虽然伊斯兰教之前的阿拉伯人并没有完全否认真主，但他们并未认识到真主的真实本质，即独一和永恒的主。他们既没有对真主形成真正的理解，也没有以正确的方式崇拜祂。相反，他们把偶像当作真主的同伴来崇拜，这些偶像被认为代表他们伟大而虔诚的祖先，有些情况下则代表他们声称是真主的女儿的天使。

Although the Arabs before Islam did not deny God altogether, they did not know Him by His true identity as the One and the Eternal. They neither showed any true understanding of God, nor worshipped Him properly. On the contrary, they ascribed to Him, as partners, idols that were supposed to represent their great and pious ancestors or, in some cases, the angels whom they claimed to be God’s daughters.

此外,他们还断言真主与精灵之间存在血缘关系。然而,他们往往无视所有这些限定,仍然亲自崇拜那些偶像。但无论如何,他们都宣称,正如《古兰经》所引述的那样,他们"崇拜它们,只是为了让它们使我们亲近真主"。(39:3)

Moreover, they alleged a kinship between Him and the jinn. They often ignored all these qualifications, however, and worshipped those idols themselves. But in all cases they claimed, as the Qur’ān quotes them, that they “only worship them [i.e. their various deities] so that they may bring us near to God.” (39: 3)

《古兰经》还说："如果你问他们：谁创造了天地，并使日月服从（既定的法则）？他们必定说：是真主。"（29：61）又说："如果你问他们：谁从天上降下雨水，借此使死去的大地复活？他们必定说：是真主。"（29：63）此外，真主在他们的誓言和祈祷中，也使他们所崇拜的神明退居其后。

The Qur’ān also states: “If you ask them who it is that has created the heavens and the earth, and subjected the sun and the moon (to fixed laws) they will say: God.” (29: 61) And again: “If you ask them who it is that sends down water from the sky, and thereby revives the earth after it has died, they will say: God.” (29: 63) Moreover, God superseded their deities in their oaths and supplications.

尽管他们信仰真主，但他们所持有的多神信仰玷污了他们的观念、传统和仪式，以至于他们把自己收入和财产的一部分，甚至把自己的子女，分配给他们所声称的神灵。事实上，他们有时还被迫杀害自己的孩子。关于此事，《古兰经》中有如下经文：

But in spite of their belief in God, the polytheism they entertained fouled their concepts, traditions and rites to the extent that they assigned to their alleged deities a portion of their earnings and possessions, and even their offspring. In fact, they were at times forced to sacrifice their children. Concerning this, the Qur’ān has the following to say:

他们从真主所创造的庄稼和牲畜中，划出一份归给真主，并说：

Out of the produce and the cattle He has created, they assign a portion to God, saying:

"这是献给真主的"——他们如此假称——"这是献给我们所崇拜的伙伴的。"凡献给他们伙伴的，永不到达真主那里；而献给真主的，却能到达他们的伙伴那里。他们的判断何等恶劣！同样，那些他们所崇拜的伙伴，使许多以物配主者觉得杀害自己儿女是美好的，意图使他们走向毁灭，并使他们的宗教陷入迷惑。

‘This is for God’ — or so they pretend — ‘and this is for the partners we associate [with Him].’ Whatever they assign to their partners never reaches God, but that which is assigned to God does reach their partners. How ill they judge! Thus have the partners they associate [with God] made the killing of their own children seem goodly to many idolaters, seeking to bring them to ruin and to confuse them in their faith.