Islam claims to be
the same religion given to Abraham, the same religion practiced by Moses and the “original” Jews, and the same religion practiced
by Jesus and his disciples. However, Islam is extremely different from both Judaism and Christianity in its beliefs and rituals,
and so, Muslims claim that “original” Judaism and Christianity were ‘Islamic’ so to speak. Are these things so? Can the
religious practices of Islam be traced back to ancient monotheism, or does it go back to something else? It is my belief and
the belief of many scholars that Islam is merely a ‘monotheized’ version of the ancient pagan astral religion of ancient
I must note that I am not accusing Muslims of worshipping the moon or the stars. The argument merely states that Muhammad took
the old pagan astral religion of the Arabians at
Allah or Al-Ilah: Head of the Astral Pantheon
In the middle-east, worship of the heavens (i.e. the sun, the moon, and the stars) was a very popular religion. Usually, the
moon was worshipped as the chief of the pantheon (like Zeus was to the Greeks), and the sun was his wife. The name for the moon
god in
Astral worship stretched from
“The use of the phrase ‘the Lord of this House’ makes it likely that those Meccans who believed in Allah as a high god – and they may have been numerous – regarded the Ka’ba as his shrine, even though there were images of other gods in it. There are stories in the Sira of pagan Meccans praying to Allah while standing beside the image of Hubal.”
-William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad’s Mecca (Edinburgh: Edinburgh Press, 1988), p.39.
He was the head of the pantheon of 360 gods and goddesses in
“Ilah...appears in pre-Islamic poetry...By frequency of usage, al-ilah was contracted to allah,
frequently attested to in pre-Islamic poetry.”
- Encyclopedia of Islam, eds. B. Lewis, V.L. Menage, C. Pellat, J. Schacht, Vol. II, p. 1093.
“Allah: Originally applied to the moon; he seems to be preceded by Ilmaqah, the moon god…Allat: the female counterpart
to Allah.”
-Dictionary of Non-Classical Mythology, p.7.
His
three daughters, which were prominent stars, were Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat (Sura 53:19-20), and the ‘divine’ family’s temple was
the Ka’bah in
"The cult of the deity termed simply ‘the god’ (al-ilah) was known throughout Syria and Northern Arabia
in the days before Islam -- Muhammed’s father was named ‘Abd Allah’ (Servant of Allah) -- and was obviously of central importance
in Mecca, where the building called the Ka’bah was indisputably his house. Indeed, the Muslims’ ‘shahada’ attests to precisely that
point: the Quraysh, the paramount tribe of
- The
“As well as worshipping idols and spirits, found in animals, plants, rocks, and water, the ancient Arabs believed in several major gods and goddesses whom they considered to hold supreme power over all things. The most famous of these were Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, Manat, and Hubal. The first three were thought to be daughters of Allah (God) and their intercessions on behalf of their worshippers were therefore of great significance. Hubal was associated with the Semitic god Ba’al and with Adonis and Tammuz, the gods of spring, fertility, agriculture and plenty....Hubal’s idol used to stand by the holy well inside the Sacred House. It was made of red sapphire but had a broken arm until the tribe of Quraysh, who considered him one of their major gods, made him a replacement in solid gold.”
-K. al-Saeh, Fabled Cities: Princes and Jinn From Arab Myths and Legends, p. 28-29.
It is interesting to note that Muhammad did not need to explain who Allah was to the pagan Meccans:
“In any case it is an extremely important fact that Muhammad did not find it necessary to introduce an altogether novel deity, but contented himself with ridding the heathen Allah of his companions subjecting him to a kind of dogmatic purification.”
-Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, ed.
“The source of this (Allah) goes back to pre-Muslim times. Allah is not a common name meaning “God” (or a “god”), and the Muslim must use another word or form if he wishes to indicate any other than his own peculiar deity.”
-Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, ed.
Muhammad used the name of a pagan deity that he was familiar with, Allah, and transformed him into the monotheistic God of the Hebrews and Christians, but instead of dumping all of the pagan rituals, he kept them.
Islam:
A Revamped
Astral Religion
(Part 1)