers who came to our country the matter of the crescents placed on minarets. We asked them how it is done in their country, and they answered by saying: "In our country, they are placed on the churches of the Christians and on the domes of the revered graves. Please give us a ruling, may Allah reward you with good, on placing them on the minarets of the mosques of Muslims in this situation?" So I answered him: As for placing the crescent on the revered graves, Shaykh 'Abd al-Latif ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan mentioned, from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), in Part One, page 243 of "al-Durar al-Saniyyah", the following text: "And the builders of the shrines of graves fear other than Allah and hope in other than Allah, to the extent that a group of the people of major sins, who do not refrain from the ugliness they commit, if one of them sees the dome of the dead or the crescent on top of the dome, he fears committing lewd acts. And one of them says to his companion: 'Woe to you, this is the crescent of the dome,' and they fear the buried one and do not fear the One who created the heavens and the earth and made the crescents of the sky as times for people and for the pilgrimage." I said: As for placing the crescent on the churches of the Christians, it is not far-fetched, but it has been said that they place crosses on their churches, and Allah knows best. The placement of crescents on minarets was a recent occurrence in most parts of the Kingdom. It has been said that some Muslims, who imitated others in what they place on their churches, placed the crescent in response to the Christians placing the cross on their churches, just as they named the emergency medical centers the "Red Crescent" in response to the Christians naming them the "Red Cross."
Therefore, it is not befitting to place crescents on the tops of minarets because of this doubt and because of the waste of money and time involved. This fatwa was issued on the fourth of Ramadan in the year 1413. And I believe it is sufficient as an answer to the questioner's question.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, Noble Shaykh. This questioner, Abu 'Abdullah, says:
The Shaykh : Regarding this question, I would like to read a question that was directed to me and which I answered. It says:The questioner : We discussed with some workers who came to our country the matter of the crescents placed on minarets. We asked them how it is done in their country, and they answered by saying: "In our country, they are placed on the churches of the Christians and on the domes of the revered graves. Please give us a ruling, may Allah reward you with good, on placing them on the minarets of the mosques of Muslims in this situation?" So I answered him: As for placing the crescent on the revered graves, Shaykh 'Abd al-Latif ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan mentioned, from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), in Part One, page 243 of "al-Durar al-Saniyyah", the following text: "And the builders of the shrines of graves fear other than Allah and hope in other than Allah, to the extent that a group of the people of major sins, who do not refrain from the ugliness they commit, if one of them sees the dome of the dead or the crescent on top of the dome, he fears committing lewd acts. And one of them says to his companion: 'Woe to you, this is the crescent of the dome,' and they fear the buried one and do not fear the One who created the heavens and the earth and made the crescents of the sky as times for people and for the pilgrimage." I said: As for placing the crescent on the churches of the Christians, it is not far-fetched, but it has been said that they place crosses on their churches, and Allah knows best. The placement of crescents on minarets was a recent occurrence in most parts of the Kingdom. It has been said that some Muslims, who imitated others in what they place on their churches, placed the crescent in response to the Christians placing the cross on their churches, just as they named the emergency medical centers the "Red Crescent" in response to the Christians naming them the "Red Cross."
Therefore, it is not befitting to place crescents on the tops of minarets because of this doubt and because of the waste of money and time involved. This fatwa was issued on the fourth of Ramadan in the year 1413. And I believe it is sufficient as an answer to the questioner's question.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, Noble Shaykh. This questioner, Abu 'Abdullah, says: