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A Long Time Ago, in an Arabia Far, Far Away 

Every year, around November or so, there is the inevitable Reddit post about how Christmas isn’t really about Jesus’ birth, but is actually a pagan holiday that was adopted by a burgeoning religion to inspire the conversion of the masses. Growing up in a bi-religious household, I always wondered if that trend went both ways; that is, if Islamic holidays were also adaptations of previously held beliefs, established in order to appeal more easily to a local population. Not surprisingly, my interest in this area was met with raised eyebrows and a chorus of “tsk-tsk.” Religion class was, after all, more of a listening exercise than one of active participation.

Having said that, I have nothing against institutionalized religion or religious tradition. Two words: Devil’s advocate.

Most information concerning pre-Islamic Arabian religious traditions and beliefs comes fromarcheological evidence. There exists little to no actual documented evidence from the time laying out the exact structure or belief system. What we do have is a series of clues indicating heavily that there are at least a few things of which we are certain.

Bringing together my years of internet-searching, late night library-ing and podcast-listening, I would like to present to you a list of facts and interest points concerning pre-Islamic Arabia religion that both surprised and intrigued me:

1. When discussing Pre-Islamic Arabia, it’s important to realize that we are not just talking about modern-day Saudi Arabia, but a very fluid geographic location spanning from Iran inward towards Tunisia. Bedouins were, and continue to be, harbingers of information and tradition throughout the Arab world, and wherever they travelled, they took with them the lessons of tradition and religion. Remember that during this time, Christianity and Judaism were widespread, so the stories and traditions of the early Abrahamic prophets were well known throughout the Middle East prior to Mohammed’s birth.

2. The time before Mohammed is referred to as the “Age of Ignorance” (Jahiliyyah) which is a bit of an exaggeration. Pre-Islamic inhabitants of the Middle East were not as barbaric and ignorant as modern-day clerics would have you believe. In fact, people at the time were well versed in science and mathematics, particularly astronomy. They even had libraries! Early on in Arabian history, the night sky was a source of veneration. Early religions of the region were focused on the heavenly bodies and believed in the dominance of a masculine lunar deity known as Al-ilah. The moon was, and continues to be, a strong symbol in Islamic culture and Arab art. In addition to representing the original deity, the moon was used to determine calendar dates, and there is evidence that the original number of idols in the Kaaba was 360 – one for every day of the lunar year.

3. The name “Al-ilah” appears prior to Mohammed at various archeological sites throughout the Middle East. Later shortened to “Allah,” it is thought to have originally been the name for a supreme creator God among the plethora of polytheistic deities, or the name for a moon God (or both). The concept of a moon God is seen throughout the Arabian Peninsula, appearing in clay tablets in Sumeria in the form of a crescent moon and on burial jewelry throughout the region. Moon cults in Mesopotamia were commonplace and in Syria crescent moon symbols have been discovered indicating early belief in a moon God. There are accounts that even bread was baked in the shape of a crescent in order to show devotion to the moon God “Allah.” Inhabitants of Mecca built a shrine to the moon God, and some claimed that the black stone of the Kaaba was actually a meteorite sent by the moon God to his devoted followers on Earth

4. The moon God had a solar wife named “Shams”, and three daughters: Al-lat, Al-Uzzah, and Manat. The name of the goddess should be recognizable, it’s the Arabic word for sun.

5. The eldest daughter (or according to some sources, the consort) of Allah was Al-lat. Thought to originate in Nabataea, she is the eldest of the desert goddesses. Her name means “The Goddess”. Though a symbol of fertility and motherhood, she is equivocated to the Greek goddesses Tyche (Destiny) and Athena (Wisdom). Her physical, worshiped form was white granite. In some areas of the Arabian Peninsula, there are claims that she evolves into Al-Uzzah.

6. Al-Uzzah, the goddess of the morning star, is the youngest daughter of Allah. Her name means “The Powerful”, and she is often equivocated to Venus, Isis or Aphrodite. She was the guardian of Nabataea, and her functions encompassed love and immortality. She was worshipped in the form of a black stone.

7. The third daughter of Allah – Manat – served as the goddess of fate and time. She is equated to the Roman goddess Nemesis, her husband was Hubal, a major God of chance in pre-Islamic Arabia. Even though there is no direct portrayal of Manat, she was a major goddess in the time before Mohammed. Pilgrims would often shave their heads at her statue and she was venerated as a force to be reckoned with up until the time of Mohammed.

8. All three goddesses are mentioned in the Qurʾān in 53: 19–22, also known as the Satanic Verses:

Now tell me about Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat, The third one, another goddess. What! For you the males and for him the females! That indeed is an unfair division.

These verses are a bit of a boondoggle in Islam. Clerics claim that Satan influenced Mohammed in a moment of weakness to utter these verses, and since the chains of narration are weak, it is considered to be a fabricated event. However, there are historians who believe that Mohamed did utter the verse, on the basis that no Muslim would invent such a story.

When I study the religious history of the Middle East, it seems to mimic the domination of Christianity in Europe. In order to spread more efficiently and with as little violent and societal upset as possible, the religion in question would annex previously held beliefs. Mohammed did not come out to his constituents and say, “Here is a new God called Allah”, just that, “Allah as you know him is the only God” which probably made the move from a pagan religion to a monotheistic religion relatively easier for a majority of the population.

Regardless of what you believe, it’s comforting to know that while we eke out an identity on this rock hurtling through the universe to parts unknown, our core belief structures have remained the same. What varies depends on our environment and so we will continue to change as a species and evolve with new beliefs as is necessary to survive in society. As we do this, it is important to remember who we are and where we came from.

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Check out our first featured photoseries!

Aïda Amer | As I continue to wade through my own converging streams of identity, I do not feel the need for a tag just yet. I only want to be myself consistently, regardless of location, and without fretting over an appropriate identification. These photos are double signals, two interpretations of the same thought, two places for one person.

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Despite this ongoing shift towards more accurate aesthetic and social representation in video games, it must be said that true representation will never come from Western or Japanese game developers. If Arabs and Muslims crave genuine representation in video games, they must make their own. An Arab-developed game could serve as a cultural envoy that aims to educate players about Arab culture without making a game that is overtly about Arab culture. Game development in the Middle East is by and large focused primarily on mobile games, however, this narrow focus is not necessarily a bad thing. There are more mobile gamers in the Middle East than traditional gamers, so the platform has its market. A forthcoming game with potential to challenge traditional views of Arabs, particularly Arab women, is Saudi Girls Revolution (SGR). The game’s announcement has been widely discussed with articles appearing in CNN and Al-Jazeera. Currently in development by NA3M games, an Amman- and Copenhagen-based media group, the game follows a group of eight Saudi women dubbed the Mu’tazilah, who ride souped up motorcycles in flowing abayas and fight against oppression and tyranny in the future dystopian Arabian Empire. The women are meant to represent various personas in Saudi culture. The game even boasts LGBT representation with one of the heroines, Hussa, being lesbian.  Arabs and Muslims may not always be portrayed fairly in mainstream games, but Arab and Muslim game developers now have the tools and the power to change that. The Middle East is no longer a technological vacuum, and developers like NA3M prove that. With positive representations of Arab culture becoming more commonplace in Western games and the growing popularity of the indie game development scene, there is definitely a growing space for Arab and Middle Eastern game developers. All they need to do is get involved.

Aïda Amer, Mash the A Button: The Portrayal of Muslims and Arabs in Video Games   

[qahwaproject]

Despite this ongoing shift towards more accurate aesthetic and social representation in video games, it must be said that true representation will never come from Western or Japanese game developers. If Arabs and Muslims crave genuine representation in video games, they must make their own. An Arab-developed game could serve as a cultural envoy that aims to educate players about Arab culture without making a game that is overtly about Arab culture. Arabs and Muslims may not always be portrayed fairly in mainstream games, but Arab and Muslim game developers now have the tools and the power to change that.

Written by Aïda Amer

[qahwaproject]

Not Your Baba's Comics: Visual Stories in the Diaspora

I did not grow up with comic books.

I did not even consider comic books, or graphic novels for that matter, to be a serious literary genre until I was an adult reader. Sure, I read the occasional Batman or Superman issue, but I never saw myself in those stories. Those characters and their struggles were foreign to me. They were superhuman problems in a mythical setting, they had no basis in my reality.

Having said that, many people do see themselves in those stories. They are able to take life lessons from comic books and find deeper meanings in graphic novels. Spider-Man, The Walking Dead, and others line the shelves of the dedicated. As far as storytelling mediums go, graphic novels and comic books are able to provide an experience that is uniquely their own. Unlike "traditional" media, graphic novels and comic books allow for, and encourage, the nonlinear progression of ideas and plot points at a pace determined by the reader. A person can take their time with a story, they are able to linger on a page of art and probe for hidden meaning. With conventional books, one must read between the lines to connect ideas and themes. But with graphic novels and comic books, the reader has the opportunity to digest visual and narrative elements at their own pace, arguably creating a more personal bond with the characters and their struggles.

The first graphic novel I ever read was a gift. At the time, I was struggling with my identity as a biracial Arab. Having been born in the U.S. and spending my formative years in Egypt, I felt as if I was constantly at odds with myself. What would have been accepted in one culture was explicitly forbidden by the other. When I came back to the States for college, I did not have many Arab or Muslim friends, and for a long time I felt cut off from a part of my culture. The novel became a helping hand for me, as something that I could latch onto and use as a foundation to rebuild my sense of self.

Read the whole thing on QahwaProject.com