Manāt
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Manāt was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca.[1] The pre-Islamic Arabs believed Manāt to be the goddess of fate. She was known by the cognate name Manawat to the Nabataeans of Petra, who equated her with the Graeco-Roman goddess Nemesis and she was considered the wife of Hubal.[2] She is also mentioned in the Qur'an (Sura 53:20). According to Grunebaum in Classical Islam, the Arabic name of Manat is the linguistic counterpart of the Hellenistic Tyche, Dahr, fateful 'Time' who snatches men away and robs their existence of purpose and value. There are also connections with Chronos of Mithraism and Zurvan mythology.[3] The Book of Idols describes her:
The most ancient of all these idols was Manāt. The Arabs used to name [their children] 'Abd-Manāt and Zayd-Manāt. Manāt was erected on the seashore in the vicinity of al-Mushallal in Qudayd, between Medina and Mecca. All the Arabs used to venerate her and sacrifice before her. The Aws and the Khazraj, as well as the inhabitants of Medina and Mecca and their vicinities, used to venerate Manāt, sacrifice before her, and bring unto her their offerings... The Aws and the Khazraj, as well as those Arabs among the people of Yathrib and other places who took to their way of life, were wont to go on pilgrimage and observe the vigil at all the appointed places, but not shave their heads. At the end of the pilgrimage, however, when they were about to return home, they would set out to the place where Manāt stood, shave their heads, and stay there a while. They did not consider their pilgrimage completed until they visited Manāt.
—Book of Idols, pp 12-14[4]
The Quraysh (the ruling tribe of Mecca) and other Arabs continued to worship Manat until the time of Muhammad.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Book of Idols
- ^ Hommel, First Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. 1. p. 380
- ^ Grunebaum, p. 24
- ^ B. al-Kalbī writes (N.A. Faris 1952, pp.12-14)
[edit] References
- Ibn al-Kalbī; (author) and Nabih Amin Faris (translator & commentary) (1952): The Book of Idols, Being a Translation from the Arabic of the Kitāb al-Asnām. Princeton University Press. US Library of Congress #52006741
- Grunebaum, G. E. von (1970). Classical Islam: A History 600 A.D. - 1258 A.D.. Aldine Publishing Company. ISBN 202-15016-X.
[edit] External links
- The Book of Idols (Kitāb al-Asnām) by Hishām Ibn al-Kalbī Section: Manah (Manat)
- See definition for Manat in Encyclopedia Mythica
- Religion of Pagan Arabia
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