Waṯani Religion: Fertile Crescent

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

I am so sad. I cannot go to the mosque because nobody is looking after my father. Everybody went somewhere else. Maybe they have something to attend to so I have to take the charge to look after my father because he is all paralyzed. He cannot move and he had arthritis because of dependency to powder milk which we have to feed through the feeding tube at his nose down to his belly every three hours. Now, how can I go to work when this happens? Everyone out there would blame me because being a jobless loser but they do not even care to interview me as to check the root course. I have ambition and vision just like everyone else in the world. But it faded away once I have to go through the "facts" of the life... I tried hard and I fall. Then I tried again and again with the hope and optimism but somehow it also makes me exhausted.   

Let us continue with this topic. This "practices" of waṯani or polytheism were not only happened in ancient Arabia. It was everywhere and it happens when human becoming ignorant due to several factors. Nowadays, we could also see new ideas such as neo-paganism in Europe as for example where there are people who wanted to revive ancient Teutonic, Norse, Gaelic Druidism and other Scandinavian cultural traits besides despising Christianity as a foreign religion. I have got all these ideas from my colleague and he is a non-religious Muslim, Amir. He was a fan of metal music and he was the one who introduced the music genre to me. I listened to some folk metals and I have got the information about European paganism. They are kind of folk religions or something. However, this topic is only confined to the Middle East as to make things easy...

Nineveh, Assyria

Jonah a.s was sent to the city-state of Nineveh in Assyrian empire. The people there worshiped Marduk, Ishtar, Nabu, Shamas and other deities. They claimed that the worship of those deities was inherited from their ancestors. 

The teachings that Jonah a.s brought to them was quite new and they could not accept it as the replacement of their current beliefs since it is deeply rooted in their customs and culture. They challenged Jonah a.s to curse them and to pray to his "Deity" to make the "torment" descends upon them if he is a true prophet of the God the Highest. Jonah a.s was so angry that he went out from the border of the city-state and he prayed that may He the Highest punish them all! 

The people then saw the sky turned gloomy and dark. Their cattle too making noises as if something is going to happen after Jonah a.s went away from them. Wind flowing ferociously and the sound of the nature was so scary. They were afraid if something really happen when they look at the changing of the nature around them so they began to accept the teachings of Jonah a.s. They began to ponder on their words and speeches and later repented. They cried in remorse while walking and looking for Jonah a.s everywhere in their city-state to teach them lessons about Him but they cannot find him.

Phoenecia, Levant

According to the Map of the Quran authored by Shawqi Abu Khalel, Elijah a.s was appointed by the God the Highest to Phoenician and the Israelites in the city-state of Ba'albek (Heliopolis). Elijah a.s was the fourth generation of Aron, the son of Imran who lives around 910-850 BC.

The people there worshiped a deity known as Ba'al personified as a woman. He repeatedly reminds the people to leave behind the superstitious belief but they refused. Since, many times they had refused to obey the commandments so the area experienced drought for years. 

They begged Elijah a.s to pray to the God the Highest may the disaster cease to happen so Elijah a.s prayed and the prayer was granted. However, they began to practice polytheism again after they came back to normal. The drought then return and it was longer than before.

The Greek rename the city-state as Heliopolis in 323-64 BC. In 64 BC, the city-state became a colony of the Romans under the reign of Julius Caesar. The Romans build temples in dedication for their deity, Jupiter.   

Sheba, Yemen

The people in the kingdom of Sheba worshiped both the Sun and the Moon. The news was made known to Solomon a.s, the second king of Judah through a woodpecker who flied across the kingdom before stopping at the North. There is a brief story about this in Surah al-Naml 20-44.

King Solomon a.s had sent a letter to the kingdom and inviting them to worship the God the Highest directly as compared to worshiping Him through objects of nature such as the Sun or the Moon. The ruler of the kingdom at that time was a woman. 

Yemen actually has two women rulers. The one was the Queen of Sheba, known in Quran as Lady Balqis. She started to travel to the North to Jerusalem around 1000-950 BC. Some said that she was married to Solomon a.s and I am not sure so I would not speculate anything which I do not come across. The second was lady Arwa the daughter of Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ja'afar bin Mūsa al-Ṣulayhī. We call lady Arwa as Sayyidah al-Hurra which means the Noble Lady. She was the Chief Missionary representing a fraction of Fatimid empire in the city of Haraz, Yemen who patronized the missions in Gujarat, India around 11th century AD. That is why, we said that we are so close to North West of India and Pakistan region. Inshā Allah I would post about the history of Muslims in those region when the time come or if He wills for that as a tribute to our paternal grandmothers who particularly were brought here from the subcontinent.  

Israelites

Because the Israelites were those in existence before the term Jewish exist so we use the term Israelites to refer to Moses and his people. Israelites were Bedouins before they established the kingdom in Cana'an which later was torn into two kingdoms and colonized by the Romans.  

The history of polytheism in Israelites could be traced among the Simeon clan. The person known as Samiri (Zimri bin Salo). Samiri made the golden female calf and later persuaded the Israelites to worship it while Moses a.s went to the holy mountain to receive Revelation. I have not check on the story in my Bible but our Quran mentions that Aron a.s had tried to stop the people from worshiping nonsense thing. Moses a.s was so angry that he pulled the beard of his younger brother because he had mistaken him for not reminding the people. 

Some people speculated that Samiri perhaps was influenced by the ancient Egyptian culture who worshiped the deity known as Hathor which was represented as a cow. She was worshiped in this form around 2700 BC during the rule of the Second Dynasty. I guess that it is plausible for some of the Israelites to be influenced by neighboring cultural traits because it was not so long before their exodus from Egypt. The Quran mentions that those who commit errors were commanded to suicide. I guess there are three exceptional sins within Orthodox Judaism where a Jewish is required to die rather than transgressing them which are idolatry, sexual immorality and murder (Talmudim: Sanhadrin Council). I am sure there are interpretations within their school of thoughts as well as religious bodies with regard to the issues and jurisprudence.

Rasibites, Arabia

This tribe is known from the dry well who inhabited a village known as Falaj in Yamāmah. It is a district within the Najd upland region. They are ancient Arabs referred in the Quran as the Tamudic Arabs. Those in Ta'if who refused the invitation of Muhammad s.a.w to accept his prophecy were also related to these people as according to Ibn Khaldun, Jawwad 'Ali and Abu al-Faraj al-Asfahany. Another remaining civilization of this nation could also be seen in Mada'in Ṣāleḥ which is in the modern Saudi Arabia.    

They worshiped the Sanobar tree known as the Shah-e-Darakht. It was believed that the tree was first planted again by Yafit the son of Noah after the beside the spring known as Roshan Āb. A sage reminds them but they mocked him and murdered him. His body was thrown into a well. Because of this sin, the Lord of the universe destructed them with heavy and long drought. There is also a belief about killing religious teachers or a sage within ancient Indian tradition known as the pañcha mahā pātakaḥ. It means the five great crimes. One of them is to kill the sages and holy men.

I am not sure whether Malay language speakers notice this. The term, malapetaka which is used to refer to disasters actually was a Vedic Sanskrit term which your ancestors had gotten when they mingled with ancient Indians. It happens when the dust of evil covers the area of the three elements of a "soul" known as the trimalas. From these, a "being" would develop negative habits which would slowly manifest in four levels of sins and crimes. Pañcha mahā pātakaḥ is the third level of the four components which would later blasting the souls and beings involved within the mandala (sphere). People would be fallen from their previous noble position when these happens. Those who were involved with the star-gazing knowledge would also believe that when the position of planets such as when the Moon and the Jupiter is afflicted then a "being" would also easily turning to "crimes". Janardhan Hari Jī in his Māṇsagari treatise explains that these positions are counted among 10 independent movements which do not actually need any particular time, reason or corresponding position to happen in the earthly realms.

If we check again the story of prophets in the Middle East, and the thing is also the same with the thought that happened in ancient India or elsewhere. For e.g the murder of Zechariah and his son, John as intended by their own people resulted the people becoming down-graded in this very life. But as to say, we who see and listen to the stories or news are not judges. The judge is only the God the Highest. We should take heed and take the lessons from them because we are also the "same" human-being just like them.

The Rasibites are mentioned in the Glorious Quran twice in the Surah al-Furqan and the Surah Qaf respectively. Do not worry about the bibliography. I would include them once He permits me to do so for brethren reference because I do not like people to be dependent to this site or to the internet sources but I wish that everyone would apply research methodologies in the searches.   

Midianites

The Midianites were the descendants of Midian the son of Abraham through the third wife known as, Keturah. They mingled with the Moabites in religio-political connection and they worshiped various gods such as Ba'al Peor and Ashteroth.

The wife of Moses a.s was a Midianite lady known in the Old Testament as Zipporah. The priest appointed to be the spiritual guide for the Midianites was Jethro.

The Midianites whom Jethro lived with were treacherous in trade. They used false weights and measures and lying along the road to cheat on the business caravans. They were destroyed by a tremor after rejecting the reminders given to them. The Midians used to inhabit Aycah which is located in the south-east of Sinai along the Red Sea. The region was a forest like area in Midian and they worshiped a land filled with trees.

Joseph a.s was sold by his brothers to the Midian caravans where he was sold again to a nobleman in the Eyptian court. The Midianite while occupying Timna Valley (Southern Israel) continued to use the site of Hathor temple in their worship. Hathor was the Egyptian goddess of fertility. However it is not so certain whether they worshiped Hathor as the focus of their worship or something else.

'Adites, Arabia

These people were the offspring of 'Ad bin Uz bin Aram bin Shem bin Noah. They are the children of sage Noah a.s. A sage mentioned in the Quran was sent to them known as Hūd a.s. Their region was in al-Ahqāf  located in Northern Yemen spreading to the East in modern Oman. This place comprised an archeological site known as Rubb el-Khaly where the Western explorers founded the remnants of ancient cities inhabited by these people.   

They made idols and icons for the deities such as Ṣamūd and al-Hattar. They focused their worship to those idols and deities in which they believed that they could bestow them happiness, goodness and benefits. They believed that those deities could help them to avoid evil, dismal and disasters.

Babylon, Assyria

When Nimrud was in reign, the people there practiced polytheism with many deities represented by idols. The most popular ones among the Chaldeans were Marduk and Nabu. There are other gods along with these such as Śïn who was a personification of the Moon in the form of a long-bearded man wearing a long robe with a crescent on his head. They made the icons for these deities and focusing their mind to these images. Others are Shamas (the Sun) and Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, battle and sex.  

This matter had been deeply rooted and spread far at that time. It was even accepted in the Near East and the existence of this kind of practice was maintained for such a long time. Polytheism survives in these regions until 600 century AD. Ancient Mesopotamians and Sumerians build Ziggurats as places to gaze at the stars and planets. The worship of various gods extended from Mesopotamia to rural Anatolian region where the people there also worshiped the Moon.

At the time where Abraham a.s destroyed the idols in the national temple of his city-state with his axe. His father, Terah (Āzar) ironically was an idol-maker. The message of Abraham in the midst of Chaldeā was to uproot the practices of the worship toward various deities who were the creatures of the Lord of universe and to place monotheism into its appropriate position again.

In the History of the Prophets authored by the late Ahmad Bahjat (a former columnist in al-Ahram), stated that there were three kinds of idolaters during the period of Abraham in Sumeria. They are:

• The worshiper of the idols made of earthly materials or creatures such as stones or wood.
• The worshiper of heavenly materials and creatures.
• The worshiper of kings and the men in power or the rulers.  

The God the Highest is none of these. The Glorious Quran which is revealed to Muhammad s.a.w taught us that He is beyond all of these and is not confined by the time and space.

Closing

I am going to continue with the Takfir issue in which I had found that someone who is eager to follow the method of al-Musnad is talking about the kufr classification. I am not saying that there is anything wrong in al-Musnad because I respect the compiler of the book, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal along with other teachers. There are countless of teachers from each generations which we cannot get to know each one of them in a time. When we post something or talk about something in the midst of public or even when we are alone, we should also aware that we could easily fall prey to "Satan" although we feel that we are already in the "right" path. The burden of the sin is still there so be very very careful and discreet with the thought which is also related to other senses in one's gross body. The thing is not as simple as it is although it could be simplified for public viewers.

When we condemn something, try to check whether our "mind" is already there or still not there? Be open-minded as well as be very careful with the mind as it might also boggling between two extremes which would later bring us to no where. I found that people who are newly converted to "something" would turn to be a zealot yet one has to remember that He is all-powerful over the "Right" of guidance. I was once like that but I am grateful to Him that I quickly realized. Never make our selves as His rival or His revenge would reach us since we had forgotten our position before Him. Yes, we should practice the Sharia prescription in our worship as highlighted in the Hadith al-Qudsi but we should also notice that there is a mention about iḥsan before Him.

Our school of jurisprudence is a method on the angle of the prophetic traditions but not something for us to cling ourselves to it as a pride as to show our superiority over other groups! A Muslim is a life-time student of the "Path" and would always have to correct his practices although he knows all the basics. We cannot be sure that we are doing things closer to the noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w because we are not living with him that make us know everything about him but we get to know about the practices through narrations of his surviving family members, companions, chroniclers, the disciples, the disciples of disciples, the pious generations and the latter teachers. There are methods of deciding the judgement and we are looking down on Islam ourselves when we do not follow the guidelines through the Council of Clerics. There are still many issues which need to be observed by researchers and to be settled among the clerics. It is not yet the time for us, the public Muslims to jump of with emotions but to stay aware with our selves!

Beware with the trap of "Satan". It could prey anyone regardless of his school of jurisprudence, his teachers, his movements or his status until the death comes to him. The honorable teacher, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal while in his death-bed also told his son about the state of delusion where he answered to the "Satan" that he is still not free from "it" even at his death-bed. Do not assume that we know everything but be very humble before the God the Highest. We would develop ego from our assumptions and later become a prey for the "Satan". Ego is dangerous and it is the root where the wars, fights, and battles happen around the world since the antiquities. May the God the Highest help everyone to be free from the tests and slanders of the life and the death and from the slanders of the false Messiah (Christ) (Report of Lady Aisha r.a; Abu Dawūd Book 3 No. 0879).  

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

Watani: Chief Goddess in North Arabia

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

The gods and goddesses in Arabia during the Age of Ignorance was of various origin. Some of them were from the Assyrians, some from Mesopotamia and some from the Levant. The Arabs were surrounded by these nations.

Chief Goddesses in Mecca

al-Lāt 

This goddesses is mentioned in Quran (Surah al-Najm 53:19-23) which shows that the Arabs of the Age of Ignorance considered her as one of the daughters of the God the Highest along with two other goddesses. The shrine and temple dedicated to her was in Taif. It was demolished by Abu Sufyan bin Harb on the orders of noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w during an expedition in the same year as the Battle of Tabuk (630 AD).

In older sources, this goddess is the cognate of a Mesopotamian goddess of the underworld known as Ereshkigal. She was reportedly also venerated in Carthage under the name al-Latu. The goddess occurs in early Safaitic graffiti and the Nabateans of Petra and the people of Hatra also worshiped her, equating her with the Greek, Athena and Tyche and the Roman's Minerva. Minerva is equated to Sarawati of the Hindus in South Asia but Saraswati is the goddess representing the śakti of the knowledge and art. She is frequently called "the Great Goddess" in Greek as carved in the multi-lingual inscriptions.    

Wellhausen mentions that, the Nabateans believed the goddess al-Lāt was the mother of god Hubal and so is the mother-in-law of goddess Manāt. 

The Greek historian, Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BC, considered her the equivalent of Aphrodite:

"The Assyrians call Aphrodite as Mylitta, the Arabians, al-Ilat, and the Persians, Mitra. In addition, the deity is associated with the Indian deity, Mitra".

The Persian and Indian deity were developed from the proto-Indo-Iranian deity known as the Mitra. According to Herodotus, the ancient North Arabians believed in only two gods:

"They believe in no other gods except Dionysus and the heavenly Aphrodite; and they say that they wear their hair as Dionysus does his, cutting it round the head and shaving the temples. They call Dionysus, Orotalt; and Aphrodite, al-Ilat".

There is also archeological evidence from Iram shows copious inscriptions devoted to this goddess for the protection of a certain tribe by that name (Surah al-Fajr 89:5-8).

This goddess is also explicitly attested from early records discussing the period of ignorance. According to the Kitāb al-Aṣnām by Hishām bin al-Kalbi, most of the Arabs during the Ignorance Age believed this goddess resided in the Cubicle Shrine in Mecca and also had an idol dedicated for her inside the holy sanctuary:

"Her custody was in the hands of the Banū Attāb bin Mālik of the Taqif, who had built an edifice over her. Most of the Quraish, as well as all the Arabs, venerated this goddess. They also used to name their children after her, calling them Zayd al-Lāt or Taym al-Lāt... Al-Lat continued to be venerated until the people in Taqif embraced Islam, when noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w dispatched al-Mughīrah bin Shu'bah, who destroyed the temple and burnt the idol to the ground" 

Manāt 

The goddess of fate and she was known with a cognate name as Manawat of the Nabateans of Petra who equated her with the Greco-Roman goddess, Nemesis. She was considered the wife of god Hubal. By the way, Nabateans were Northern Arab Bedouins who inhabited some areas in Jordan, Syria, Israel and Southwest of Arabia. I guess I kept their tribal identification with me but it is lost. 

Grunebaum in his Classical Islam says, the Arabic name of Manat is the linguistic counterpart of the Hellenistic Tyche, Dahr, the fateful "Time" who snatches men away and robs their existence of purpose and value. There are also connections with Chronos of Mithraism and Zurvan in Eastern religions.  

The Kitab al-Asnam describes the goddess worshiped by the pagan Arabs...

"The most ancient of all these idols was Manat. The Arabs used to name their children Abd Manat and Zayd Manat. Manat was erected on the seashore in the vicinity of al-Mushallal in Qudayd, between Medina and Mecca. All the Arabs used to venerate her and sacrifice before "her". The Aws and the Khazraj as well as those among the people of Yatrib and other places who took their way of life, would go for pilgrimage and observe vigil at all the appointed places but they did not shave their heads. At the end of pilgrimage, however, when they were about to return home, they would set out to the place where the idol of goddess Manat stood, shave their heads, and stay there a while. They did not consider their pilgrimage completed until they visited the goddess". - Kitab al-Asnam, pp. 12-14.

The ruling tribes of Yatrib, and other Arabs, continued to worship goddess Manat until the time of Muhammad s.a.w. The temple of this particular goddess in al-Mushallal was raided and the idol was destroyed in the Raid of Sa'd bin Zaid al-Ashhali, January 630 AD (Ramadan of 8th H).

Al-'Uzza

She was also worshiped by the Nabateans who equated her to Greek goddess Aphrodite Ourania or Venus Calestis. 

As stone cube at aṭ-Ṭā’if near Mecca was held sacred as part of her cult. She is mentioned in the Quran together with other two goddess worshiped by the pagans. She was called for protection along with god Hubal by some Quraish Arabs who commit polytheism with other Arabian tribes.

In 624 AD at the Battle of Uhud, the war of cry of the Quraish Arabs was, "O people of al-'Uzzā, people of Hubal!" Al-'Uzza also later appears in Ibn Ishaq's account of the Satanic Verses. 

In the Nabatean region, the first known mention about this particular goddess is from the inscriptions of Dedan, the capital of the Lihyanite kingdom in the 4th or 3rd century BC. She had been adopted alongside Dushara as the presiding goddess at Petra, the Nabatean capital, where she was assimilated with Isis, Tyche, and Aphrodite attributes and superseded her sisters. During the 5th century, Christianity became the prominent religion there following the conquest of Barsauma, the Metropolitan of Nisibis from the Church of Persia.

Inscriptions related to al-'Uzza among the Nabateans at Petra have been interpreted to associate al-'Uzza with the planet Venus. According to the Kitab al-Asnam by Hisham bin al-Kalbi (N.A. Faris, 1952; 16-23):

Over her (an Arab) built a house known as Bus in which the people used to receive oracular communications. The Arabs as well as the Quraish polytheists would name their children as Abd al-'Uzza. Furthermore, it was perceived as a patron deity for the Quraish. They used to make pilgrimage for her, offer gifts to the temple for her, and seek her favors through sacrifice.

The polytheist Quraish would circumambulate the Cubicle Shrine and say, "By al-Lāt and al-'Uzza, and al-Manāt, the third idol besides. Verily they are al-gharānīq whose intercession to be sought".

This last phrase is said to be the source of the alleged Satanic Verses; the Arabic term is translated as "most exalted females" by Faris in the text, but he annotates this much-argued term in a footnote as "lit. Numidean cranes".

The Kitāb al-Aṣnām offers additional detail on the "three exalted cranes" Ibn Isḥaq says were omitted from the Qur'an, "These were also called "the daughter of the God the Highest" and were supposed to intercede before Him". Each of the goddesses had a separate shrine for them near Mecca. The most prominent Arabian shrine of this particular goddess was at a place known as Nakhlah near Qudayd, east of Mecca toward aṭ-Ṭā'if; three trees were sacred to her there (narration through al-'Anazi Abū 'Alī in the Kitab al-Aṣnām):

"She was the Lady 'Uzzayan to whom a South Arabian offered a golden image on behalf of his sick daughter, Amat-'Uzzayan (the Maid of Uzzayan)".

Abd al-'Uzza or the slave of the mightiest one was a favorite proper name among the pagans during the advent of Islam (Hitti, 1937). The name al-'Uzza appears as an emblem of beauty in late pagan Arabic poetry quoted by Ibn al-Kalbi, and oaths were sworn by her name.  

The worship toward this goddess in South Arabia has been thoroughly effaced by time but her presence has not been obliterated far north at Petra of the Nabateans, who had deities with Arabian names early in their history, whom they later associated with Hellenistic gods, al-'Uzza becoming associated with Isis and with Aphrodite.

Excavations at Petra since 1974 have revealed a temple apparently dedicated to Isis or al-'Uzza, now named after some carvings found inside, the Temple of the Winged Lions (Hammond). Inscriptions record the name of this goddess at Petra. Isis was an ancient Egyptian goddess worshiped by slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden and also a patron goddess for maidens, the wealthy, aristocrats and rulers. The worship to this particular goddess became prominent in Greco-Roman empire and areas closer to the empire.

A fragment of poetry by Zatd bin 'Amr bin Nofayl quoted in Kitab al-Asnam suggests that al-'Uzza had two daughters through the phrase, "No more do I worship al-'Uzza and her two daughters".

Muhammad Mohar Ali writes (2002), "The Arabs had developed a number of subsidiary Ka'bat (tawaget) at different places in the land, each with its presiding god or goddess. They used to visit those shrines at appointed times, circumambulate them and make sacrifices of animals there, besides performing other polytheistic rites. The most prominent shrines were those of al-Lat at Ta'if, al-'Uzza at Nakhlah and al-Manat near Qudayd. The origins of these idols are uncertain. Ibn Kalbi says that al-Lat was "younger" (ahdat) than al-Manawat, while al-'Uzza was "younger" than both al-Lat and al-Manawat. But though al-'Uzza was thus youngest of the three; it was nonetheless the most important and the greatest ('azam) idol with some of those pagan Quraish who, along with the Banū Kinānah, ministered to it".

On the authority of Abdullah bin 'Abbas, al-Tabari derived the word al-'Uzza from al-'Azīz or "The Most Honored" and it is one of the 99 glorious Names of the God the Highest in his commentary on the Quran Surah al-A'araf, "And to the God the Highest belong the best names, so invoke Him by them! But leave (the company of) those who practice deviation concerning His names! They will be recompensed for what they have been doing" (7:180).

The temple of this goddess worshiped by Quraish and the larger Kinanah tribes was destroyed by Khalid bin al-Walid in Ramadan 8 H. The temple was under the custody of Banu Shaiban. Khalid, heading 30 horsemen arrived there and exterminated that place. On his return, Muhammad s.a.w asked him if he had seen anything there? Khalid replied nothing. Muhammad s.a.w said that it was not fully destroyed and he has to return there. He went back again and saw that there was an Abyssinian woman naked with thorn hair. He struck her with his sword and tore her into "two parts" as according to Safi al-Rahman al-Mobarakpuri. He returned and narrated the story to Muhammad s.a.w, who then confirmed the fulfillment of the task. Some said that the "woman" was the personification of the "power" of the idol worshiped by the people who manifests itself after her "house" was destroyed.  

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

Idolatry and Superstitious Beliefs

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Meaning of Idol

Europe

The word idol in English as a noun refers to an image or representation of a deity used as an object of worship. It also refers to a person or a thing that is greatly admired, loved or revered. The word originated from the Middle English through Old French idole and it was derived from Latin, idolum which means image or form in the sense of idol. The cognate word in Greek was eidōlon from eidos which means form or shape.

South Asia

When I informally studied Buddhism, I had come across with the words such as vigraha, oṃ rupa, pratima or murti. I did not follow Chinese Buddhism but I followed Theravada Buddhism which is the school of Buddhism adopted in Thailand and Sri Lanka. The working language for the school is Pali and Sanskrit which represent previous Brahmin traditions and commoners speech since Siddartha Gautama has many Brahmin disciples while he is a Kshatriya. The cultural background of the school is Indian in its spirit. The word murti generally means an image of deity which itself is considered divine once it is consecrated through special ceremony and it literally means embodiment.

The word murti refers to an image which expresses a murta or a divine spirit. It is a representation of a divinity, made usually of stone, wood, or metal, which serves as a means through which a divinity may be worshiped (Klaus, 1989). Hindus consider a murti worthy of serving as a focus of divine worship only after the divinity is invoked to embody the subject matter for the purpose of offering worship (Singh Nagendra, 1997). The depiction of the divinity must reflect the gestures and proportions outlined in their religious tradition. It is a means of communication with Brahman or the Highest Self.  

The term murti in Sanskrit is meant to point to the transcendent "otherness" of the divine when substituted with statue or idol and the inherent meaning is lost since neither is a correct translation of the word murti (Britannica, 2011). The worship of murtis is recommended for the Hindus, especially for Dvapara Yuga as described in Pāñcarātra texts (Garuḍa Purāṇa; 1.223.37, 1.228.18). Indian stonemasons only producing images of the deities within orthodox Hindu religion after there were remarkable expertise in the portrayal of Buddha figures and of animal and human (John, 2011).

There is also a note made by scholar such as Steven Rosen that the term murti as an equivalent to the word "idol" in European languages is a misconception. Early European missionaries were largely responsible for conflating the two terms by informing the local Hindus that "idol" was the correct translation of their word, "murti" (Rosen, 2006).  Scholar such as Diana Eck explains that the term murti is define in Sanskrit as "anything which has definite shape and limits; a form, body, figure; an embodiment, incarnation or manifestation". Then, the murti is more than a likeness; it is the deity itself taken the "form". The uses of the word murti in the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita suggests that the form is its essence (Eck, 1981). As such, a murti is considered to be more than a mere likeness of a deity, but rather a manifestation of the deity itself. The murti is like a way to communicate with the abstract unimaginable God known as the Brahman which creates, sustains and dissolves creations.

South East Asia

Basically the indigenous and natives here are closely related to ancient Indians and ancient Southern Chinese. The word for idol in Malay is berhala which literally means something to focus. The Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka which is the Malay language council stated that it means "statues of deities worshiped by some groups of non-Muslims". The meaning in Indonesian language which also uses the same word as according to the Great Indonesian Dictionary stated that, berhala is a noun which means, "statues of deities, and it in broader sense refers to any creatures such as the Sun, the Moon, angels, animals or things other than the God the Highest" (Surah al-Zumar 39:38). 

When the word is articulated as a verb such as to idolize or to deify could also have a slightly different meaning where it does not mean that the person who idolizes something or someone is saying that the person he idolizes is a god worth to be worshiped. It does nit means that the person who idolizes something or someone is prostrating before it or him. It might also means to admire but in a stronger sense. It could also means to admire or to love something more than the admiration or the love toward the God the Highest. For example to fear something or to love something more than the fear and love toward the God the Highest. 

In Thai language which is used across the Siam Empire in South East Asia, the word idol is translated into Thao Rūp which means the "image of an elder". It is closely related to the ancient Indian thought regarding the religious symbol.   

Arabia

The word idol as according to the Quranic Arabic could be referred to different things. They would be used differently as according to context of the sentences where the word is being used. 

• al-Aṣnām which refers to anything made from wood, rock, gold, silver, copper and everything from the earth which is later molded to form living creatures such as human, animals or any large sized plant which becomes an object of worship. The meaning of the word is broaden to refer to idol.  
• al-Awṯān are anything made of things mentioned in the previous but it is more general from the previous since it could take the form of anything which is formless or formed in different sizes from the smallest to the biggest ones. So, the previous word becomes the sub-category of this word.
• al-Anṣab is a kind of stone which has no specific form which is used as a place to slaughter cattle and being used as an altar for heathen gods. It is also referring to a kind of stone which is not formed but worshiped as a symbol for something. I understood this word as a kind of statue which is erected or installed in a closed place, cave like holes or in open surroundings.          

Most Arabic dictionary equates these words into only one meaning in other languages and people could not recognize the terminological meanings as it becomes ambiguous.  

Idolatry in Arabian Peninsula

In the history of paganism, a tribe would never do anything in a blink of eyes but in few stages. Human-being in a certain region would certainly be influenced by others from the neighboring regions. Arabia in the Age of Ignorance had adapted idolatry from neighboring nations such as the Assyrians and Phoenicians. 

Among the apprentice of the idolatry in Mecca was 'Amr bin Luḥay and he was a chief of the Khuza'a clan of the larger Azd tribe from Southern Arabia. He and his tribe entered Holy Mecca and fought with the Jurhumites and the Ishmaelites who lived side by side there around 4th century. Later, he ruled Mecca and the Ishmaelites had to move to sub-urban area. 

When the pilgrimage season comes, the Arabian tribes from around Arabia would come to Mecca and they would also receive the idols which would be brought back to their hometown. Each tribe had erected the temples at the outskirt of their villages. 

The historians who analyzed the development of paganism in Arabia around the 2nd H said that before prophet Muhammad s.a.w was born, there were many forms of paganism practiced by the Arabs. Most of the Arabs approached the deities in the form of idols and slaughtered their camels for the deities. Sometimes, they would slaughter human as according to superstitions such as in the case of Abd al-Motallib, the grandfather of prophet Muhammad s.a.w who almost close to slaughter his own son for deities, Abdullah who is the father of Muhammad s.a.w.

Slaughtering Human

The mention about Abd al-Motallib was trying to slaughter his son is quite ambiguous since Abd al-Motallib is also mentioned as a Hanif who follows the traditions of Abraham a.s, which is his ancestor. The narration is that Abd al-Motallib has made a vow to the God the Highest may He bestow him with 10 sons and one of them would be sacrificed.   

This incident happened after Abd al-Motallib repairing the Zamzam well. Most of Quraish in Mecca trying to stop him from digging the well. Only his son, Harit defended him. Later on, the Quraish approved that Abd al-Motallib has the authority over the supervision of the well and his dream of having 10 sons comes true. 

Abdullah was the most beloved son of Abd al-Motallib. Abd al-Motallib would be escorted by his sons when he perform the circumambulation at the Cubicle Shrine and he would have to fulfill his vow. So, he met the priest at the Cubicle Shrine. The priest conducted a superstitious election before his deities and the election falls for Abdullah. As to stay true to his promise, he decided to slaughter Abdullah though he loves him so much. The Quraish had tried to stop him where he brought his son to be slaughtered before a deity known as Isaph. He was so stubborn that he did not listen to his tribes word until they fought each other and the head of Abdullah accidentally being injured.

The reason why the Quraish tried to stop him was that, he was a respected noble man in Mecca and people would follow his example as a custom. They afraid that everyone would have to sacrifice their 10th sons. However, Abd al-Motallib had vowed and he must fulfill his promise. So, he went to a priest from the Sa'ad clan. The priest asked on how much would be paid for an independent man who is killed among the Quraish? They said, 10 female camels. So, he advised Abd al-Motallib to do the election again on 10 camels but they could only check the sex of the camel after the election is made. If the camel is male then he has to release another 10 camels for election until he reached the female one. He did that for three times and altogether there are 100 male camels. So, the priest told him to slaughter the camels as the ransom for his son life and releasing him from the vow. 

And prophet Muhammad s.a.w said that, "I am a son of two men who were almost slaughtered". The first one was Ishmael a.s and the second one was his father, Abdullah.

Superstitious Beliefs

In Hejaz such as in Yatrib and Taif besides practicing paganism, they were also familiar with other kinds of beliefs from the closer regions. Some opinions stated that there were animism and dynamism among rural Arabs. These kind of beliefs were portrayed in ancient poems about various aspects of social life for e.g politics, thoughts, economy, culture, religions and beliefs in Arabia.

They believed in omens and superstitious and were largely bounded by those silly practices...

Death

Some of them believed that the soul of a man who was killed by another takes the form of a bird known as hamah and cries over the grave saying, "Give me drink (of blood)". The bird remains crying days and nights until the man of his family and tribe avenge the blood of the dead man.

They believed that after the month of Ṣafar, calamities and disasters befall on men. Some stated that, those pagans believed that there are worms in bellies which bite men and produce jaundice.

In case of a child died during infancy, they believed that the children would live again if the mother walked seven times over the slain body of a distinguished person.

When a person of distinction died, a camel would be confined in a pit near his grave and was not given any water or fodder so that it might die and the dead person might be riding on it on the Resurrection and might not rise on foot. Keeping in view the fact that a person while alive used to slaughter camels to entertain his kinsmen and guests and as a mark of respect and recompense to him; his successors would also cut off the feet of a camel near his grave in a painful manner to the animal.

Rain

They believed that rain falls down as according to the change of stars or the moon. Since many areas of Arabian Peninsula experienced drought. To ensure coming of the rains the people of such places used to procure the branches of trees known as Sala' and 'Ushr which catch fire easily. They tied these branches at the tail of a cow and drove it to the top of a mountain. Later, they set fire to these branches. On account of the presence of inflammable material in the branches of 'Ushr flames rose up from the fire and burnt the body of the cow. Owing to the pain and suffering caused by burning, the cow began running and crying. These people committed this foul act treating it as a token of resemblance with the thunder and lightening. They treated the flames of fire and the cries of the cow as representing lightning and thunder respectively and considered this act as effective in calling the rain to fall.  

Arrow and Omen

A superstitious Arab desired to make a journey or to take a wife, or to join a warfare or undertake other important tasks would draw out "divine" arrows at temples, on one of which was written, "My Lord has commanded me", on another, "My Lord had forbidden me", while the third arrow remained blank.

Some would send birds to fly before starting their work. If it flew by the right side, then it was a good omen. If it flew the left side, it was bad omen. 

If a person who has an intention to get something and was unable to get it so he would not enter his house by the front door but by the back door and continue doing so for a year.

While traveling they feared immorality on the part of their women. To gain assurance in this behalf they tied a thread to the stalk or branches of a tree. If the thread was intact at the time of their return they were satisfied that their women had not been guilty of immorality. If however, they found the thread untied or missing they slandered their women and punish her.   

Honoring Gods

They would set free certain animals in honor of their tribal gods believing that they would get prosperity by such an act. They would set free Bahirah or female camel with slit ear, Saibah or any female animal which having brought forth females at 10 successive births and Hami or stallion camel that was considered unlawful for riding or being used as a beast of burden. All of them were set free to graze anywhere they like and the female milk is forbidden to be taken.

They used to attribute particular supernatural powers to their respective idols, which were stationed within the Cubicle Shrine. They thought that the God the Highest entrusted the discharge of the various functions of the universe to different gods and goddesses which were invoked to reside within the idols. Therefore they prayed for blessings from the idols especially of those stationed in the Shrine in Mecca. There were about 360 idols within this ancient shrine belonging to different tribes before the opening of Mecca to the light of Revelation.

Submission to Evil Spirits

There was the belief about evil spirits whom they would conjure up in solitary places. They attributed various kinds of diseases to them. They said the the mother of Queen Sheba was a female genie and the father of Alexander was a male genie. Those who believed in a life after death would tie a camel at a tomb and starve it to death, thinking that the deceased would mount on its back on the Resurrection.

When they reached certain places without any human there, they would seek refuge to the genie who guarded the area with words such as, 'I seek refuge with the genie of this area". This is a kind of polytheism within Islamic faith because the genie was positioned as a partner besides the God the Highest.

When they arrived in a village and were afraid of some contagious disease or evil spirits, they would bray 10 times like a donkey at the gate of the village. At times they also hanged bones of a fox round their necks. If they lost their way while traveling in the desert, they wore their shirt turning it inside out.

Diseases and Evil Spirits

If a person was bitten by a snake or scorpion, gold ornaments were put around the neck of the victim. They believed that if such a person carried copper or tin on his body and he would die.

As regard for rabies due to being bitten by a dog, they treated it by rubbing a small quantity of blood of the chief of their tribe on the wound. And in case sign of madness appeared in anyone, he would took refuge in dirt, dirty rags and bones of the dead being hung around his neck as to drive away evil spirit.

To ensure that their child should not sustain injury from evil spirits, they tied the teeth of a fox and cat to a thread and put it around his neck. As and when a child developed boils or pimples on his body, his mother would put a sieve on her head and went around the houses of the tribe to collect bread and dates which she gave to dogs so that boils and pimples of her child might be healed. Other women of the tribe took care that their own children did not eat those dates and bread least they too should contract the same ailment.

If a person contracted a skin disease for e.g a disease which had a rasping effect on the body, he would treat it by rubbing his saliva on the spot. If the illness prolonged, they imagine the patient had killed a snake or some other animal which has connections with evil spirits. In order to beg forgiveness of the evil spirits therefore they prepared clay images of camels and loaded them with barley, wheat and dates. They left all these things in opposite to a hole in a mountain and visited that place on the following day. If they found that the said things had been consumed by something, they considered it a sign of acceptance of their offerings by the evil spirits and concluded that the patient would be cured. If however the position was otherwise, they thought that it is not accepted by the spirit. 

This is some brief account of the innumerable superstitions which had darkened the lives of the Arabs during the Age of Ignorance and had restrained their intellects. They are not the teachings of noble sages and prophets of the God the Highest but comes from ignorance on the surroundings. These still happen in most of the nations around the world even until today. It was not easy to be uprooted in a day. It took hundreds thousands of years to enlighten everyone. 

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

Northern Arabia: Waṯani

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

We learned in our sīrah about this kind of religion or method of worship within Arabian Peninsula. Those who perform worship with the focus to statues or to idols claimed that, they are not worshiping those stuffs. They know that, the God the Highest is the God but the idols are just the wasīlah (connector) for them to communicate with the God the Highest. 

They believed that they are not worth to directly communicate with the God the Highest so they needed a representative to bring all of their wishes to the God the Highest and to communicate with the God on their behalf. Generally, there are two kinds of wasīlah in Northern Arabia during the Age of Ignorance The first one, the people would find certain respected living people such as shamans, religious person, and so on to pray for them or to fulfill their wishes as for shamans. The second, are those who connect themselves to the Lord of the universe with idols, statues and others.

Experience

I had a Buddhist experience for about five years so it would be long for me to elaborate about the practice of iconography within non-Muslim Indian traditions such as vigraha and murti. Icons were used as an example for practices and there is also the history of the idol-making and iconography in ancient India.

I did not prostrate before Buddhas' icons but I just kneel in front of certain icon at the monasteries that I visited while reciting the three refuge sentences and precepts of noble conducts in Pali because the teachers taught me not to worship the icon as in connecting oneself with any power who ruled the universe. I prostrated only when there is no icon during a discourse known as personal meditation. In this practice of reaching the facts of life, there is a practice known as the "stations of mind" with regard to meditation objects. The practices of Buddhists could be different as according to regions, conditions and personal temperaments. Some would only meditate, some honoring their teachers, some would only bow and some prostrate. They would do everything according to the stage of mind and for Southern Buddhists there are various literature with regard to meditation, psychological studies and others such as yoga and breathing techniques to control one self. 

I had once kept a picture of Buddha in my wallet while I was a lonely young boy because my family are entirely Muslim by inheritance which also makes me a "Muslim". I cannot mix around with Malay kids due to my background. It makes me easier to perform the pujas (honor) and taking the example of the enlightened teachers for myself. I secretly did all the sadhanas (spiritual practices) with the help of those prescribed subject matters such as the offering of food (hospitality), three sandalwood sticks if I could get ones, some white flour, some sugar, a banana or any fruit that I have that I would share it with or other beings or some flower buds. If there was no offerings then I would perform them mentally through the method prescribed in anapanasati bhavana.

The offerings are offered in the form of devotion to enlightened teachers and as a symbol of respect to other creatures or souls. I did know that the picture does not eat the food. But it was a training to treat our guests and other creatures like that... Symbolic. When guests come to us, we would also practice the same thing and offer them with hospitality and welcome. The reason why I am telling this experience is that I would like to inform those who preach that they should not generalize everyone because this life is not as simple as we think. Do not low-estimate your audience and never insult their intelligence. Respect everyone and practice humility so you will reach the love of the heavens and the earth.

Idolatry: Muslim View

As according to Muslim worldview, idol is an object made of human hands which resembles living creatures or anything from heavens and earth being deified or worshiped. This is based from the Quranic verses which means:

"Do they associate the God the Highest with idols who can not create something else? While the idols themselves are the hand-made of the people?" (Surah al-A'araf 7:191).

"Those whom they invoke besides the God the Highest create nothing and are themselves created" (Surah al-Nahl 16:20).

"Not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth but must come to the Most Gracious as a servant" (Surah Maryam 19:93)"

Among the great signs of the Resurrection is that, there would be nations who would return to the idolatry which says, "Abu Hurairah reported, prophet Muhammad s.a.w says, 'Resurrection would never happen before the waists of the women from the Daws tribe giggling around the Dhu al-Khalash, which is an idol worshiped by the Daws in Tabalah during the Age of Ignorance'" (Muslim Compilation, No. 5173).

Ibn Kaṯir in his Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyā' writes that, the first paganism happened in the world when human-being made the statues such as the Wadd, Suwā, Yaġuts, Ya'uq and Nasr. All of these figures were religious teachers who live in the time-span between Adam a.s and Noah a.s. They were the sons of Adam a.s. and Wadd was the eldest one and a devoted son (Ibn Abi Hatim; Urwah bin al-Zubayr; Ibn Katir in the Qiṣāṣ al-Anbiyā': Story of Noah section 105). 

Most important rituals in the later paganism are generally related to illegal sex and war. Any form of worship toward the idols is viewed as focusing toward the satisfaction of passions, acquiring worldly physical strength and to achieve worldly "paradise".

There is no transcendental aspect within all teachings related to paganism. While the teachings related to patriarch Abraham emphasized higher achievement in life which is transcendental within the concept of eternal spiritual happiness in the hereafter.

Origin of Idolatry in Arabia

Ibn Abbas

Ibn Abbas has compiled the narration that idolatry appears in the age of sage Noah a.s. The origin of the idol names were taken from their holy men who had once lived among them. In order to keep those holy men in their memory, to remember their contributions to the people and to boost up the spirit of people in worship; so they made images, carvings which represent those holy men and symbols to visualize the physical of those deceased holy men. Generation passed by and those idols and holy men were deified as divinities beside the God the Highest as the God Himself.

From Ibn Abbas, "The idols being passed to ancient Arabs and it becomes Wadd, the name for the tribe of Kalb; suwa, the idol of the Huzail; the Yaguts, the idol of the Gutaifs; Ya'uq, the idols of the Hamdanites, the Nasrites and the Himyarites" (Bukhari, no. 4920; Ibn al-Munzir and Mardawaih).

Idols from the Period of Noah

Sage Noah a.s. is among the prophets respected by the Muslims and the narration and the exegesis of Ibn Abbas reported that some of the idols worshiped within Arab nations as originated from the idols of the people during the era of Noah a.s just before the great flood.

Among them are:

Wadd who was worshiped as a god by the Kaybites in Dawmat al-Jandal.   

Suwa who was adopted as a guardian in Yanbu' region closer to Medina. She was a goddess for the people in Ruhat and the Lihyanites were the servants involved within the services and the maintenance for the god.

Yagūts was worshiped in the form of lion by the Muradites. It was also venerated by the Gutaifs at the mountain slopes located in the Sheba city, by the Huras in Madhaj in Yemen. Others who venerate it were the An'um of Thayyi'. Ibn Kalbi mentioned that those from Madhaj and the Jurashites worshiped the idol. 

Ya'uq which was worshiped by the Hamdanites and the Kinanites as the god of horse. Its idol was erected in a village known as Khaywan, which took two nights to reach Mecca from there.

Nasr the god worshiped by Himyarites of Balkha in Yemen. It was assumed as the god of herring and the offering services were patronized by the Dhi Kila family.

The God the Highest says through the Revelation, "And they said, 'Never leave behind your gods and never leave Wadd or Suwa' or Yaguts and Ya'uq and Nasr!'" (Surah Nuh 71:23).

Each tribe worship different gods and having different temples for their tribe. The position of those gods were different. Later, the practice of venerating carving idols passing down from the nations before the great flood to the Arabs within the Arabian Peninsula since they mingled around with the Rasibites and those who lived among the Rasibites in the south of ancient Iraq.  

I think this topic would be an elaborate one since it is also related to some other cults and regions. I would try to make several different posts for this just for references for those who are interested in the history of ancient Arabia, inshā-Allah. We cannot understand things only in few minutes but we need to ponder and evaluate things with observations...

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!