Islamic symbols
Symbols and forms associated with Islam and Muslim culture, and where they came from.
Islam has no official symbol, says Malaysia's Federal Territories Mufti's Office, crescent and star included, though it adds that the crescent and star have become a significant symbol for Islam. IslamQA finds no basis in Islam for the crescent on top of a minaret. These pages therefore cover forms that Muslims use, or that others take as signs of Islam: the star and crescent, the Rub el Hizb in copies of the Qur'an, the Mihrab that shows the direction of Mecca, the Misbaha used to count praises of God, and the Khamsa, a hand-shaped talisman older than Islam.
- Star and crescentA crescent moon with a star, widely taken as an emblem of Islam and of Muslim countries, though many Muslims do not accept it as a symbol of their faith.
- Rub el HizbAn eight-pointed star of two overlapping squares that marks the start of each quarter-section of the Qur’an in most printed copies.
- KhamsaAn open hand, the “hand of Fatima”, used as an amulet across North Africa and the Middle East by Muslims and by Jews.
- MihrabThe niche in the wall of a mosque that shows the direction of Mecca, which Muslims face when they pray.
- MisbahaA string of prayer beads that Muslims use to count phrases of praise to God (dhikr), often 99 beads for the 99 names of God.
Pictures, calligraphy and pattern
Islam is often called a religion that forbids images, but the Qur'an nowhere speaks against representation, Annemarie Schimmel writes in the Encyclopedia of Religion; the prohibition was derived from certain hadith. The sense that images were alien to Islam's original spirit led to abstract ornament, geometric and vegetal, and gave calligraphy its central place in Islamic art. Copies of the Qur'an were never illustrated, only written in fine calligraphy. Early Islam still had pictures: palaces held images of kings, musicians and dancers.
Sources
- Al-Afkar #36: Are crescent and star the symbols of Islam?, Mohammad Izzhar Faizzy Osman, 11 January 2019, Federal Territories Mufti’s Office (Pejabat Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan), Malaysia (archived copy, Internet Archive)
- Putting a crescent on top of the minaret of a mosque, Question 575, Islam Question & Answer
- Iconography: Islamic Iconography, Encyclopedia of Religion (Annemarie Schimmel), Gale, via Encyclopedia.com, section “The Shape of Spirituality”
- Signs and Notations, Koran Center, Terminology; Signs
- Khamsa, the hand of Fatima, 1 June 2020, Fundación de Cultura Islámica (FUNCI), Madrid
- What is the ruling on using the subha (prayer beads)?, Fatwa 7783, Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, fatwa
- Prayer niche (mihrab), Bey Hakim Mosque, Konya, Annette Hagedorn; Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, description
Last reviewed September 25, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research