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The flag of Saudi Arabia displays the shahada, as does the flag of Afghanistan since it was controlled by the Taliban. Photo/Reuters
KABUL – Not many country flags use the creed. One country that is synonymous with a flag bearing the shahada is Saudi Arabia.
Apart from Saudi Arabia, apparently there is another Muslim-majority country that uses this sentence on its flag.
The Shahada sentence which means “There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah” has become a sacred sentence for Muslims. In fact, everyone who wants to convert to Islam must read that sentence first.
2 National Flags with the Creed
1. Arab Saudi
The Saudi flag was first raised in 1727 by the founder of the First Saudi State Imam Mohammed bin Saud. Even though there have been several transformations in the flag, the existing shahada sentences have never disappeared.
During the early years of King Abdulaziz’s reign, the flag was square, with the Creed in the center and two crossed swords above it.
Changes were introduced soon after, with the two crossed swords replaced by a single sword under the Creed on 15 March 1973 according to the Britannica website.
2. Afghanistan
In 2022, the Taliban, who succeeded in taking over Afghanistan, replaced their country’s flag with a white flag bearing the Creed.
In fact, this white flag bearing the shahada became the national flag of Afghanistan in 1996 when the Taliban captured Kabul after two years of fighting, declaring Afghanistan an Islamic emirate.
However, thanks to the World Trade Center tragedy in New York which occurred in 2001, the US began to attack Afghanistan and occupy it and change the shape of the flag to the old flag which was inaugurated in 1992.
After that, the Afghan flag was changed again in 2002 after Hamid Karzai was appointed to lead the US-backed transitional government for two years, the flag returned to the colors of the Zaher era and the coat of arms to the 1992 coat of arms with the sword removed.
Perhaps no one realizes that the Afghan national flag, which has three colors, namely black, red and green, also has the creed.
The Creed is located at the top of the logo on the flag. This shahada has been in place since 1992, when Afghanistan had just been freed from the influence of the Soviet Union.
(ahm)
