Abstract
The moon guiding Bedouins in the desert at night was revered by the ancients. Allah was depicted prior to Islam as a moon god. The crescent signifies the new moon and in Arabic is known as hilal. The full moon, badr in Arabic, recalls Muhammad’s first military victory for Islam over infidels in the year 624. In modern times, the term “fertile crescent” was coined to identify those countries in the Middle East, from Iraq to Israel, where the soil and the water facilitated agricultural productivity in contrast to the Syrian and Arabian dry desert regions. The word “crescent” has now been attached to the Shiite renaissance and its territorial sweep from Iran to Lebanon, and beyond. The crescent, indeed, represents a new moon, a new beginning, and this appropriately applies to the contemporary and revolutionary Shiite case. It is fertile with potentiality and its sword, like Muhammad’s, is drawn against the enemies.
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