Guidelines on forms of the cross that are prohibited

Praise
be to Allah

Making crosses,
buying them, or weaving them into garments or putting them on walls, and so
on come under the heading of prohibited actions that it is not permissible
for the Muslim to commit. So he should not make them himself or help anyone
else in doing that; rather he should fear Allah, may He be exalted, and
avoid the symbols of disbelief that the Christians have fabricated in their
religion.

Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

It is not
permissible to make crosses, whether for payment or otherwise, or to sell
crosses, just as it is not permissible to sell or make idols, as it is
proven in as-Saheeh that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) said: Verily Allah has forbidden the sale of alcohol, dead meat
[that which is not slaughtered in the prescribed manner], pork and idols.”
End quote.

Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa
(22/141). See also: al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (12/84-88)

Secondly:

The cross has
many forms and types, that vary according to time and place, among various
Christian sects. It takes many forms, which you can see on the following
link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cross

What appears to
us to be the case with regard to the ruling on drawing or wearing these
types and forms of crosses is the following:

1.

If it is drawn
on the basis that it is a cross, it is not permissible for the Muslim to
carry it, wear it, buy it, sell it or draw it, because the reason for the
prohibition on drawing or wearing crosses is to avoid imitating the
Christians and venerating their false religious symbols. This reason is
applicable to all forms of the cross that are known to various Christian
sects, if it is made on the basis that it is a cross so that it may be
venerated and taken as a symbol for whatever they want.

2.

If it is drawn
as a kind of decoration, or some household items and utensils are
manufactured and happen to have one of the kinds of crosses mentioned above
on them, then it depends:

(a) 

If it is obvious
at first glance that it is the kind of cross that is well known today, as it
appears in the majority of churches and among most Christians, and it is
composed of two lines, one of which is vertical and the other is horizontal,
and the horizontal line intersects with the vertical line, and the upper
portion is shorter than the lower portion, which is the most famous form of
the cross since it was adopted by the Christians, based on the wooden
apparatus on which those who were to be executed were crucified – if it
appears at first glance to be like this, then it must be removed or altered
so that it no longer looks like a cross. The Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) would not leave anything in his house on which there were
crosses but he would alter them.

(b)

But if the shape
of the cross is not obvious, and it is only part of the design and is
unintentional, or if the designer of a structure decided that crossed lines
were more appropriate, or it is used as a mathematical symbol, such as the
plus sign and multiplication sign in arithmetic, then in this case it does
not have to be altered or removed, and there is nothing wrong with making it
or selling anything that contains it, because the reason for prohibition –
which is imitating the disbelievers and venerating their symbols – is not
present in this case, and the symbol of the cross in this case is subtle and
is not noticeable.

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Firstly: it is
essential to determine whether this is a cross, because there are some
things that some people think are crosses, when in fact they are not.

Secondly: we
should determine whether it has been made because it is a cross, and not
because it is a design on a garment, for example, because the Christians
venerate the cross, so it is not possible that they would make it a
decorative feature on a garment; rather they would treat it with respect.

It is essential
to note these two points, then if we determine that it is indeed a cross,
then it is obligatory, or at least Sunnah, to cut it up, and we should
boycott these garments on which there are crosses, because if we boycott
them and the traders do not benefit from them, they will also boycott them.

Something
similar may be said regarding the six-pointed star which is said to be the
symbol of the Jews; it comes under the same ruling as the cross, even though
the Jews do not take it for worship, because it is something that is unique
to them.

We asked some
Christians who became Muslim about it (i.e., the cross) and they said: In
our view the cross is the well-known cross, composed of two lines, one of
which is horizontal and the other is vertical, and the vertical line is
longer than the other.

We even asked
them about the watch that they call the cross watch, and they said: This is
not meant to be a cross; it is only the trademark of the company, because
what they say about the Christian cross is that it is a long vertical line
intersected by a horizontal line, and one part of the vertical line is
longer than the other. And this reflects reality, because when a person was
crucified, a piece of wood was placed horizontally so that his arms could be
tied to it, so how could the piece of wood for his arms be placed halfway
down the vertical piece? Rather it should be higher up. Hence we have our
doubts about what was published two years ago which showed various forms and
said that they were all crosses! Moreover, is the plus sign (+) a cross? It
is not a cross.

Similarly, in
times past there was the bucket with which water would be brought up from
the well, which was attached by a rope to a structure composed of two pieces
of wood, one horizontal and the other vertical. Such things do not come
under the heading of crosses.

What is regarded
as a cross is that which is made on the basis that it is a cross. End quote.

Liqa’ al-Baab
al-Maftooh
(no. 21, question no. 7)

He (may Allah
have mercy on him) also said:

As for that
which is obviously not intended to be a cross, so it is not venerated and is
not a religious symbol, such as some mathematical signs, or what is seen on
some electronic wristwatches of plus signs, there is nothing wrong with
this, and it is not regarded as being a cross at all. End quote.

Majmoo‘ Fataawa
wa Rasaa’il Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
(vol. 18, 114, 115, answer to question no. 9)

In Liqaa’aat
al-Baab al-Maftooh (no. 199, question no. 9) he (may Allah have mercy on
him) was asked:

I came across a
building in one of our cities, and this building has windows in the shape of
crosses; every window has this shape, and the building is ten stories high.
It is very similar to the buildings designed by Westerners.

He replied:

Actually we need
to go and see the building you are talking about. Not everything that
appears in the shape of a cross is a cross, otherwise this will lead us to
say that the plus sign is haraam, or in the West, where the people used to
irrigate their land by drawing water from a well, at the top of which there
were two intersecting pieces of wood, we would say that this is haraam! The
cross has a specific shape, and other indications that it is really a cross,
so we need to actually see the building you are talking about. End quote.

See also the
answer to question no. 101399.

And Allah knows
best.