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Islamic flags

The shahada (Arabic الشهادة‎ aš-šahādah) (from the verb شهد šahida, "to witness" or "to testify"), or Kalimat ash-Shahadah (Arabic: كلمة الشهادة‎), is an Islamic creed which declares belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet. The declaration in its shortest form reads:

لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ الله (lā ʾilāha ʾillā l-Lāh, Muḥammadur rasūlu l-Lāh) (in Arabic)

There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God. (in English)

In Shia Islam, the creed is expanded with the addition of a phrase concerning Ali at the end, although it is not obligatory:

وعليٌ وليُّ الله (wa ʿAliyyun waliyyu l-Lāh) ["and Ali is the wali (friend; viceregent) of God"].

The word shahādah (شَهادة) is a noun stemming from the verb shahada (شَهَدَ) , meaning "he observed, witnessed, or testified"; when used in legal terms, shahādah is a testimony to the occurrence of events, such as debt, adultery, or divorce. The shahādah can also be expressed in the dual form shahādatān (شَهادَتانْ, lit. "two testimonials"), which refers to the dual act of observing or seeing and then the declaration of the observation.The person giving the testimony is called a shāhid (شاهِد), with the stress on the first syllable. The two acts in Islam are observing or perceiving that there is no god but God and testifying or witnessing that Muhammad is the messenger of God. In a third meaning, shihādah or more commonly istishhād (إسْتِشْهادْ), means "martyrdom", the shahīd (شَهيد) pronounced with stress on the last syllable ("martyr") demonstrating the ultimate expression of faith. Shahīd can also be used in a non-Islamic religious context. Long before the advent of Islam, Christian Arabs of the Middle East used the word shahīd referencing to someone that was wrongly killed or someone that died for his family, his Christian faith or his country. The two words shāhid (شاهِد, "witness") and shahīd (شَهيد, "martyr") are pre-Islamic. Both are paradigms of the root verb (شَهَدَ, shahada, "he observed").

This declaration, or statement of faith, is called the kalimah (كَلِمة, lit. "word"). Recitation of the shihādah, the "oath" or "testimony", is the most important article of faith for Muslims. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam do so by a public recitation of this creed. Most Muslims count it as the first of the Five Pillars of Islam, while the Twelver and Ismaili Shi'a connect it to their respective lists of pillars of the faith. The complete shahādah cannot be found in the Quran, but comes from hadiths.

More detail and references at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahada
William Garrison, 26 June 2013

Halved Shahada variation

image located by William Garrison, 14 August 2024

The basic Muslim "Declaration/Testimony/Profession of Faith" ("Shahada") is usually shown in one long slogan with exotic-looking Arabic script on many Muslim flags. Some show letters that are so interweaving that they appear as a "circular Shahada" (see: "Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades" flag). Here though, a green-field flag with white, easily readable Arabic words, divide the "Shahada" into halves; the top line reads: "There is no deity but Allah (God)" and the bottom line reads: "Mohammad is the messenger of Allah". Sometimes this second half is shown as: "and His Messenger is Mohammad"; but on this flag the Arabic name of "Mohammad" appears at the bottom right, and as Arabic is read right-to-left, here, Mohammad's name is at the beginning of the second, bottom phrase: "Mohammad is the messenger of Allah".

This flag was seen atop the "Temple Mount" ("Haram al-Sharif") in Jerusalem, April 6, 2012; photo credit: Sliman Khader/FLASH90). {Although this shahada-type flag could be used by any Muslim, the photographer of this flag claimed it was being paraded by a Hamas supporter.} These two half phrases together are known (besides as the usual "shahada") as the "Two Testimonials" or "as-Shahadatan". The first half of the declaration is called the "tahlil", the praising of Allah/God. This first half is also known as the "khabariyya" or "the declarative." [I cannot find an Arabic term for the second phrase itself.]
William Garrison, 14 August 2024

Islamic Flags

Further information: Islamic flags

Flags reported as in use in Islam have been frequently displaying the shahada, usually on a black background, the time of Muhammad. The Taliban used a white flag with the shahada inscribed in black from 1997, until 2001 as the flag of their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Flags showing the shahada, often written on a green background, have also been displayed by supporters of Hamas in rallies during the 2000s.

The shahada is referenced in the eighth stanza of the Turkish national anthem, which can be translated as:
Oh glorious God, the sole wish of my pain-stricken heart is that,
No heathen’s hand should ever touch the bosom of my sacred Temples.
These ʾaḏāns, whose shahadas are the foundations of my religion,
May their noble sound last loud and wide over my eternal homeland.

An Islamic flag is a flag that complies with Islamic rules. Traditionally Islamic flags were of solid colour. The most favoured colours were black, white, red and green. However, other plain colours can be adopted. A bi-colour or tricolour (triband) flag can also be adopted as an Islamic flag. An example of a traditional solid coloured Islamic flag would be the old flag of Libya under Gaddafi.

Early History

The early Muslim community did not use any designs or geometric shapes as symbols on their flags. During the time of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, Muslim armies and caravans flew simple solid-coloured flags (generally black or white) for identification purposes. In later generations, the Muslim leaders continued to use a simple black, white, or green flag with no markings, writings, or symbolism on it.

Muhammad used flags of different colours in different Ghazwat (or campaigns commanded by Muhammad himself) and Saraya (or campaigns commanded by any Sahaba, the companions of Muhammad). The major flag of Muhammad was known as Al-Uqab (The Eagle); it was pure black, without symbols or markings. Its name and colour was derived from the flag of the Quraysh, an Arabian tribe, whose flag, also called Al-Uqaab, was black with an eagle.
William Garrison, 26 June 2013

International flags for Islam

Unless one takes a plain green banner (similar to Libya's) as a broad representation of Islam (said to have been borne by the Prophet Muhammad PBUH), there is not an Islamic flag.
The best representative body here would be the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1990. Photos from that time show a green flag, edged all around with white (though this may simply be a fringe, the sort of wide fringe often seen on Saudi flags), with a large white circle in the center, upon which is a red crescent, points up, and within the crescent the name of the body in calligraphic Arabic.
Beyond this, there is of course the Arab League, but this is "Arab" and not "Islamic."
Ed Haynes 6 October 1995

The international Red Crescent flag (used in Moslem countries where a Red Cross would not accord with Community Standards) could be considered as "representing Islam".
Will Linden 6 October 1995

Representation of flags

Unlike the practice in most Western nations, flags are usually depicted in Islamic countries with the staff to the right. This is analogous to the right-to-left form of most Arabic and Arabic-influenced scripts. This can make for confusion when flag images are shown without an accompanying flagstaff, as it may not be immediately obvious which way around the flag is being depicted.

In keeping with Islamic law, Muslim flags generally do not bear any representations of live creatures, though some Arab flags have the Eagle of Saladin that are used as supporters on the Coats of Arms. These flags are not necessarily Islamic in their nature; rather they more likely to derive from the Pan-Arabist movement. It is rare to find plants depicted on flags of Muslim nations, even though this is permissible under Islamic guidelines. Some state and royal flags of Saudi Arabia depict palm trees.
William Garrison, 26 June 2013

image located by William Garrison, 26 July 2024

Source: https://www.jta.org/2024/07/25/politics

"Shahada: One God. One Nation."
A black-field flag with white lettering; the top Arabic slogan appears to be the basic Muslim "Shahada" or "Profession of Faith" ("There is no god but Allah and His Messenger is Mohammad"), along with on the bottom line are four English words that read: "One God. One Nation." Muslims believe that there is only one God (Allah), which is their theological concept of "tawhid" ("oneness"). Thereby they reject the Christian concept of the "Holy Trinity", which Muslims view as Christians believing in three Gods: "The Father (God), the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Ghost". On this flag, the "One God" refers to "Allah" and "One Nation" refers to the uniting and universal Islamic "family" or "ummah". As seen at the "Union Train Station" in Washington, D.C. (USA) on 24 July 2024.
William Garrison, 26 July 2024

Hajj pilgrimage participant

image located by William Garrison, 14 September 2022

From a letter and photo sent to me from a resident in Iraq:

A devout Muslim tries at least once during their life to visit Mecca/Maccah, Saudi Arabia (KSA), and walk around their holy Kaaba shrine (among other side trips). [al-Kaaba: 'The Cube" -- the shape of the shrine.] This pilgrimage is called "the Hajj." A Muslim male who completes this pilgrimage is given the honorific title "Hajji" (one who has performed the Hajj), while a woman is called a "Hajjan". They often add this to their name as al-Hajji or al-Hajjan. This is a white-field flag with a black image of the Kaaba shrine, along with black-letter slogans that read: "An accepted Hajj, a commendable endeavor, and a sin forgiven if God wills". By performing the Hajj a Hajji may have some of their sins vacated by their god: Allah (inshallah: if God wills). A Hajji could fly this flag outside their house to inform/(brag) to their neighbors that they have performed/completed the Hajj.
William Garrison, 14 September 2022

Allah Akbar flag

image located by William Garrison, 1 November 2023

A yellow-field flag with a green-and-red outlined Arabic slogan or "takbir" expression of "Allah Akbar" or "Allah is the greatest". "Allah Akbar" has appeared on the national flags of Afghanistan (1992), Iran (1980), and Iraq (2008), and on various Islamist militia and political-party flags. Most likely associated with the Shia-Muslim uprisings following the fall of the Iraqi Saddam Hussain regime in late 2003. "Takbir" is the name for the Arabic phrase: ʾAllāhu ʾakbaru , lit. 'God is the greatest'; source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takbir

There is a flag-pole sleeve at the right (hoist).
William Garrison, 1 November 2023

Muslim Funeral flag

image located by William Garrison, 19 July 2019

This Muslim funeral flag was located on Ebay - its age and usage are unknown.
William Garrison, 19 July 2019

Amin/Amen = Peace

image located by William Garrison, 23 October 2024

A white-field flag with red lettering of the Arabic word "Amin" (English: "Amen") or "peace", as seen on an Instagram account somewhere in the Pashtun area of Balochistan-Pakistan. There is a hidden flagpole sleeve on the left side. In Islamic worship, "amin (amen)" is spoken at the end of a prayer, specifically after reading the opening "Surah Al-Fatihah" (the first "surah" or "chapter" in the Quran). "Amen" is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation, which is first found in the Hebrew Bible (אָמֵן) and later in the New Testament, and then as "Amin" ( آم) in the Quran. In Arabic, ʾĀmīn" is an imperative verbal noun that means "answer" or "reply"; it is used to implore Allah/God to grant one's prayer. The Arabic word "amin" can also mean: devoted, honest, and faithful, and can imply peace.
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1065593961825412785/

William Garrison, 23 October 2024