The Islamic Crescent was
originally a Jewish
Symbol
Modern research on the
Jewish Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia "Himyar", indicates that
the
Crescent was actually a Jewish symbol!
Around 200 CE, Yehudah
ha-Nasi compiled the Mishna from the various
interpretative efforts and judicial compilations of the Rabbinic
schools of the first and second centuries. The Roman government
regarded Yehudah as their own paid government official with the status
of Prefect, yet the government become increasingly antagonistic to the
Jewish leadership. The government repeatedly attacked the Jewish
calendar as a symbol of Jewish nationalism.
The biblical calendar required witnesses of the new moon of each new
month to appear before the Sanhedrin. In 358 CE, Emperor Theodosius
forbade the Sanhedrin to assemble in
reaction to previous Emperor Julian’s pro-Jewish stance. An arithmetic
Jewish Calendar was adopted at clandestine and perhaps the Sanhedrin’s
last meeting. Growing disunity over fixing of the Jewish calendar
between the Jews of Syrian Antioch and of Palestine compelled the
patriarch or Nasi,
Rabbi Hillel II, to publish the astronomical calculations for regulation of the Jewish calendar.
The Jews of Arabia, however, did not accept this ruling. They
continued to
require human sighting of moon and stars. Eventually, what
started out as a rabbinic argument led to the use of
crescent as an identifying political symbol. This crescent
moon
differed from the Sabaean moon symbol, in that it was tilted by
approximately 45 degrees to reflect the way the moon would be observed
by a "witness" to the new moon of the coming month.
In 425 CE, Rabbi Gamliel VI, the last patriarch passed away.
Rabbi Gamliel was a descendant of the Tanna, Hillel I (d. 10 C.E.), who
was a descendant of King David. Rabbi Gamliel was a renowned
physician and respected by the Emperor Theodosius II, however this did
not prevent Theodosius II from abolishing the position of Nasi when he
executed Gamliel for rebuilding synagogues without imperial permission.
Gamliel died without a male heir, thus ending the last semblance of
Jewish national organization in Israel.
Qusai ibn Kilab ibn Murrah (Qusayy) (c. 400–480) was the
great-great- grandfather of Shaiba ibn Hashim (Abdul-Mutallib, who had
a
Jewish wife). He was fifth in the line of descent to Muhammad, and
attained supreme power at Mecca. Qusai is amongst the ancestors of
Sahaba and the progenitor of the Quraish . When Qusai came of age, a
man from the tribe of Khuza'a named Hulail (Hillel) was the trustee of
the Kaaba, and the Na'sa (Nasi) - authorized to intercalate the
calendar.
Qusai married his daughter and, according to Hulail's will, obtained
these rights after him. He assembled a Sanhedrin "town hall".
Leaders of different clans met in this hall to discuss their social,
commercial, cultural and political problems. Under the royal
permission of Abu Karib As'ad Tubba', Qusai reconstructed the Ka'aba
from a state of decay, and had the Arab kahins (cohens) build
their houses around it.
There were three Calendars in use in Arabia.
- The mathematical
calendar, imported from Babylon, used by the few Babylonian -Jewish
refugees in Arabia.
- The intercalated
calendar used by those
Jews and pro-Muslims who followed Qusai's council.
- And a strictly lunar
calendar used by the Jorham who refused to accept any intercalation.
This strictly lunar calendar was the official calendar between the time
of Hillel (358 CE) until Qusai (440 CE).
The Qur'anic Sura about
the "splitting of the moon" refers to the divergence of the two
calendars (intercalated and strictly lunar), in turn reflecting the
split
between Jews and proto-Muslims. The strictly lunar calendar was
eventually reinstated in 622 CE, but the 45 degree crescent moon
continued to symbolize the primacy of the Quraish, much as the dove
symbolized the Tubba (Tobiad) kings of Himyar.
 There
is no doubt that the founders of Islam saw themselves as "true Jews",
and
offered their religion as an alternative form of Judaism. Islam
was
more similar to Judaism during the first two generations than it is
today.
For more info, see "The
Prophet Mohammed, a Jewish pseudo-Messiah"
This page was produced
by Joseph
E. Katz
Middle Eastern Political
and Religious
History Analyst
Brooklyn, New York
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