Goddess

A goddess is a female deity, in contrast with a male deity known as a "god". A great many cultures have goddesses, sometimes alone, but more often as part of a larger that includes both of the conventional genders and in some cases even hermaphroditic (or gender neutral) deities.

pre-Islamic Arabia

In the pagan religion prevalent before Prophet Hazrat Muhammad,

Related Topics:
Pagan - Muhammad

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a number of goddesses were worshipped, including the three daughters of Allah: Al-Lat, Al-Uzza and Manat. In the 1990s, Salman Rushdie and his fatwa have brought this issue in the limelight. At the core of the argument is the following apocryphal verse which appears as a quotation in The Satanic Verses (novel):

Related Topics:
Al-Lat - Al-Uzza - Manat - 1990s - Salman Rushdie - Fatwa - The Satanic Verses (novel)

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:tilk-al-gharaniq al-'ula wa inna shafa'ata-hunna la-turtaja - p.340 Viking, New York

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:

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These lines are an antithesis of the strong monotheism that is Islam, and attributing it to the Prophet is blasphemy. The lines however, are part of a historical debate - they appear in the work of two early Arab historians (al-Waqidi, 747-823, and at-Tabari, 839-923), but repudiated by later Islamic scholars. The controversial sentence, known as Satanic Verses in the debate, was well known to Rushdie who wrote a paper on Muhammad for his Cambridge tripos in history.

Related Topics:
747 - 823 - 839 - 923 - Satanic Verses - Cambridge - Tripos

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The story is that these lines were inserted into the Qur'an by Muhammad so as

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to alleviate the persecution of the faithful by those who believed strongly in these goddesses. However, later these lines were recanted:

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:He stands in front of the statues of the Three and announces the abrogation of the verses which Shaitan whispered in his ear. These verses are banished from the true recitation, al qur'an. New verses are thundered in their place. 'Shall He have daughters and you sons?' Mahound recites. 'That would be a fine division! These are but names you have dreamed of, and your fathers. Allah vests no authority on them.' - p.124

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