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Al-Uzza)
Until Muhammad ended polytheism in Arabia, a wide variety of deities were venerated including Uzza ("the powerful".) According to Ibn al Kalbi 's early 9th century Kitab al-Asnam , the "Book of Idols", the pagan Arabs called her one of Allah's three daughters, along with al-Lat (simply "the goddess") and Manat, who carried the shears of fate, and thus has been read by some Westerners as a counterpart in Arabia of Atropos. Each was worshipped in their own right, but also asked to intercede with Allah. These three goddesses are mentioned in sura 53:19 of the Qur'an, which condemns the pagan Arabs for claiming that Allah had daughters; according to Ibn Ishaq's controversial account of the Satanic Verses (q.v.), these verses had previously endorsed them as intercessors.
Uzza, like Hubal, was called upon for protection by the pagan Quraysh. "In 624 at the battle called "Uhud ", the war cry of the Qurayshites was, "O people of `Uzza, people of Hubal." (Tawil 1993)
The idol of al-Uzza receives a passage in Ibn al-Kalbi's Kitab al-Asnam, that is the most complete early source for information concerning her:
- "They then adopted al-'Uzza as their goddess. She is, in point of time, more recent than either Allat or Manah, since I have heard that the Arabs named their children after the latter two before they named them after al-'Uzza. Thus [several examples of theophorous given names]... and 'Abd-al-'Uzza ibn-Ka'b ibn-Sa'd ibn-Zayd-Manah ibn-Tamim. It is therefore more recent than the first two. 'Abd-al-'Uzza ibn-Ka'b is among the earliest compounded names the Arabs used in conjunction with al-'Uzza.
- "The person who introduced al-'Uzza was Zilim ibn-As'ad. Her idol was situated in a valley in Nakhlat al-Sha'miyah called Hurad, alongside al-Ghumayr' to the right of the road from Mecca to al-'Iraq, above Dhat-Irq and nine miles from al-Bustin. Over her [Zalim] built a house called Buss in which the people used to receive oracular communications. The Arabs as well as the Quraysh were wont to name their children 'Abd-al-'Uzza. Furthermore al-'Uzza was the greatest idol among the Quraysh. They used to journey to her, offer gifts unto her, and seek her favours through sacrifice." [1]
The Kitab al-Asnam offers additional detail of the "three exalted cranes", as these goddesses were called in the verses that Ibn Ishaq says were deleted from the Qur'an: "These were also called "the Daughters of Allah," and were supposed to intercede before God." It is unclear whether these goddesses were always regarded as the daughters of Allah, or had originally been called daughters of some other deity; the Kitab al-Asnam says that each of the three's worship was introduced at a different period, suggesting that they may not originally even have been sisters.
Each daughter had a separate shrine near Mecca (Makkah). The most prominent Arabian shrine of al-'Uzza was at a place called Nakhlah near Qudayd, east of Mecca towards Taif; three trees were sacred to her there (according to a narration through al-'Anazi abu-'Ali in the Kitab al-Asnam.) "She was the Lady 'Uzzay-an to whom a South Arabian offered a golden image on behalf of his sick daughter, Amat-'Uzzay-an (the maid of al-'Uzza). 'Abd-al-'Uzza was a favourite proper name at the rise of Islam." (Hitti 1937).
The name of Uzzah appears as an emblem of beauty in late pagan Arabic poetry quoted by Ibn al-Kalbi, and oaths were sworn by her. [2]
Uzza's former presence in South Arabia has been thoroughly effaced by time. But her presence has not been obliterated far north at Petra of the Nabataeans, who had deities with Arabian names early in their history, whom they later associated with Hellenistic gods, Uzza becoming associated with Isis and with Aphrodite [3]. Excavations at Petra since 1974 have revealed a temple, apparently dedicated to Isis/al-Uzza, now named after some carvings found inside, the Temple of the Winged Lions (Hammond). Inscriptions record the name of Uzza at Petra.
A fragment of poetry by Zayd ibn 'Amr ibn Nufayl, quoted in the Kitab al-Asnam, suggests that Uzza had two daughters: "No more do I worship al-'Uzza and her two daughters" (Arabic فلا العزى أدين ولا ابنتـيهـا).
Cult of Uzza
It is not simple now to get glimpses of the deities of pre-Islamic Arabia. Origins of deities have to be suggested with caution, but inscriptions related to Uzza among the Nabataeans at Petra have been interpreted to associate Uzza with the planet Venus.
Other tribes of Medina were more prominent worshippers of the fatal goddess Manat, while the Quraish of Mecca,the tribe to which Muhammad belonged, paid more reverence to Allat and al-`Uzza. The Quraysh used to chant as they circumambulated the Ka'ba: "Al-Lat, and al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other; indeed these are exalted (or lofty, ‘ula gharaniq); let us hope for their intercession." (Peters 1994, pages 3-41). Ibn al-Kalbi states that before the prophet began to preach his own message he himself once offered a white sheep to al-`Uzza, as was his tribal custom. (Ibn al-Kalbi)
"The Arabs had developed a number of subsidiary Ka'bas (tawaghit), so to say, at different places in the land, each with its presiding god or goddess. They used to visit those shrines at appointed times, circumambulate them and make sacrifices of animals there, besides performing other polytheistic rites. The most prominent of these shrines were those of Al-Lat at Ta'if, Al 'Uzza at Nakhlah and Manat near Qudayd. The origins of these idols are uncertain. Ibn al-Kalbi says that Al-Lat was "younger" ( 'ahdath) than Manat, while Al-'Uzza was "younger" than both al-Lat and Manat. But though Al-'Uzza was thus the youngest of the three; it was nonetheless the most important and the greatest ( 'azam) idol with the Quraysh who, along with Banu Kinanah ministered to it." (Muhammad Mohar Ali 2002).
Though other tribes of Medina were more associated with the fatal goddess Manat, the Quraish, the tribe to which Muhammad belonged, paid more reverence to Allat and al-`Uzza. The Quraysh used to chant as they circumambulated the Ka'ba:
- "By Allat and al-'Uzza,
- And Manah, the third, the other.
- Verily they are the most exalted females
- "Whose intercession is to be sought " (Ibn al-Kalbi; Peters 1994, pp3 - 41).
The part translated as "exalted females" (al-gharaniq al-‘ula) more literally means "high Numidian cranes."
A Triple Goddess, including a youngest (Uzza) and a crone carrying the shears of fate, is a widespread primal deity at the oldest levels of religion.
References
- Burton, John, The Collection Of The Qur'an, Cambridge University Press, 1977: the collection and composition of the Qu'ran in the life time of Muhammad
- Finegan, Jack, The Archeology of World Religions, Princeton University Press, 1952, pages 482-485, 492
- Hammond, Philip, "An Isisian Model for The Goddess of the 'Temple of the Winged Lions' at Petra (Jordan)". 1985
- Hitti, Philip K. History Of The Arabs, 1937, pp 96-101
- The Kitab al-Asnam ("Book of Idols"): translation as posted by an evangelical Christian site.
- Kitab al-Asnam in the original Arabic
- Peters, F. E., The Hajj : The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places Princeton University Press 1994
- al Tawil, Hashim, "Early Arab Icons: Literary and Archaeological Evidence for the Cult of Religious Images in Pre-Islamic Arabia", PhD dissertation, University of Iowa, 1993 [4]
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