I need to know as much information as possible about what was the
religion of the Arabs before their conversion to Islam.
Also, what was the religion of the Turks before their conversion to Islam? 
For both these questions, I need documentation of the answer, with as
much as a primary source as possible.  Is this a question for
Scriptor?

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 02 Dec 2005 08:03 PST

Hello Sylvia! How nice to see you again, and with a challenging
question I will start doing research at once. Due to the complexity of
this topic, it may take a while, maybe several days for it may require
offline research. But I'll try to do my best!

Greetings,
Scriptor

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 02 Dec 2005 08:52 PST

As the first result of my research, I found out that the ancient
pre-Islamic Turks mainly followed a religion called Tengrianism (after
the supreme creator god Tengri), which they shared with the Mongols.

This rather extensive excerpt from Rafael Bezertinov's book
"Tengrianism - Religion of Türks and Mongols" describes the dieties of
Tengrianism and worship ceremonies in their honor:
http://sophistikatedkids.com/turkic/52Bezertinov/TengriBezertinovEn.html

This much shorter article, based upon Dr. Harun Gungor's book "The
Religion of Ancient Turks", gives a brief overview over the basic
character of the ancient Tengrianist religion:
http://www.turkishculture.org/ceremonies/Traditional%20religion.html

I believe it would not be easy to condense these texts (especially the
longer one) without losing a considerable amount of information; but I
could try if you prefer that to using the texts as they are.

Apart from this, do these texts cover the aspeczs you are interested
in or do you need more and more detailed information abeout the
ancient Turkish religion? Please don't hesitate to specify your needs.

For the time being, I will continue by searching for information about
pre-Islamic Arabian religions.

Regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by sylk-ga on 03 Dec 2005 05:15 PST

Dear Scriptor,
As usual, your answer to the first part of the question regarding the
early, pre-Islamic religion of the Turks, is excellent and perfect--no
further work on this part.  I need something similar (though it does
not have to be as extensive) for the the answer to the second part,
namely, the religion of the pre-islamic Arabs.
Thank you so much for such a thorough and immediate reply so far.  My
very best regards,
Sylvia

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 03 Dec 2005 05:38 PST

I'm glad to know that I could already answer one part of your
question. So far, I did not find something similar relating to the
ancient Arabian religion, but I'm sure that I can find that kind of
information. If everything else fails, I will collect as much
information as I can from printed sources on Monday.

Greetings,
Scriptor

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 03 Dec 2005 07:04 PST

My research has just led me to these descriptions of pre-islamic
Arabian religious beliefs (with references and links to additional
on-site information):

Studies of Pre-Islamic Paganism
http://www.geocities.com/mabcosmic/articles/istudies.html


This description may also be of interest:

Sacred Texts: Ancient Forms of Pre-Islamic Pagan Worship, by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/pip.htm

I am, of course, going to see if there are other sources of useful information.
Greetings,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by sylk-ga on 03 Dec 2005 10:30 PST

Dear Scriptor,
Thank you, again, for your immediate and thoroughly researched
response.  I now have all the information I need for this particular
question.  Please consider the question completely and expertly, as
usual for you, answered.
Many thanks, until next time.
Sylvia

Dear Sylvia,

Thank you very much. It's good to know that I could provide you just
what you needed.

All the best,
Scriptor

absolutely excellent response to my two-part question--well documented
and answered immediately.  Scriptor, as usual, is exceptional! 
Highest rating
Thank you,
Sylvia

What a very interesting question!  And interesting answers, especially
about the pre-Islamic Arabic religions since the revelation of Islam
had to deal with them immediately, face to face, so to speak, while it
was gaining adherents.

Congratulations, Scriptor!

While waiting for the answer, I couldn't resist pursuing the subject
myself.  Now that it has been, may I offer a couple of other sites on
the subject:

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ISLAM/PRE.HTM
http://www.bible.ca/islam/library/islam-quotes-swartz.htm
http://nabataea.net/nab6.html
http://voiceofdharma.com/books/htemples2/
   (See section IV for an Indian/Hindu interpretation.)

Books:
http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0511032846
http://answering-islam.org.uk/Index/K/kalbi.html

One of the points that comes out is that Judaism and Christianity were
well established pre-Islamic religions in the area.
Islam relates itself to them, acknowledging Abraham and Jesus as
prophets and accepting them as religions of the Book, indeed (my
interpretation) recognizing them as the dominant religions. 
Personally, I feel that Islam addressed the  disputes about the
Trinity that existed at the time: Arianism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianism
and also the worship of icons. Some sources suggest that Islam's
strict rules against images led to the iconoclasm in the 8th century.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07620a.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0824886.html

But that is getting beyond pre-Islamic Arabic religions.

Thanks to you both with regards, Myoarin

It is well known that Hiduism regards three Gods
1) Brahma
2) Vishnu
3) Mahesh (Shiva)
and also it is well known fact that when we try to write "Brahma" in
hebrew then we end up in writing "Abraham".

Well, in India, if you try to find out how many worship places are
there for Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. You will find most of the temples
of Vishnu (Lakshmi Narayan) are in northern part of India. Shiva
temples are in southern part of India. And most importantly, you will
not find more than one place for Brahma temple. In hinduism, Brahma's
wife name was "Saraswati" whereas in Judaism, Abraham's wife name was
"Sarah". Isn't it interesting?

Northern part of India is Aryan dominent and southern part of India is
Dravidian dominent.

Hiduism doesn't preach to follow with hard and fast rule of worshiping
one God. Whoever you regard most you can worship.

Now in my understanding, ancient Hinduism thinkers paid regard to all
people's sentiments, whether they are worshiping Shiva in South India
or Vishnu in North India or Abraham in far west of Asia, and regarded
all three most worshiped personalities as Gods at that time.

In hinduism, still all three are regarded equal, no one is condered as
superior to other one. Rest of other worship Gods and Godesses,
including Buddha, Mahavir (Jain's God), Rama, Krishna and even Jesus
are considered to be rebirth of these three only.

i.e. Brahma (Abraham), Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiva)