History of Islam

Chapter Three : Sects and Religions in the Arabian Peninsula and Its Surroundings

Despite the fact that at the advent of Islam the prevailing belief of the Arabs involved idol-worshipping, there were different religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, Hanifiyyah, Manawiyyah, Sabian and other schools practiced in different localities of Arabia. Thus, the Arabs did not follow a specific sect. For this reason, there was a sort of fatigue and delusion among the followers of these sects. we will hereinafter deal with each of these sects, yet briefly:

Monotheists

Monotheists or Hanifiyyah[^114] were those who, despite the infidels and atheists, believed in One and Only God and probably believed in the punishment of the Doomsday. Some members of this group believed in Christianity; but historians have included them with the Hanifiyyah. Among the Hanifiyyah are the following individuals:

Waraqah ibn Nawfal, `Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh, `Uthman ibn Huwayrith, Zayd ibn `Amr ibn Nufayl,[^115] al-Nabighah al-Ja`di (Qays ibn `Abdullah), Umayyah ibn Abil-salt, Qiss ibn Sa`idah al-Iyadi, Abu-Qays surmah ibn Abi-Anas, Zuhayr ibn Abi-Sulma, Abu-`amir al-Awsi (`Abd `Amr ibn sayfi), `Addas (the servant of `Utbah ibn Rabi`ah), Ri'ab al-Shanni, and Bahira the monk.[^116] Some of these people were among the distinguished philosophers or poets.

Of course, the secret behind their inclinations towards monotheism lay in their pure and clean human nature and their bright thoughts. The prevalent ill-ominous sects of those days could not satisfy their spiritual needs.

These distinguished individuals deeply believed in Almighty God and refrained from following an illogical set of beliefs such as those of idol-worshippers. Christianity and Judaism, too, had lost their vigor and spirituality with the passage of time and could not offer any means of tranquility to those men. For this reason, we observe that some of these God-seekers suffered the pains of journeys to find the truth.

They had long discussions with Christian and Jewish scholars.[^117] They impatiently looked for the signs of prophethood of the Holy Prophet to which there were numerous references in the Holy Books. Since they could not reach any accomplishment, they accepted the very first principle of monotheism. However, we do not know anything about the way they carried out their religious ceremonies.

It should be noted, however, that contrary to the view of some scholars, Hanifiyyah did not play any role in guiding the Arab society towards monotheism; rather, as some other historians have stated, they spent their lives in seclusion. They spent their time in deliberation and contemplation, as they were never well-organized.

They did not possess any sect with preset commandments or principles. What they were fond of was their seclusion and staying away from the population and refraining from worshipping idols. They were convinced that the prevalent ideology was a corrupt one. They did not give themselves the trouble of propagating their right ideas. For this very reason, they did not have any conflict with people of their own time.[^118]

Christianity

There were some followers of Christianity, too, at some locations of Arabia. This religion had entered Arabia from the south via Ethiopia, and from the north via Syria (The dominated areas by Byzantine) and also from the Sinai Peninsula. However, Christianity achieved no progress in that land.[^119] In the northern parts of the Arabian Peninsula, Christianity had found its way among the members of the tribe of Taghlib (a branch of the tribe of Rabi`ah), Ghassan and some members of the tribe of Quza`ah.[^120] Qiss ibn Sa`idah, Hanzalah al-ta’i and Umayyah ibn al-salt have been enumerated as Christians. Some of these had left their cities and communities and joined monasteries in the deserts.[^121]

Christianity in Yemen

Christianity entered Yemen during the fourth century AD. Phillip Hatti, a Christian author, writes:

The first Christian missionary headed by Theofilus Endus Erius who arrived at southern Arabia was the one sent by Emperor Contantius in 356 AD. The dispatch of the abovementioned missionary was motivated by the world diplomacy of those days and the rivalry between Iran and Rome over the domination of territories in southern Arabia. Theofilus established a church[^122] in Aden and two in the country of Himyar. The people of Najran accepted the new religion in 500 AD.

At the dawn of Islam, Christianity was prevalent in the tribes of tayy, Majhadh, Bahra', Sulayh, Tanukh, Ghassan, Lakhm and Yemen.[^123] The most important center for Christianity in Yemen was Najran, an advanced city. People used to engage in farming, weaving silky cloth, trading hides and weapon making, this city was located at the trade route which extended up to Hirah.[^124]

Christianity was prevalent in Yemen until the reign of Dhu-Nuwas who came to power and forced people to put aside their religion. When Christians refused to do so, they were put in fire-pits and burned alive.[^125] Finally, Dhu-Nuwas was defeated in 525 AD by the intervention of Ethiopia and Christians came to power once again.Christianity in Hirah Another city where Christianity was prevalent was Hirah, to the east of Arabia.

This religion had entered the region through Roman slaves. Since the time of Hormoz I, the government of Iran had built some colonies the inhabitants of which were Roman slaves.

Some of them lived in Hirah. In the view of many, the source of Christian influence in this area was these slaves. Christian missionaries used to live in Hirah, promulgating Christianity. They started propagating and spreading Christianity in the Arab markets, discussing the issues of heaven, hell and chastisement.

Due to their efforts, some accepted this religion; even Hind, the wife of al-Nu`man X, accepted this religion, building a monastery called Hind's convent. This building was in existence up to the time of al-tabari. Hanzalah al-ta’i, Qiss ibn Sa`idah and Umayyah ibn al-salt were from Hirah.[^126] Al-Nu`man ibn al-Mundhir, the king of Hirah, due to the encouragement of `Adi ibn Zayd, accepted Christianity.[^127]

Numerous Qur'anic verses deal with Christian ideas and the weak points in their beliefs and actions, especially their assumptions concerning Christ's divinity.[^128] This is the best piece of evidence for the existence of this religion in the Arabian Peninsula at the time of the revelation of the Holy Qur'an. The issue of Mubahalah; mutual cursing, which is well-known in the history of Islam, took place with the Najran priests.[^129]

However, Christianity had lost its spirituality and authenticity and had been subject to a lot of distortions. Thus, it could not fill the intellectual and religious vacuum which existed in the mind of people in those days nor could it give any peace of mind anymore.

Judaism

Many centuries prior to the advent of Islam, Judaism had entered certain regions of Arabia. Yathrib was one of the most famous of these regions, which later came to be called Medina. There were Jewish communities in Tayma',[^130] Fadak[^131], and Khaybar.[^132] The Jews of Yathrib belonged to three tribes: Banu- Nazir, Banu-Qaynuqa` and Banu-Qurayzah.[^133]

Besides these three Jewish settlements, there were in Medina two other Jewish tribes; Aws and Khazaraj, during the third century AD. Upon the establishment of the Jews in Yathrib, these two tribes came from Yemen to live in this city. They were originally idolaters and due to their association with the Jews, some of them embraced Judaism. It is said that there were some Jews living in ta’if who had been driven out of Yemen and Yathrib by force and they started their engagement in trade.[^134]

Wherever they lived in Arabia, the Jews were well-known for farming due to their skills in this activity. In Medina too, they were famous due to their skills in blacksmithing, dyeing, and weaponry.[^135] Judaism had some followers among the tribes of Himyar, Banu- Kinanah, Banu-Harith ibn Ka`b, Kindah,[^136] Ghassan and Judham.[^137]

Jews in Yemen

Any region in which Jews lived; they propagated the Law of Moses. Yemen, too, was under the influence of the Jews for some time, and Dhu-Nuwas, the king of Yemen, who had accepted Judaism, started suppressing Christians and announced Judaism as the official religion.

In view of some researchers and historians, Dhu-Nuwas had some national and patriotic motives rather than religious sentiments, in announcing Judaism as an official religion; that is to say, Christians in Najran had friendly relations with Ethiopia and its government. Relying heavily on Najran’s Christians, they tried to interfere with the internal affairs of Yemen to achieve political objectives. For this reason, by suppressing the Christians, Dhu-Nuwas and his supporters tried to deprive Ethiopia of this stronghold.

After the massacre of Najran's Christians, one of them escaped to Ethiopia and begged the Ethiopian emperor for help. This led to a war between two countries in which Dhu-Nuwas was easily defeated in 525 AD and Najran continued to remain an important center for Christianity up to the Holy Prophet prophethood.[^138]

The Sabians

Historians believe that this sect came into being at the time of the kingdom of Tahmurath by Budhasif as its founder. After introducing the history of this sect, Abu-Rayhan al-Bayruni (360-440 AH) writes:

We do not know much about them except for the fact that in their opinion, God has no associate and is void of inappropriate epithets (negative attributes). For instance, they declare: God is not limited; He cannot be seen nor does He engage in injustice. They think the universe is managed by the heavens and that celestial bodies have influence upon us. They believe in life, speech, hearing and sight of the heavenly bodies that have control over rays.

Believing in the great influences of the stars and their movement on the earthly creatures, Sabians used to keep the statues of these heavenly bodies in their temples. Examples are the statue of the sun in Baalbek, the statue of the moon in Harran and the statue of Venus in a village.[^139]

The center of Sabian activities was the city of Harran.[^140] This sect used to have followers in Rome, Greece, Babel and other places of the world.[^141] The Holy Qur'an refers to them on three occasions.[^142] This sect is now disintegrating and only a few of them live in Khuzestan[^143] and Iraq.[^144]

Manichaeism

The sects of Zoroastrianism, Mazdak and Manichaeism all originated in Iran. However, there is no consensus of opinion concerning the influences of these sects over Hijaz prior to Islam. Some contemporary historians believe these sects were present in Arabia in those years. Historical documents attest to the presence of Manichaeism in Arabia in those days. Ya`qubi writes:

Some Arabs adopted Judaism as their religion, others accepted Christianity, and some others became heretic and believed in dualism.[^145] Although the word zindiq (miscreant) originally refers to atheist and denier of God, in the opinion of the scholars, this was used for a group of believers in Manichaeism and gradually included all followers of this sect. Later on, it included infidels and atheists in general. Thus, in the ancient sources, the word zindiq was used to include the followers of Manichaeism.[^146] Now we know that Manichaeism is a combination of Christianity and Zoroastrianism.[^147]

A group of historians have confirmed that heresy or Manichean heresy was prevalent among the people of Quraysh who had received it from the people of Hirah.

[^148] This clarifies the fact that by heresy, we mean dualism, because Hirah used to be a protégé and neighbor of Iran and Iranian sects which were based on dualism.Star Worshipping During the Ignorance Era, a group of the people of the Arabian Peninsula, like many of other areas, worshipped celestial bodies, such as the moon and some stars. They believed in a special power embedded in these bodies which could exert energy over the population of the world, controlling their destiny in this way.

For instance, the tribes of Khuza`ah and Himyar worshipped a star called Shi`ra, which is one of the stationary stars. Abu-Kabshah, one of the maternal ancestors of the Holy Prophet, was one of the worshippers of this star.[^149] A group of tayy tribe used to worship a star called Thurayya or the Pleiades.

[^150] The worship of skies and stars was so prevalent that its repercussions are visible in the Arab literature, romance and superstitions.[^151] Besides the Sebians who worshipped the sun and the moon, these two heavenly bodies were sanctified and worshipped by all idolaters in general.[^152]

Prohibiting and condemning the worshipping of celestial bodies, the Holy Qur'an considers this limited group of celestial bodies creations of God that are dominated by His power and worshipping Him. Thus, they could be regarded as guides for man and directors towards God, the All-great. This is because these heavenly bodies are just signs for His power:

And He has made subservient for you the night, the day, the sun, and the moon and the stars are made subservient by His commandment; most surely, there are signs in this for a people who ponder. (16:12)

And among His signs are the night and the day and the sun and the moon; do not make obeisance to the sun nor to the moon; and make obeisance to Allah who created them, if Him it is that you serve. (41:37)

And that He is the Lord of the Sirius. (53:49)

These sacred verses depict the fact that at the time of the Holy Prophet, the worshipping of these celestial bodies was a common practice.