Allah the Moon God
Naaji said:
"it was ibrahim (pbuh) who eventually erected it, in the name of GOD!!"
My response:
That is Islamic tradition, not a historical fact with concrete evidence. Big difference.
Naaji:
"there is NO evidence to suggest the arabs ran around the kaaba, this is complete bs, and youve just made that up. show me some substantial evidence."
My response:
During the time of Muhammad's birth, it was common for Arabs to visit the shrine to perform <I>tawwaf</I>, which was seven ritual circumambulations of the shrine following the direction of the sun. [Karen Armstrong]. The circling of this four cornered shrine is believed to aid Arabs in "centering themselves in the universe", a method of felling at one with creation.
Another common ritual which also predates Muhammad and is still practiced whenever Muslims make the <I>hajj</I> to Mecca is the throwing of pebbles at the three sacred pillars of Mina then offer an animal sacrifice (usually a lamb, nowadays).
Naaji:
" there is no evidence to suggest that arab moon god worships prayed towards Mecca."
Me:
They did indeed pray towards Mecca. Muhammad initially prayed facing Jerusalem, but when the Jews did not accept that, he chose Mecca as his prayer-point.
(side note on Islam and 5 times a day prayer: it is now commonly accepted that Muhammad borrowed this practice either from the Zoroastrians in Persia, who also had the same practice beginning 7th century B.C.; or possibly from the Sabaeans, who prayed to the Moon God five times also.)
Naaji:
"the muslim symbol isnt a cresent moon. its a cresent moon and a star, and as muslims we do not worship this in any way. we only worship god."
Me:
True on the crescent and star part. However, as Josh pointed out, the crescent symbol is more predominant than the star(s). All mosques have a crescent on the top, minarets have the crescent too, and as for the flags, here is a quick rundown of those nation which have a crescent and a star/stars:
Algeria
Azerbaijan
Comoros
Maldives
Mauritania
Pakistan
Singapore
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Malaysia has a crescent and a sun on its flag
Syria has 2 stars, no crescent
Morocco has one star, no crescent
Iraq has 3 stars, no crescent
Islamic nations which have no crescent on the flag:
Oman
Saudi Arabia
Iran
Yemen
Qatar
United Arab Emirates
Kuwait
One other note, the city of Medina, in Saudi Arabia, come from the words "Mah", meaning moon, and "Din", meaning religion. Curiously enough, these are Persian words, not Arabic. Medina also figures prominently in Islam; it is the second most important city for Muslims.
For an illustrated history, I recommend "Allah had no Son" by Chick Publishing. You can find it here:
http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0042/0042_01.asp
You can't go wrong with Chick tracts, I love to read them, I hope you'll enjoy them too.
God Bless.