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Pre-Islamic Arab Religion in Islam: Difference between revisions
→General Judeo-Christian Monotheism in Arabia: Added another Christian tribal group linked to the pre-Islamic Hijaz.
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(→General Judeo-Christian Monotheism in Arabia: Added a sentence on the Jewish tribes recorded by Muslim historians in Medina close by.) |
(→General Judeo-Christian Monotheism in Arabia: Added another Christian tribal group linked to the pre-Islamic Hijaz.) |
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In a footnote Kjær adds: "The initial reluctance to use the theonym Allah might have been due to its polytheistic origins.", citing Böwering, Gerhard, ‘Chronology and the Qur’ān’, in Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān (Leiden: Brill, 2001), p. 329</ref> | In a footnote Kjær adds: "The initial reluctance to use the theonym Allah might have been due to its polytheistic origins.", citing Böwering, Gerhard, ‘Chronology and the Qur’ān’, in Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān (Leiden: Brill, 2001), p. 329</ref> | ||
The word Allāh first appears in the epigraphic record as the name of one of many Nabataean deities in 1st century BCE or 1st century CE northern Arabia.<ref name="alJallad2022">See the start of Appendix 1 (p. 93) in the open access chapter: Ahmad Al-Jallad (2022), [https://www.academia.edu/45498003/Al_Jallad_Pre_Print_Draft_The_Religion_and_Rituals_of_the_Nomads_of_Pre_Islamic_Arabia_A_Reconstruction_based_on_the_Safaitic_Inscriptions The Religion and Rituals of the Nomads of Pre-Islamic Arabia: A Reconstruction based on the Safaitic Inscriptions] in (ed. Zhi Chen et al.), Ancient Languages and Civilizations, Volume: 1, Leiden: Brill</ref> The word possibly might have come from a contraction of al-ʾilāh (the god), though there are some linguistic difficulties with this idea. In any case it was the name of a deity at that time and there is no indication that it was associated with the monotheistic Judeo-Christian god. The name Abd Allah (like the name of Muhammad's father) first appears in a Nabataean pagan context. There they used the same construct also for other gods, for example ʿAbdu Manōti, "servant of Manāt". In Safaitic inscriptions (a script used in the north Arabian desert), the name Allāh is occasionally invoked, though other deities much more so. By the sixth century CE the name Allāh is applied in a monotheistic context around the | The word Allāh first appears in the epigraphic record as the name of one of many Nabataean deities in 1st century BCE or 1st century CE northern Arabia.<ref name="alJallad2022">See the start of Appendix 1 (p. 93) in the open access chapter: Ahmad Al-Jallad (2022), [https://www.academia.edu/45498003/Al_Jallad_Pre_Print_Draft_The_Religion_and_Rituals_of_the_Nomads_of_Pre_Islamic_Arabia_A_Reconstruction_based_on_the_Safaitic_Inscriptions The Religion and Rituals of the Nomads of Pre-Islamic Arabia: A Reconstruction based on the Safaitic Inscriptions] in (ed. Zhi Chen et al.), Ancient Languages and Civilizations, Volume: 1, Leiden: Brill</ref> The word possibly might have come from a contraction of al-ʾilāh (the god), though there are some linguistic difficulties with this idea. In any case it was the name of a deity at that time and there is no indication that it was associated with the monotheistic Judeo-Christian god. The name Abd Allah (like the name of Muhammad's father) first appears in a Nabataean pagan context. There they used the same construct also for other gods, for example ʿAbdu Manōti, "servant of Manāt". In Safaitic inscriptions (a script used in the north Arabian desert), the name Allāh is occasionally invoked, though other deities much more so. By the sixth century CE the name Allāh is applied in a monotheistic context around the Ḥijāz and at some point merges with the Christian al-ʾilāh (the god). Allah appears equated with al-Rahman (who in the south was associated with the Judeo-Christian God) in a pre-Islamic basmala inscription discovered in Yemen, as discussed in the next section below.<ref>See this [https://twitter.com/PhDniX/status/1450418538418745355 twitter thread] by leading linguist in the history of Arabic, Dr Marijn van Putten - 19 October 2021 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20211027185522/https://twitter.com/PhDniX/status/1450418538418745355 archive])</ref> Al-Jallad writes, "In contrast to South Arabia, the North Arabian monotheistic traditions of the 5th and 6th c. CE invoked al-ʾilāh/allāh. While al-ʾilāh is attested in clear Christian contexts, allāh is rarer and found in confessionally ambiguous contexts. It is impossible at this moment to decide whether the distinction between the two was simply regional or whether it betokened a confessional split. What is clear, however, is that “Raḥmān” was not used in pre-Islamic times in North Arabia."<ref>Ahmad al-Jallad [https://www.academia.edu/43388891 (draft) The pre-Islamic basmala: Reflections on its first epigraphic attestation and its original significance], page 14</ref> | ||
===The Basmala=== | ===The Basmala=== | ||
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He also notes that the tribe of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taghlib Taghlib] converted in the late sixth century, as evidenced by poetry composed by members of that tribe, and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salihids Ṣāliḥids] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanukhids Tanūkhids] also became Christian. According to the surviving evidence, most North Arabian tribes embraced Christianity in its [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miaphysitism miaphysite] form.<ref>Ibid. pp. 102-103</ref> | He also notes that the tribe of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taghlib Taghlib] converted in the late sixth century, as evidenced by poetry composed by members of that tribe, and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salihids Ṣāliḥids] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanukhids Tanūkhids] also became Christian. According to the surviving evidence, most North Arabian tribes embraced Christianity in its [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miaphysitism miaphysite] form.<ref>Ibid. pp. 102-103</ref> | ||
Monotheist inscriptions, most likely Christian, have further been found in NorthWest of Arabia, in the localities of alʿArniyyāt and Umm Jadhāyidh, in Saudi Arabia, northwest from Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ (ancient Hegra) and Al-Jawf - the localities lie a bit over 500km via road from Medina, which as Lindstedt notes, is a similar distance of the 450km from Mecca to Medina.<ref>Ibid. pp. 108-109</ref> Jewish presence was also recorded as being established across the | Monotheist inscriptions, most likely Christian, have further been found in NorthWest of Arabia, in the localities of alʿArniyyāt and Umm Jadhāyidh, in Saudi Arabia, northwest from Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ (ancient Hegra) and Al-Jawf - the localities lie a bit over 500km via road from Medina, which as Lindstedt notes, is a similar distance of the 450km from Mecca to Medina.<ref>Ibid. pp. 108-109</ref> Jewish presence was also recorded as being established across the Ḥijāz centuries before Islam, with inscriptions from 230ce in Tayma stating a Jew was the 'headman' of the town, and similarly from Hegra and Dedan, including in Nabatean Arabic, and similar one's dated to 356–367ce; of which Hoyland remarks, the two inscriptions “are very important texts for north Arabian Jewry, for they imply that some of them at least were members of the elite of this society. Since the texts are separated by more than 150 years, we can also assume some stability for this office."<ref>Ibid. pp. 60</ref> | ||
Lindstedt (2023) notes that in all probability the majority of inhabitants of Arabia were Jews/Christians,<ref>Ibid. pp. 322</ref> with the majority in the north Christians, and the majority in the south Jewish.<ref>Ibid. pp. 323.</ref> It should also be noted that some later, Islamic-era writers (such as historians, commentators and poets) also identified a number of place names in and around Mecca that suggest that there were Christians living in or visiting Mecca such as for pilgrimage.<ref>Ibid. pp. 114-115</ref> For example, al-Azraqī (d. 837 ce) notes that there was a maqbarat al-naṣārā, “graveyard of the Christians,” in Mecca (without qualifying it further); Establishing the date and existence of this graveyard is difficult, but it is difficult to know what motivation the Muslim authors might have had for forging such information (as it goes so against Muslim traditions that paint Mecca as a pagan city).<ref>Ibid. pp. 114-115</ref> | Lindstedt (2023) notes that in all probability the majority of inhabitants of Arabia were Jews/Christians,<ref>Ibid. pp. 322</ref> with the majority in the north Christians, and the majority in the south Jewish.<ref>Ibid. pp. 323.</ref> It should also be noted that some later, Islamic-era writers (such as historians, commentators and poets) also identified a number of place names in and around Mecca that suggest that there were Christians living in or visiting Mecca such as for pilgrimage.<ref>Ibid. pp. 114-115</ref> For example, al-Azraqī (d. 837 ce) notes that there was a maqbarat al-naṣārā, “graveyard of the Christians,” in Mecca (without qualifying it further); Establishing the date and existence of this graveyard is difficult, but it is difficult to know what motivation the Muslim authors might have had for forging such information (as it goes so against Muslim traditions that paint Mecca as a pagan city).<ref>Ibid. pp. 114-115</ref> There are other known Christian tribal groups such as the Quḍāʿah, first came into prominence during the 4th century BCE, originally living in southern Arabia but gradually moved into other areas including the Ḥijāz, Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Qudaah Quḍāʿah | ancient group of Christian tribes] | Britannica</ref> | ||
To the South lay the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himyarite_Kingdom Himyarite Kingdom] (centered in modern-day Yemen), in which Christianity and Judaism gained large footholds since the 4th century,<ref>''[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Himyar Himyar Britannica Entry]''. People. People's of Asia. Geography & Travel. Britannica. </ref> with rulers converting.<ref>Christian Julien Robin, "Arabia and Ethiopia," in Scott Johnson (ed.) ''[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GKRybwb17WMC&pg=PA289&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity]'', Oxford University Press 2012 pp.247–333, p.279 | To the South lay the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himyarite_Kingdom Himyarite Kingdom] (centered in modern-day Yemen), in which Christianity and Judaism gained large footholds since the 4th century,<ref>''[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Himyar Himyar Britannica Entry]''. People. People's of Asia. Geography & Travel. Britannica. </ref> with rulers converting.<ref>Christian Julien Robin, "Arabia and Ethiopia," in Scott Johnson (ed.) ''[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GKRybwb17WMC&pg=PA289&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity]'', Oxford University Press 2012 pp.247–333, p.279 | ||
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There are also the established Jewish tribes in Medina (Banū Qaynuqā, Banū al-Naḍīr and Banū Qurayẓa) Muhammad met and later fought, according to many Islamic sources.<ref>Ibrahim, Ayman S., 'Muhammad’s Confrontations with the Jews', ''Muhammad's Military Expeditions: A Critical Reading in Original Muslim Sources'' (New York, 2024; online edn, Oxford Academic, 20 June 2024), <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197769171.003.0005</nowiki>, accessed 29 June 2025.</ref> | There are also the established Jewish tribes in Medina (Banū Qaynuqā, Banū al-Naḍīr and Banū Qurayẓa) Muhammad met and later fought, according to many Islamic sources.<ref>Ibrahim, Ayman S., 'Muhammad’s Confrontations with the Jews', ''Muhammad's Military Expeditions: A Critical Reading in Original Muslim Sources'' (New York, 2024; online edn, Oxford Academic, 20 June 2024), <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197769171.003.0005</nowiki>, accessed 29 June 2025.</ref> | ||
As alluded to, regardless of tracing exact terms, academic scholarship has long recognised the penetration of Judeo-Christian Monotheism into the Arabian peninsula and among Arab tribes long before Islam. These would have provided both the stories and general concepts to the | As alluded to, regardless of tracing exact terms, academic scholarship has long recognised the penetration of Judeo-Christian Monotheism into the Arabian peninsula and among Arab tribes long before Islam. These would have provided both the stories and general concepts to the Ḥijāz, whether through Christian and Jewish tribes living side-by-side with the Quran's initial community, or simply through travellers telling stories and/or proselytizing, the movement of slaves who knew them, trade and commerce, pilgrimage etc. | ||
{{Quote|Durie, Mark. (PhD). The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes: Investigations into the Genesis of a Religion (pp. 29) (Kindle Edition). Lexington Books.|The religious milieu of the Ḥijāz, in which the Qurʾan reportedly arose, was well aware of both Judaism and Christianity and the same was also true of other regions frequented by Arabic speakers. Finster (2011, 70–74) has provided a detailed overview of the reported presence of Christianity among the Arab tribes. By the end of the sixth century CE substantial numbers of Arabs in the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Arabia had converted to Christianity: Najrān, an important Arab city 1,000 kilometers to the southeast of Mecca, was predominately Christian by the time Islam arose; the kingdom of Ḥimyar in the south had been under Christian rule for fifty years during the sixth century (Robin 2012); the region of Bet Qaṭraye off the East Arabian coast in the Persian gulf had a Christian presence from the fourth to the ninth century (Witztum 2011, 259); and Petra, the former Nabataean capital, and later southern capital of the Byzantine province of Palaestina Tertia, whose influence spread south into Arabia (Nehmé 2017, 149) and north into the Levant, included a Christian community from at least the third century CE: Asterius, Bishop of Petra, was reported to have attended the Council of Alexandria in 363 CE (Wace and Piercy 1999, 123). | {{Quote|Durie, Mark. (PhD). The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes: Investigations into the Genesis of a Religion (pp. 29) (Kindle Edition). Lexington Books.|The religious milieu of the Ḥijāz, in which the Qurʾan reportedly arose, was well aware of both Judaism and Christianity and the same was also true of other regions frequented by Arabic speakers. Finster (2011, 70–74) has provided a detailed overview of the reported presence of Christianity among the Arab tribes. By the end of the sixth century CE substantial numbers of Arabs in the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Arabia had converted to Christianity: Najrān, an important Arab city 1,000 kilometers to the southeast of Mecca, was predominately Christian by the time Islam arose; the kingdom of Ḥimyar in the south had been under Christian rule for fifty years during the sixth century (Robin 2012); the region of Bet Qaṭraye off the East Arabian coast in the Persian gulf had a Christian presence from the fourth to the ninth century (Witztum 2011, 259); and Petra, the former Nabataean capital, and later southern capital of the Byzantine province of Palaestina Tertia, whose influence spread south into Arabia (Nehmé 2017, 149) and north into the Levant, included a Christian community from at least the third century CE: Asterius, Bishop of Petra, was reported to have attended the Council of Alexandria in 363 CE (Wace and Piercy 1999, 123). | ||