1. Introduction

Those have argued over many years that "Allah" of the Qur'an was in fact a pagan Arab "Moon god" of pre-Islamic times. The primary proponent of this view was Robert Morey, and, along with his missionary brethren, he has propagated these views extensively. We have made a devastating refutation of this claim by utilising the archaeological evidence and showed how Morey's claims were nothing but a grand fraud.

Interesting is the name HUBAL (in Arabic and Hebrew script the vowels were not noted). This shows a very suspicious connection to the Hebrew HABAAL (= the Baal). As we all know this was an idol mentioned in the Bible (Num. 25:3, Hosea 9:10, Deut. 4:3, Josh. 22:17 and Ps. 106:28-29). Where was Baal worshipped? In Moab! It was the "god of fertility". Amr ibn Luhaiy brought Hubal from Moab to Arabia.

Just like the "Moon god" allegation of Morey, those have also claimed that Hubal was a Moon god, and by identity Allah also was a Moon god. Are these claims of the Christian missionaries true? In this article we would like to examine the nature of Allah and Hubal from the historical, lexical and archaeological point of view. We will show the claim that Allah and Hubal are identical, is untenable not only from the point of view of history but also from archaeology. A lexical and epigraphic study will confirm that Hubal and "Ha-Baal" are different deities.

2. Hubal = Allah? A Detailed Investigation

The Quraysh had several idols in and around the Ka‘bah. The greatest of them was Hubal. Its cornelian or agate statue stood inside the Ka‘bah. The statue of Hubal was of a male figure with a golden arm - a replacement of a broken-off stone arm when Hubal came into possession of the Quraysh. ‘Amr ibn-Luhayy imported Hubal and it was first set up by Khuzaymah ibn Mudrikah ibn al-Ya's ibn Mudar. Consequently, it used to be called Khuzaymah's Hubal.^[1] In front of Hubal there were seven divination arrows. A custodian guarded the statue, received the offerings and sacrifices and conducted future-forecasting to pilgrims. The cult associated with him involved divination and forecasting of future events such as marriage, death, apology, lineage, etc.^[2] ‘Abd al-Muttalib, grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, shuffled the divination arrows in order to find out which of his ten children he should sacrifice in fulfilment of a vow. The arrow pointed to his son ‘Abdullah, father of Muhammad. The Quraysh deterred the Prophet's grandfather, arguing that his act would establish an example that other Arabs might follow.

ORIGINS OF HUBAL AT MAKKAH

It was mentioned that ‘Amr ibn-Luhayy imported Hubal to Makkah. What were the origins of Hubal?

According to Nehls, in an attempt to connect Hubal with "Ha-Baal" (i.e., the Baal), the Hubal idol at Makkah originated from Moab. He says:

Where was Baal worshipped? In Moab! It was the "god of fertility". Amr ibn Luhaiy brought Hubal from Moab to Arabia.

Not surprisingly, he did not mention any supporting evidence to prove that the Islamic traditions say that ‘Amr ibn Luhayy brought the Hubal idol from Moab to Arabia. Those lifting each others work without proper verification is not entirely surprising. Yet another one lifted Nehls' claim about the origins of the Hubal idol at Makkah from Moab, only to present a quote from Hitti's History Of The Arabs that says ‘Amr ibn-Luhayy imported the Hubal idol "from Moab or Mesopotamia";^[3] thus clearly throwing uncertainty over the Moabite origins of Hubal. From the Islamic traditions, it is unclear where the Hubal idol in Makkah originated from. Al-Azraqi says ‘Amr ibn Luhayy brought Hubal from Hit in Mesopotamia, a town situated on the Euphratus,^[4] while Ibn al-Kalbi implied that it came from al-Balqa' in Bil