Rub al-Hizb

۞
Rub al-Hizb
In Unicode	U+06DE ۞ ARABIC START OF RUB EL HIZB

The Rub al-Hizb (Arabic: ربع الحزب, romanized: Rubʿ al-Ḥizb, lit. 'quarter of the party') is an Islamic symbol in the shape of an octagram, represented as two overlapping squares ۞. While its main utility today is to mark a division inside some copies of the Quran to facilitate recitation, it has originally featured on a number of emblems and flags in the past and continues to do so today.

Name

The term Rubʿ al-Ḥizb in Arabic translates as "quarter of the party". The Quran is divided into 60 aḥzāb (grouped into 30 ajzāʾ), the Rub al-Hizb further dividing each ḥizb into four, for a total of 240 divisions.

History

What would become Rub al-Hizb was originally the symbol with which the Tartessos, since remote Neolithic times, made offerings to the Sun and represented it with eight rays. By the time of Al-Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula, it had defined as a cultural symbol, appearing on the coins. In addition, the use of it in so many areas led to being called the star of Emir Abd al-Rahman I (r. 731–788). From Al-Andalus it was exported to the rest of the Arab world. It has also been used extensively in Turkic Islamic culture and history.

Variants

• 
  Interlaced
• 
  Outline

Contemporary use

Architecture

Development of the Petronas Towers Tower 1 level 43 floor plan from a Rub al-Hizb symbol.

The symbol has been used as a basis for plans of buildings, as in the case of the Petronas Towers.

Former flags

• 
  Purported flag of the Marinid Sultanate (1258–1659)
• 
  Flag of Egypt (1793–1844)
• 
  An Ottoman flag with an eight pointed star (after 1844)
• 
  Flag of the Emirate of Afghanistan (1919–1926)

Current flags

• 
  Flag of Azerbaijan
• 
  Flag of the Kazakhstan Customs Bureau
• 
  Flag of the Organization of Turkic States
• 
  Standard of the President of Turkmenistan
• 
  Standard of the President of Uzbekistan

Emblems

• 
  Emblem of Azerbaijan
• 
  Emblem of Karakalpakstan
• 
  Emblem of Uzbekistan
• 
  Emblem of Turkmenistan