The theory thatAllah (God in Islam) originated as alunar deity began in 1901 with the archaeologistHugo Winckler. He associated Allah with a pre-Islamic Arabian deity, either Lah orHubal, whom he identified as lunar in nature. However, opponents have rejected this theory due to its speculative character and lack of archaeological or textual evidence from pre-Islamic Arabia. Hubal, a deity worshipped at theKaaba before Islam, is often mentioned in these claims. Some suggest that Hubal originated from the Levant or Mesopotamia. HistorianPhilip K. Hitti posits that Hubal's name may derive from an Aramaic term for "spirit".[5]
In the 1990s, the idea was popularized in the United States by Christian apologists, especially Robert Morey, who argued in his works that "Allah" was originally a moon deity, citing the Islamic lunar calendar and crescent imagery. However, opponents argue this view misinterprets the symbolism and lacks historical support.
Academics continue to reject the theory as unsubstantiated. The claim has also been criticized for being offensive to Muslims andArab Christians, who also use the term "Allah" for God.
The lunar hypothesis stems from early 20th-century scholarHugo Winckler's claim that Hubal was a moon god and suggestion of possible associations withGod in Islam.[6]
This theory was relatively shortlived. By the middle of the century, scholars had presented rebuttals to Winckler’s claim over its largely speculative nature.[7][8] Still more recent scholarship has meanwhile described Hubal differently, withDavid Adams Leeming citing him as a war and rain god,[9] in accordance with an earlier view shared byMircea Eliade.[10]
Hubal may also have been a non-native deity imported into the Southern Arabian shrine, and one possibly already associated with Allah.[9] Before Islam, theKaaba contained a statue representing the godHubal.[11][12]
HistorianPatricia Crone notes that if Hubal and Allah had been the same deity, we would expect Hubal to have survived in Islamic usage as one of Allah's names or epithets, which is not the case. Moreover, she notes the existence of traditions in which people are explicitly urged to renounce one for the other, implying a distinction between the two.[13]
Joseph E. B. Lumbard, a professor of classical Islam, has described the claim that Allah was a moon god as "not only an insult to Muslims but also an insult toArab Christians who use the name 'Allah' for God."[14]
Robert Morey's bookThe Moon-god Allah in the Archeology of the Middle East claims thatAl-‘Uzzá is identical in origin toHubal, whom he asserts to be alunar deity.[15] This teaching is repeated in theChick tracts "Allah Had No Son" and "The Little Bride". In 1996Janet Parshall, in syndicated radio broadcasts, asserted that Muslims worship a moon god.[16]Pat Robertson said in 2003, "The struggle is whether Hubal, the Moon God ofMecca, known as Allah, is supreme, or whether the Judeo-ChristianJehovah God of the Bible is Supreme."[17]
In addition to books and pamphlets, the 'moon-god Allah' theory has been widely disseminated online through visual media such as memes. These often combine unrelated symbols, artifacts, and Islamic imagery to imply a connection between Islam and pre-Islamic moon worship, juxtaposing visual elements to promote these claims.
However, recent research from various sources has proven that the "evidence" used by Morey was of the statue retrieved from anexcavation site at Hazor, of which there is no connection to "Allah" at all.[18]
In 2009, anthropologist Gregory Starrett wrote, "a recent survey by theCouncil for American Islamic Relations reports that as many as 10% of Americans believe Muslims are pagans who worship a moon god or goddess, a belief energetically disseminated by some Christian activists".[19] Ibrahim Hooper of theCouncil on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) calls the Moon-God theories of Allah evangelical "fantasies" that are "perpetuated in their comic books".[20]
Farzana Hassan sees these views as an extension of long-standing Christian claims that Muhammad was an impostor and deceiver, and has stated: "Literature circulated by theChristian Coalition perpetuates the popular Christian belief about Islam being a pagan religion, borrowing aspects of Judeo-Christian monotheism by elevating the moon god Hubal to the rank of Supreme God, or Allah. Muhammad, for fundamentalist Christians, remains an impostor who commissioned his companions to copy words of the Bible as they sat in dark inaccessible places, far removed from public gaze."[21]
In 8th-century Arab historianHisham Ibn Al-Kalbi'sBook of Idols, the idol Hubal is described as a human figure with a gold hand (replacing the original hand that had broken off the statue). He had sevenarrows that were used for divination.[22]
Whether or not Hubal was even associated with the moon, Muhammad and his enemies identified Hubal and Allah as different gods, their supporters fighting on opposing sides in theBattle of Uhud.Ibn Hisham notes thatAbu Sufyan ibn Harb, leader of the anti-Islamic army, glorified Hubal after their perceived victory at Uhud:
When Abū Sufyān wanted to leave he went to the top of the mountain and shouted loudly saying, ‘You have done a fine work; victory in war goes by turns. Today in exchange for the day (Ṭ. of Badr). Show your superiority, Hubal,’ i.e. vindicate your religion. The apostle told 'Umar to get up and answer him and say, ‘God is most high and most glorious. We are not equal. Our dead are in paradise; your dead in hell.’[23]
TheQuran itself forbids sun and moon worship inverse 37 ofSurahFussilat:
"Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostrate to Allah, who created them."[24][25][26]
Islam teaches that Allah is the name of God (as iterated in the Quran),[27] and is the same god worshipped by the members of otherAbrahamic religions such asChristianity andJudaism (Quran 29:46).[28]
According to British historianG. R. Hawting, Allah was revered by several tribes in pre-Islamic Arabia, particularly the Quraysh in Mecca, and was regarded as the "God of gods." Despite this elevated status,Allah was worshipped within a polytheistic system that included inferior deities such asHubal,Al-Lat, andAl-Uzza, who were seen as intercessors to Allah.[29]
The Meccans also held that a kind ofkinship existed between Allah and thejinn.[30] They believed that Allah had sons and daughters,[31] and possibly associated angels with Him.[32][33] In times of distress, Allah was invoked directly.[33][34]
The name ofMuhammad's father wasعبد اللهʿAbd-Allāh, which means'the slave of Allāh', indicating the pre-Islamic use of the name "Allah" intheophoric names.[33]
According toPatricia Crone, the rise of Islam marked a decisive shift to strict monotheism by redefining Allah as the one and only God.[35] Recent epigraphic discoveries further confirm that Allah was invoked as a high god distinct from pagan deities and lunar cults.[36]
