Question:

May Allah bless you. The listener Muhammad A. A. says: Virtuous Sheikh, what is the ruling on placing the crescent on minarets, as I have heard that this is an innovated matter?

Answer:

Regarding this question, I would like to read a question that was directed to me and which I answered.

The questioner says: “We discussed with some workers who came to our country the topic of the crescents placed on minarets: ‘How are they placed in your countries?’ They replied to us saying: ‘In our countries, they are placed on Christian places of worship and the domes of venerated graves.’ Give us a religious verdict—may Allah reward you with goodness—given this situation, regarding placing them on the mosques of Muslims.”

So I answered him: As for placing the crescent on venerated graves, Shaykh Ibn Abd al-Latif ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan mentioned from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him—in the first volume, page 243 of Al-Durar al-Saniyyah, what textually states:

“And the builders of shrines and graves fear other than Allah and hope in other than Allah, to the extent that a group of the perpetrators of major sins, who do not refrain from the foul deeds they commit, when one of them sees the dome of the deceased or the crescent that is atop 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. Thus, they fear the buried deceased, yet they do not fear the One Who created the heavens and the earth and made the crescents of the sky as signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage (Hajj).’

I said: As for placing the crescent on Christian places of worship, it is not far-fetched [that they do so]; however, it has been said that they place crosses upon their places of worship, and Allah knows best. The practice of placing crescents on minarets was a recent occurrence in most parts of the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia]. It has been said that some Muslims, who imitated others in what they place on their places of worship, placed the crescent in contrast to the Christians placing the cross on their places of worship—just as they named ambulance services ‘The Red Crescent’ in contrast to the Christians naming them ‘The Red Cross.’

​Based on this, it is not proper to place crescents atop minarets due to this resemblance, and because of the waste of wealth and time it entails. This fatwa was issued on the fourth of Ramadan in the year 1413 AH.

​And I believe this is sufficient in answering the questioner’s query.

Also read:

Is the Crescent a Religious Symbol? — Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan