Mentioned in the Qur’an alongside al-Lāt and Manāt [53:19–20], al-ʿUzzā was one of the major deities of pre-Islamic Arabia (image on the left below). Primarily worshipped in Naẖla, east of Mecca, her cult was deeply rooted in the religious life of the Quraysh—the tribe of Muḥammad—who considered her one of their celestial patrons. She was regarded as the most powerful of the three goddesses of the triad, to the point that some Arabs swore by her with even more reverence than by al-Lāt or Manāt.
