Did you know that Allah had daughters? Did you know that before Muhammad, tribes of Arabia already believed in Allah? And if so, then, what did Muhammad offer them?

In this interview, I discuss the following about pre-Islamic Arabia:

►a hotbed of monotheistic religions

►What is Henotheism?

►the high God and the intermediary gods

►Allah and his daughters

►Kaaba's history: water, idols and a meteor

►Kaaba - a big business

►Quraysh - powerful tribe than upended Arabia's tribal traditions

►reenvisioning Yahweh and Allah

►Did Muhammad bring a new religion to Arabia?

►What was Muhammad's "wow factor"?

►Why is Medina so important to the history of Islam and Arabia?

🚩About My Guest:

My guest is Dr. Reza Aslan, a scholar of religion and Distinguished Professor at UC Riverside. He serves on the board of trustees for the Chicago Theological Seminary and The Yale Humanist Community. He is an Emmy and Peabody-nominated producer and a recipient of the prestigious James Joyce award.

Dr. Aslan has authored several books, including the following:

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth,
An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville, and
No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which we discuss in this episode. The 20th anniversary edition of this book will publish on Sept. 2, 2025.

🚩Other Related Interviews:

►Polytheism vs Monotheism & How Polytheism Ended - From City States to Persian Period |S1E33-34

Video: https://bit.ly/UME-YT-S1E33-34

Audio: https://bit.ly/UME-S1E33

I hope you enjoy these episodes.

Adel Aali

⁠Support My Program⁠:

I rely on ⁠your support⁠ to continue this program. So thank you in advance.

🎶Music attributions:

1. Opening and closing music of the program:

Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.

Music available on at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)

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This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.

2. Background music to guest introduction:

The Desert | The Grand Score

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creatorchords.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music promoted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.free-stock-music.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.

3. Background music to promoting History Behind News episodes:

39. Friends: How Many of Us Have Them? Thoughts on Friendships in Adulthood