Waṯani Religion: Lesser Deities

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

These are some lists of the Arab deities worshiped by Arabs around Arabian Peninsula... They are mentioned within Classical Arabic literature and in hadiths but not mentioned in the Glorious Quran.

Lesser Deities

Manaf

Worshiped by women, however, they would have to avoid the vicinity of the shrine when they were in menstruation. Polytheist Quraish also named their sons as Abd al-Manaf or the servant of Manaf especially those among the Huḏail clan. Manaf means the Height or a higher place.

Dhu al-Khalāṣ

Represented by an idol in the shape of a white fire stone and carved with a crown. Venerated by the bani Daws, bani Khats'am and bani Bujailah, in Yemen and in Tabalah in between Mecca and Medina. The servants of this deity were among the bani 'Umamah from Bahilah bin A'shar. 

Dhu al-Shara

A kind of black stone worshiped by the Ishmaelites among the clans of Nebayot and Duma, who respectively were the descendants of Ishmael's eldest and sixth sons. It was considered as "a child of a maiden" and the god of fertility. Another name of this deity was Dusares or Dhu Shura. The bani al-Harit also possess the idol of this deity within their living place.  

Dhu al-Kaffayn

The deity worshiped by the Daws tribe, and the idol was kept by Amr bin Hamamah. It means "he who has two palms" and was destroyed by Tofayl bin Amr who is a Muslim from Daws tribe.

Al-Fals

An idol in the form of man made from red stone in the middle of Aja Mountain. The servants of the idol was Bawlanites, Bawlan was the person who began to worship this deity. The last Bawlanite who worship this deity was known as Sayfi. 

Al-Ya'bub

The deity of Jadilites located in Thayyi. Before this deity, they worshiped another deity but their idol was stolen by the Asadites. So, they adopted al-Ya'bub as the substitution.

Asaph Naylah

Asaph bin Ya'ala and Naylah bint Zayd were a legendary figures. They were a couple of lovers from Yemen. They performed the pilgrimage in Mecca. While they arrived in Mecca, they entered the Cubicle Shrine structure and took the chance to commit adultery in the structure when no one was there. They were cursed to be two stones. They were brought out from the structure and taken home. These idols were worshiped by the Khuza'a tribe and the Quraish. Those who perform pilgrimage to the shrine also venerated them with different names given to them as according to the customs happened at that time, between the Ishmaelites and other clan such as Hudhail bin Mudrikah.  

Al-Toraiya

A deity considered as the god of rain. It means "an abundant".

Jadd

A deity venerated by the Semites, the name was taken from the Nabath inscription mentioned as Gadda.

Kuthrā

A god of fortune. Used as the name of sons by the Thai who were the descendant of Abd Kuthrā. 

Awf

An enermous bird god.

Quzah

God of thunder, using his bow and arrow to create lightning.  

Duwar

An idol which was circled round by young women during the ritual and procession.

Ri'am 

An idol in the form of a shrine located in Sana'a possessed by the clan of Rabi'a descendants of Ka'ab bin Sa'ad bin Zaid and Manat bin Tamim.  

Al-Ka'abat

The idol served by the descendants of Bakr bin Wail and Taghib bin Wail, and the Iyadites in Sandad.

Sa'ad

Served by the Kinanites, who were the children of Bakr, Malik and Mulkan bin Kinanah. The idol was in the form of a long stone located at Jeddah.

Shams

The idol served by a tribe in 'Odhrah. People used to name their child with the name Abd Shams or the servant of the Sun. 

'Amm-Anas

The idol served by Khawlanites. Another name for this idol was 'Omyanis.

Al-Oqaysir

Served by Qudi'ites, Lakhmides, Judhamites, 'Amilites and the Ghatafanides, located at an area in a mountain in Syria. 

Nuhm

Served by Muzaynites, and they named their sons as Abd Nuhm. The maintenance of the idol was done by Khuza'i bin Abd Nuhm.  

Su'ayr

Located at the area of Anazites.

Dhu al-Rijl

Which means "he who posses two legs". 

Al-Qalas

An idol served by the Thayyi'ites demolished by the battalion led by Ali bin Abi Talib. It was worshiped by the Himyarites in Sana'a too. 

Al-Qays

Mentioned in the inscription of Nabath from al-Hijr. 

Shai' al-Qawm

Mentioned in Nabath and Palmyrean inscriptions, considered as the god of war, the night, and the patron of the caravans. It was nicknamed as the "god who avoids wine". 

The deities such as Dhu al-Khalas, Dhu al-Shara, Dhu al-Kaffayn and Dhu al-Rijl usually was named as according to the geographical location of the idols. 

Worship of Food

Well, this is about the Arabs who worshiped the dates and later they eat them after the food could not grant them their wishes. The worship was done by the Hanifah clan. They made an idol of dates which is mixed with the ghee. They worshiped it for some times, and when they encountered unfortunate incident, the god will be considered as a failure. They would eat some part the "god", and some part would also be offered to other deities placed in the holy sanctuary. When they feel hungry, they would also eat the god since the god cannot take care of his needs. Umar al-Khattab r.a was one of those who commit this kind of act before he becomes a Muslim.  

"Ali al-Qari said, 'The meaning of keep bouncing the poem is that the poem consists of monotheism, reminder for obedience and the warning to stay away from vices just like the poem of Ibnu Rawahah'. He said, 'And among the ignorant matters told to me was that some of them mentioned, 'No idol could give benefits except my idol!' Then others would ask, 'Why?' He said, 'I made it out of bread. When I am deprived due to drought, I would eat my idol little by little'. Others said, 'There were two fox climbing on the head of my idol and they peed on it!' So I said, 'How could the head of a venerated idol being peed by animals?' So I came to you, o noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w and I wanted to be a Muslim!' Everyone who listened to the story laughed and the noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w grinned a little" (Mirqat al-Mafatih, 14/17). 

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: Ḥanīf

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

There were various of religions within Arabia during the age of ignorance, just like in other regions around the world. In Northern Arabia, those who descents from Ishmael a.s held to the religion of Ishmael a.s and his father which is known as the Ḥanīf or Millat Ibrahim. 

There were also heathens who worship through carved idols known as the waṯani, those who perform worship through elements of nature such as stars, planets, the sun or the moon, those who submit themselves to genies living in a certain region, those who worship presiding angels of nature, the zindiq or those who refuse to submit to any particular religion or atheists, Christians and Jewish.  

Ḥanīf

This term refers to those who maintained the pure monotheistic belief of the patriarch Abraham in Western Arabia especially the Ishmaelites. More, specifically, in Islamic thought, these people are those who in the Age of Ignorance, were seen as those who rejected the usage of idols in connection with the Supreme Lord of the universe. They retained some or all the tenets of the patriarch Abraham religion which was the "submission only and directly to the God the Highest".  

Etymology

The term is from the Arabic root حنف meaning "to incline, to decline" (Lane; 1893) which is also from the Syriac root word of the same meaning. The ḥanifiyyah is the traditions of Abraham; the verb taḥannafa means "to turn away from (idolatry)", with a secondary and subsequent meaning of "to become circumcised".

In the Quran which means, "Abraham was neither a Jew or a Christian, but he was one inclining toward the Truth, a Muslim (one who submits to the Lord of the Peace). And he was not of the polytheists" (Surah Ali-Imran 3:67). The Quran also use the word ḥanif to refer to an "upright person" and outside of the Quran it is used to refer to "the inclination towards a righteous state or tendency" (Peters, 1994).

William Montgomery Watt in his Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman (1974) says that the word had been used earlier by Jewish and Christians around Arabia to refer to "pagans" as according to their view and it was also falsely used to the followers of an old Hellenized Syro-Arabian religion. It was used to taunt early Muslims. Others however maintained that, they followed the "... religion of Abraham, the ḥanif, the Muslim..." Watt theorized that the verbal term Islam; arising from the participle form of Muslim (meaning surrendered to the God); may have only arisen as an identifying descriptor for the religion in the late Medinan period (Watt, 1974). This is just a theory and Watt is not a reciting the Glorious Quran everyday or at least finishing a Quran in three days in his whole life. 

Prominent Ḥanifs

Some of the figures in our history who submitted their selves to the God through the traditions of Abraham a.s while they are non-Christians nor Jewish are:

• Hashim bin Abd al-Manaf who is our ancestors.
• Abd al-Motallib who is the grandfather of Muhammad s.a.w.
• Abdullah bin Abd al-Motallib, the father of Muhammad s.a.w.
• Abu Talib bin Abd al-Motallib, the uncle of Muhammad s.a.w.
• Hamza bin Abd al-Motallib, the uncle of Muhammad s.a.w.
• Ali bin Abi Talib, young cousin of Muhammad s.a.w.
• Sa'id bin Zayd, a companion of Muhammad s.a.w.

The mentioned figures above were not converted to Christianity nor Jewish religion because there were also some of them who were converted to Christianity because of their close proximity with Christians of Northern Arabia and Byzantine empire which was the Eastern part of Roman empire. Some of them like Hamza, Ali, and Sa'id later followed Muhammad s.a.w after he receives Revelation which begins while he was in meditation in Hirā' Cave. Those righteous Ḥanifs such as Hashim bin Abd al-Manaf and others before the Revelation upon Muhammad s.a.w are known as the Ahl al-Fitrah. All the prophets and messengers of the God the Highest are Muslims and Islam is not an identification of a religion based from a particular figure or nation. 

Four Friends

The four Ḥanif friends of Muhammad s.a.w from the Holy Mecca as provided in the Ibn Isḥāq account are:

• Waraqah bin Nawfal who was baptized as a Christian, he is a cousin of lady Khadija bint Khuwailid, the wife of Muhammad s.a.w.
• 'Uthman bin Hwarith who travelled to Byzantine Empire and baptized as a Christian.
• Obaidullah bin Jahsh who was a Muslim but has baptized himself into Abyssinian Jacobite Church after the Muslim's first migration to Ethiopia.
• Zayd bin Amr bin Nofail who rejected both Judaism and Christianity. 

Remaining Hanifs

The account of Ibn Isḥāq mentions that there were Ḥanīfs who reject the prophethood of Muhammad s.a.w and they were also non-Christians, non-Jewish and non-Heathens:

• Abu 'Amar 'Abd Amr bin Sayfi, a leader of the Aws tribe of Medina who dislike Muhammad s.a.w and he build the "Mosque of Schism" closer to the Qubā' Mosque because his feels that his position was threaten by Muhammad s.a.w (Surah al-Tawbah 9:107). He later allied with the non-Muslim Quraish of Mecca and later he moved to Taif and to Syria after Muslims opened the region again.
• Abu Qays bin al-Aslat, a famous poet from Medina.  

Types of Ḥanīfs

There were two kinds of the Ḥanīfs among the Northern Arabs:

1. Those who practiced all the traditions inherited from Abraham a.s. from their ancestors while rejecting other non-related traditions but had practiced religious tolerance where they prayed together with people of other faiths in the same sanctuary.

2. Those who were baptized as Christians but they have the faith upon revelation passed down to the subsequent sages, prophets and messengers of the God the Highest who came after Abraham a.s. and Ishmael a.s including Moses a.s and Jesus Christ. They are the minority within the Ḥanīf groups.

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

Northern Arab: Literature

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

This topic is my favorite topic for our tradition but I am not good in language style like my father. My father cannot fluently speak in Arabic but he was undeniably very good in written Malay literature. There are boxes of his writings and poems out here in Malay. He even wrote few books such as his autobiography: Dari Kodiang ke Jalan Riong, Tokoh Ulama Nusantara which is a tribute for famous Muslim clerics within Malay speaking sphere, some Malay short stories such as the Bingkisan Sutera Biru and Mencari Pelangi published by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department before he is paralyzed by strokes. While for me, I am not good in writing, haha. Most of my writings are about spiritualism, psychology, yogic explanation based from Tantra-Yoga of India and about Islam I wrote everything that I heard by hand in Malay using Arabic script. Then, I spontaneously type them in here right away in English before I burn my notes in the metal can.

Arab Descent with Malay

I studied Arabic since I was a little child. We begin everything just like the Israelites children of the past were sent to teachers to learn reading and writing. I was educated through mosque system differently to my sisters who are my siblings where they were educated in secular system. I think the difference happened because my mother and some elders who split my lips with sweets during my tahnik ceremony had consecrated me for "religious" matter. Usually, Muslim parents would bring their newborn babies to spiritual leaders of their community while during the period of prophet Muhammad s.a.w was in Medina, Muslims brought their babies to prophet Muhammad s.a.w himself for the blessings. 

I get to know Arabic alphabets before the Roman alphabets and it was a big trouble for me when I was schooled in national system after I reached seven years old. I read things differently from my spellings other than I used different kind of language at home. For e.g the word chili being pronounced as cabai and everybody in the class laughed at me. I scribe things faster in Arabic script anyway but I cease to do that when I am around with people since Malay in Arabic script is deemed as alien after the 60's. The language style which using the Arabic script is different to the one which uses Roman alphabets since it is a kind of Classical Malay language. Arabic script was used by educated Malay speaking people in Classical period in South East Asia where they consists of native Malay noblemen like the royalties and Arab descents like us who worked closely with royalties. When the Educational Ministry converted the language into Roman script, it also means that we were in deprivation. 

The person in charge with the conversion of the Malay into Roman script was the Education Minister, Mr. Khir Johari who is also a citizen of Kedah state. He enforced the policy in 1966 and the younger generations who speak Malay found that Malay in Arabic script is alien to them. The government seems like trying to save the Arabic script as a medium for Malay written language but they do not put any hard effort on it. They show the "lack" of interest in it. As for me, I write in both Arabic and Malay using Arabic script as part of my identity, heritage and root.

Amṭhāl

Arabic is rich with amṭhāl or proverbs. It spreads fast due to its simplicity, it is compact and easy to be memorized by everyone. This is different to poems since not everyone could memorize it and the poets were known as the people of higher status and position in society. Those who receives the poem too are deemed with such a high esteem within the society.

Proverbs usually relating the people with the nature, activities and their surrounding. There are differences due to geographical location and region. For Northern Arabs, their proverbs would mostly be related to camel, horse, contests due in battles, hunting and arrow. For the Quraish Arabs, business and trade is the main theme of their proverbs since they engaged themselves more in the activity.

The Quran also consists various proverbs used to explain the teachings of morality in relation to the Oneness of the God the Highest.

Poetry

Northern Arabia during the "age of ignorance" values poetry and poets. It is known as the Sha'ir. They expressed their feeling and release their tensions in battles and wars through poetry. A poet is highly respected within a certain tribe. Sometimes, a certain dignified guest would be honored with poetry. Sometimes they express their courage in the beginning through poetry.

Expression of Feeling

Ancient Northern Arabian poetry could be seen as the modest ones. A poet would phrase his nostalgic memory in the form of a poem such as how he lived his life in a poor Bedouin tent with cattle around them. Later he has to migrate for uncertain luck abroad and does not know when he could return to his village. He would perhaps spontaneously phrasing the poem while he sits alone somewhere in the city expressing his melancholic feeling about his memory in the village or sometimes about his girlfriends in the village and how he missed them... Maybe about Fatma.. Maybe about Ablah and so on.

Poetry in War

Poetry held an important position within the ancient Arabia society with the poet or sha'ir filling the role of historian, soothsayer and propagandist. Words in praise of the tribe known as the qit'ah and the lampoons or hija' to denigrate other tribes seems to be the most popular forms of early Arabic poetry. It could also be used by a Northern Arab poets for propaganda as to raise the spirit of his tribe to take revenge or remembering how vulnerable was their enemies that they managed to defeat them in previous wars and battles. There were mock battles in poetry known as zajal and it represents psychological wars between the poets of different tribes besides the real wars. In other occasions, they would recite poems lamenting their deceased friends or brothers who were killed in the battle.

Source of Studies

Among prominent Arab during the age before the advent of prophet Muhammad s.a.w was Imru' al-Qays bin Hujr of the Kindah tribe. He was the last king of the kingdom of Kindah. Although most of the poetry from the era was not preserved, the remains is well regarded as the finest of Arabic poetry to date and we had to learn these poems in our Higher Arabic classes. Due to the eloquence and artistic value, the poems in the age before prophet Muhammad s.a.w constitutes a major source for Classical Arabic in both grammar and vocabulary besides as a reliable historical record of the political and cultural life of the time in ancient Arabia.

Recitation Styles

Alongside the poems there is also a rawi or a reciter. The job as a reciter was to learn poems by heart and to recite them with explanations and probably often with decorative details on it from the recitation style to other details. This tradition allowed the transmission of poetic works and the practice was later adopted by those who memorize the Quran.

In certain periods, there are unbroken chains of illustrious poets. Each one trains a reciter as a bard to promote his verse, and then to take over from them and continue the poetic tradition. For e.g Tofayl trained 'Awas bin Hajar. Bin Hajar trained Zohayr. Zohayr trained his son, Ka'ab. And Ka'ab trained al-Hutay'ah, al-Hutay'ah trained Jamil Buthaynah and Buthaynah trained Kuthayyir 'Azza.

The art of tarannum adopted in the Quranic recitation within some parts of Muslim world is based from this tradition. I am not good and not so much interested in this art but I am not against this. I just found that it is fussy for me and young people do not like too elaborate art but simply the modest and practical ones. This kind of art is almost comparable to Indian styles of recitation for the Vedas and rāga (melodic recitation) of poems in Southern Indian style or Sanskrit meters. This art works closely with the tajwīd or philology. 

Wandering Poets

These people are almost comparable to the Śarmanas of the ancient India. They are called as the Su'luk in Arabic. Their literary works consisted attacks on the rigidity of tribal life and they praise solitude.

Maybe I could categorize myself within this group of people because when I turned to Buddhism as I confronted people around me, it is because the great teacher, Siddartha Gautama, was also a Śramana. Among the prominent wandering poets of ancient Arabia were Ta'bbata Sharran, al-Shanfara and 'Orwa bin al-Ward.

Some of these poets attack on the values of the clan and of the tribe with ironic words, teasing the listeners only in order finally to endorse all that the members of the audience held most dear about their communal values and way of life. While such poets were identified closely with their own tribes, others, such as al-A'sha, were known for their wanderings in search of work from whoever needed poetry. 

Best Poems

The very best of these early poems were collected in the 8th century as the Mo'allaqat meaning "the hung poems" since they were hung on or inside the Cubicle Shrine and the Mufaddaliat or the examination or anthology of the Mofaddal.

The Mo'allaqat also aimed to be the definitive source of the era's output with only a single example of the work of each of the so-called "seven renowned ones", although different versions differ in which "renowned ones" they chose. The Mofaddaliyat on the other hand contains rather a random collection.

The Northern Arabs would conduct the poetry contest in an annual market known as the Okaḍh and if a new poet arise within a particular tribe thus his whole tribe would also be proud of him and being the pride of his friends although his friends are not talented in poetry. It was customary for them to stay in a group outside of their tents at night especially when the full moon is there and they would recite the "seven renowned ones" over and over.

Characteristics of Ignorance Ages Poems

Several characteristics that distinguish the poetry of the ignorance ages from the poetry of the later times are...

• More attentions was given to the eloquence and the wording of the verse than than to the poem as whole. This resulted in poems characterized by strong vocabulary and short ideas but with loosely connected verses.
• It is the romantic or nostalgic prelude with which the poems of ignorance ages would often begin. In these preludes, a thematic unit known as "naṣīb", the poet would remember his beloved and her deserted home and its ruins. This concept in Arabic poetry is referred to as "al-waqafa 'ala al-atlal" or standing by the ruins since the poet would often begin his poem by saying that he stood at the ruins of his beloved. It is a kind of ubi sunt as explained in Latin term.

The latter period of Arabic poems consists of different ideas and also themes ranging from religious, love and so on. We could listen the poems in the form of al-ġinā', anāshid, and from various regions such as from Southern Spain, South East Asia, Central Asia, South Asia and North Africa.

Khiţāb

This means oration and it was an art prominent in Arabia after the poetry. I hate this art the most and I used to sneak out from the contests at our schools while we were forced by the teachers to attend and to watch fellow schoolmates delivering their oration.

I sneaked out because I think that their speeches are not original, boring and they have some kind of weird gestures, ahaha. Does not matter in whatever language that people deliver their oration... I still hate it the same as I hate to listen to preachers regardless movements or religions wasting my time to listen to their "meaningless" persuasion. Oh yeah, I hate choral speaking too. I never join any contests at the school and I never mingle closely with other students. I just cannot be dissolved into the "local" mainstream society and they I think is different from people around.

Well, in the beginning... Poets and poetry were deemed as precious and it could still be seen while prophet Muhammad s.a.w was a young man. While listening to the Revelation recited by prophet Muhammad s.a.w, some of the people said, "It sounds like poetry, but it is not poetry!"

Later, people began to feel sick of poetry because some of the poets began to make profits out of making poems for others. So, the attention to the poets turned little by little to the orators. The orators who delivered their speeches like a fiery fire would receive great attention and applauds from the audience. Orators appear and work in the same manner with the previous poets. They are used by political parties to attack each other, to defend their parties (tribes) from enemies who abuse their parties and in revenge.

The difference between the orators and poets is that orators do not have to pick up complicated or hard words but enough with common words. Many of the orators would bring up the pride of their tribes while delivering their oration in the battle field. They would stand on a place which is higher than the audience and delivering their speeches with hand gestures, face expressions, sometimes holding a stick. The orators who were praised in the society were not those who dubiously deliver the talk but the one who is spontaneous and loud in expressing his ideas.

Nowadays, we have the preachers who took the place of our ancient orators. There is also orator in the mosque which is known as the khaţib who recites the messages related to the "Path" and issues surrounding the society such as religious and morality, social, political and economic issues. 

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

South Arabia: Prosperity of the States

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Right now if we visit those ancient archeological sites in Hadramawt region, perhaps we could only see vast desert and sands with hot sun shining at the day. However, there was a great state with green farms and fertile land. There were city-states known as Mo'in, Saba' and Himyar. 

There were no Euphrates like in Iraq and no Nil river like in Egypt. Rain hardly pouring down there and they receive the rain once a year. They had no choice except to build a dam which is known as the Ma'arev Dam and they use the water kept their according to the necessity for agriculture activities. The original Sheba city-state was just an oval shaped city with the radius of one kilometer. They city was heavily fortified with walls and there were Eastern and Western gates. The name of the king who established the city-state was carved at the Western gate, Yas'amar Yabin the son of Samah 'Ali Yanoph, Ma'arev Saba.   

Some ancient states such as Mo'in, Baragesh, Shabwa, Sāfar and Ṣana'ā could be grouped into vanquished old states because they were humped by thick desert sands. Only Sana'a could be managed to be reconstructed where a new city was build upon the old one. Sana'a became the center for Persian administration during their invasion in Yemen for some time around 7th century. One of its beautiful palace in ancient time was, the Ghamdan. One of Western researcher known as Halifix had discovered the city of Mu'in from the sand. The city was not known even to natives of Yemen herself until the archeologist dig up the remain of the ancient city from the sand. 

Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani (893-945 AD) in his literary work, al-Iklil mentioned that he founded the remains of palaces and edification of ancient Yemen. He even describes on how did those buildings and citadels look like in the book but many did not believe him. They accused him as exaggerating and making up stories out of his imagination. However, if we could fairly be considerate on the motives of the writer, we could also think that what benefit could he get if he tell lies? Will he acquire fortune with the lies? His stories had attracted Western researchers to see it with their own eyes and so we could see some of the such as Halifix, Arnot and Glazar among the Western archeologists who had unearthen the ancient cities from the sand in Southern Arabia. Al-Iklil talks about the genealogies of HImyarites and the wars of their kings in 10 volumes. Part eighth deals with the citadels and castles of South Arabia and it was edited and annotated by Müller in Die Burgen und Schlösser Sudarabiens (Vienna, 1879-1881).

Their efforts in the catchment of rain is among the most amazing things which we could see in the world and the dam is still in existence until nowadays.

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

Arab Civilization

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

There are differences between the Arabs in the North and the South. The Southern Arabs were more to conservative nomadic lifestyle or known as Bedouins. Northern Arabs were city-dwellers and they engaged themselves with people from around the world so they were quite open and well-developed as compared to the Southern Arabs. This is what some people said. However, I do not agree with them. This is actually more dependent to the geography of the people there. Some places had a lack of resources for development and that makes the people moving here and there or having lack development. We cannot generalize people or attached to the perception based on what we see or hear.

Southern Arabs

Southern Arabs were quite civilized and stated by Mahmud al-Alusi (1802-1854) who says, "The Qahtanites who are native to Yemen lived in prosperous states and their lands were fertile. They build up huge and strong fortresses and their buildings were extremely beautiful. Their grandeur was mentioned by historians throughout centuries. Their achievement is also recorded in the Glorious Quran in Surah Sabā' (No. 34)".

The Qahtanites were the offspring of Joktan the son of Eber. Qahtan is the Arabic rendition for a person who was known as Joktan. Joktan is the younger brother of Peleg who is the ancestor of Abraham a.s. Qahtan has 24 sons who were the progenitor of Southern Arabs who live in Yemen, Southern Arabian Peninsula and some parts of Oman. During the period of Solomon a.s who ruled Judea, the Queen who ruled the kingdom was of Sheba dynasty and they worshiped the Sun. The same thing also happened in Vedic India and in Assyria within Mesopotamian region. In Assyrian religion, the Sun is known as Shamas just like in Arabic we call the Sun as Shams. Vedic Indian worship the Sun as Surya. The Sun was associated with Saturn in their astrology system. The same thing too in Indian nine planets system where Surya (the Sun) is associated with Shani (Saturn). Southern Arabs had built Sun Tower in their kingdom for religious purposes.

In this matter, we could see that Southern Arabs were quite civilized because they know how to build up buildings, they practiced some kind of planet worshiping religion and that means that they studied the heavens. They had kingdoms within their region and it shows that they know how to manage a government and its political system. They had irrigation system, forts and trained their own soldiers for peace-keeping and security. All of these would not happen if they were stupid, block-headed or illiterate like what religious teachers in our country said to us as the reason for why prophet Muhammad s.a.w was sent among Arab nations. 

How many times, people had encountered the statement that prophet Muhammad s.a.w is a mercy toward the universe but some of them repeatedly throwing racist remarks on us and they are Muslims just like us. It would not hurt if they are non-Muslims because we know that non-Muslims would have different way of viewing the world. I never look down on Malays nor anyone... Instead I learned their history and their achievements since Hindu-Buddhism period down to the period they become Muslims. I believe we could learn and taking lessons from our past for better future. We cannot change people mind-set in just a blink of eyes....

As such, the religions of Southern Arabs are of various practices. The kings were skilled in astronomy and astrology. All of these could be traced through archeological findings and not only through oral narrations. 

Northern Arabs

Northern Arabs are of various backgrounds. Mahmud al-Alusi mentions that, "The offspring of 'Adnan and Qahtanite Arabs who moved and lived around the Ishmaelites after the breach of Ma'arev Dam followed the norms which they received from their ancestors. Those norms were the traditions of ancient sages there and based from what they heard from other realms".

Celestial path was inherited from Abraham a.s. and Ishmael a.s. but due to the changes of time, the "path" could not maintain its pure teachings. Later on, many foreign influences infiltrated people's traditions and customs and they claimed that those practices were the teachings of Abraham a.s. until younger generations could not differentiate things no more. Later on, there were new migration from down south to Mecca and Hejaz region and one among the migrants was a figure who was known as Amr bin Luhay. He was a shaman and also a chief of the Khuza'a tribe of the larger Azdites which is a sub-branch of Qahtanite Arabs from Yemen. His father is of Ka'ab clan. 

Amr bin Luhay performed charity and he respects everything related to customs and religion. Then, he joined a caravan and traveled to Syria and saw the people at the sea, which happened to be the Phoenecians or Levantines worshiped the elements of the universe which were represented by the statues. He thought that it was a righteous deed since Syria was known to him as the land of sages, prophets and revelation. He brought back the Hubal statue and placed it inside the Cubicle Shrine. Hubal was a chief deity worshiped by the people after they were persuaded by Amr bin Luhay to accept the religion. Later the practices widely spread among Arabs of various lineages.

People were so fond of poetry and delivering sermons in beautiful way. Then, Arabs also memorized their ancestral lineage, wars and battles that their ancestors had engaged, checking astrology before starting the war and battle and practicing warrior rites for swords, lances and others because of their life were surrounded with battles and wars. More or less like the warrior caste of ancient India...

Ancient Arab Achievements  

Gustave Le Bon says, "Those authors since biblical times recorded in their literature works that the Arabs especially in Yemen had reached their zenith in trading and businesses".

Herodotus (4 BC) says that, "Arabia was a prosperous and fertile land". Strabo further said, "The Dam of Ma'arev was an amazing creation of man-kind". Modern archeology has shown that Yemen was a developed region during its ancient time and it was cultural center in which is comparable to ancient Egypt. Modern researches have discovered large amounts of ancient artifacts in Southern Arabia and other regions related to Arabia just like those founded in Nineveh and Babylon in the region of Assyrian empire.

As such, I do not agree with those teachers who taught their students that ancient Arabs were barbaric people and plainly ignorant so the God the Highest has sent prophet Muhammad s.a.w among the Arab nation so other nations such as Malays in South East Asia could respect the Arabs. The Arabs were already actors involved in world political affairs since before the emergence of the Romans and it is proven in the record of the Old Testament. Arabs had also contributed to the world civilization since ancient times and the recent ones in Medieval period of AD was just the re-branded ones. This is the excerpt that scholars have got from La Civilization des Arabes by Gustave Le Bon (1884).        

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