THE PAGAN SOURCES OF ISLAM
by Silas
GENERAL
As Muhammad developed Islam he
borrowed from the other regional religions present in the Mideast. These religions include Judaism,
Christianity, Sabeanism, Zoroastrianism, and forms of paganism. Judaism is the largest contributor to Islam,
followed by Christianity, then followed by the various pagan religions, and
Muhammad’s mind. These pagan borrowings
constitute significant facets of Islam and this article details some of these
pagan contributions.
1)
PAGANISM IN ISLAM
Islamic theology has some of its
roots in various pagan beliefs. Primary
to Islam is it's most holiest shrine:
the Kaba.
THE
KABA
The Kaba is now the most revered
sanctuary of Islam. It is located in
Mecca. Muslims throughout the world direct
their prayers toward the Kaba.
PHYSICAL
SHAPE
The Kaba's shape is somewhat
cubical. Of note in the Kaba's
structure is a black rock built into the wall in its eastern corner. The black rock's diameter is about 12
inches. It is reddish black in color,
and has red and yellow particles. The
black rock is kissed during the perambulation, (the circulation of the Muslims
around the Kaba). The Kaba is about 50
feet high, and the walls are about 40 feet long. The facade contains the door, which starts at 7 feet off the
ground, and faces N.E.. To enter the Kaba, a ladder must be used. Also built in the eastern corner, is another
stone called "lucky". This
stone is only touched, not kissed.
KNOWN
PAGAN HISTORY
Apart from Muslim myths, little is
really known about the history of the Kaba.
About 60 years before Christ, the Roman historian Diodorus Siculus
commented that there was in Arabia a temple greatly revered by the Arabs. It is probable that he had the Kaba in
mind. It was later mentioned to have
existed in the 2nd century; Ptolemy, the geographer mentions it in his work,
calling it the 'macoraba'. The Kaba was
a sanctuary dedicated to one or more pagan deities. The accounts of the campaigns of Abraha note that it was a place
of pagan worship in the 6th century.
Information on the distribution of the offices among the sons of Kusayy
show that the worship of the sanctuary had developed into a regulated cult
several generations before Muhammad.
One historian (Hurgronjes) said that
sacred worship may have developed around the area because the Zamzam spring was
found in this waterless place.
Pre-Islamic history tells us that
many Arabian tribes were stone worshippers.
This is also mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol 5, #661. The Old Testament even talks about Mideast
pagan groups that worshipped stones.
Muhammad incorporated the Kaba's paganistic roots into Islam to give the
Muslims a sense of identity, legitimacy, and uniqueness. He also wanted to ease
the Arab's strain of moving from paganism to Islam, by continuing the practices
of their fathers.
PAGAN
GODS AND RITUALS
There were 360 idols around the
Kaba. The pilgrimages to the Kaba were
all pagan pilgrimages, the ritual processions around the Kaba were part of
pagan beliefs and custom, the white robes worn by the pilgrims were from
pagan faiths, the veneration of the Kaba and black stone are derived from pagan
rituals and beliefs. Pagans called out
the names of their pagan gods as they circled the Kaba, today, Muslims call out
Allah's name. Pagans ran between the
nearby hills, Muhammad authorized Muslims to do that in the Quran, and probably
ran between the hills himself.
The chief pagan god worshipped there
was Hubal, who could be called the god of Mecca and of the Kaba. Hubal is not mentioned in the Quran. The
goddesses al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat were also worshipped there and are
mentioned in the Quran.
It is thought that the Kaba was
originally set up for astral worship.
Golden suns and moons are repeatedly mentioned as the votive gifts. Some pagans regarded the Kaba as a temple
devoted to the sun, moon, and 5 planets.
THE
BLACK STONE
The black stone played a prominent
role in pagan worship. The pagans
offered animal sacrifices there. But
the idol of the black stone replaced the alter; on the black stone they smeared
the blood of the sacrificed animals.
QURANIC
MYTHS
Muhammad made up historical
references for the Kaba. Muhammad
claimed that Abraham and Ishmael laid the foundations of the Kaba (Q. 2:127).
Muhammad claimed that God ordained the Kaba as a sacred house (Q. 5:97). Muhammad
also claimed that it was the first temple ever built for mankind (Q. 3:97).
Only Muhammad claimed that it was a
place built by Abraham. In looking in
the O.T., we find no mention of Abraham traveling to Mecca to build a house of
worship.
Further, the late Taha Hussein, one
of the most famous Egyptian professors of Arabic literature said that the
Islamic myth of Abraham building the Kaba came into vogue just before the rise
of Islam. He comments:
"The case of this episode is
very obvious because it is of recent date, and came into vogue just before the
rise of Islam. Islam exploited it for
religious reasons". Quoted in
'Mizar al-Islam' by Anwar al-Jundi.
THEOLOGICAL
PROBLEMS
Every man living in Mecca before and
during Muhammad's life had some relationship with the Kaba. If the Kaba was the house of God, why did
Muhammad order his followers to face Jerusalem? Muhammad's 'revelation' in the Quran says that when Allah had
Muhammad change prayer directions, it was a test of the Muslims. This sounds like a lame excuse on Muhammad's
part. What's the test? Face another direction? That does not appear to be such an
incredible challenge!
Probably
the real answer is that through his early contacts with Christians and Jews,
Muhammad knew that their faiths, centered in Jerusalem, where
monotheistic. Muhammad abhorred
polytheistic worship, consequently he aligned himself with faiths that he
believed were from the true God. He
selected Jerusalem as the direction of prayer.
He hoped that the Jews would receive him as a prophet.
About a year
and a half after the migration to Medina, after the Jews had thoroughly
rejected him, he turned the direction of prayer to Mecca - the center of pagan
worship in the Arabian peninsula (Q. 2:144).
Just as he had compromised with the pagan idol worshippers in Mecca, by
sanctioning and worshipping the pagan goddesses Lat, Uzza, and Manat, so now he
hoped to gain favor with the pagan Arab tribes that worshipped at the Kaba in
Mecca. He authenticated the pagan focus of attention.
After Muhammad took Mecca, he
cleansed the Kaba. Inside the Kaba were
many representations of the prophets.
When his men began to cleanse the Kaba, and wash out the representations,
Muhammad placed his hands on the pictures of Jesus and Mary, and said
"Wash out all except what is below my hands". Again, Muhammad went against his own
principles, and sanctioned his definition of idolatry.
Muhammad
then sanctioned the pagan rituals concerning the Kaba, i.e. kissing the black
stone, touching the Kaba, circling the structure, running between the two
hills, etc. Later, Umar said to the
black stone "I know that you are a stone, that neither helps nor hurts,
and if the messenger of god had not kissed you, I would not kiss you".
(Sahih al-Bukhari, volume 2, #667). But then he
kissed the stone. Like Umar, many other
Muslims follow the prophet in their practice of veneration of a pagan idol.
Before Muhammad, there was a group
of people in Arabia who also abhorred idolatry. They were known as the Hanifites. Even the Hanifites saw that kissing the black stone was pagan
idolatry. During one of the pre-Islamic
Eids, the Qurayshi were worshipping their idols, slaying sacrifices, praying,
and making circuits around the Kaba. Just
as they did each year for this festival.
Some Hanifites saw them, and stood apart from them, and said:
"By the Lord!, our people have
nothing left of the faith of Abraham.
What is this stone that we should encircle it? It can neither hear nor speak, neither hurt nor help. O our people, look out for your souls, for
by the Lord are you altogether wanting."
One of the Hanifites was Obeidallah...
later he embraced Islam. He immigrated
to Abyssinia with other Muslims. Later
he became a Christian. After his
conversion, he said to his Muslim friends 'We
(Christians) see, but you are only blinking' - that is, cannot see plainly.
So, why then does Muhammad kiss the
black stone? Why did he incorporate
paganism into his faith. There is even
the Quranic story of Abraham - how he chided those who worshipped idols sura 6,
21, etc., and said it was sinful in God's sight. Yet here we have Muhammad walking around the Kaba, just like the
pagans, kissing the stone, just like the pagans. Even Umar knew it was empty and false, yet he followed Muhammad
in kissing the stone.
It cannot be denied that an entire
pagan theology and ritual, was adopted by Islam, after Muhammad had one of his
convenient 'revelations' and made it 'religiously' correct.
Another Muslim myth, concerning the
Kaba, is that 'anyone who prays under the Kaba's water-pipe becomes as pure as
on the day when his mother bore him'.
Muslims have a hard time accepting Christ's atonement, but will allow for
total forgiveness of sins by uttering a prayer under a spout!
POST
MUHAMMAD HISTORY
In one of the early Muslim civil
wars (a.d. 683), al-Zubayr in Mecca was besieged by al-Husayn. Husayn's men used catapults and damaged the
Kaba. It
looked like 'the torn bosoms of mourning women'. Zubayr and his men pitched their tents next
to the Kaba, and a conflagration caught the Kaba on fire. The Kaba was severely damaged, and the black
stone was split into three pieces.
A short time later, al-Hadjdjadj
conquered Mecca and killed Zubayr. He
modified the Kaba's structure.
In 929, the Karmatians invaded Mecca
and carried off the black stone! 20
years later it was returned.
Other natural events (bad weather)
have also caused the Kaba to need repair.
Muslims erroneously claim that God
has protected the Quran from corruption, yet their god was not able to protect
his sacred house!
POST
MUHAMMAD ISLAMIC MYTHOLOGY
Later Muslim theologians invented a
number of myths about Mecca and the Kaba.
One Islamic tradition is - according
to Ibn Abbas: Muhammad said, 'The black stone came from Paradise and at the time of its
descent it was whiter than milk, but that the sins of the children of Adam have
caused it to be black, by their touching it.
That on the Day of Resurrection, when it will have two eyes, by which it
will see and know all those who touched it and kissed it, and when it will have
a tongue to speak, it will give evidence in favor of those who touched and
kissed it'!
Muslim writers also said that the
Kaba was first constructed in heaven, 2000 years before the creation of the
world, where a model of it still remains.
Adam erected the first Kaba on earth exactly below the spot its perfect
model occupies in heaven! 10,000 angels
were appointed to guard Adam's Kaba, but obviously they didn't do a good
job! God then instructed Abraham to
rebuild it.
There are a number of other myths
about the Kaba. Among them are that
Mecca is the navel of the world, that the Kaba was established at the creation
of the world, destroyed during the flood, re-built by Abraham, that Gabriel
provided the black stone. There are
also legends about the Zamzam water from the nearby well.
Some Muslims say that there are
references to the Kaba in the O.T. Here
are a few mistaken claims:
1) Muslims hope that Gen 35:4, 14, 15 refer to
the Kaba. Since
"Beth-El" = House of God, and that the Jewish temple wasn't built until
much later. But as the Bible shows,
Bethel is a town, in Palestine - Genesis chapter 12. Also, Jacob built an altar, not a temple to God. Abraham also built an altar to the Lord in
Gen 12:7.
2) Muslims claim that David mentions the Kaba
in Psalm 84:6. If 'Baca' was a location,
it was not known where it existed in the Bible. But a more correct interpretation, taken in context of the whole
Psalm, is that since 'baca' means weeping, it means 'valley of tears'. David could be saying that he longs for the
presence of God, and that even through difficult times (baca) God will be with
him, and will turn his tears to joy.
3) Muslims also think that Isaiah 60:7
"All the flocks of Kedar" refers to Arabian people worshipping at the
Kaba. Reading thru Isa 60:7, it shows
that Kedar's flocks are going to be sacrificed on the alter. Are Muslims saying that Arabs were going to
be human sacrifices?
4) Some Muslims think that since the New
Jerusalem in the book of Revelation is cubic, it also resembles the Kaba and
thus is a prophecy of the Kaba! But the
Kaba is not a perfect cube, not even close.
The structure is 50 ft high, with a sloping roof, the shorter walls are
35 feet long, and the facade is 40 ft. long.
SUMMARY
FOR THE ISLAMIC RITES CENTERED ON THE KABA
Every Muslim that makes the Hajj,
every Muslim that runs between the hills, every Muslim that bestows a kiss on
the black stone, is performing pagan rituals, founded on pagan superstitions,
sanctioned by Muhammad himself.
Muslims have accused Christianity of
incorporating paganism, and to an extent, some exterior cultural aspects have
been. But paganism is an integral root of Islam;
paganism is part of it's theology, history, ceremony, and veneration.
My references for this section are
from the original Hughes Dictionary of Islam (not the recent one that has been
sanitized by a Muslim publisher), the Shorter Ency. of Islam, and the Ency. of
Islam, pub. by E. J. Brill, and 'The Sources of Islam' by Tisdall.
MORE
ISLAMIC PAGANISM
THE
NIGHT JOURNEY
The Night Journey describes
Muhammad's ascent into heaven. It is
briefly mentioned in sura 17:1, and described in Sahih al-Bukhari, in several of
his volumes, notably in vol 1, #345.
Muhammad's story parallels a
Zoroastrian story. It is found in an
old Pahlavi book known as "The Book of Arta Viraf". The Zoroastrian story describes the journey
of a saintly priest (Arta Viraf), who went into a trance and his spirit went up
to the heavens under the guidance of an angel named Sarosh. He passed from one utopia (7 heavens?) to
another until he reached the presence of Ormazd, the great deity of the whole
universe. When Arta saw everything in
heaven and that the inhabitants were very happy, Ormazd commanded him to return
to earth as his 'messenger' and to tell the people all that he saw and heard.
Also, the Zoroastrians taught, long
before Islam, there was a marvelous tree in Paradise called 'humaya', which
corresponds very closely to the 'sidrah', the lote tree of Islam.
Finally, there is another
Zoroastrian work the 'Zerdashtnama', which has a story of how Zoroaster himself
ascended into the heavens and obtained permission to visit hell, where he found
Ahriman, the Devil.
All of these stories are paralleled
in the Quran. No doubt Muhammad heard
these stories and decided to put himself on a level with Zoroaster and
others. So, now we have Muhammad
copying the Zoroastrian stories and claiming to have these experiences.
Again, while Muslims claim that paganism
influenced Christianity, we see that paganism is part of the core of Islamic
faith and theology.
AZAZIL
- THE DEVIL
In the Muslim Hadith, the Devil has
a certain name - Azazil.
The name
does not occur in the Quran. The name
may come from Leviticus 16:8, 10, 26 - the scapegoat in Hebrew is Azazil. From another source it means 'the demon of
the desert'.
There are Apocrypha Jewish books -
Enoch and Apocalypse of Abraham, that mention Azazil. Islamic traditions - Hadiths develop their story. Muslims associate Azazil with the fallen
angels Harut and Marut. Ibn Abbas tradition
has the strongest Islamic reference developing it as Satan's name, before the
fall of Adam.
Here is
Tisdall's view on it (taken from "The Sources of Islam"):
Muslims take the name Azazil from
the Jews, but put the Zoroastrian story behind the name. Muslims believe that God created Azazil, who
worshipped God for a 1000 years while he was in the 7th hell. Then he ascended
a stage at a time, all the while worshipping God. Finally, he reached the
earth. Elsewhere, Muslim tradition says
he stayed 3000 years by the gate of paradise, with hostile intentions against
Adam and Eve. He was very jealous of
them.
Compare the above with the
Zoroastrian account:
Ahriman (Azazil) remained in the
abyss, there to commit hurt and injury, and mischief and darkness. Ormazd (God) knew of his existence and
plans. It went on like this for 3000
years. The evil spirit was ignorant of
Ormazd's existence, but eventually rising out of the pit, saw Ormazd's
light. Then Ahriman was filled with
hostility and envy, he set out to destroy.
THE
SABEANS
Who were the Sabeans? Why did Muhammad regard them as believers in
the true God? The Sabeans are mentioned
at least 3 times in the Quran:
1) 2:62 - "Believers, Jews, Christians,
and Sabeans; whoever believes in God and the last day and does what is right,
shall be rewarded by their Lord; they have nothing to fear or regret."
2) 5:69 - "Believers, Jews, Sabeans and
Christians; whoever believes in God and the last day and does what is right,
shall have nothing to fear or to regret."
3) 22:17 - "As for the true believers, the
Jews, the Sabeans, the Christians, the Magians, and the pagans, God will judge
them on the day of Resurrection. God
bears witness to all things."
Although what is known about the
Sabeans is not comprehensive, enough has been written about them to determine a
basic understanding of their practices and beliefs. Most of the writings are from Islamic sources. Some of the writers
are Ibn Hazm in 'Fisal wa-Milal', Ibn al-Nadim in the 'Fihrist', Shahrastani in
'The Treaty on Sects', and Masudi in 'Muruj al-Dhahab.
Ibn Hazm, writing in 'Fisal
wa-Milal', identifies the people then known as 'Harranians' as the 'Sabeans'
mentioned in the Quran. Hazm writes
that they honored the seven planets and the twelve constellations, they have 5 times of prayer, (the same times as the
Muslims pray), they fast in Ramadan, they venerate and
turn to the Kaba in prayer. Hazm
also says they also worshipped the stars and idols. Hazm further claims that Allah sent Abraham to turn them away
from pagan worship, but Abraham didn't succeed.
Comparing all the early writings on
the Sabeans, we find that they inhabited Syria, and spread from there, they
were definitely pagans, having a mixture of Babylonian and Helenic
religion. The 'prophets' they professed
to follow were Hermes and Agathodaemon, who they identified in Shahrastani's
time with Seth and Idris (O.T. Enoch). Gods who were worshipped were the gods
of the 7 week-days, the god of the Jinn, the lord of the Hour, the god who
makes arrows fly, the god Tammuz (a variation of the one previously mentioned),
Hamam the prince, the father of the gods, the god 'North', the lord 'Fortune',
etc. They also
kept the Eid of their own.
Further, the Sabeans made star worship a chief characteristic of their
system.
So, did Islam get the 5 times a day
prayer? --From the star worshipping Sabeans.
What about fasting during Ramadan? - from the Sabeans. The Eid? - from
the Sabeans.
It seems very odd to me that
Muhammad, the man who's central doctrine was the oneness of God, would include
pagan worshippers as those who were believers in the true God. If Muhammad were truly a prophet, how could
he have made such a big mistake? How did astral worshippers
get included into the Quran as those that worship the true God?
How could Muhammad's 'revelation' be in such error?
It is noteworthy that just as Muhammad
incorporated the pagan veneration of the Kaba and black stone into Islam, so he
incorporated the Sabean times of prayer, Eid, and fasting into Islam.
Once again, Muhammad didn't fully
know the subject he was synthesizing into Islam. I have read nothing about their doctrine that would have led
Muhammad to include them as followers of the one true God he preached
about. Perhaps he learned a small
portion about their religion, and believed it to be right. Little did he know that under that veneer of
words, lay many theological differences.
HOURIS
The Quran mentions 'houris' several
times 44:50, 52:20, 55:60, 56:20, 78:33.
Who or what are they? They are 'bashful virgins', 'fair as coral and ruby', 'dark
eyed youths', 'high bosomed maidens (big breasted)'. In sum, they are creatures
put in Paradise, primarily for men's sexual pleasures. Each man will have at least two of them.
This concept is derived from the
Zoroastrian sources. In Zoroastrian
writings they are referred to as 'Faries' - spirits in bright array and
beautiful to captivate the heart of man.
The name 'Houris' comes from a Pehlavi source, as does the Islamic
'Jinn' for Genie.
CONCLUSION
It's not difficult to see how
Muhammad heard various sacred religious stories, and incorporated them into
Islam. Perhaps he thought that parts of
those religions contained truth, so he adopted what he thought to be
correct. But nevertheless, part of the
foundation of Islam is paganism.
pagansources.htm
Rev. A: 5-1-97
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