Religious Tradition in the Hejaz

Hejaz Peninsula from the north to the south and from the east to the west, has always interacted with different cultural elements and religious traditions throughout history. This region, which stretches from Palestine-Jordan, known as “the golden crescent” in the north, to Mesopotamia has accommodated many traditions from pagan cultures to monotheistic movements. Assyrian-Babylon paganism worshipped the stars and planets, while polytheistic Greek culture, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Manichaeism have all existed in this region. Apart from these religions, many movements that are known as secret religions and which involve esotericism and mysticism have also thrived here. This region was also the place in which many prophets conveyed the faith of monotheism, which is based on the absolute unity of God. Prophets like Abraham, Zachariah, and Jesus invited people to accept God as the one and superior power, to avoid associating partners with Him and to worship Him alone; these prophets struggled against polytheism, idolatry, cruelty, immorality and sedition. A similar condition also existed in Egypt, located to the northwest of the Hejaz, in Abyssinia to the west of Hejaz, Yemen to the south of the Hejaz, and coastal regions of the Indian Ocean, located to the east of the Hejaz. Many cultural and religious traditions have existed that have been important for humanity in all these regions.

The Hejaz, located in the center of all these regions, has been affected by different political and religious traditions throughout history. Byzantium lay to the north of the Hejaz and represented Christianity; the Sassanians to the northeast represented Zoroastrianism. Both these states were important and powerful in the region. Judiasm was another important religion at the time, and Jewish communities lived in various areas of the region. Apart from these, it is known that the religion and the culture of the Nabatene kingdom, which ruled over the north of the Hejaz, were very influential on the Arabs in the area.

In the period of Prophet Muhammad, the people of the Hejaz region were, for the most part, polytheist Arabs. They were called ummis by the Jews and Christians living in the region. The term ummis means people who do not have a tradition of a revealed book in their religion. The polytheist Arabs called the Jews and the Christians Ahl al-Kitab (People of the Book). This term was related more to the Jewish assertion of a written revelation tradition in order to distinguish themselves from the polytheist Arabs. The Jews mainly lived in cities such as Yathrib and Khaybar. Some Christians were living in important cities of the region like Mecca, but Christianity were more prevalent to the north and south of the Hejaz. Apart from the Jews and the Christians, there are some accounts in later sources that mention a community called the Hanifs. These people were important in that they were not adherents of the traditional Arabian polytheism. It is known that the Prophet (pbuh) made contact with these people from time to time, but it would not be correct to say that this relationship was a close one. It is interesting that Arab idolaters did not display a strong reaction against these “People of the Book” who were different from them in terms faith, but they were violently opposed to Prophet Muhammad. The most important reason for this may be the consideration that the movement of these people was not so influential that it could threaten the social and political structure in Mecca.