Qur'an 41:37 Literal Translation said:
And from His verses/evidences/signs (are) the night and the daytime and the sun and the moon, do not prostrate to the sun and nor to the moon, and prostrate to God who created them (B), if you were/are (only) Him worshipping.
Some argue that muslims worship a moon deity that pre-Islamic Arabs worshiped. There are a variety of problems with this argument, but let us focus on a few.
First the verse above tells us to not worship the moon in any capacity, but to worship the creator of our universe (Who also created the moon).
Second, consider the following (Some viewers probably lack the patience to read all the following. So just read my commentary at the end):
The concepts associated with the term Allah (as a deity) differ among the traditions. In pre-Islamic Arabia amongst pagan Arabs, Allah was not the sole divinity, having associates and companions, sons and daughters, a concept strongly opposed by Islam. In Islam, the name Allah is the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name. All other divine names are believed to refer back to Allah.[5] Allah is unique, the only Deity, creator of the universe and omnipotent.[1][2] Arab Christians today use terms such as Allāh al-ʼAb ( الله الأب, "God the Father") to distinguish their usage from Muslim usage.[6] There are both similarities and differences between the concept of God as portrayed in the Qur'an and the Hebrew Bible.[7]
In pre-Islamic Arabia, Allah was used by Meccans as a reference to the creator-god, possibly the supreme deity.[12]
Allah was not considered the sole divinity; however, Allah was considered the creator of the world and the giver of rain. The notion of the term may have been vague in the Meccan religion.[4] Allah was associated with companions, whom pre-Islamic Arabs considered as subordinate deities. Meccans held that a kind of kinship existed between Allah and the jinn.[13] Allah was thought to have had sons[14] and that the local deities of al-ʻUzzá, Manāt and al-Lāt were His daughters.[15] The Meccans possibly associated angels with Allah.[16][17] Allah was invoked in times of distress.[17][18] Muhammad's father's name was ‘Abdallāh meaning the “servant of Allāh.” or "the slave of Allāh"[17]
The term Allāh is derived from a contraction of the Arabic definite article al- "the" and ʼilāh "deity, god" to al-lāh meaning "the [sole] deity, God" (ho theos monos).[4] Cognates of the name "Allāh" exist in other Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Aramaic.[3] The corresponding Aramaic form is אֱלָהָא ʼĔlāhā in Biblical Aramaic and ܐܰܠܳܗܳܐ ʼAlâhâ or ʼĀlōho in Syriac.[10]
The contraction of al- and ʼilāh in forming the term Allāh ("the god", masculine form) parallels the contraction of al- and ʼilāha in forming the term Allāt ("the goddess", feminine form).[11]
Source -
Allah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The history of Pre-Islamic Arabia before the rise of Islam in the 630s is not known in great detail. Archaeological exploration in the Arabian peninsula has been sparse; indigenous written sources are limited to the many inscriptions and coins from southern Arabia. Existing material consists primarily of written sources from other traditions (such as Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, etc.) and oral traditions later recorded by Islamic scholars.
Source -
Pre-Islamic Arabia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Note the uncertainty on the subject matter of Pre-Islamic Arabian religion.
Interestingly enough, whether by mistake or otherwise, the name "Allah" does not appear on the list of Pre-Islamic Arabian gods. The feminine "Allat" does appear.
Notice that another name is even shown for a lunar deity: Aglibôl
Source -
Arabian mythology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Source -
Aglibol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Third, all of language abstracts real world concepts, whether material or otherwise. When someone says a word it carries a meaning with it that is established in theory by common usage. However, it is possible for the meaning to change over time, be mistaken, and/or be misused. When a muslim today uses the Arabic word "Allah" they are not thinking about the pre-Islamic deity. The literal meaning of the word (The god) remains, but the application of the word has changed. Consider the following example in relation to proper names (The word "Allah" can be used both as a proper name or as a noun). If we meet a man named Joseph and several days later meet another different man named Joseph, then the proper name "Joseph" could be used to identify both men. Granted the situation could become confusing, but if the person saying the word "Joseph" clearly identifies that he is talking about a certain person the listening party is familiar with, then using the same proper name to identify different people is not a problem. Muslims clearly identify what they mean when they use the word "Allah". Disregarding the clarification and proclaiming we are talking about something else isn't a sound response.
Bottom line - Muslims do not worship a lunar (Moon) deity from the pre-Islamic era.
