Manaf (deity)

Manaf (Arabic: مناف‎‎ Manāf ) was a pre-Islamic Arabian deity. Personal names incorporating the name Manaf such as ‘Abd Manaf show that his cult was widespread among the tribes of Quraysh, Hudhayl, and Tamim. Although al-Tabari calls Manaf "one of the greatest deities of Mecca," very little information is available on the subject. It is sometimes said that women, who normally touched his idol as a token of blessing, kept away from it during menstruation, but T. Fahd notes that this practice was common to all idols according to the available report from Ibn Al-Kalbi. Manaf's name is found in Thamudic, Safaitic, and Lihyanitic inscriptions, and there were altars dedicated to him at Hawran in the Levant and at Volubilis in Morocco.