Editing Arabs (section)

=== Spirituality ===
[[File:Nemesis_Allat_and_dedicater-MBA_Lyon-IMG_0557.JPG|alt=|thumb|Bas-relief: [[Nemesis]], [[al-Lat]] and the dedicator. [[Palmyra|Palmyrene]], 2nd–3rd century CE.]]
[[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|Arab polytheism]] was the dominant religion in [[pre-Islamic Arabia]]. [[Deity|Gods]] and [[goddess]]es, including [[Hubal]] and the goddesses [[Al-Lat|al-Lāt]], [[Al-'Uzzá]] and [[Manāt]], were worshipped at local shrines, such as the [[Kaaba]] in [[Mecca]], whilst Arabs in the south, in what is today's Yemen, worshipped various gods, some of which represented the Sun or Moon. Different theories [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia#Mecca|have been proposed]] regarding the role of [[Allah]] in Meccan religion.<ref name="Robinson2">{{Cite book|first=Neal|last=Robinson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2UL8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|title=Islam: A Concise Introduction|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136817731|page=75}}</ref><ref name="Peters2">{{Cite book|first=Francis E.|last=Peters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OrCo4VyvGkC&pg=PA110|title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1994|isbn=978-0791418758|page=110}}</ref><ref name="Peterson20072">{{Cite book|first=Daniel C.|last=Peterson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9zpbEj0xA_sC&pg=PA21|title=Muhammad, Prophet of God|date=2007|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0802807540|page=21}}</ref> Many of the physical descriptions of the pre-Islamic gods are traced to [[Cult image|idols]], especially near the Kaaba, which is said to have contained up to 360 of them.<ref name="armstrong2">{{Cite book|first=Karen|last=Armstrong|url=https://archive.org/details/islamshorthistor00arms_354|title=Islam: A Short History|date=2000|isbn=978-0-8129-6618-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/islamshorthistor00arms_354/page/n50 11]|publisher=Random House Publishing|url-access=limited}}</ref> Until about the fourth century, almost all Arabs practised polytheistic religions.{{sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=139}} Although significant [[Judaism|Jewish]] and Christian minorities developed, [[polytheism]] remained the dominant belief system in pre-Islamic Arabia.<ref name="Nicolle2">{{Cite book|first=David|last=Nicolle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3PgFtHzLVEC&pg=PA19|title=The Great Islamic Conquests AD 632–750|date=2012|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1780969985|page=19|author-link=David Nicolle}}</ref>

The religious beliefs and practices of the nomadic [[bedouin]] were distinct from those of the settled tribes of towns such as [[Mecca]].<ref name="Aslan62">{{Cite book|first=Reza|last=Aslan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HP1zoWqpqg4C&pg=PA6|title=No God But God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam|date=2008|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1407009285|page=6}}</ref> 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 [[Philosophy|philosophical]] questions such as the afterlife.<ref name="Aslan62" /> Settled urban Arabs, on the other hand, are thought to have believed in a more complex [[Pantheon (religion)|pantheon]] of deities.<ref name="Aslan62" /> While the Meccans and the other settled inhabitants of the [[Hejaz]] worshipped their gods at permanent shrines in towns and oases, the bedouin practised their religion on the move.<ref name="Peters1052">{{Cite book|first=Francis E.|last=Peters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OrCo4VyvGkC&pg=PA105|title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1994|isbn=978-0791418758|page=105}}</ref>

Most notable Arab gods and goddesses: [['Amm]], [[A'ra]], [[Abgal (god)|Abgal]], [[Allah#Pre-Islamic Arabians|Allah]], [[Al-Lat]], [[Al-Qaum]], [[Almaqah]], [[Anbay]], [[ʿAṯtar]], [[Basamum]], [[Demolition of Dhul Khalasa|Dhu l-Khalasa]], [[Dushara]], [[Haukim]], [[Hubal]], [[Isāf and Nā'ila]], [[Manaf (deity)|Manaf]], [[Manāt]], [[Nasr (deity)|Nasr]], [[Nuha (deity)|Nuha]], [[Quzah]], [[Ruda (deity)|Ruda]], [[Sa'd (deity)|Sa'd]], [[Shams (goddess)|Shams, Samas]], [[Sin (mythology)|Syn]], [[Suwa']], [[Ta'lab]], [[Theandrios]], [[al-'Uzzá]], [[Wadd]], [[Ya'uq]], [[Yaghūth]], [[Yatha]], [[Aglibol]], [[Astarte]], [[Atargatis]], [[Baalshamin]], [[Bel (mythology)|Bēl]], [[Bes]], [[El (deity)|Ēl, Ilāh]], [[Inanna|Inanna/Ishtar]], [[Malakbel]], [[Nabu|Nabū, Nebo]], [[Nergal]], [[Yarhibol]].