Question

Is the omega symbol (Ω) haraam (forbidden in islam)?
I am a software developer and I am creating s code editor for developing websites. In other code editors there is a button to insert symbols. the button’s icon resembles the omega symbol (Ω). I want to add a button for inserting symbols in my website, can the button’s icon in my software be an omega symbol (Ω)? or is it haram (forbidden in islam)? knowing that omega is a greek letter meaning end I think.
I attached an example from another software

Answer

This is permissible. There are almost no religious connotations to the word Omega anymore. As such, it is a legal principle that the meaning of a word can change based on its usage in custom and cultural practices.[1] For example, it is mentioned in Tarikh Baghdad that the name Baghdad had religious connotations. ‘Bagh’ was the name of an idol worshipped in the East, and ‘Dad’ means gift, thus gift to Bagh.[2] However, this meaning has completely lost its significance thus referring to the city as Baghdad is permissible.[3]

[1]           «الأشباه والنظائر – ابن نجيم» (ص79): «الْمُرَادُ مِنْ الِاسْتِعْمَالِ نَقْلُ اللَّفْظِ عَنْ مَوْضُوعِهِ الْأَصْلِيِّ إلَى ‌مَعْنَاهُ ‌الْمَجَازِيِّ ‌شَرْعًا، وَغَلَبَةُ اسْتِعْمَالِهِ فِيهِ، وَمِنْ الْعَادَةِ نَقْلُهُ إلَى مَعْنَاهُ الْمَجَازِيِّ عُرْفًا، وَتَمَامُهُ فِي الْكَشْفِ الْكَبِيرِ»

[2]           تاريخ بغداد ت بشار» (1/ 364):وكان لهم ‌صنم ‌يعبدونه ‌بالمشرق، يقال له: البغ، فقال: بغ داد.

[3] Fatāwā Dār al-‘Ulūm Zakariyya, 8 vols. (Karachi, Zam Zam Publishers, 2018): 8: 251-2.

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel