Religious

condition
PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA
The outline of the religious beliefs and practices of the Arabs before
Islam.

The period of pre Islamic Arabia was before the coming of

the prophet of Islam with his spreading of Islam. During
that period the Arabs were pagans with different beliefs
and practices. The following paragraphs will help us to
understand more their beliefs and practices.
The outline of the religious beliefs and practices of the Arabs before
Islam.
Firstly, the Arabs were idol worshippers and they would pray to their
different gods such as Laat, Uzza, Manat as goddesses and Hubal as their
chief god. They would also pray Na‘ilah, and Isaaf. Secondly, they
would pay verbal homage to a supreme God known as Allah. As it is said
in the Qur‘an that they knew about Allah but they took other gods as
intercessors. Thirdly, they would worship things of nature like stones,
trees, stars, sun and moon. If ever they noticed that a rock or stone was
more shinning or attractive than what they were using, they would
exchange it. Thus the new one would be considered as a god. Fourthly,
they would believe in angels as daughters of Allah and they would
worship them alongside with spirits of their ancestors. They would have
their own personal deity at home.
• Isaaf and Na’ilah were a couple, they came to do hajj, when
they reached Ka’aba they committed zina and Allah turned them
into a stone. People of Makka put the statue in front of Ka’aba to
take admonition, but the next generation worshipped them.
• Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest continuously
practiced religions, based on the teachings of the Iranian
Zoroaster
• Assumption day is the bodily taking up of Mary, the mother of
Jesus, into Heaven at the end of her earthly life
• Passover is a Jewish ceremony to commemorate their exit from
Egypt
• The day of atonement is the repentance day and the Jews
traditionally observe this holy day with a day-long fast and
intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue
The outline of the religious beliefs and practices of the Arabs before
Islam.
Fifthly, there were also the Christians who believed in prophet Isa as
being god or son of god with his book as Injeel, the Jews who believed in
prophet Musah with his book as Tawraat and the Zoroastricians, also
called the Magians who believed in one uncreated god as Ahura Mazda
without monasticism worshipping fire with their book known as Avesta.
There was also the religion of Hanif who followed the prophet Ibrahim
with his Suhuf and Allah as God. They were awaiting the prophet
Muhammad to come. Sixthly, they were superstitious and they believed
in soothsayers, astrologers, divination through arrows but they didn‘t
believe in accountability in the afterlife.
The outline of the religious beliefs and practices of the Arabs before Islam.
During the pre Islamic period, Macca was the religious centre ever since the Arab history
began. It was dated since the time of the prophet Adam (as). The centre of Macca being the
Ka‘bah was the vital part of worship with over 360 idols inside and all around in its
sanctuary. A first religious practice would be that they would perform circumambulation
of the Ka‘bah in state of nudity with the hands clapping and singing. Another practice was
that they would observe the rites of pilgrimage and they would stay at Arafat. They would
dedicate their time to verbal homage to their gods and would try to be honest and sinless
people. A third practice was through animal sacrifices. They would sacrifice cats, dogs,
rats, monkeys, sheep and goats among others to satisfy their gods or to be protected from
punishment from their gods. A forth practice would be in the form of human sacrifices.
Young virgin girls would be sacrificed specially during the short periods of eclipse. The
blood of the poor girls would be poured over the altar of their gods. They thought that this
action would help them. A fifth practice could be from the Christians and the Jews who
would join in their churches and temples reading the Injeel and the Tawraat respectively.
They would join in the feasts of day of assumptions, all saints‘ day and baptism for the
Christians and the day of Sabbath, the Passover and the day of atonement for the Jews.
The outline of the religious beliefs and practices of the Arabs before
Islam.
A sixth practice would be from the Zoroastrician who placed great emphasis on
purity and not defiling any of the elements of Ahura Mazda‘s creation. For that
reason, traditionally, neither burial nor cremation was practiced by Zoroastrians.
Instead, dead bodies were taken to a Tower of Silence and laid out under the sun,
where vultures devoured them. Zoroastrian‘s places of worship are called Fire
Temples. In them an eternal flame is kept burning with sandalwood and
frankincense. The first fire to be lit upon an altar is said to have been brought down
from heaven by Zoroaster with a rod. The Hanif used to take bath as means of
purification and would perform the tawaf of the ka‘bah, the sa‘i of mounts Safa and
Marwa and the stop (wuquf) at Arafat in a modest and moral way with cloth on.
The beliefs and practices that the Prophet Muhammad (s) adapt and include in
Islam
With the coming of the prophet of Islam there had been many changes on the religious
beliefs and practices. Firstly, the Prophet Muhammad (s) corrected the idea of
monotheism that is to worship only one God, Allah. Pre Islamic Arabs were polytheists
and idol worshippers. The prophet changed this belief. Secondly, the prophet instilled in
them the belief in Allah, angels as His creatures, His books, His messengers, the day of
Judgement and destiny. Before that they didn‘t believe in destiny and a day of judgement
as day of accountability. They said that there was no afterlife. Thirdly, the prophet told
people about reward of Paradise for good deeds like almsgiving, prayers and reward of
Hell for morally depraved actions like female infanticide. They didn‘t believe in Jannah
or Jahannam. Fourthly, the prophet made them realise that belief in the worship of
spirits of the ancestors, considering them as intermediates, would never help them. Allah
says that the gods that they worshipped would never help them. Fifthly, while they
would believe in superstitious, soothsayers, astrologers and divination through arrows,
the prophet explained to them that they didn‘t have the knowledge to know the future as
the future lies in the hands of Allah. Astrologers don‘t have exact science.
The beliefs and practices that the Prophet Muhammad (s) adapt and include in Islam

Among the various religious practices, the prophet reinstated the Ka‘bah as the symbolic house
of Allah by getting rid of all idols. It was before that a place where shirk and superstitions were
practiced. A second religious practice was the restoration of the circumambulation of the
Ka‘bah as it was during the time of prophet Ibrahim. This included Arafat and Mina in
pilgrimage. The wear of the Ihram was obligatory. Before Islam it was done in the state of
nudity. Thirdly, the idea of sacrifices was corrected. While the Arabs used to perform human
sacrifices, the prophet gave respect, honour and sacredness to life. According to Islam saving
the life of a person is like saving the whole of humanity. Fourthly, the idea of considering
things of nature as gods and of exchanging from time to time was replaced by Trust in Allah.
The Arabs no more brought with them 3 stones on journeys and craving idols for buying and
selling business. Fifthly, the idea of cells for the priest and their places of cult with statues of
their gods as means of encouraging towards worship were replaced by the mosque and Qur‘anic
texts or scriptures for inspiration.
The prophet made links with Judaism and Christianity as they shared the same prophets and he
reiterated Islam was a continuation of the same Message from Allah. Other religions were given
 Description of the importance of Mecca to the Arabs before Islam.
Above all, since the time of prophet Adam the Ka‘bah existed and attracted
pilgrims from all over Arabia. It was a place of worship and business. Secondly,
there were idols like Lat, Uzza, Manat and others in the sanctuary but that sanctuary
of Allah was known as the biggest in the region with 360 idols in and around the
Ka‘bah. Thirdly, it was important as it was controlled by different tribes, but now
by Quraish and more precisely by the Prophet‘s tribe. That was a prestigious
instance to hold and have the key of the Ka‘bah. Fourthly, Macca was important
and popular due to the history behind the water Zamzam and with it also. After all
water in the desert was vital and the settlement was based around the water source
called Zamzam. Fifthly, Macca was important as a trading city. As agriculture was
impossible, hence everyone involved in commerce through different markets for the
poor, better off and the rich. It was situated on crossroads of trade routes, from
Yemen to Syria, and Abyssinia to Iraq. Many traders carrying incense
(frankincense), spices, ivory etc. Meccans also became traders themselves,
 Description of the importance of Mecca to the Arabs before Islam.
Sixthly, Macca was important as the leading Meccans were shrewd financiers. That
made Macca the leading financial centre. They were the richest people in the area and
could buy any service. Macca had rich idol worshippers and Hanif. Seventhly, Macca
was a peaceful and secured area as the Quraish were not interested in constant tribal
warfare. They remained neutral in conflicts. They thus developed ‗haram‘ with 20 mile
radius of Ka‘bah where violence was forbidden. There were pacts made with tribes not
to attack caravans during season of trade fairs. Eighthly, the Ka‘bah within Macca was
the symbol of glory and status. The one being its custodian and the ones living in its
vicinity was praised and honoured. The symbolic and spiritual benefits were important.
The sanctity of Ka‘bah and pilgrimage to Mecca was essential to survival of Quraish.
Ninthly, Macca was important for the Arabs as many prophets of the existing religions
once in their lives went through Macca to spread Islam. It is also said that there are
70000 prophets who are buried in the sanctuary of the Ka‘bah. Tenthly, Macca was
situated in an isolated area. The isolation of Mecca gave the Arabs control of their own
activities where there was no outside power was interested in them. As such the Quraish