In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Signs of Revelation in Ancient Greek Civilization
Author: Abdul Basir Sohaib Siddiqi
Translation by: Tahleel Team
Date of Publication: 12.12.2025
This essay is of great importance for understanding Islamic religious epistemology, because ancient Greek civilization occupies a very prominent position within circles that critique Islamic religious thought and within anti-religious circles. This prominence arises from their insistence on an erroneous—indeed completely false—idea: namely, that most religious ideas have their roots in ancient Greek civilization and were taken from there and then promoted under the name of religious thought. They extend this mindset even to the sacred domain of the religion of Islam.
This essay, taking historical facts into consideration, undertakes to demonstrate the falsity of the claims made by anti-religious thinkers and the invalidity of their generalized assumptions when applied to the sacred domain of Islam regarding the origin of revealed teachings in ancient Greek civilization.
One of the main axes of this essay is to establish that the intellectual foundation of ancient Greek civilization rests upon revealed teachings.
That is to say, ancient Greek civilization has a historical genesis and birth whose cradle of growth was nourished by revealed ideas and teachings.
To prove that the foundation of ancient Greek civilization consists of revealed ideas and thoughts, the first matter that must be considered is culture (civilization).
By focusing on the culture and civilization of ancient Greece on the basis of historical facts, it becomes evident that the elements and factors of ancient Greek culture and civilization emerged thousands of years earlier in neighboring lands and reached ancient Greece through various channels.
Civilization began in ancient Egypt, and the second civilizational sphere was Mesopotamia, with its center in the ancient city of Babylon.
From these two spheres, civilization and culture later spread to other regions.
The art of writing emerged in Egypt about 4000 years before Christ. After that, writing was established and developed in Mesopotamia.
Around 1800 BCE, Egypt was conquered by a Semitic people known as the Hyksos, who ruled Egypt for two centuries.
It was during the period of Hyksos rule and dominance in Egypt that the historical event of the prophethood of Joseph (peace be upon him) occurred, and Joseph (peace be upon him) attained authority in Egypt during the Hyksos rule. This means that the illuminating torch of revealed teachings, through the prophethood of Joseph (peace be upon him), was lit and shone brightly in Egypt, and its rays reached other lands to illuminate human life.
In Babylon, the center of Mesopotamian civilization, the Sumerians ruled. Their origin is obscure, and later they were replaced by Semitic peoples. One of the most famous kings of this era is Nebuchadnezzar, who attacked Jerusalem, destroyed Solomon’s Temple, and took the Jews into captivity, keeping a large number of them as captives in Babylon. As a result of this event, the Talmud (oral traditions) of prophethood and messengership among the Children of Israel became established in history in two forms:
- The “Circle,” belonging to those Israelites who remained in Palestine and Jerusalem.
- The “Haggadah,” belonging to the Israelite captives in Babylon.
Cyrus the Great (Dhul-Qarnayn) conquered Babylon, defeated Nebuchadnezzar, freed the Israelites who had been taken captive in Babylon, and restored Solomon’s Temple.
It is noteworthy and worthy of attention that the Bronze Age ended around 1000 BCE and the Iron Age began. This period closely coincides with the time of David (peace be upon him), who used iron in defensive industries and promoted ironworking.
This is precisely the period in which the use of iron by David (peace be upon him) is eloquently mentioned in the Noble Qur’an.
The emergence of iron usage in human life highlighted the need for iron. Regions that lacked iron sought to compensate for this deficiency through trade. From this point onward, maritime trade took shape, and this trade was conducted by the people of the island of Crete (Creta Island or Kreta-Insel).
On the island of Crete there existed a culture known as the Minoan culture, which was highly advanced.
The Minoan culture possessed the characteristics of a maritime culture, and for this reason it maintained very close relations with ancient Egypt, especially in art and certain religious and spiritual beliefs.
The close and intimate relationship between Crete and ancient Egypt was based on trade and commercial relations, and this relationship was flourishing and prosperous.
Thriving trade relations existed between Egypt and Crete, and this trade, conducted by the Cretans, reached its peak around 1500 BCE.
The religious beliefs of the people of Crete show similarities and close affinities with the religious beliefs of Syria and Asia Minor, as recorded by history.
The influence of the art prevalent in ancient Egypt on the art of the people of Crete is evident and clear, as Cretan art bears many similarities and resemblances to Egyptian art, with the difference that Cretan art is more original and vibrant.
The culture and civilization of the people of Crete have a clearly identifiable address in history, namely the palace of Minos in the city of Knossos.
From a doctrinal perspective, the beliefs of the people of Crete represent a mixture of monotheism and polytheism.
The Cretans believed in one god or in multiple gods whom they worshipped.
In the realm of explicit polytheistic belief, the most prominent deity worshipped by the Cretans was the “Mistress of Animals” (Herrin der Tiere), the goddess of hunting, who may correspond to Artemis.
This goddess, representing polytheistic belief, was also associated with a child—a young son who was a male god.
The most prominent belief of the people of Crete was belief in life after death or resurrection, which held great significance: that is, recompense in the afterlife through a system of judgment after death, where good and bad deeds are rewarded or punished.
This belief is essentially a fundamental component of monotheistic faith. However, in another dimension, separated from monotheistic belief, it shows similarities with the beliefs of ancient Egypt. In ancient Egypt, posthumous recompense was distorted and linked to Osiris.
The culture of the people of Crete was a joyful culture; that is, Minoan culture recorded a cheerful and life-affirming culture in history. Another aspect of this culture is that these people were far removed from magic and sorcery and were not inclined toward melancholy. Another dimension of their life indicates that they were peace-loving people, as evidenced by their way of life without military fortresses, towers, or defensive walls, although they possessed naval power for self-defense.
Before Minoan culture came to an end, it reached ancient Greece around 1600 BCE and spread there.
After undergoing gradual changes, this Minoan culture preserved itself until around 900 BCE.
Considering the gradual transformations of Minoan culture in the land of Greece, the civilization it established came to be known as the Mycenaean civilization or Mycenaean land culture. The prominent features of this Mycenaean culture are royal tombs and fortresses built atop hills. These hilltop fortresses indicate military movements and activities, that is, signs of defensive and martial activity.
Homer reflects images of this culture in his poetry and presents its various dimensions.
It is noteworthy that history again speaks of a development whose birthplace was not ancient Greek society, but rather neighboring lands in their social, economic, and political relations.
This development was the introduction of coinage, minted by the Lydian dynasty around 700 BCE, which organized exchange and trade on the basis of coinage.
Coin-based exchange originated in the land of Lydia.
There is considerable doubt regarding the Mycenaean people as to whether they spoke Greek or whether they were an older population of the Greek lands. This is an ambiguity about which history remains silent.
Some believe that religion and religiosity in ancient Greece are primarily related to the Olympian gods and the Olympian polytheistic system. This is not correct, because within the Olympian polytheistic system there is no attribute of creatorship, and morality is absent. In this polytheistic system, heroism is the foundation of conquest, meaning that the Olympian gods were embedded in the beliefs of the ancient Greeks as conquerors who, with lavish banquets acquired through plunder, occupied themselves with pleasure and indulgence.
Religiosity and religion are rather associated with Bacchus or Dionysus and Orpheus.
Bacchus was known as the god of wine and intoxication.
The worship of Bacchus conveys a kind of mysticism that exerted significant influence on philosophy.
A prominent feature of the religious thought associated with Bacchus is the abandonment of rationality—that is, prudence, caution, and foresight—meaning liberation from rational restraints in life, which produces a kind of unrestrained freedom.
One of the intoxicating substances widely used in Bacchic rituals was alcohol, whose intoxication led participants into a trance, resulting in a sense of liberation from prudence, caution, and foresight.
Dionysus, or Bacchus, was in fact associated with Thrace and was often linked to agricultural produce. It was believed that worship of Bacchus increased agricultural yields.
It is unclear whether Bacchus took the form of a human or a bull; history remains silent on this matter as well.
In one of the rituals associated with Bacchus, women and young girls spent entire nights on hills dancing naked.
They tore wild animals apart and ate their flesh.
In this excessive licentiousness and extreme freedom, marked by abandonment of prudence and foresight, history bears witness to the barbarity and savagery of Bacchic rituals.
Ultimately, the worship of Dionysus or Bacchus signifies departure from prudence and foresight and immersion in physical or bodily passion—that is, ecstasy and nothing but ecstasy.
The original form of Bacchic rites was savage and repulsive.
In their refined and ethical form, which conveys elements of monotheistic belief, these rites influenced ancient Greek philosophy and present the image of ancient Greek civilization as shaped by this influence; without it, the civilization cannot be properly understood.
This ethical, monotheistic refinement of religious belief is attributed to a reformist figure named Orpheus.
In this refined, ethical, monotheistic form of religious belief, spiritual or physical intoxication was replaced by a form of ascetic discipline.
Despite the importance of this ethical, monotheistic refinement, Orpheus remains an intriguing and, from certain perspectives, ambiguous figure, with history’s silence reflecting this ambiguity.
Some believe that Orpheus was a real, influential, and reformist personality.
Others consider Orpheus to be a god or a purely mythical figure.
In this portrayal—clear in some respects and ambiguous in others—whether as a personality or as an ethical and legal concept, Orpheus represents a historical reality.
What is important is to know that Orpheus originated from Crete; that is, his birthplace and abode was the island of Crete.
It is also historically established that most Orphic teachings have their source in ancient Egypt and originated there.
This is precisely the point of interest: to demonstrate the route through which revealed teachings entered ancient Greece.
Based on these historical findings, it is certain that Orphic teachings reached ancient Greece through the island of Crete.
In a broad summary, it is clearly understandable that revealed teachings from ancient Egypt and Syria reached ancient Greece through Crete via Orpheus.
In another historical account, Orpheus, due to his reformist activities and moral teachings, incurred the wrath and fury of the female attendants of the Bacchic cult, who tore him apart.
Some of the teachings of Orpheus include:
- Dualism of soul and body.
- Belief in the immortality of the soul.
- Belief in resurrection.
- Purification (ethical teachings).
- The autonomy of moral totality (the highest good is virtue, and external factors cannot divert a person from virtue).
- The definition and meaning of parrhesia and the domains influenced by the concept of parrhesia (obligation and duty, eloquence and rhetoric, politics, philosophy, and tragic literature).
- Reincarnation.
- The reduced importance of music.
Among these teachings, there exists coherence and harmony, indicating an absence of contradiction, which in itself suggests that they are interwoven and intertwined within a monotheistic framework of belief. On the other hand, reincarnation stands in contradiction with the other elements, particularly in its clear opposition to life after death or resurrection, because reincarnation is confined to this world, whereas life after death entails transcendence beyond worldly existence.
Thus, reincarnation within Orphic teachings represents a clear distortion of authentic Orphic doctrine.
Orphic teachings influenced all philosophical thought, ethics, law, and literature.
The ethics of Socrates have their roots in these Orphic teachings; Plato’s philosophy was nourished by them; Pythagoras adorned his knowledge with them earlier; and they appear clearly in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Upon close examination, revealed teachings in ancient Greece appear in some cases explicitly, in others ambiguously, and in still others in distorted forms. In any case, the history of ancient Greek civilization is replete with these elements.
