Religions > Atheism > In pre-Islamic days, called the Days of Ignorance, the religious background of the Arabs was pagan, and basically animistic. Through wells, trees, stones, caves, springs, and other natural objects man could make contact with the deity... At Mekka, Al
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"FREEDOM OF SPEECH" |
| Date: |
28 May 2006 10:49:13 PM |
| Object: |
In pre-Islamic days, called the Days of Ignorance, the religious background of the Arabs was pagan, and basically animistic. Through wells, trees, stones, caves, springs, and other natural objects man could make contact with the deity... At Mekka, Al |
1.. In pre-Islamic days, called the Days of Ignorance, the religious
background of the Arabs was pagan, and basically animistic. Through wells,
trees, stones, caves, springs, and other natural objects man could make
contact with the deity... At Mekka, Allah was the chief of the gods and the
special deity of the Quraish, the prophet's tribe. Allah had three
daughters: Al Uzzah (Venus) most revered of all and pleased with human
sacrifice; Manah, the goddess of destiny, and Al Lat, the goddess of
vegetable life. " (Meet the Arab, John Van Ess, 1943, p. 29)
2.. "Ali-ilah; the god; the supreme; the all-powerful; all-knowing; and
totally unknowable; the predeterminer of everyone's life destiny; chief of
the gods; the special deity of the Quraish; having three daughters: Al Uzzah
(Venus), Manah (Destiny), and Alat; having the idol temple at Mecca under
his name (House of Allah).; the mate of Alat, the goddess of fate. (Is Allah
The Same God As The God Of The Bible?, M. J. Afshari, p 6, 8-9)
3.. "It is certain that they regarded particular deities (mentioned in
1iii. 19-20 are al-'Uzza, Manat or Manah, al-Lat; some have interpreted vii,
179 as a reference to a perversion of Allah to Allat) as daughters of Allah
(vi. 100; xvi, 59; xxxvii, 149; 1iii, 21); they also asserted that he had
sons (vi. 100) (First Encyclopedia of Islam, E.J. Brill, 1987, p. 302)
4.. "The Quraysh tribe into which Mohammad was born was particularly
devoted to Allah, the moon god, and especially to Allah's three daughters
who were viewed as intercessors between the people and Allah." ... "The
worship of the three goddesses, Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat, played a
significant role in the worship at the Kabah in Mecca. The first two
daughters of Allah had names which were feminine forms of Allah." (The
Islamic Invasion, Robert Morey, 1977, p 51)
5.. "This was especially true of Allah, 'the God, the Divinity', the
personification of the divine world in its highest form, creator of the
universe and keeper of sworn oaths. In the Hejaz three goddesses had pride
of place as the 'daughters of Allah'. The first of these was Allat,
mentioned by Herodotus under the name of Alilat. Her name means simply 'the
goddess', and she may have stood for one aspect of Venus, the morning star,
although hellenized Arabs identified her with Athene. Next came Uzza, 'the
all-powerful', whom other sources identify with Venus. The third was Manat,
the goddess of fate, who held the shears which cut the thread of life and
who was worshipped in a shrine on the sea-shore. (Muhammad, Maxime Rodinson,
p 16-17.)
6.. "According to this version of the story, the Quraysh were delighted
with the new revelation, which in al-Kalbi's words was the traditional
invocation made by the Qura'sh to the goddesses as they circumambulated the
Ka'aba (Faris 17). The gharaniq were probably Numidian cranes which were
thought to fly higher than any other bird. Muhammad, may have believed in
the existence of the banat - al-Llah as he believed in the existence of
angels and jinn, was giving the 'goddesses' a delicate compliment, without
compromising his message. ... The Quraysh spread the good news throughout
the city: 'Muhammad has spoken of our gods in splendid fashion. He alleged
in what he recited that they are the exalted gharaniq whose intercession is
approved" (Muhammad: A Western Attempt to Understand Islam, Karen Armstrong,
Chapter 6: the Satanic verses, p 108-133, 1991)
.
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
