Ron Boatwright
What religion today practices the pagan rites of the moon-god? Islam, the fastest growing religion in the world. Many times it has been a violent religion in which one has one of two choices: either convert or die. As its focus of worship, the religion of Islam has a deity by the name of Allah. Allah was a pagan moon-god in Arabia during pre-Islamic times.
Moon worship has been practiced in Arabia and the Middle East since about 2000 BC. The crescent moon is the most common symbol of this pagan moon worship. The moon-god was also referred to as al-ilah. Originally this was not a proper name of a single specific god, but a generic name meaning “the god”. Each local Arab tribe would refer to their own local tribal pagan god as al-ilah. Al-ilah was later shortened to Allah before Mohammed began promoting his new religion in 610 AD. Mohammed retained almost all the pagan rituals of the Arabs at the temple, Kabah, and redefined them in monotheistic terms. Today Islam is a false monotheistic religion with its roots in polytheistic paganism.
The Old Testament regularly forbade the worship of the moon-god and other false gods. When the children of Israel came out of Egyptian bondage they were warned, “a man or a woman who have been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, who have gone and served other gods and worshipped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven…then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones” (Deut. 17:3-5). When Israel fell into idolatry, many times it involved moon-god worship. There are remnants of pagan moon-god worship in the Koran where we have examples of Muslims swearing by the moon. “Nay; I swear by the moon, And the night when it departs, And the daybreak when it shines;” (Koran 74:32-34). Muslims fast during the month that begins and ends with a crescent moon.
The pagan Arab nations worshipped 360 gods, one for each day of the year. The moon-god was a male god and the sun-god was a female goddess. The moon-god was called by various names, one of which was Allah. The Arabs believed that the moon-god was the greatest of all gods. In worshipping their moon-god, Allah, they prayed toward Mecca several times a day, made pilgrimages to Mecca, ran around their moon-god temple called Kabah, kissed the Black Stone, killed animal sacrifices for their moon-god, and fasted for the month which begins and ends with the crescent moon, etc, just as the Muslims do today.
They believed Allah, the moon-god, was married to the sun goddess. Together they produced three goddesses who were called “the daughters of Allah.” Allah’s three daughters, Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat, were viewed as intercessors between the people and Allah and were also worshipped at the Kabah in Mecca. The daughters of Allah, along with Allah’s wife the sun goddess, and Allah were viewed as “high” gods.
Mohammed was raised to worship the moon-god, Allah. The Quraish tribe into which he was born was particularly devoted to Allah. The literal Arabic name of Mohammed’s father was Abd-Allah and his uncle’s name was Obied-Allah. These names show the devotion that Mohammed’s family had to the worship of their moon-god, Allah. When Mohammed proclaimed his new doctrine: “There is no God but Allah,” he was not trying to introduce a new god, for his pagan countrymen already knew and acknowledged this pagan deity along with their other 359 gods. The crescent moon was an ancient pagan symbol used throughout the Middle East to represent Allah and adopting this symbol helped Muslims to convert people throughout the Middle East to Islam.
Mohammed was born in Mecca in 570 AD. In 610 AD he declared himself a prophet. At a temple called “ka’aba” in Mecca 360 idols along with a Black Stone were worshipped. Prior to Islam the people prayed each day facing Mecca since that was the place where their idol Allah was located. Each Arab tribe used “Allah” as a generic term to refer to its own particular high god. When Mohammed began propagating his new religion he was run out of Mecca in 622 AD. He then went to Medina where he successfully began his new religion, Islam, and even became the ruler of that city. In Mecca Arabs worshipped a moon-god called Hubal at their temple called Kabah. Hubal, being their highest ranking god, was also known by other names such as Allah. When Mohammed came along, he dropped all references to the name “Hubal” but retained the generic al-ilah, which had been modified to Allah.
In 630 AD Mohammed again entered Mecca and captured it. He declared Allah to be the supreme god and was the one true god that all men should worship. Mohammed claimed to have had his “vision” and “revelation” from the angel Gabriel. Mohammed destroyed all the 360 idols at Mecca except the Black Stone, which they believed had come from the moon. Muslims continue to worship and kiss it today. Mohammed declared that Allah alone should be worshipped. He forbade the worship of the daughters of Allah. Mohammed retained almost all the pagan rituals of the Arabs at the temple, Kabah, and redefined them in monotheistic terms. To this day, a crescent moon can be found at the front of every mosque, acknowledging that Allah was—and is still—their moon-god.
Mohammed went one step further than his fellow pagan Arabs. While they believed that Allah, their moon-god, was the greatest of all gods and the supreme deity, Mohammed decided that Allah was not only the greatest god but the only god. The worship of the moon-god, Allah, helped Islam to be successful in propagating their religion among the Arab nations. Allah was neither an unknown nor an unimportant god to the Quraish when Mohammed began preaching his doctrine at Medina and Mecca. The fact that Islam was conceived in idolatry is shown by the many rituals performed today in the name of Allah which were connected with their pagan worship that existed before Islam.
The crescent moon, as the symbol for Islam originated when Allah was worshipped as the moon-god in Mecca, is placed on the flags of Islamic nations and on the top of mosques and minarets and displayed on hats, flags, rugs, amulets, and even jewelry. This explains why the crescent moon is the symbol of Islam today. Some flags of Muslim countries have the full moon placed inside the crescent moon to emphasize all the phases of the moon. Other flags have one or more stars or the sun placed in the crescent of the moon.
Many people have been falsely taught that Allah is simply another name for the God of the Bible. This is not true. This is stated to try and give Islam some credibility. Satan has used this lie to lead people away from the one true God so they will be eternally lost. This lie is believed not only by Muslims but also by many non-Muslims.
History reveals that Islam is nothing more than a reformed revival of the ancient idolatrous moon-god paganism. Most Muslims have been kept in the dark concerning the history of their religion. The average Muslim does not know he is worshipping a moon-god or why the crescent moon sits on top of his mosque.
