Excerpt: Historians believe that the Arabian Allah originated in Syria . The Aramaeans inhabited Syria around 1300 BC. These Syrians used to worship passionately a few deities, the principal among them were the storm-god Hadad; the sky-god Alaha and the goddess Athargatis. The Syrians probably got Allah (in some form of image) from the Sumer in the ancient city of Babylon. According to many historians, Alaha is the Syrian name of Allah (Walker, 2004, p. 20). To them, Allah was a male God, the supreme God, who had three daughters, Allat, Uzza and Manat. The Nabateans, the first-born son of Ismail around Sinai Peninsula, were the first to bring Allah to Arabia from Syria (Walker, 2004, p. 22) The Nabateans probably worshipped Allah in other names as well, such as: Elh and Alh (ibid). Besides Allah, the Nabateans also brought from Syria Hubal, a huge male idol. This Hubal was later placed in the precinct of Ka’ba. Hubal was the greatest of all idols in and around Ka’ba. The massive statue of Hubal was made of red agnate in the form of a man with right hand broken off. The Quraysh received Hubal in this form from Khuzaymah ibn Mudrikah, a Meccan who brought it from Syria . Later, the Quraysh made for it a hand of gold. Hubal stood in front of Ka’ba. The Pagan Quraysh considered Ka’ba for Hubal only (Rodinson, 2002, p. 54). They used divination arrows to determine the legitimacy of a newly born child (ibn al-Kalbi, 1952, p. 23). Many historians believe that Hubal was the physical representation of Allah at Ka’ba. In his youth Muhammad helped with the ritualistic preparations being ardently made for the ceremonial installation of Hubal in Ka’ba (Walker, 2004, p. 42). Muhammad’s biographer, Martin Lings, a Catholic convert to Islam, agrees that Hubal was from Syria (Lings, 1983, p. 5, 11). Arab Historians believe that the mighty Hubal was actually an ancient variation of Allah (Walker, 2004, p. 31). The word (Hubal) is derived from the Semitic word Hu, which means ‘He’ or ‘He is’ with the suffix El, which, of course, is another name for Allah. The deified name of Hubal was ceremoniously invoked by the Quraysh during war cry (ibid). Gradually, the concept of Allah, the God spread all around Arabia . An inscription found in south Arabia bears the name of Allah. Allah is Hallah in the Safa inscription. This was five centuries before Islam. The Arabs used to invoke Allah during times of special peril. This all-powerful Allah gradually became the supreme tribal deity of the Quraysh. Even the holy Qur’an confirms this in verses 6:109, 6:136, 10:22, 31:22,and 31:29 (Hitti, 2002, pp. 100–101). Other names by which Allah was known are: the Babylonian and Assyrian Ilu, the Canaanite El, the Hebrew Elohim and Ilah of central Arabia (Walker, 2004, p. 420).
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 08:35:46 +0000
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