nor of Moses, nor of Abraham the Close Friend. The Arabs (1) venerated Abraham the Close Friend and still observed remnants of his religion, such as making pilgrimage to the Sacred House, practising circumcision, and forbidding marriage to close blood-relatives. They used to be called ḥunafāʾ (upright monotheists), yet they were ḥunafāʾ who practised polytheism, not ḥunafāʾ who were purely devoted to God.

Ibn Abī Ḥātim says in his Tafsīr (2): “Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā narrated to us, al-ʿAbbās narrated to us, Yazīd b. Zurayʿ narrated to us, Saʿīd narrated to us from Qatādah, who said: ‘Al-ḥanīfiyyah is the testimony that there is no god but Allah. Included under it are the prohibition of marriage to one’s mothers, daughters, maternal aunts and paternal aunts, along with everything else Allah has forbidden, and circumcision. Thus theirs was a form of ḥanīfiyyah within polytheism: they were idolaters, yet even in their polytheism they forbade marriage to mothers, daughters, maternal aunts, and paternal aunts; they performed the pilgrimage to the House and carried out its rites.’”