ABSTRACT
Before the Islamic conquest a mosaic of dierent religions was found in the region. A number of tribes had converted to Christianity, but others had their own pantheons or individual gods (Hoyland 2001: 139-45). Allah was the main god in many pre-Islamic religions. Because his name was an abstraction, meaning “God”, he could represent various deities, guring in dierent pantheons (Wellhausen 1897: 218). Another god worshipped by many of the great tribes, including the Tamim, the Tay, the Amila, the Judam, the Lahm and the Kinda, was Udad, or Vadd. His name meant “brotherly love” or “friendship” and it formed part of many theophoric names. e three main female deities were Al-Lat, Manat and al’Uzza. ey were the “daughters of Allah” and may have had their origins in the Belqa (Wellhausen 1897: 25; Abu-Rabia 2007: 9). Al-Lat was represented by a square stone block in Taif, worshipped by many dierent Arab tribes, including the Quraysh. Doughty was shown what was said to be this stone outside the town (Doughty [1888] 1921/II: 516). Al-Lat was “the mother of the gods”, the ancient Arab supreme deity. Some texts suggest that Al-Lat was identi-ed with the Sun. Manat was also worshipped by most of the Arab tribes. She resided in Qudaid close to Mecca, and was one of the targets of the pre-Islamic Hajj. ere was a special pilgrimage to Qudaid for her worshippers. Al’Uzza lived in Nahla near Mecca, in a house built for her in which her voice could be heard. She was also worshipped at various other places. Doughty (ibid.: 511) found a stone which represented her in Taif and which was still worshipped in his day. Al’Uzza was the main god of the Quraysh, and towards the end of the pre-Islamic period she had become the most important of the three deities (Wellhausen 1897: 40). She was associated with Venus, or the morning star, and received human sacrices. She was exorcised by the Prophet, who axed her sacred trees.
