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The old gods of Arabia

The Emperor of Mankind

The Emperor of Mankind

Currently the galaxy's spookiest paraplegic
This thread is inspired by our much-beloved @Debater Slayer adopting the worship of the old gods. I'm pretty sure DS is an Arab, and I'm almost-kinda sure DS lives in Saudi Arabia. A brave soul!

But how much does he know (or care to know) about the gods of his ancestors? How much do the rest of us know?

This site seems pretty informative. If anybody has enough historical knowledge to debunk or ratify this, I'd sure appreciate it.

http://wathanism.blogspot.co.nz/2011/11/deities-beings-and-figures-in-arabian.html?m=1

Oh, and is the title "Din al-'Abāʼi-ka" an accurate transliteration of "Faith of our Forefathers"?
 
Debater Slayer

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
A Greased Scotsman said:
This thread is inspired by our much-beloved @Debater Slayer adopting the worship of the old gods. I'm pretty sure DS is an Arab, and I'm almost-kinda sure DS lives in Saudi Arabia. A brave soul!
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Thanks! I don't "worship" anything or anyone, though... not in any conventional meaning of the word. :D

But how much does he know (or care to know) about the gods of his ancestors? How much do the rest of us know?

This site seems pretty informative. If anybody has enough historical knowledge to debunk or ratify this, I'd sure appreciate it.

http://wathanism.blogspot.co.nz/2011/11/deities-beings-and-figures-in-arabian.html?m=1

Oh, and is the title "Din al-'Abāʼi-ka" an accurate transliteration of "Faith of our Forefathers"?
Click to expand...

"Din" is "religion," but that... other word looks off to me. I suspect I'm not pronouncing it correctly either.
 
G

GoodbyeDave

Well-Known Member
A Greased Scotsman said:
This site seems pretty informative. If anybody has enough historical knowledge to debunk or ratify this, I'd sure appreciate it.
Click to expand...
From what little I know, it seems pretty good. I'd like to think there was an Arabian reconstructionist movement, but I can't trace anything. The Lebanese pagans seem to be solitary Wiccans.
 
Erebus

Erebus

Well-Known Member
Debater Slayer said:
Thanks! I don't "worship" anything or anyone, though... not in any conventional meaning of the word. :D
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You'll find that word has pretty flexible definitions round these parts ;)

Unfortunately I know almost nothing about pre-Islamic Arabic deities so I can't speak to the accuracy of the site A Greased Scotsman posted. To be completely honest though, I personally hold that the meaning a god has for the individual is the most important thing. For example, is Nyx a literal, conscious entity or is she the embodiment of night? Is she both?

Figuring these things out for yourself is one of the things I love about Paganism :)
 
MD

MD

qualiaphile
There's a lot of paganism in Islam and other Abrahamic faiths. The jinns for one. Jesus and Mithra. The houri concept are borrowed from Iranian mythos of Daenas, and the etymology of Din is also from Daena. The flood and creation myths as well were copies of Mesopotamian legends/stories.

Also many Iranians, Afghans and Pakistanis call God Khudah, which is a Zoroastrian name for God that is very abstract and spiritual. The etymology of Khudah is also partly pagan.
 
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The Emperor of Mankind

The Emperor of Mankind

Currently the galaxy's spookiest paraplegic
MD said:
There's a lot of paganism in Islam and other Abrahamic faiths. The jinns for one. Jesus and Mithra. The houri concept are borrowed from Iranian mythos of Daenas, and the etymology of Din is also from Daena. The flood and creation myths as well were copies of Mesopotamian legends/stories.

Also many Iranians, Afghans and Pakistanis call God Khudah, which is a Zoroastrian name for God that is very abstract and spiritual. Every Muslim I tell this to stops saying Khudah, lol.

Many Muslms consider Zoroastrians to be pagans and Judaism/Islam/Christianity have blatantly copied from that faith.

Kinda bugs me that so many things had to be destroyed due to these religions, but I suppose the leftists and SJWs are carrying on the torch and ensuring their destruction continues.
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You're in a DIR, MD. :)
 
Augustus

Augustus

…
Debater Slayer said:
"Din" is "religion,"
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I know din is often translated as religion, but is that really an accurate translation?

Is it not more 'way of life', or 'law' or something like that?

I'd be interested in your opinion as an Arabic speaker as I've seen it translated in various ways, and read people arguing against translating it as religion for various reasons.
 
G

GoodbyeDave

Well-Known Member
Augustus said:
I know din is often translated as religion, but is that really an accurate translation? Is it not more 'way of life', or 'law' or something like that?
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The Wikipedia article looks quite well informed.

The concept of "religion" has developed in monotheism, where one needs to have a way of referring to his religion as opposed to my religion. Before (and after) monotheism, pagans did not regard different practices as being incompatible, and so no such word was needed. In Latin "religion" was cultus deorum "worship of the gods". In China the equivalent of "what's her religion?" is literally "what does she worship?"

The Arabic quotations do not suggest to me that the word is applicable to other religions, so I feel that the observation "Shari'a is the ordaining of the Way ... Dīn is the following of that Way" is probably right.
 
Cassandra

Cassandra

Active Member
DavidMcCann said:
The Wikipedia article looks quite well informed.

The concept of "religion" has developed in monotheism, where one needs to have a way of referring to his religion as opposed to my religion. Before (and after) monotheism, pagans did not regard different practices as being incompatible, and so no such word was needed. In Latin "religion" was cultus deorum "worship of the gods". In China the equivalent of "what's her religion?" is literally "what does she worship?"

The Arabic quotations do not suggest to me that the word is applicable to other religions, so I feel that the observation "Shari'a is the ordaining of the Way ... Dīn is the following of that Way" is probably right.
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My view:

Indeed religion basically means that which you hold high. It is important for a people to hold high the things they value to preserve their own identity and remain independent. In contrast all kind of foreign conquerers and other supremacists try to destroy peoples own identity by enforcing their values, culture, and God on them to prevent them from opposing their foreign exploitation and rule. They even make them worship ancestors that are not their own, creating spiritual orphans. It is calculated murder.

Religion does not have to pertain to "Gods" as we understand them today. It probably started with reverence of ancestor spirits. The origin of the word "god" is misty (It has nothing to do with "good"), but is linked to ancestor worship. In Asia it is still quite normal to revere ancestors in the way people revere God in the West. They ask their ancestors for blessings and support, bring sacrifices to them, etc. This is a very effective worship as ancestors are indeed very supportive spirits.
 
The Adept

The Adept

Member
I have to disagree with the role of Allah the unimportant, because Allah had no shrine at the Kaba dispite 360 shrines, and it is narrated that it was a death cult of Mot'Talib; but for 100 camels and a sorceress of Uzza it was an infant killing cult too until the reforms of Allah's Prophet.
Anyone going to mention Baal yet?
 
Sha'irullah

Sha'irullah

رسول الآلهة
I felt as if I was the only person who had an interest in Wathaniyya. After committing riddah I became very fascinated with these old cults. I studied them a lot and tried practicing it myself but it is so vague and ancient it is not that recoverable.
I am shocked this blog has been updated as well
 
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