An "Ask the Preacher" article. The author is Pastor Carl Gallups of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, Florida. Click HERE to go to the Main Index page of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church to read many more such articles. This article is copyrighted by Carl Gallups and may be reproduced provided that copyright notice is given.



Dear Pastor Gallups, " What is the connection between the Fez - hat that the Shriners wear and the Muslim faith? What other connections to the Muslim faith does the Shrine have?" D.S. Milton

Dear D.S., After a man passes through the "Blue Lodge" or the first 3 degrees of Masonry and has achieved the status of Master Mason he can petition to become a member of the Shrine or the "Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine." Until 2000, one had to complete the Scottish Rite or York Rite degrees of Masonry to be eligible for Shrine membership, but now any Master Mason can join.

One of the most distinguishing marks of a Shriner is the Fez hat that he wears. So named after the city of Fez, Morocco...which by the way has been the site of numerous documented massacres of both Jews and Christians by various Muslim conquerors. The Fez is a distinctly Muslim symbol and, at least indirectly, celebrates the Muslim conquest of the area.

The emblem found on the fez is that of Muslim origin. It contains the Arabic pagan god symbols of the Crescent Moon and Star, orinally the symbol of the Ottomon Empire, now an international symbol of Islam. The symbols are hung under a "scimitar" or an Arabic sword of war. This is the sword that has killed the "infidels" down through the ages under Muslim conquest.

Situated in the middle of the moon symbol is the Sphinx. This represents the Great Sphinx of Egypt which has its roots thoroughly in ancient Egyptian paganism and demonic symbolism. The word Sphinx means "the strangler" or as it is more widely used in Arabic, "The Father of Terror." Perhaps this symbolizes that Allah truely is the "father of terror?"

It is often reported on many Christian websites that the color red represents the blood of Christians and Jews spilled by the Muslim conquerors. I can find no hard facts to back this claim, but it is a fact that the FEZ is a Muslim symbol, invented in Fez, Morocco - the undisputed site of many Muslim atrocities leveled against Christians and Jews.

The below excerpt about the Fez is FROM A SHRINER WEBSITE
http://www.amranshriners.us/history.html
Why Shriners wear a Fez.

"The red fez with a black tassel, the Shrine's most distinctive symbol, has been handed down through the ages. It derives its name from the place where it was first manufactured -- the holy city of Fez, Morocco. The fez was chosen as part of the Shrine's Arabic theme, around which the color and pageantry of the Shrine are developed."

D.S., The Shriner meets in a "TEMPLE" - most of which have distinctly Arabic names. They are often built to resemble a Mosque. He wears his fez with the Muslim symbols on it. He takes his oaths and says his prayers in the name of ALLAH. Many of his secret passwords and code phrases are in Arabic, which he is required to memorize in order to be in the "order".

Candidates for induction into the Shriners are greeted by a High Priest, who says: “By the existence of Allah and the creed of Mohammed; by the legendary sanctity of our Tabernacle at Mecca, we greet you.”

The inductees then swear on the Bible and the Koran, in the name of Mohammed, and invoke Masonry's usual gruesome penalties upon themselves:

“I do hereby, upon this Bible, and on the mysterious legend of the Koran, and its dedication to the Mohammedan faith, promise and swear and vow … that I will never reveal any secret part or portion whatsoever of the ceremonies … and now upon this sacred book, by the sincerity of a Moslem's oath I here register this irrevocable vow … in willful violation whereof may I incur the fearful penalty of having my eyeballs pierced to the center with a three-edged blade, my feet flayed and I be forced to walk the hot sands upon the sterile shores of the Red Sea until the flaming sun shall strike me with livid plague, and may Allah, the god of Arab, Moslem and Mohammedan, the god of our fathers, support me to the entire fulfillment of the same. Amen. Amen. Amen."

With this oath, Christians swear on the Koran, and declare Allah to be “the god of our fathers.” From the perspective of Christianity and Islam alike, Shriners take the name of God in vain, and mock both faiths.

Excerpt from The Origins and Influence of Masonry
by Lee Penn, SCP Journal Vol. 25:2-25:3 2001
P0 Box 4308, Berkeley, CA 94704


If you have a Shriner friend or relative he will probably deny what I am saying. However, I can refer you to several men in this community who have come out of Masonry and the Shriners and who have committed their life to Jesus Christ as Lord who can verify all that I have written here. This is why I have long contended that a person cannot be both a Mason and a Christian. Please read Joshua 24:14-15