By Aboo Aamir
Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem
The claim that Allaah was originally a moon-god was first popularized by the German orientalist Hugo Winckler in 1901. Before that period, no one in recorded history had propagated such a sweeping and historically unfounded assertion.
The Romans and Persians, whose empires fought against the Muslims for centuries, never accused the Muslims of worshipping a moon-god. Likewise, the Jews, despite their theological opposition to Islam, never ventured into such a claim because it would have amounted to a gross distortion of both history and knowledge.
Arab Christians from Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq have always used the word "Allaah" to refer to the Supreme God.
Even in Aramaic, the language spoken by Prophet Eesa (Jesus Christ - peace be upon him, God is referred to as "Alāhā" or "Elāhā", while in Hebrew He is called "Elohim". The linguistic resemblance to the Arabic "Allāh" is evident.
It was therefore amusing when Christian apologists such as Robert Morey resurrected this old myth in 1990, claiming that Allāh was a pagan moon-god worshipped at the Ka'bah.
Hence, when some idolaters in Yorubaland in recent years, such as Musilihu Salami Babatunde (MS-Baba), Taniolohun, Malik Musa, Akanbi Oloba, and some Christian polemicists like Evangelist Noah Ezekiel, began recycling the same allegation, it came as no surprise.
Indeed, one G. J. O. Morshay had earlier written a book in Nigeria in the mid-1990s entitled Who Is This Allah? He was adequately answered then before the claim went into hiding.
What often drives the enemies of Islam into such baseless conclusions is the remarkable growth of Islam, which many perceive as a threat to the continued dominance of their own religious traditions, whether Christianity or indigenous idol worship.
In fact, some of these Yoruba idolaters openly call upon Yorubas to return to the worship of traditional deities such as Sango, Oya, and Obatala. They constantly portray Islam as a foreign religion that came to enslave the Yorubas, describe it as a religion of violence, and claim that Yoruba Muslims are merely tools in the hands of Fulani Muslims who supposedly seek to conquer Yorubaland.
Some among them have become so brazen that they openly threaten the destruction of mosques and attacks upon Muslim clerics.
It should be noted that Islam had already entered Yorubaland by the sixteenth century and became much more prominent in the eighteenth century. Throughout its history among the Yorubas, Islam spread principally through trade, scholarship, preaching, and teaching, not through military conquest.
Indeed, Muslim warriors also participated in the defence of Yorubaland during periods of external aggression involving Fulani forces and their allies.
The central teachings of many contemporary Yoruba idolaters closely mirror those of Robert Morey and other anti-Islam polemicists. They portray Allaah as an Arabian pagan idol, accuse the Qur'aan of being a forgery, and hurl various insults against Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu alayhi wa sallam).
Some of them often deceive people by saying they should ask Meta (an Ai platform) whether Allaah was a deity worshipped pre-Islamic period, of course, Ai would come with a response that suits their evil agenda because it would read 'deity' in the general form. But had these idolaters asked Ai to tell if Allaah was an idol being worshipped before Islam, it would give a reply they would not like.
See for example below:
A simple reading of the Qur'aan demolishes the claims of these idolaters. The Qur'aan presents Allaah as the One Supreme Being.
"Say: He is Allah, One. Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born. Nor is there to Him any equivalent."
(Surah al-Ikhlaaṣ 112:1-4)
"And He is Allah in the heavens and in the earth. He knows your secret and what you make public, and He knows what you earn."
(Sūrah al-An'ām 6:3)
"No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. He is the Most Subtle, All-Aware."
(Sūrah al-An'ām 6:103)
"Allah! There is no deity worthy of worship except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep."
(Sūrah al-Baqarah 2:255)
"And if you ask them (the Makkah pagans) who created them, they will surely say, 'Allah.' So how are they deluded?"
(Sūrah az-Zukhruf 43:87)
"And if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely say, 'Allah.'"
(Sūrah Luqmān 31:25)
"And when adversity touches you at sea, lost are all those you invoke except Him."
(Sūrah al-Isrā' 17:67)
The Qur'aan establishes that Allaah is above the heavens, it says in Surah Mulk:
"Do you feel secure that He who is above the heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you up, and then it should quake?"
"Or do you feel secure that He who is above the heaven will not send against you a violent whirlwind? Then you shall know how (terrible) has been My Warning."
It says Allaah created the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein in six days then He establishes Himself on the Throne above the heavens.
These lofty attributes were never disputed by the idolaters of Makkah. Their error lay in associating intermediaries with Him.
As Allāh says concerning them:
"We only worship them so that they may bring us nearer to Allah."
(Sūrah az-Zumar 39:3)
The Arabs acknowledged Allāh as the Supreme God. Consequently, many among them bore names such as Abdullah ("Servant of Allāh"), even though they associated partners with Him.
Likewise, when Abraha marched against the Ka'bah, the Arabs believed that only Allaah, the Lord of the House, could protect it. And He did protect the House. It's an historical fact confirmed by the Quraan.
The idols were introduced centuries after Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and Prophet Ismā'īl (Ishmael) had built the Ka'bah.
The Messenger of Allāh (sallalahu alayhi wa sallam) said:
"I saw 'Amr ibn Luhay dragging his intestines in the Fire, for he was the first to introduce the worship of idols."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 3521; Sahih Muslim, no. 2856)
Long before Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu alayhi wa sallam), Arab prophets such as Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, and Shu'ayb called their people to worship Allāh alone.
In fact there were hunafaa (the monotheists) among the Arabs pre-Islam that were upon the worship of Allaah alone. Zayd bn Amr, Waraqa bn Nawfal, Uthman bn Uwayrith, etc, were regarded as those who remained on the path of Prophet Ibrahim.
Let's say more about Zayd bn Amr:
Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl was one of the few Makkans before the advent of Islam who rejected idolatry and sought the pure religion of Prophet Ibrahim - alayhi salaam - He belonged to the Quraysh and was the father of Sa'id ibn Zayd, one of the ten Companions promised Paradise.
He refused to worship idols, would not eat meat sacrificed to them, and condemned the practice of burying infant girls alive. He travelled in search of the true religion and died shortly before the Prophet - sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam - received revelation.
Among the poems composed by him in his rejection of idolatry are:
Shall I worship one Lord or a thousand lords,
When matters have become divided?
I have abandoned al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā altogether;
Such is the way of the steadfast and patient.
I worship neither al-ʿUzzā nor her two daughters,
Nor do I visit the idols of Banū ʿAmr.
Neither do I worship Hubal,
Though he had been our lord in the days when my understanding was little.
The Prophet - sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam - later spoke favorably of Zayd and said:
“He will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection as a nation by himself.”
Thus, Zayd ibn ʿAmr remains one of the most remarkable examples of a pre-Islamic haneef — a seeker of pure monotheism who turned away from the paganism of his people and worshipped the God of Ibrahim before the coming of Islam
Repeatedly, the Qur'aan records the message of the Arab Prophets before the advent of Prophet Muhammad - sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam:
"O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him."
(Sūrah al-A'rāf 7:65, 73, 85)
The pagan Arabs also knew that Ibrahim and Ismaaeel had raised the foundations of the Ka'bah.
"And when Abraham and Ishmaaeel raised the foundations of the House…"
(Sūrah al-Baqarah 2:127)
Likewise, they knew that the rites of Hajj, such as tawaf, sa'y, and standing at 'Arafah, originated from Prophet Ibrahim.
If Allāh were merely one idol among many, why would Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu alayhi wa sallam) call people to abandon every other object of worship and devote themselves to Him alone?
If his motive had been worldly leadership, why did he reject the offers made to him by Quraysh?
His uncle conveyed the proposal of the Quraysh to him, and he replied:
"By Allah, if they were to place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand in order that I abandon this matter, I would never abandon it until Allah makes it prevail or I perish in the attempt."
(Reported by Ibn Hishām in As-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah)
The images being circulated by some Yoruba idolaters are products of their own imagination.
See the fake image below:
The lies about the fake image are summarily debunked here:
The idolaters often cite the hadith concerning Allaah possessing two hands and both being right hands.
The Prophet (sallalahu alayhi wa sallam ) said:
"Both His hands are right hands."
(Sahih Muslim, no. 1827)
While in the core teachings of Islam, Allaah describes Himself as it befits His Majesty, so does the Prophet - sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam - however none of those Attributes can be imagined or likened to anything but they are all Lofty Attributes.
Allaah has Two Hands and both Hands are righteous, that's the summary meaning of the hadeeth.
Al-Imaam Abdulazeez bn Baz - rahimahullaah - explains the hadeeth further most especially since there is another hadeeth that actually said Allaah has Shimaal - that is, a Left Hand:
"The meaning is that one hand is called "left" by name, but with respect to excellence and virtue it is a right hand. Hence, it is stated in the authentic hadith:
"Both of the Hands of my Lord are blessed right hands."
Thus, both are blessed right hands in honor, virtue, and excellence.
One of them is called the right hand, as Allah says:
"And the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand."
(Az-Zumar 39:67)
The other is called the left hand, but it is a right hand in terms of virtue, blessing, and honor. Even though it is designated "left", it possesses the same auspiciousness, goodness, blessing, and nobility as the right hand. There is no contradiction.
The hadith:
"Both of the Hands of my Lord are blessed right hands"
clarifies its excellence and nobility and establishes that there is no deficiency in it. Calling it "left" does not imply any imperfection; rather, these are merely names.
Similarly, Allah's Hand is called a Hand, His Foot is called a Foot, and He possesses an Eye, Hearing, and Sight.
None of these names imply resemblance or likeness to the creation.
Rather, all of them are attributes befitting Allah. They are all attributes of perfection, free from any deficiency, and they befit Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. In none of them does He resemble His creation." End of quote.
Once again, Islamic doctrine (al-Aqeedah as-Saheehah) does not permit Muslims to imagine the form or modality of the Divine attributes because Allaah has declared:
"There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing."
(Sūrah ash-Shūrā 42:11)
Hence, Muslims affirm whatever Allāh affirmed for Himself and whatever His Messenger affirmed for Him without likening Him to His creation, without denying His attributes, and without attempting to describe their reality.
The pagan Arabs themselves never objected by saying that Allaah was physically present inside the Ka'bah. Such a notion was unknown to them. It is rather some modern Yoruba idolaters who have imagined such things and then attributed them to Islam.
When Yoruba idolaters repeat the allegation that Allaah was a pagan idol in Makkah, one should understand the ideological roots of that claim and the direction in which it leads.
The historical evidence, the testimony of the pagan Arabs themselves, the teachings of the Qur'aan, and the message of all the prophets point to one reality: Allaah was never an idol among idols, but rather the One Supreme Creator whom the idolaters associated others with.
As for Christianity, it developed the doctrine of the Trinity; as for Judaism, many Jews restricted divine favour to their own community; and as for the idolaters, they reduced the worship of the Creator to the worship of created beings.
All praise belongs to Allāh for the blessing of Islam.
"Allah bears witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him, and so do the angels and those endowed with knowledge, maintaining His creation in justice. There is no deity worthy of worship except Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise."
(Sūrah Āl 'Imrān 3:18)
Allāhu Akbar - Allaah is the Greatest!
Aboo Aamir heads Ibn al-Jazaree Islamic Centre, Ibadan, Nigeria.
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