Religious Life of Pre Muhammadan Arabia
Religious Life
Prophet Muhammad
(SAAS) appeared at a time when people had lost their knowledge of the
true religion reverting to worshipping idols of stones, earth, bread,
and even cheese. As stated in the Qur’an : “And they worship
besides Allah things that harm them not, nor profit them, and they
say : ‘These are our intercessors with Allah.’ Say: ‘Do you
inform Allah of that which He knows not in the heavens and on the
earth?’ Glorified and Exalted is He above all that which they
associate as partners (with Him)!.”1
Idol-worshippers or Polytheists :
Most of
the Arabs were idolaters. They worshipped numerous idols and each
tribe had its own idol or idols and fetishes. They turned the Kaba
in Makkah, which according to tradition, had been built by the
Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) and his son, Ismael (pbuh), and was dedicated
by them to the service of One Allah, into a heathen pantheon housing
360 idols of stone and wood. The most famous
of these idols in the Hejaz were Hubal,
Iasaf, Naila,
Wadd and the
three Goddesses Lat,
Manat and Ozza,
who were known as “Almighty Allah’s daughters”. Hubal was the
first idol brought to the Kaba
and it was the most respected idol. Hubal was made of red agate and
had a human form. It was accepted as a Allah by all the Arabian
tribes. While being transferred from Syria, Hubal’s hand was
broken, and it was replaced with a golden hand by Quraish
polytheists.
As for the Allah Iasaf of Safa and Naila of Marwa, they
were representatives of two people having sexual intercourse in the
Kaba. Wadd was
the idol of the Khuzaa tribe; this was a statue of a colossal man.
Lat was one of the oldest idols of the Arabs and was regarded as a
Allahdess who represented the sun. In what remnants can be found of
statues of Lat, she was depicted sometimes as part of the sun,
sometimes as a naked woman, and sometimes as a horse. Ozza was not
only worshipped in the Hejaz, but also in regions like Iraq,
Damascus, Nabat and Safa. Ozza was one of the largest idols of the
Quraish. As for Manah, she was the Allahdess of faith, who had a
temple at the seaside, and was glorified by many tribes other than
the Quraishis. She was one of the most notable Allahdesses,
especially in the Hejaz region. Although the number of idols and the
Importance attributed to them varied in the Kaba,
these idols were respected by all tribes.
Although
they worshipped idols, they also accepted the existence of a superior
Allah called “Almighty Allah”, who they saw as the creator. As
stated in the Holy Qu’ran, the polytheist Arabs worshipped idols so
that they could come closer to Almighty Allah.2
They knew that Almighty Allah, who waters the earth, causes the crops
to grow, and provides the flocks commanded by humans, is “the
Creator of all things”,
“the
Lord of the earth”,
“Owner
of the heavens and the earth”.
They even allocated some portion of their crops to Almighty Allah.
They prayed to Him in dangerous situations, but they forgot about Him
when worst days passed over. All these examples show that the Arabs’
faith in Almighty Allah was very ambiguous, and there was a conflict
in faith. Although the idols were seen as mediators on a conscious
level, they were concerned in all parts of daily life and were the
dominant objects of worship.
Such was the
religious life of the Arabians before the advent of Islam. The Pagan
Arabs were a tolerant people and Zoroastrian, Jews and Christians
were allowed to settle down amongst them.3
Atheists :
This
group was composed of the materialists and believed that the world
was eternal.
Zindiqs :
They
were influenced by the Persian doctrine of dualism in nature. They
believed that there were two Allahs representing the twin forces of
good and evil or light and darkness, and both were locked up in an
unending struggle for supremacy.
Sabians :
They
worshipped the stars.
Jews :
Judaism was one of the two Ibrahim ic religions in Pre-Muhammadan
Arabian society. It can be seen that Judaism was not very prevalent
outside the regions of Yemen and Yathrib. When
the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in A.C. 70 A.C, and drove the Jews out
of Palestine and Syria, many of them found new homes in Hijaz in
Arabia. Under their influence, many Arabs also converted to Judaism.
(Their new strong centers were the towns of Yathrib, Khayber, Fadak
and Umm-ul-Qura.
Judaism
began to be prevalent in these regions when the Hejaz became an
important immigration area for the Jews after the invasion of
Jerusalem in the 6th century B.C. The tension between the Jews, who
settled in the regions of Madinah, Khaybar, Fadaq, Tayma, and Wadi
al-Qura, and the Yemeni tribes of Aws and Khazraj, who immigrated to
the same regions in the 2nd
and 3rd
centuries, prevented Judaism from having a significant effect on the
Arabs of the region. Although Judaism found a way to spread with the
influence of Jewish merchants, as well as the fact that the Himyari
ruler, Zu Nuvas of Yemen, was Jewish, the religion did not find much
of a following among the Arabs. This was because Judaism was regarded
as a religion based on race, with the Jews considering themselves to
be superior to the followers of other religions; in addition, the
Jewish laws were not appropriate to the Bedouin life style.
Christians :
The
Romans converted the north Arabian tribe of Ghassan to Christianity.
Some clans of Ghassan migrated to and settled in Hijaz. In the south,
there were many Christians in Yemen where the creed was originally
brought by the Ethiopian invaders. Their strong centre was the town
of Najran. The
condition of Christians was still worse. Prophet I’sa (pbuh) come
them to confirm the law of the Torah and to reform according the
principles of the Old Testament but his follower, Paul, incorporated
mythologies of the Greeks into the spiritualism of Prophet I’sa
(pbuh) in order to convert the Greeks and other heathens. Thus, the
doctrine of trinity, which belonged to Greco- Egyptian mythology,
crept into Christianity. Mariam (Mary) was worshipped in Arabia as
one of the members of the Holy Trinity.4
Monotheists :
There
was a small group of monotheists present in Arabia on the eve of the
rise of Islam. Its members did not worship idols, and they were the
followers of the Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh). The members of the families
of Muhammad, the promised last prophet, and Ali ibn Abi Talib, the
future Khalifaha, and most members of their clan – the Banu Hashim
– belonged to this group. They were also called Hanafiyyah.
They played a preparatory role in the spread of monotheistic belief
throughout the peninsula and in the emergence of Islam. Despite
leading solitary and separate lives, which was symtomatic of their
fear of Allah, the Hanifs succeeded in becoming prominent components
of the ‘Age of Ignorance’, both with their simple life style and
the virtues they represented, racially, intellectually and culturally
although they were small in number. This community is praised in the
Holy Qur’an.5
They played a great role in the spreading of the religion propounded
by Ibrahim , which they said, was based on a monotheistic belief.
They rejected both Judaism and Christianity and professed the
religion of Ibrahim (Ibrahim ) (pbuh). A small section of the
Hashimite family, the direct descendants of Ibrahim (pbuh), adhered
to their ancestral faith of monotheism, known as the Hanif. Zayd,
Waraqah ibn Nawfal, Umaiyah ibn Abi Salt and Aws ibn Sawdah were some
remarkable figures among them. Due to their minority, they did not
have any strong union or divine sanction. This religious group could
not attract the Arabs towards them. Prophet Muhammad’s (SAAS)
mission was similar to these Hanifs’ in terms of monotheism and
Prophet Ibrahim’s (pbuh) religious ideologies.
References:
1
The Qur’an, 10 : 18.
2
The Qur’an,
39 : 13.
3
Rev. Canon Sell, The
Life of Muhammad,
S.P.C.K. Press, Madras, 1913, p. 13.
4
S. M. Imamuddin, A
Political History of the Muslims,
Vol. 1, Dhaka, 1970, p. XXVIII.
5
The Qur’an,
22 : 30-1.
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