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The star and crescent in Islam are commonly considered Islamic symbols although it should be noted that there is no mention of such symbols in the Koran (Muslim Holy book) and that the Prophet Mohamed (peace be upon him) never used it. So why do people around the world relate the crescent and the star to Islam? Well, for one thing, the crescent and the star (Sun during the Ottoman Empire) were the symbols of the Ottoman Empire from ancient times, pre-Islamic. And due to the 1,000 year fight of Muslim Turk and Christian Europe, the symbols have become mistakenly related to the Muslim faith by Europeans and the world in general. We should also mention that the Ottoman Empire was in many respects, an Islamic successor to earlier Mediterranean empires-namely the roman and the Byzantine empires. In other words, it was the most powerful Islamic state economically, politically and culturally that ruled the Muslim world for many centuries. Thus, it makes sense that the symbols of this empire became linked in people's minds with the Islamic faith.

Another factor that could explain the link between the star/crescent and Islam is that the Muslim calendar is lunar, meaning that it is based on the motion of the moon, unlike the Gregorian calendar, which is calculated according to the motion of the sun. As to the star, it is speculated that its five points represent the five pillars of the Islamic faith although the five points were not standard in the ottoman flags.

How much important are the star and the crescent symbols in Islam? Not much actually since the prophet of Islam Mohamed (peace be upon him) never used it. He reportedly used a black and white flag on it was written the inscription, Nasrun Min Allah, which meant "the help of Allah" And as I mentioned earlier, the symbols were never reported in the Koran.

The star and the crescent symbols are merely a continuation of a tradition set by the vast Ottoman-empire; the empire that was once the pride of the Muslim world.

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