What Was the Name of the Religion in the East and the West before Christianity and Islam
By S. Arshad, New Age Islam
25 July 2025
Name of the pre-Christianity and pre-Islamic religion is not Found in historical accounts
Main Points:
1. Idol worship was a common religious practice before the advent of organised religions.
2. The name of the religion of Arabs before Islam is not known.
3. The name of the religion of England before Christianity is,also not known.
4. The Quran has documented the beliefs of pre-Islamic beliefs and practices of the people of Arab.
----
Christianity and Islam are the two major organised religions of the world. They have their fundamental scriptures, spiritual guides or prophets and definite beliefs, ideology and well-defined practices and rites.
However, it is interesting to note that the name of the religion in practice before the advent of Christianity in England or of Islam in Arab does not find mention in historical accounts. The names of the gods and deities and some beliefs and practices of the people do find mention in history but the names of their religions is not known.
We are told that the religion in practice in England before the introduction of Christianity in England is Anglo-Saxon paganism which was based on the worship of various gods and goddesses but paganism was not the name given to their religion by the followers of what we call paganism.
Christianity was introduced to England in the 5th century and the Christian preachers and priests found the inhabitants worshipping gods and goddesses. They also found them leading an uncultured life. They were mostly uneducated and uncivilised. Therefore, the Christian priests called them pagan. One meaning of the word pagan is 'criminal'. It means the followers of the religion in practice in England in the 5th century did not have a name for their religion or their community. And the Christian priests coined a derogatory term to identify or stereotype them. And their religion was called Paganism.
Interestingly, we find some similarity in the beliefs and practices of the paganism of England, polytheism of the Arabs and the polytheism of the Indian sub-continent. For example, Woden was the king of the gods and was the god of wisdom , magic and war. Thunor or Thor was the god of thunder, strength and protection. Tiw was the sky god. Goddess Frig was the wife of Woden and was the goddess of motherhood, marriage and domestic bliss. In the Arab and Indian polytheism also, gods and goddesses were associated with different departments and needs of life. The linguistic proximity of Tiw to Shiv is also important.
In India, the days of the week are also associated with gods like Shanivar, Ravivar or Brihspativar which are though planets (Graha) but have divine powers. In the pre- Christian England also, the days of the week were named after the gods or goddesses like Wednesday after Woden, Thursday after Thor, Friday after Frig and Tuesday after Tiw. They also offered sacrifices of inanimate objects and animals to their deities as was the practice in India and other parts of the world in the pre-Christian era. The dead were cremated on a funeral pyre. The oldest poem of English Beowulf gives account of the funeral pyre of the warrior Beowulf on a hill.
The polytheists of Arab had similar beliefs but they had their own belief system and deities. The Kaaba housed 360 idols. It means the Arabs worshipped 360 gods and goddesses. They were associated with different departments of life but the main deity was Hubal. Though the Quran documents some of their beliefs and practices, it does not mention the name of the religion the pre-Islamic Arabs professed or practiced. It obvious that the religion had no name as was the case in England. The Quran calls them Mushriks, Munkir or Kafir, all descriptive words as the Christian priests called the polytheists of England pagans. Some of the beliefs and practices of the polytheists of Arab as mentioned in the Quran are as follows:
1. They believed in Allah but worshipped deities as their intercessors.
2. Whistling and clapping were part of their worship in Kaaba.
3. They did not belief in life after death.
4. More ancient polytheists of Arab did not believe in Allah.
5. Their belief was not based on any divine scripture or the teachings of a spiritual guide. It was based on hearsay or the practices of their forefathers. The following verses testify to their beliefs:
"If you ask them O Prophet, who created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon for your benefit, they will certainly say, Allah, how can they then be deluded from the truth."(Al Ankabut: 61)
"Their prayers at the Sacred House was nothing but whistling and clapping. So taste the punishment for your disbelief."(Al Anfal: 35)
"Indeed sincere devotion is due only to Allah.As for those who take other lords besides Him, saying 'we worship them only so they may bring closer to Allah, surely Allah will judge between all regarding what they differed about. Allah certainly does not guide whoever persists in lying and disbelief."(Al Zumar:3)
"Remember when he questioned his father and his people, 'what are these statues to which you are so devoted?' They replied, 'We found our forefathers worship them.' (Al Anbya:52)
"Does he promise you that one you are dead and reduced to dust and bones, you will be brought forth alive.?"(Al.Muminun:35)
"Still they ask mockingly, 'when we are disintegrated into the earth, will we really be raised as a new creation? In fact, they are in denial of the meeting with their Lord."(Ha Meem Sajda:10)
Thus, the Quran has documented the beliefs and practices of the pre-Islamic Arab community, it does not mention the name of religion because an organised religion has its own religious scripture and its spiritual guide or prophet. The people of Makkah or Arab only followed the practices of their forefathers.
The beliefs and practices of the pagans of England or of the polytheists of Arab were an accumulation of centuries of traditions without any scriptural or ideological foundation. They worshipped gods and goddesses on the basis of tradition. They feared or revered natural phenomenon or supernatural powers for protection or blessing according to their natural instinct not according to any scriptural or ideological instructions.
Therefore, what we call religion existing before the advent of organised religions was only a way of life of the simple and ignorant primitive, tribal human society.
----
S. Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/religion-east-west-christianity-islam/d/136290
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism