About the supposedly arab polytheists
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The traditional account of the Arabs of the 7th century (of the Hejaz or elsewhere) pictures them most of the time as "polytheists" until the revelation of Quran, unfamiliar with any bilblical or judeo-christian tradition. But can we really believe or support the idea that travelling caravan-traders during a period of six centuries of infrequent contacts with jews and christians, were totally ignoring the judeo-christian revelation?
In the Quran, the word used to denote the polytheistic arabs is that of mu?rik?n, which according to the etymology and all the authors of the 8th and 9th century, signifies "associators", and such is the continued reproach addressed to the christians.
The supposed "arab polytheism" from which the islamic doctrine would give rise to the new Revelation and proto-islam, is in reality little convincing in respect of the quranic text itself multiple verses give explicit proof of the monotheistic faith of these mu?rik?n who were supposed to be polytheists.
A polytheism contradicted by what the text says about mu?rik?n
The detailed study of the quranic text does not only shed light on what the mu?rik?n-associators are not (i.e. horrible polytheists who burry their little daughters and who attribute to God daughters-goddesses); but also tells us what they effictively are real monotheists.
The "associators" who confirm believing in One God
First of all, they believe in the existence of a Creator and believe that this Creator is called Allah
"If you ask them Who created the heavens and the earth, and subjected the sun and the moon?" Surely they would say "Allah"
(s.29,61.63 || 31,25 || 39,3.Allah was the name used by the Arab christians even before the rise of Islam (1), corresponding to the hebrew El or Elohim. Furthermore, the faith of the mu?rik?n was not only montheistic, but trinitarian, which one can deduce from the anti-trinitarian polemic (2) of another verse
"By Allah, our Lord, we were not of those who associate."
(s.6,23)Who are those the author accuses of being "associators" and who defend themselves verbally against it? Do polytheists say they aren't polytheists? In this verse, the author wants to expose in advance, in the spirit of his disciple, the objection the christians will raise in defense of their faith, saying they only worship God. The reply is connected to the following verse it will be sufficient to treat these christians as liars
"Look how they lied against themselves"
(s.6,24)Jean de Damas, who visited the court of the Caliph, gives already explicit testimony of the primitive denominator of the christians and only the christians using the term mu?rik?n
"They call us associators, because they claim, we introduce an associate besides God, by saying that Christ is the Son of God and is God.";
According to this witness report, the word never meant idolators (3). A writing known as "Against Muhammad (Kat? Mwamed), dating from most likely the same time, gives the same meaning to the word associators, reserved to denominate the christians with (4).
Even the Quraysh (the tribe of Muhammad), according to the Quran and Tabari, are veritable polytheists. In the unique and short surah 106 where it mentions them, one can read
"They worship the Lord of this House (rabb h?d? l-bayti)" (s.106,3)
Tabari explains that the "Lord of this house" (5) they worship, is Allah. Would it then be necessary to explain this if this Lord is Allah?
(1) The name of 'Abd-Allah (meaning servant of God) is an arab christian name predating the Quran. Even if this looks insignifcant, it suffices to remember that "Allah" is "the christian name of the Deity, by which millions of christian arabs call to their God in the morning and evening before Mohammad" (Les arabaes chr?tiens ..., Paris 1933, p. 126)
(2) This kind of anti-trinitarian polemic is very present in the Quran see also 6,41.136; 10,12.22; 16,38.54; 23,86-89 || 31,32 || 43,87 and the remarks of Sfar Mondher, Le Coran, La Bile et L'Orient ancien, Paris, diffusion Cerf, 1998, p. 108-109
(3) Jean de Damas used the particular denominator of idolators to refer to the groups of Arabs who he believed to have remained polytheists before Mohammed
"The Saracenes were idolators, and worshipped the morning star as well as Aphrodite ... wrongfully accuse us of being idolators, cause we worship the cross, which they resent. (Trait? des h?r?sies written in around 746 - la 100e h?r?sie, 4,1.13, S.C. n? 383, Paris, Cerf, 1992, p.217).
(4) This treaty "Against Muhammad"(Kat? Mwamed ? P.G. 104, 1456 B) is sometimes wrongly considered as a sort of continuation of Refutation against the Hagarenes by Bartholomew of Edessa, which was written later.
(5) And that the "House" undeniably is the Meccan Ka'ba. Which is very debatable - see Pr?mare Alfred-Louis de, Les fondations de l?Islam..., Paris, Seuil, 2002, p.70.