Editing Al-Uzza (section)

== Cult of al-‘Uzzá ==
According to the ''[[Book of Idols]]'' (''Kitāb al-Aṣnām'') by [[Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi|Hishām ibn al-Kalbī]]<ref>[[#kalbi|Ibn al-Kalbi]], trans. Faris (1952), pp.&nbsp;16–23.</ref>
{{Blockquote|Over her [an Arab] built a house called ''Buss'' in which the people used to receive [[Oracle|oracular communications]]. The Arabs as well as the [[Quraysh (tribe)|Quraysh]] used to name their children "''‘Abdu l-ʻUzzā''". Furthermore, al-ʻUzzā was the greatest idol among the [[Quraysh (tribe)|Quraysh]]. They used to journey to her, offer gifts unto her, and seek her favours through [[sacrifice]].<ref>Jawad Ali, ''Al-Mufassal Fi Tarikh al-Arab Qabl al-Islam'' (Beirut), 6:238-9</ref>}}
:The [[Quraysh (tribe)|Quraysh]] used to circumambulate the [[Ka'ba|Ka‘bah]] and say,
::By [[al-Lāt]] and al-ʻUzzā,
::And [[Manāt|al-Manāt]], the third idol besides.
::Verily they are ''al-gharānīq''
::Whose intercession is to be sought.
This last phrase is said to be the source of the so-called [[Satanic Verses]]; the Arabic term ''al-gharānīq'' is translated as "most exalted females" by Faris in the ''[[Book of Idols]]'', but he annotates this much-argued ''[[hapax legomenon]]'' in a footnote as "lit. Numidian cranes."

Each of the three goddesses had a separate shrine near [[Mecca]]. The most prominent Arabian shrine of al-ʻUzzā was at a place called Nakhlah near Qudayd, east of Mecca toward [[Taif|aṭ-Ṭā’if]]; three trees were sacred to her there (according to a narration through al-'Anazi Abū-‘Alī in the ''Kitāb al-Aṣnām''.){{Blockquote|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 before the advent of [[Islam]].<ref>[[#hitti|Hitti]] (1937), pp. 96–101.</ref> 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.

Susan Krone suggests that the identities of al-‘Uzzá and [[al-Lāt]] were fused in central Arabia uniquely.<ref name="Krone">{{Cite book | last = Krone | first = Susan | title = Die altarabische Gottheit al-Lat Cited in Arabic Theology, Arabic Philosophy: From the Many to the One |page=96 | publisher = Speyer & Peters GmbH  | location = Berlin |date = 1992 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=g_IJCIT8CdAC&pg=PA96 | isbn=  9783631450925 }}</ref>

On the authority of [[Abdullah ibn Abbas|‘Abdu l-Lāh ibn ‘Abbās]], at-[[Tabari]] derived ''al-ʻUzzā'' from ''al-‘Azīz'' "the Mighty", one of the 99 "beautiful names of Allah" in his commentary on Qur'an 7:180.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}