Suwa'

THE ONE GODDESS AMONG THE FIVE. The commentators give each of the five a form — a man, a woman, a lion, a horse and an eagle — and hers is the woman.

Domains

• tribal patronage of hudhayl
• womanlike idol form

Relations

• named among the five idols of surat nuh with: Wadd
• named among the five idols of surat nuh with: Yaghuth
• named among the five idols of surat nuh with: Ya'uq
• named among the five idols of surat nuh with: Nasr

Sources

• Reference treatment of the five idols of Qur'an 71:23: Wadd, Suwa', Yaghuth, Ya'uq and Nasr are the five idols Noah's people were urged not to abandon. Islamic sources assign them to tribes: Wadd was worshipped by Kalb, Suwa' by Hudhayl, Yaghuth by Murad, Ya'uq by Hamdan and Nasr by Himyar. In more detail: Wadd was the god of the Banu Kalb ibn Wabara, a branch of the Quda'a, whose shrine was built at Dumat al-Jandal; Suwa' was the goddess of the Hudhayl and her idol was a female figure; Yaghuth was the god of An'um, a branch of Tayy, and of some branches of Madhhij; and Ya'uq was the god of Khaywan, a branch of Hamdan, in the territory of Hamdan in the Yemen. The commentators say that Wadd was worshipped in the form of a man, Suwa' in that of a woman, Yaghuth in that of a lion, Ya'uq in that of a horse and Nasr in that of an eagle.
• Qur'an 71:23 (Surat Nuh)
• Ibn al-Kalbi, Kitab al-Asnam (early 9th c. CE)