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Origin of Star of David

Question

Assalaamu alaykum. Please tell me what is Magen David and why it is called the Star of David? And why was it taken as the symbol of the flag of Israel?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

The aim of our site is to answer Fiqh questions and issues, and it is not specialized in researching matters such as what you asked about in the question.

Hence, we just say that the sources that we consulted prove that the so-called Star of David has nothing to do with the Prophet of Allaah Daawood (David)  may  Allaah  exalt  his  mention. Rather, this is a slogan developed by the Jews in recent times and they gave it this name.

Dr. Abdul Wahhaab Al-Meseeri says in his book Mawsoo’at Al-Mafaaheem wal-Mustalahaat As-Suhyooniyyah: (The Encyclopedia of Zionist Concepts and Terminology):

"The 'Star of David' came into existence for the first time in 1648. Its story began in Prague, which was part of the Austrian Empire at that time. When Prague was attacked by the Swedish Army, there was a Jewish group among the various ethnic groups that defended the city. The emperor of Austria at the time, Ferdinand III, suggested that each group of those groups have a banner which they would carry in order to distinguish themselves from the remnants of the invading forces which holed up in the city and started to wage a guerrilla war. Following the proposal, one of the Jesuit priests took the first letter from the word 'David', the Latin character D, which is in the shape of a triangle, and he wrote another one upside down, and then he merged the two letters together to form what we know today as the 'Star of David'.

Finally, the priest drew the star on a flag and presented it to the emperor, who agreed to make it a slogan for the Jewish defenders of the city of Prague. It seems that the idea impressed the Jewish community there, and they took the star of the priest as a religious symbol for them. This is how the journey of deception in relation to the Star of David began and originated."

Allaah knows best.

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