The state of religion in pre-Islamic Arabia was rather complicated and diverse. There was no single political structure that impacted the spread of religions considerations and beliefs. Looking at the modern Arabic land, it is impossible to imagine there another religion except Islam, however, before the implementation of this religion people on this land worshiped to different Gods, idols, etc.
Idol-worshippers or polytheists, Atheists, Zindiqs, Sabines, Jews, Christians, and Monotheists were the most spread religious organizations which helped people in their religious beliefs. People on the territory of Arabia were organized in tribes and each tribe followed personal religious beliefs. Depending on the territory, people followed different religious considerations and their own cults.
Trying to consider the most spread religious concerns, it is important to state that most of the tribes followed their own cult, however, most of them had one God. Still, the peculiarity of the religion in pre-Islamic Arabia is that people did not believe in life after death, but the presence of the mysterious creatures was important for human imagination.
Therefore, they had such magic creatures as jinn, ghosts, etc. There were days when violence was forbidden as well as the places with the same restriction. Even though there is a belief that the period of antiquity is characterized by polytheism, the territory of Arabia was inherited with the tribes who pursued monotheistic views (Sowell 18).
Dwelling upon the religious consideration in the pre-Islamic Middle East, it is important to understand the geopolitical structure of the territory. The whole territory whether Islam was born was divided between two powers, the Byzantine (Graeco-Roman) and Sasanian (Iranian) empires. The territory of the Byzantine Empire was Christian.
This type of religion was growing fast on the territory of the Middle East. The Sasanian (Iranian) empire was Zoroastrins. These two religions were dominating in their regions, however, there were other religions such as Manichcism and Buddhism. Judaism was also popular in Iraq along with Christianity (Robinson 2).
This classification is too general and only the largest religious are taken into account. It could happen that each tribe had similar religious, but cults different slightly. The absence of centralized government which could gather the power in their hands was the reason of the absence of the one religion.
People lived in their tribes, they followed the religion which existed in their community and they were satisfied with what they had. The presence of one and the same god was not in their interest due to the absence of the reasons for change. However, it did not last too long as the appearance of prophet changed everything having created the Islamic religion.
Therefore, it may be conclude that the pre-Islamic world was absolutely different in the religious relations. Judaism and Christianity were spread on the territory of the Middle East, while other religions also existed. The absence of the centralized government and the presence of too many tribes with personal considerations and beliefs have created the background for creating many religions.
The Middle East differed greatly during the time when Islam was no the only religion in the region. Having a single God many tribes required the presence of the mysterious characters, such as ghosts which were important for their beliefs. God in many cases was not vested with mystic features, such as life after death, etc.
Works Cited
Robinson, Francis. Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Print.
Sowell, Kirk H. The Arab World, an Illustrated History. New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 2004. Print.