Symbols in Islam

I know we are currently not studying Islam, but rather the Baha'i, but I figured that since the Baha'i came out of Islam, it is similar, so I looked up Yusef Islam's songs and found this one.



Though it mentions thoughts, people and actions more than specific symbols (such as the moon and star), these are symbols in their own right. Symbols can be not only actual items of religious importance, but rituals and belief can also be forms of symbols. Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are recognizable because they so often go door to door the preach their word, this action is a symbol of their religion and their beliefs. Similarly, for Islam, the month and rituals of Ramadan are a symbol of the Muslim faith. The definition of s symbol is "something used to represent something else". Therefor, rituals can be interpreted to be symbols because rituals often are meant to signify something else. In some Christian faiths, on a certain day palm fronds are paraded through the church by children, this ritual is symbolic of the palms that were waved upon Jesus' entry to Jerusalem shortly before he was killed. Just as an item such as the Pentagram is symbolic of important parts of a certain religion (Wicca in this case), rituals and beliefs also can be symbols because they help to identify someone as part of that certain group or belief system. This, I think is one of the two primary reasons for symbols in religion: identification as part of that group, and representation of events or beliefs that are important to that faith. And rituals or actions and thoughts can certainly fit into these catagories because they can do either or both.

Yusef Islam's song is showing the different beliefs and things that are important to the Islamic faith, and through his music he points out these symbols and ties them into language and morality making them very much a part of every aspect of the life in this faith.