Walking around a hotel in Turkey, my eyes fell on just such a sculpture, and at first I caught myself thinking that I had already seen it somewhere. Ba-ah-ah! So these are the stars in Moscow skyscrapers! Well, isn't it a shit? Then I remember that I am in a Muslim country and it’s like their symbols. It will appear the same.
However, after reading more about these symbols of the crescent and the star, it turned out that Islam to them and they do not treat Islam so unambiguously.
The early Muslim community did not have this symbol. During the time of the Prophet Muhammad, Islamic troops and caravans used simple one-color flags (usually black, green or white) for identification purposes. In more recent times, Muslim leaders preferred to use a simple black, white, or green flag with no inscriptions, signs, or any symbols.
According to legend, Osman (the ruler of a small principality in Asia Minor) in 1299 saw in a dream a crescent moon stretching from one end of the earth to the other. The sovereign took the dream for a good omen and made the crescent a symbol of his dynasty. The dream was really in hand - the descendants of Osman created a huge power and became not only great rulers, but also the spiritual leaders of the Muslim world - the caliphs. The symbolism of the crescent with a star has a rich history. This Muslim sign is actually several millennia older than Islam. Most sources agree that the ancient astronomical symbol was used by peoples in the worship of the moon, sun and celestial deities. There is also evidence that the crescent and the star were symbols of the Greek goddess Diana or the Carthaginian goddess Tanit.
The crescent moon has long been considered a symbol of the city of Byzantium (later Constantinople and Istanbul). According to some sources, he was accepted in honor of the goddess Diana, according to others - in honor of the battle with the army of the Macedonian king Philip II, which took place in 340 BC. The Macedonians wanted to take the city by ground assault and launched an attack at night, but the bright moon betrayed the attackers, and the surprise effect did not work. Jubilant townspeople praised the patroness of Byzantium - Hecate, the goddess of moonlight. In her honor, coins began to be issued with the image of the symbols of the night. The crescent moon remained the symbol of the city in 330 AD, when the city was captured by the Ottoman Turks. So the ancient Greek pagan sign, which for thousands of years was a symbol of the capital of the world of Christians, became associated with Islam and Muslim culture.
Gradually, Muslim symbols (crescent and star) became widespread: they began to decorate the flags of Islamic states, mosques, postage stamps, etc. However, these are still signs of the Ottoman dynasty, and not of the Islamic religion itself.
