Monotheism in pre-Islamic Arabia

This article is about monotheism in pre-Islamic Arabia. For the religion of Christianity in pre-Islamic Arabia, see Christianity in pre-Islamic Arabia. For Judaism in pre-Islamic Arabia, see Judaism in pre-Islamic Arabia.

The practice of polytheistic religion dominated in pre-Islamic Arabia until the fourth century.[1] Inscriptions in various scripts used in the Arabian Peninsula including the Nabataean script, Safaitic, and Sabaic attest to the practice of polytheistic cults and idols until the fourth century, whereas material evidence from the fifth century onwards is almost categorically monotheistic.[2] It is in this era that Christianity, Judaism, and other generic forms of monotheism (variously described as "gentile monotheism", "pagan monotheism", "Himyarite monotheism", "Arabian monotheism", "hanifism", "Rahmanism" and so on) become salient among Arab populations.[3] In South Arabia, the ruling class of the Himyarite Kingdom would convert to Judaism (though a more neutral form of monotheism was maintained publicly) and a cessation of polytheistic inscriptions is witnessed. Monotheistic religion would continue as power in this region transitioned to Christian rulers, principally Abraha, in the early sixth century.

  1. ^ Hoyland, Robert G. (2003). Arabia and the Arabs: from the Bronze Age to the coming of Islam (Reprinted, (twice) ed.). London: Routledge. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-415-19534-8.
  2. ^ Reynolds, Gabriel Said (2023). The emergence of Islam: classical traditions in contemporary perspective (2nd ed.). Fortress Press. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-1-5064-7388-8.
  3. ^ Lindstedt, Ilkka (2023). Muhammad and his followers in context: the religious map of late antique Arabia. Islamic history and civilization. Leiden Boston: Brill. pp. 123–127. ISBN 978-90-04-68712-7.