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Al-‘Uzzá
Al-‘Uzzá, like Hubal, was called upon for protection by the pre-Islamic Quraysh. "In 624 at the 'battle called Uhud', the war cry of the Qurayshites was, "O people of Uzzā, people of Hubal!"[1] Al-ʻUzzá also later appears in Ibn Ishaq's account of the alleged Satanic Verses.[2]
The temple dedicated to al-ʻUzzá and the statue itself was destroyed by Khalid ibn al Walid in Nakhla.[3][4]
Contents
Destruction of temple
Main article: Expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid (Nakhla)
Statues of Pagan goddess al-ʻUzzá from the Manatu temple at Petra
Lions Temple at Petra with Uzza
He sent Khalid ibn Al-Walid in Ramadan 8 A.H. to a place called Nakhlah, where there was a goddess called Al-‘Uzza worshipped by Quraish and Kinanah tribes. It had custodians from Banu Shaiban.
Khalid had to destroy Uzza, the most important of the goddesses. He set out with 30 horsemen.
It appears that there were two Uzzas, the real Uzza and a fake. Khalid first located the fake and destroyed it, then returned to the Prophet to report completion of duty. " Did you see anything unusual?" asked the Prophet. "No." Replied Khalid. " Then you have not destroyed Uzza" , said the Prophet. "Go again."
Angry at the mistake that he had made, Khalid once again rode to Nakhla, and this time he found the real Uzza temple. The custodian of the temple of Uzza had fled for his life, but before forsaking his goddess he had hung a sword around her neck in the hope that she might be able to defend herself. As Khalid entered the temple, he was faced by an unusual naked dark woman who stood in his way and wailed. Khalid did not stop to decide whether this devious woman was there to seduce him or to protect the idol, so he drew his sword in the name of Allah and with one powerful stroke the woman was cut in two. He then smashed the idol, and returning to Makkah, gave the Prophet an account of what he had seen and done. Then the Prophet said, "Yes, that was Uzza; and never again shall she be worshipped in your land."[3][4]
At Petra
The first known mention of al-‘Uzzá is from the inscriptions at Dedan, the capital of the Lihyanite Kingdom, in the fourth or third century BC. She had been adopted alongside Dushara as the presiding goddess at Petra, the Nabataen capital, where she assimilated with Isis, Tyche, and Aphrodite attributes and superseded her sisters.[5] During the 5th century Christianity became the prominent religion of the region following conquest by Barsauma.[6]Cult of al-‘Uzzá
According to the Book of Idols (Kitāb al-Aṣnām) by Hishām ibn al-Kalbī (N.A. Faris 1952, pp. 16–23)Over her [an Arab] built a house called Buss in which the people used to receive oracular communications. The Arabs as well as the Quraysh were wont to name their children "‘Abdu l-‘Uzzá". Furthermore, al-‘Uzzá was the greatest idol among the Quraysh. They used to journey to her, offer gifts unto her, and seek her favours through sacrifice.[7]This last phrase is said to be the source of the alleged Satanic Verses; the Arabic term is translated as "most exalted females" by Faris in the text, but he annotates this much-argued term in a footnote as "lit. Numidean cranes."
Each of the three goddesses had a separate shrine near Mecca. The most prominent Arabian shrine of al-‘Uzzá was at a place called Nakhlah near Qudayd, east of Mecca towards aṭ-Ṭā’if; three trees were sacred to her there (according to a narration through al-'Anazi Abū-‘Alī in the Kitāb al-Aṣnām.)
She was the Lady ‘Uzzayan to whom a South Arabian offered a golden image on behalf of his sick daughter, Amat-‘Uzzayan ("the Maid of ‘Uzzayan")‘Abdu l-‘Uzzá ["Slave of the Mightiest One"] was a favourite proper name during the advent of Islam. (Hitti 1937). The name al-‘Uzzá appears as an emblem of beauty in late pagan Arabic poetry quoted by Ibn al-Kalbī, and oaths were sworn by her
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Susan Krone suggests a fusion of the identities of Al-'Uzzá and Al-Lāt pertained uniquely in central Arabia.[9]
On the authority of ‘Abdu l-Lāh ibn ‘Abbās, at-Tabari derived al-‘Uzzá from al-‘Azīz "the Mighty", one of the 99 "beautiful names of Allah" in his commentary on Qur'an 7:180.[10]
Uzza the Garden
According to Easton's Bible Dictionary, Uzza was a garden in which Manasseh and Amon were buried (2 Kings 21:18, 26). It was probably near the king's palace in Jerusalem, or may have formed part of the palace grounds. Manasseh may probably have acquired it from someone of this name.As an Angel
In Judaic and Christian lore Uzza has been also used as an alternative name for the angel Metatron in the Sefer ha-heshek. More commonly he is referred to as either the seraphim Semyaza or as one of the three guardian angels of Egypt (Rahab, Mastema, and Duma) that harried the Jews during the Exodus.[11] As Semyaza in legend he is the seraph tempted by Ishtahar into revealing the explicit name of God and was thus burned alive and hung head down between heaven and earth as the constellation Orion.[12] In the 3rd book of Enoch and in the Zohar he is one of the fallen angels punished for cohabiting with human women and fathering the anakim.[13] ‘Uzzā is also identified with Abezi Thibod ("father devoid of counsel") who in early Jewish lore is also used as another name for Samael and Mastema referring to a powerful spirit who shared princedom of Egypt with Rahab and opposed Moses to eventually drown in the Red Sea.[14]See also
References
- Gustav Davidson, A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels, Scrollhouse, 1967 ISBN 0-02-907052-X pg. 4
Bibliography
- Ambros Arne A 2004: "A Concise Dictionary of Koranic Arabic". Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag. ISBN 3-89500-400-6
- Burton, John, The Collection of the Qur'an, Cambridge University Press, 1977: the collection and composition of the Qu'ran in the lifetime of Muhammad
- Finegan, Jack, The Archeology of World Religions, Princeton University Press, 1952, pages 482–485, 492
- Hammond, Philip, "An Isisian Model for The Goddess of the 'Temple of the Winged Lions' at Petra (Jordan)". 1985
- Hitti, Philip K. History Of The Arabs, 1937, pp 96–101
- Kitab al-Asnam in the original Arabic
- Peters, F. E., The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places. Princeton University Press 1994
- al-Tawil, Hashim, "Early Arab Icons: Literary and Archaeological Evidence for the Cult of Religious Images in Pre-Islamic Arabia", PhD dissertation, University of Iowa, 1993 [1]
- Ibn al-Kalbī; (author) and Nabih Amin Faris (translator & commentary) (1952): The Book of Idols, Being a Translation from the Arabic of the Kitāb al-Asnām." Princeton University Press. US Library of Congress #52006741
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "article name needed". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.
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