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Overview of religions in Arabia before Islam
a religion specific overview of Arabia before the rise of Islam in 610 CE

Religion in pre Islamic Arabia included indigenous Arabian polytheism, ancient Semitic religions, Christianity, Judaism, Mandaeism, and Zoroastrianism. Arabian polytheism, the dominant form of religion in pre Islamic Arabia, was based on veneration of deities and spirits. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al Lāt, al ‘Uzzā, and Manāt, at local shrines and temples such as the Kaaba in Mecca. Deities were venerated and invoked through a variety of rituals, including pilgrimages and divination, as well as ritual sacrifice. Different theories have been proposed regarding the role of Allah in Meccan religion. Many of the physical descriptions of the pre Islamic gods are traced to idols, especially near the Kaaba, which is said to have contained up to 360 of them. Other religions were represented to varying, lesser degrees. The influence of the adjacent Roman and Aksumite civilizations resulted in Christian communities in the northwest, northeast, and south of Arabia. Christianity made a lesser impact in the remainder of the peninsula, but did secure some conversions. With the exception of Nestorianism in the northeast and the Persian Gulf, the dominant form of Christianity was Miaphysitism. The peninsula had been a destination for Jewish migration since Roman times, which had resulted in a diaspora community supplemented by local converts. Judaism had largely grown in South Arabia and the northwest Hijaz. Additionally, the influence of the Sasanian Empire resulted in Iranian religions being present in the peninsula. Zoroastrianism existed in the east and south, while there is evidence of either Manichaeism or Mazdakism being possibly practiced in Mecca.

Until about the fourth century, almost all inhabitants of Arabia practiced polytheistic religions at which point pre Islamic Arabian monotheism had begun to spread. From the fourth to sixth centuries, Jewish, Christian, and other monotheistic populations developed. Until recent decades, it was believed that polytheism remained the dominant belief system in pre Islamic Arabia, but recent trends suggest that henotheism or monotheism was dominant from the fourth century onwards. The contemporary sources of information regarding the pre Islamic Arabian religion and pantheon include a growing number of inscriptions in carvings written in Arabian scripts like Safaitic, Sabaic, and Paleo Arabic, pre Islamic poetry, external sources such as Jewish and Greek accounts, as well as the Muslim tradition, such as the Qur'an and Islamic writings. Nevertheless, information is limited. One early attestation of Arabian polytheism was in Esarhaddon's Annals, mentioning Atarsamain, Nukhay, Ruldaiu, and Atarquruma. Herodotus, writing in his Histories, reported that the Arabs worshipped Orotalt (identified with Dionysus) and Alilat (identified with Aphrodite). Strabo stated the Arabs worshipped Dionysus and Zeus. Origen stated they worshipped Dionysus and Urania. Muslim sources regarding Arabian polytheism include the eighth century Book of Idols by Hisham ibn al Kalbi, which F. E. Peters argued to be the most substantial treatment of the religious practices of pre Islamic Arabia, as well as the writings of the Yemeni historian al Hasan al Hamdani on South Arabian religious beliefs. According to the Book of Idols, descendants of the son of Abraham (Ishmael) who had settled in Mecca migrated to other lands carried holy stones from the Kaaba with them, erected them, and circumambulated them like the Kaaba. This, according to al Kalbi led to the rise of idol worship. Based on this, it may be probable that Arabs originally venerated stones, later adopting idol worship under foreign influences. The relationship between a god and a stone as his representation can be seen from the third century Syriac work called the Homily of Pseudo Meliton where he describes the pagan faiths of Syriac speakers in northern Mesopotamia, who were mostly Arabs. However, mythologies and narratives elucidating the history of these gods, as well as the meaning of their epithets, remains uninformative.

The pre Islamic Arabian religions were polytheistic, with many of the deities' names known. Formal pantheons are more noticeable at the level of kingdoms, of variable sizes, ranging from simple city states to collections of tribes. Tribes, towns, clans, lineages and families had their own cults too. Christian Julien Robin suggests that this structure of the divine world reflected the society of the time. Trade caravans also brought foreign religious and cultural influences. A large number of deities did not have proper names and were referred to by titles indicating a quality, a family relationship, or a locale preceded by "he who" or "she who" (dhū or dhāt respectively). The religious beliefs and practices of the nomadic Bedouin were distinct from those of the settled tribes of towns such as Mecca. Nomadic religious belief systems and practices are believed to have included fetishism, totemism and veneration of the dead but were connected principally with immediate concerns and problems and did not consider larger philosophical questions such as the afterlife. Settled urban Arabs, on the other hand, are thought to have believed in a more complex pantheon of deities. While the Meccans and the other settled inhabitants of the Hejaz worshiped their gods at permanent shrines in towns and oases, the Bedouin practiced their religion on the move.

In South Arabia, mndh’t were anonymous guardian spirits of the community and the ancestor spirits of the family. They were known as 'the sun (shms) of their ancestors'. In North Arabia, were known from Palmyrene inscriptions as "the good and rewarding gods" and were probably related to the jinn of west and central Arabia. Unlike jinn, could not hurt nor possess humans and were much more similar to the Roman genius. According to common Arabian belief, soothsayers, pre Islamic philosophers, and poets were inspired by the jinn. However, jinn were also feared and thought to be responsible for causing various diseases and mental illnesses.

Aside from benevolent gods and spirits, there existed malevolent beings. These beings were not attested in the epigraphic record, but were alluded to in pre Islamic Arabic poetry, and their legends were collected by later Muslim authors. Commonly mentioned are ghouls. Etymologically, the English word "ghoul" was derived from the Arabic ghul, from ghala, "to seize", related to the Sumerian galla. They are said to have a hideous appearance, with feet like those of an ass. Arabs were said to utter the following couplet if they should encounter one: "Oh ass footed one, just bray away, we won't leave the desert plain nor ever go astray." Christian Julien Robin notes that all the known South Arabian divinities had a positive or protective role and that evil powers were only alluded to but were never personified.

Some scholars postulate that in pre Islamic Arabia, including in Mecca, Allah was considered to be a deity, possibly a creator deity or a supreme deity in a polytheistic pantheon. The word Allah (from the Arabic al ilah meaning "the god") may have been used as a title rather than a name. The concept of Allah may have been vague in the Meccan religion. Charles Russell Coulter and Patricia Turner considered that Allah's name may be derived from a pre Islamic god called Ailiah and is similar to El, Il, Ilah, and Jehovah. They also considered some of his characteristics to be seemingly based on lunar deities like Almaqah, Kahl, Shaker, Wadd and Warakh. Alfred Guillaume states that the connection between Ilah that came to form Allah and ancient Babylonian Il or El of ancient Israel is not clear. Wellhausen states that Allah was known from Jewish and Christian sources and was known to pagan Arabs as the supreme god. Winfried Corduan doubts the theory of Allah of Islam being linked to a moon god, stating that the term Allah functions as a generic term, like the term El Elyon used as a title for the god Sin. South Arabian inscriptions from the fourth century AD refer to a god called Rahman ("The Merciful One") who had a monotheistic cult and was referred to as the "Lord of heaven and Earth". Aaron W. Hughes states that scholars are unsure whether he developed from the earlier polytheistic systems or developed due to the increasing significance of the Christian and Jewish communities, and that it is difficult to establish whether Allah was linked to Rahmanan. Maxime Rodinson, however, considers one of Allah's names, "Ar Rahman", to have been used in the form of Rahmanan earlier.

Al Lāt, Al ‘Uzzá and Manāt were common names used for multiple goddesses across Arabia. G. R. Hawting states that modern scholars have frequently associated the names of Arabian goddesses Al lāt, Al ‘Uzzá and Manāt with cults devoted to celestial bodies, particularly Venus, drawing upon evidence external to the Muslim tradition as well as in relation to Syria, Mesopotamia and the Sinai Peninsula. Allāt (Arabic: اللات) or al Lāt was worshipped throughout the ancient Near East with various associations. Herodotus in the 5th century BC identifies Alilat (Greek: Ἀλιλάτ) as the Arabic name for Aphrodite (and, in another passage, for Urania), which is strong evidence for worship of Allāt in Arabia at that early date. Al ‘Uzzá (Arabic: العزى) was a fertility goddess or possibly a goddess of love. Manāt (Arabic: مناة) was the goddess of destiny. Al Lāt's cult was spread in Syria and northern Arabia. From Safaitic and Hismaic inscriptions, it is probable that she was worshiped as Lat (lt). F. V. Winnet saw al Lat as a lunar deity due to the association of a crescent with her in 'Ayn esh Shallāleh and a Lihyanite inscription mentioning the name of Wadd, the Minaean moon god, over the title of fkl lt. René Dussaud and Gonzague Ryckmans linked her with Venus while others have thought her to be a solar deity. John F. Healey considers that al Uzza actually might have been an epithet of al Lāt before becoming a separate deity in the Meccan pantheon. Paola Corrente, writing in Redefining Dionysus, considers she might have been a god of vegetation or a celestial deity of atmospheric phenomena and a sky deity.

The worship of sacred stones constituted one of the most important practices of the Semitic speaking peoples, including Arabs. Cult images of a deity were most often an unworked stone block. The most common name for these stone blocks was derived from the Semitic nsb ("to be stood upright"), but other names were used, such as Nabataean ("place of prostration") and Arabic ("object of circumambulation", this term often occurs in pre Islamic Arabic poetry). These god stones were usually a free standing slab, but Nabataean god stones are usually carved directly on the rock face. Facial features may be incised on the stone (especially in Nabataea), or astral symbols (especially in South Arabia). Under Greco Roman influence, an anthropomorphic statue might be used instead. The Book of Idols describes two types of statues: idols (sanam) and images (wathan). If a statue were made of wood, gold, or silver, after a human form, it would be an idol, but if the statue were made of stone, it would be an image. Representation of deities in animal form was common in South Arabia, such as the god Sayin from Hadhramaut, who was represented as either an eagle fighting a serpent or a bull.

Sacred places were known as hima, haram or mahram, and within these places, all living things were considered inviolable and violence was forbidden. In most of Arabia, these places would take the form of open air sanctuaries, with distinguishing natural features such as springs and forests. Cities would contain temples, enclosing the sacred area with walls, and featuring ornate structures.

Sacred areas often had a guardian or a performer of cultic rites. These officials were thought to tend the area, receive offerings, and perform divination. They are known by many names, probably based on cultural linguistic preference: was used in the Hejaz, kâhin was used in the Sinai Negev صحراء حسمى, and kumrâ was used in Aramaic influenced areas. In South Arabia, rs2w and 'fkl were used to refer to priests, and other words include qyn ("administrator") and mrtd ("consecrated to a particular divinity"). A more specialized staff is thought to have existed in major sanctuaries.

Pilgrimages to sacred places would be made at certain times of the year. Pilgrim fairs of central and northern Arabia took place in specific months designated as violence free, allowing several activities to flourish, such as trade, though in some places only exchange was permitted.

The most important pilgrimage in Saba' was probably the pilgrimage of Almaqah at Ma'rib, performed in the month of dhu Abhi (roughly in July). Two references attest the pilgrimage of Almaqah dhu Hirran at 'Amran. The pilgrimage of Ta'lab Riyam took place in Mount Tur'at and the Zabyan temple at Hadaqan, while the pilgrimage of Dhu Samawi, the god of the Amir tribe, took place in Yathill. Aside from Sabaean pilgrimages, the pilgrimage of Sayin took place at Shabwa.

The pilgrimage of Mecca involved the stations of Mount Arafat, Muzdalifah, Mina and central Mecca that included Safa and Marwa as well as the Kaaba. Pilgrims at the first two stations performed wuquf or standing in adoration. At Mina, animals were sacrificed. The procession from Arafat to Muzdalifah, and from Mina to Mecca, in a pre reserved route towards idols or an idol, was termed and , with the latter taking place before sunset. At Jabal Quzah, fires were started during the sacred month. Nearby the Kaaba was located the betyl which was later called Maqam Ibrahim; a place called al Ḥigr which Aziz al Azmeh takes to be reserved for consecrated animals, basing his argument on a Sabaean inscription mentioning a place called mḥgr which was reserved for animals; and the Well of Zamzam. Both Safa and Marwa were adjacent to two sacrificial hills, one called Muṭ'im al Ṭayr and another Mujāwir al Riḥ which was a pathway to Abu Kubais from where the Black Stone is reported to have originated.

Meccan pilgrimages differed according to the rites of different cult associations, in which individuals and groups joined for religious purposes. The Ḥilla association performed the hajj in autumn season while the Ṭuls and Ḥums performed the umrah in spring. The Ḥums were the Quraysh, Banu Kinanah, Banu Khuza'a and Banu 'Amir. They did not perform the pilgrimage outside the zone of Mecca's haram, thus excluding Mount Arafat. They also developed certain dietary and cultural restrictions. According to Kitab al Muhabbar, the Ḥilla denoted most of the Banu Tamim, Qays, Rabi`ah, Qūḍa'ah, Ansar, Khath'am, Bajīlah, Banu Bakr ibn Abd Manat, Hudhayl, Asad, Tayy and Bariq. The Ṭuls comprised the tribes of Yemen and Hadramaut, 'Akk, Ujayb and Īyād. The Basl recognised at least eight months of the calendar as holy. There was also another group which did not recognize the sanctity of Mecca's haram or holy months, unlike the other four.

The ancient Arabs that inhabited the Arabian Peninsula before the advent of Islam used to profess a widespread belief in fatalism (ḳadar) alongside a fearful consideration for the sky and the stars, which they held to be ultimately responsible for every phenomena that occurs on Earth and for the destiny of humankind. Accordingly, they shaped their entire lives in accordance with their interpretations of astral configurations and phenomena.

In the Hejaz, menstruating women were not allowed to be near the cult images. The area where Isaf and Na'ila's images stood was considered out of bounds for menstruating women. This was reportedly the same with Manaf. According to the Book of Idols, this rule applied to all the "idols". This was also the case in South Arabia, as attested in a South Arabian inscription from al Jawf. Sexual intercourse in temples was prohibited, as attested in two South Arabian inscriptions. One legend concerning Isaf and Na'ila, when two lovers made love in the Kaaba and were petrified, joining the idols in the Kaaba, echoes this prohibition.

The Dilmun civilization, which existed along the Persian Gulf coast and Bahrain until the 6th century BC, worshipped a pair of deities, Inzak and Meskilak. It is not known whether these were the only deities in the pantheon or whether there were others. The discovery of wells at the sites of a Dilmun temple and a shrine suggests that sweet water played an important part in religious practices. In the subsequent Greco Roman period, there is evidence that the worship of non indigenous deities was brought to the region by merchants and visitors. These included Bel, a god popular in the Syrian city of Palmyra, the Mesopotamian deities Nabu and Shamash, the Greek deities Poseidon and Artemis and the west Arabian deities Kahl and Manat.

The main sources of religious information in pre Islamic South Arabia are inscriptions, which number in the thousands, as well as the Quran, complemented by archaeological evidence. The civilizations of South Arabia are considered to have the most developed pantheon in the Arabian peninsula. In South Arabia, the most common god was 'Athtar, who was considered remote. The patron deity (shym) was considered to be of much more immediate significance than 'Athtar. Thus, the kingdom of Saba' had Almaqah, the kingdom of Ma'in had Wadd, the kingdom of Qataban had 'Amm, and the kingdom of Hadhramaut had Sayin. Each people was termed the "children" of their respective patron deity. Patron deities played a vital role in sociopolitical terms, their cults serving as the focus of a person's cohesion and loyalty. Evidence from surviving inscriptions suggests that each of the southern kingdoms had its own pantheon of three to five deities, the major deity always being a god. For example, the pantheon of Saba comprised Almaqah, the major deity, together with 'Athtar, Haubas, Dhat Himyam, and Dhat Badan. According to the Book of Idols, Dhu'l Kaffayn originated from a clan of the Banu Daws. In addition to being worshipped among the Azd, Dushara is also reported to have a shrine amongst the Daws. Dhu’l Khalasa was an oracular god and was also worshipped by the Bajila and Khatham tribes.

Before conversion to Christianity, the Aksumites followed a polytheistic religion that was similar to that of Southern Arabia. The lunar god Hawbas was worshiped in South Arabia and Aksum. The god Astar, a sky deity was related to that of 'Attar, was also worshipped in Aksum. The god Almaqah was worshiped at Hawulti Melazo. The South Arabian gods in Aksum included Dhat Himyam and Dhat Ba'adan. A stone later reused for the church of Enda Cerqos at Melazo mentions these gods. Hawbas is also mentioned on an altar and sphinx in Dibdib. The name of Nrw who is mentioned in Aksum inscriptions is related to that of the South Arabian god Nawraw, a deity of stars.

The Himyarite kings radically opposed polytheism in favor of Judaism, beginning officially in 380. The last trace of polytheism in South Arabia, an inscription commemorating a construction project with a polytheistic invocation, and another, mentioning the temple of Ta’lab, all date from just after 380 (the former dating to the rule of the king Dhara’amar Ayman, and the latter dating to the year 401–402). There is evidence to support the contention that some reports of the sīras are of dubious validity, but there is also evidence to support the contention that the sīra narratives originated independently of the Quran. Abraha had recently constructed a splendid church in Sana'a, and he wanted to make that city a major center of pilgrimage, but Mecca's Kaaba presented a challenge to his plan. However, there is also evidence that Allah and Hubal were two distinct deities. Christian Julien Robin argues that the former was composed principally of idols that were in the sanctuary of Mecca, including Hubal and Manaf, while the pantheon of the associations was superimposed on it, and its principal deities included the three goddesses, who had neither idols nor a shrine in that city. Religious divisions were an important cause of the crisis. The practice of polytheistic cults was increasingly limited to the steppe and the desert, and in Yathrib (later known as Medina), which included two tribes with polytheistic majorities, the absence of a public pagan temple in the town or its immediate neighborhood indicates that polytheism was confined to the private sphere. During those months, it was possible to participate in pilgrimages and fairs without danger. The conquest of Mecca around 629–630 AD led to the destruction of the idols around the Kaaba, including Hubal. Following the conquest, shrines and temples dedicated to deities were destroyed, such as the shrines to al Lat, al ’Uzza and Manat in Ta’if, Nakhla and al Qudayd respectively.

Less complex societies outside South Arabia often had smaller pantheons, with the patron deity having much prominence. The deities attested in north Arabian inscriptions include Ruda, Nuha, Allah, Dathan, and Kahl. Inscriptions in a North Arabian dialect in the region of Najd referring to Nuha describe emotions as a gift from him. In addition, they also refer to Ruda being responsible for all things good and bad. The Safaitic tribes in particular prominently worshipped the goddess al Lat as a bringer of prosperity. The Syrian god Baalshamin was also worshipped by Safaitic tribes and is mentioned in Safaitic inscriptions. Religious worship amongst the Qedarites, an ancient tribal confederation that was probably subsumed into Nabataea around the 2nd century AD, was centered around a polytheistic system in which women rose to prominence. Divine images of the gods and goddesses worshipped by Qedarite Arabs, as noted in Assyrian inscriptions, included representations of Atarsamain, Nuha, Ruda, Dai, Abirillu and Atarquruma. The female guardian of these idols, usually the reigning queen, served as a priestess (, in Assyrian texts) who communed with the other world. There is also evidence that the Qedar worshipped al Lat to whom the inscription on a silver bowl from a king of Qedar is dedicated. In the Babylonian Talmud, which was passed down orally for centuries before being transcribed c. 500 AD, in tractate Taanis (folio 5b), it is said that most Qedarites worshiped pagan gods. The Aramaic stele inscription discovered by Charles Hubert in 1880 at Tayma mentions the introduction of a new god called Salm of hgm into the city's pantheon being permitted by three local gods – Salm of Mahram who was the chief god, Shingala, and Ashira. The name Salm means "image" or "idol". The Midianites, a people referred to in the Book of Genesis and located in north western Arabia, may have worshipped Yahweh. Indeed, some scholars believe that Yahweh was originally a Midianite god and that he was subsequently adopted by the Israelites. An Egyptian temple of Hathor continued to be used during the Midianite occupation of the site, although images of Hathor were defaced suggesting Midianite opposition. They transformed it into a desert tent shrine set up with a copper sculpture of a snake. The Lihyanites worshipped the god Dhu Ghabat and rarely turned to others for their needs. Dhu Ghabat's name means "he of the thicket", based on the etymology of gabah, meaning forest or thicket. The god al Kutba', a god of writing probably related to a Babylonian deity and perhaps was brought into the region by the Babylonian king Nabonidus, is mentioned in Lihyanite inscriptions as well. The worship of the Hermonian gods Leucothea and Theandrios was spread from Phoenicia to Arabia. According to the Book of Idols, the Tayy tribe worshipped al Fals, whose idol stood on Jabal Aja, while the Kalb tribe worshipped Wadd, who had an idol in Dumat al Jandal.

The Nabataeans worshipped primarily northern Arabian deities. Under foreign influences, they also incorporated foreign deities and elements into their beliefs. The Nabataeans' chief god is Dushara. In Petra, the only major goddess is Al ‘Uzzá, assuming the traits of Isis, Tyche and Aphrodite. It is unknown if her worship and identity is related to her cult at Nakhla and others. The Nabatean inscriptions define Allāt and Al Uzza as the "bride of Dushara". Al Uzza may have been an epithet of Allāt in the Nabataean religion according to John F. Healey. Outside Petra, other deities were worshipped; for example, Hubal and Manat were invoked in the Hejaz, and al Lat was invoked in the Hauran and the Syrian desert. The Nabataean king Obodas I, who founded Obodat, was deified and worshipped as a god. They also worshipped Shay al Qawm, al Kutba', and various Greco Roman deities such as Nike and Tyche. Maxime Rodinson suggests that Hubal, who was popular in Mecca, had a Nabataean origin. The worship of Pakidas, a Nabataean god, is attested at Gerasa alongside Hera in an inscription dated to the first century A. D. while an Arabian god is also attested by three inscriptions dated to the second century. The Nabataeans were known for their elaborate tombs, but they were not just for show; they were meant to be comfortable places for the dead. Petra has many "sacred high places" which include altars that have usually been interpreted as places of human sacrifice, although, since the 1960s, an alternative theory that they are "exposure platforms" for placing the corpses of the deceased as part of a funerary ritual has been put forward. However, there is, in fact, little evidence for either proposition.

Palmyra was a cosmopolitan society, with its population being a mix of Aramaeans and Arabs. The Arabs of Palmyra worshipped al Lat, Rahim and Shamash. The temple of al Lat was established by the Bene Ma'zin tribe, who were probably an Arab tribe. The nomads of the countryside worshipped a set of deities, bearing Arab names and attributes, most prominent of them was Abgal, who himself is not attested in Palmyra itself. Ma'n, an Arab god, was worshipped alongside Abgal in a temple dedicated in 195 AD at Khirbet Semrin in the Palmyrene region while an inscription dated 194 AD at Ras esh Shaar calls him the "good and bountiful god". A stele at Ras esh Shaar shows him riding a horse with a lance while the god Saad is riding a camel. Abgal, Ma'n and Sa'd were known as the genii. The god Ashar was represented on a stele in Dura Europos alongside another god Sa'd. The former was represented on a horse with Arab dress while the other was shown standing on the ground. Both had Parthian hairstyle, large facial hair and moustaches as well as similar clothing. Ashar's name is found to have been used in a theophoric manner among the Arab majority areas of the region of the Northwest Semitic languages, like Hatra, where names like "Refuge of Ashar", "Servant of Ashar" and "Ashar has given" are recorded on an inscription. In Edessa, the solar deity was the primary god around the time of the Roman Emperor Julian and this worship was presumably brought in by migrants from Arabia. Julian's oration delivered to the denizens of the city mentioned that they worshipped the Sun surrounded by Azizos and Monimos whom Iamblichus identified with Ares and Hermes respectively. Monimos derived from Mu'nim or "the favourable one", and was another name of Ruda or Ruldaiu as apparent from spellings of his name in Sennacherib's Annals. The idol of the god al Uqaysir was, according to the Book of Idols, located in Syria, and was worshipped by the tribes of Quda'a, Lakhm, Judham, Amela, and Ghatafan. Adherents would go on a pilgrimage to the idol and shave their heads, then mix their hair with wheat, "for every single hair a handful of wheat". A shrine to Dushara has been discovered in the harbour of ancient Puteoli in Italy. The city was an important nexus for trade to the Near East, and it is known to have had a Nabataean presence during the mid 1st century BCE. A Minaean altar dedicated to Wadd evidently existed in Delos, containing two inscriptions in Minaean and Greek respectively.

The Bedouin were introduced to Meccan ritualistic practices as they frequented settled towns of the Hejaz during the four months of the "holy truce", the first three of which were devoted to religious observance, while the fourth was set aside for trade. Alan Jones infers from Bedouin poetry that the gods, even Allah, were less important to the Bedouins than Fate. They seem to have had little trust in rituals and pilgrimages as means of propitiating Fate, but had recourse to divination and soothsayers The Bedouins regarded some trees, wells, caves and stones as sacred objects, either as fetishes or as means of reaching a deity. They created sanctuaries where people could worship fetishes. The Bedouins had a code of honor which Fazlur Rahman Malik states may be regarded as their religious ethics. This code encompassed women, bravery, hospitality, honouring one's promises and pacts, and vengeance. They believed that the ghost of a slain person would cry out from the grave until their thirst for blood was quenched. Practices such as killing of infant girls were often regarded as having religious sanction. Numerous mentions of jinn in the Quran and testimony of both pre Islamic and Islamic literature indicate that the belief in spirits was prominent in pre Islamic Bedouin religion. However, there is evidence that the word jinn is derived from Aramaic, , which was widely attested in Palmyrene inscriptions. The Aramaic word was used by Christians to designate pagan gods reduced to the status of demons, and was introduced into Arabic folklore only late in the pre Islamic era. Julius Wellhausen has observed that such spirits were thought to inhabit desolate, dingy and dark places and that they were feared. One had to protect oneself from them, but they were not the objects of a true cult. Bedouin religious experience also included an apparently indigenous cult of ancestors. The dead were not regarded as powerful, but rather as deprived of protection and needing charity of the living as a continuation of social obligations beyond the grave. Only certain ancestors, especially heroes from which the tribe was said to derive its name, seem to have been objects of real veneration.

Though they lack any surviving physical evidence, Iranian religions existed in pre Islamic Arabia on account of Sasanian military presence along the Persian Gulf and South Arabia and on account of trade routes between the Hejaz and Iraq. Some Arabs in northeast of the peninsula converted to Zoroastrianism and several Zoroastrian temples were constructed in Najd. Some of the members from the tribe of Banu Tamim had converted to the religion. There is also evidence of existence of Manichaeism in Arabia as several early sources indicate a presence of "zandaqas" in Mecca, although the term could also be interpreted as referring to Mazdakism. However, according to the most recent research by Tardieu, the prevalence of Manichaeism in Mecca during the 6th and 7th centuries, when Islam emerged, can not be proven. Similar reservations regarding the appearance of Manichaeism and Mazdakism in pre Islamic Mecca are offered by Trompf & Mikkelsen et al. in their latest work (2018). There is evidence for the circulation of Iranian religious ideas in the form of Persian loan words in Quran such as firdaws (paradise). Zoroastrianism was also present in Eastern Arabia and Persian speaking Zoroastrians lived in the region. The religion was introduced in the region including modern day Bahrain during the rule of Persian empires in the region starting from 250 B. C. It was mainly practiced in Bahrain by Persian settlers. Zoroastrianism was also practiced in the Persian ruled area of modern day Oman. The religion also existed in Persian ruled area of modern Yemen. The descendants of Abna, the Persian conquerors of Yemen, were followers of Zoroastrianism. Yemen's Zoroastrians who had the jizya imposed on them after being conquered by Muhammad are mentioned by the Islamic historian al Baladhuri. According to Serjeant, the Baharna people may be the Arabized descendants of converts from the original population of ancient Persians (majus) as well as other religions.

A thriving community of Jewish tribes existed in pre Islamic Arabia and included both sedentary and nomadic communities. Jews had migrated into Arabia from Roman times onwards. Arabian Jews spoke Arabic as well as Hebrew and Aramaic and had contact with Jewish religious centers in Babylonia and Palestine. The Yemeni Himyarites converted to Judaism in the 4th century, and some of the Kinda were also converted in the 4th/5th century. Jewish tribes existed in all major Arabian towns during Muhammad's time including in Tayma and Khaybar as well as Medina with twenty tribes living in the peninsula. From tomb inscriptions, it is visible that Jews also lived in Mada'in Saleh and Al 'Ula. There is evidence that Jewish converts in the Hejaz were regarded as Jews by other Jews, as well as by non Jews, and sought advice from Babylonian rabbis on matters of attire and kosher food. In at least one case, it is known that an Arab tribe agreed to adopt Judaism as a condition for settling in a town dominated by Jewish inhabitants. Some Arab women in Yathrib/Medina are said to have vowed to make their child a Jew if the child survived, since they considered the Jews to be people "of knowledge and the book" (ʿilmin wa kitābin). Philip Hitti infers from proper names and agricultural vocabulary that the Jewish tribes of Yathrib consisted mostly of Judaized clans of Arabian and Aramaean origin. The key role played by Jews in the trade and markets of the Hejaz meant that market day for the week was the day preceding the Jewish Sabbath. This day, which was called aruba in Arabic, also provided occasion for legal proceedings and entertainment, which in turn may have influenced the choice of Friday as the day of Muslim congregational prayer. Toward the end of the sixth century, the Jewish communities in the Hejaz were in a state of economic and political decline, but they continued to flourish culturally in and beyond the region. They had developed their distinctive beliefs and practices, with a pronounced mystical and eschatological dimension. In the Islamic tradition, based on a phrase in the Quran, Arab Jews are said to have referred to Uzair as the son of Allah, although the historical accuracy of this assertion has been disputed. Jewish agriculturalists lived in the region of Eastern Arabia. According to Robert Bertram Serjeant, the Baharna may be the Arabized "descendants of converts from Christians (Arameans), Jews and ancient Persians (Majus) inhabiting the island and cultivated coastal provinces of Eastern Arabia at the time of the Arab conquest". From the Islamic sources, it seems that Judaism was the religion most followed in Yemen. Ya'qubi claimed all Yemenites to be Jews; Ibn Hazm however states only Himyarites and some Kindites were Jews.

The main areas of Christian influence in Arabia were on the northeastern and northwestern borders and in what was to become Yemen in the south. The north west was under the influence of Christian missionary activity from the Roman Empire where the Ghassanids, a client kingdom of the Romans, were converted to Christianity. In the south, particularly at Najran, a centre of Christianity developed as a result of the influence of the Christian Kingdom of Axum based on the other side of the Red Sea in Ethiopia. Some of the Banu Harith had converted to Christianity. One family of the tribe built a large church at Najran called Deir Najran, also known as the "Ka'ba of Najran". Both the Ghassanids and the Christians in the south adopted Monophysitism. The third area of Christian influence was on the north eastern borders where the Lakhmids, a client tribe of the Sassanians, adopted Nestorianism, being the form of Christianity having the most influence in the Sassanian Empire. As the Persian Gulf region of Arabia increasingly fell under the influence of the Sassanians from the early third century, many of the inhabitants were exposed to Christianity following the eastward dispersal of the religion by Mesopotamian Christians. However, it was not until the fourth century that Christianity gained popularity in the region with the establishment of monasteries and a diocesan structure. In pre Islamic times, the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of Christianized Arabs (including Abd al Qays) and Aramean Christians among other religions. Syriac functioned as a liturgical language. Serjeant states that the Baharna may be the Arabized descendants of converts from the original population of Christians (Aramaeans), among other religions at the time of Arab conquests. Beth Qatraye, which translates "region of the Qataris" in Syriac, was the Christian name used for the region encompassing north eastern Arabia. It included Bahrain, Tarout Island, Al Khatt, Al Hasa, and Qatar. Oman and what is today the United Arab Emirates comprised the diocese known as Beth Mazunaye. The name was derived from 'Mazun', the Persian name for Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Sohar was the central city of the diocese. In Nejd, in the centre of the peninsula, there is evidence of members of two tribes, Kinda and Taghlib, converting to Christianity in the 6th century. However, in the Hejaz in the west, whilst there is evidence of the presence of Christianity, it is not thought to have been significant amongst the indigenous population of the area. Arabicized Christian names were fairly common among pre Islamic Arabians, which has been attributed to the influence that Syrianized Christian Arabs had on Bedouins of the peninsula for several centuries before the rise of Islam. Neal Robinson, based on verses in the Quran, believes that some Arab Christians may have held unorthodox beliefs such as the worshipping of a divine triad of God the father, Jesus the Son and Mary the Mother. Furthermore, there is evidence that unorthodox groups such as the Collyridians, whose adherents worshipped Mary, were present in Arabia, and it has been proposed that the Quran refers to their beliefs. However, other scholars, notably Mircea Eliade, William Montgomery Watt, G. R. Hawting and Sidney H. Griffith, cast doubt on the historicity or reliability of such references in the Quran. Their views are as follows:

Mircea Eliade argues that Muhammad's knowledge of Christianity "was rather approximative" and that references to the triad of God, Jesus and Mary probably reflect the likelihood that Muhammad's information on Christianity came from people who had knowledge of the Monophysite Church of Abyssinia, which was known for extreme veneration of Mary. William Montgomery Watt points out that we do not know how far Muhammad was acquainted with Christian beliefs prior to the conquest of Mecca and that dating of some of the passages criticizing Christianity is uncertain. His view is that Muhammad and the early Muslims may have been unaware of some orthodox Christian doctrines, including the nature of the trinity, because Muhammad's Christian informants had a limited grasp of doctrinal issues. Watt has also argued that the verses criticizing Christian doctrines in the Quran are attacking Christian heresies like tritheism and "physical sonship" rather than orthodox Christianity. G. R. Hawting, Sidney H. Griffith and Gabriel Reynolds argue that the verses commenting on apparently unorthodox Christian beliefs should be read as an informed, polemically motivated caricature of mainstream Christian doctrine whose goal is to highlight how wrong some of its tenets appear from an Islamic perspective.