Pre-Islamic Arabia, before Islam's emergence in 610 CE, was a region with diverse civilizations and cultures. This period is known through archaeological evidence, external accounts, and later Islamic historians' recordings of oral traditions. Key civilizations included the Thamud (around 3000 BCE to 300 CE) and Dilmun (end of the fourth millennium to around 600 CE).^[1] From the second millennium BCE,^[2] Southern Arabia housed kingdoms like the Sabaeans, Minaeans, and Eastern Arabia was home to Semitic-speaking populations.

Archaeological explorations have been limited, with indigenous written sources primarily being inscriptions and coins from Southern Arabia. External sources from Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, and others provide additional information. These regions were integral to Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade, with major kingdoms like the Sabaeans, Awsan, Himyar, and the Nabateans prospering.

Hadhramaut's first inscriptions date back to the 8th century BCE, though external references to it appear in the 7th century BCE. Dilmun is mentioned in Sumerian cuneiform from the end of the 4th millennium BCE.^[3] The Sabaean civilization, influential in Yemen and parts of Eritrea and Ethiopia, lasted from 2000 BCE to the 8th century BCE, later conquered by the Himyarites.^[4]

Awsan, another important South Arabian kingdom, was destroyed in the 7th century BCE by the Sabaean king Karib'il Watar. The Himyarite state, dating from 110 BCE, eventually dominated Arabia until 525 CE. Their economy was heavily based on agriculture and trade, particularly in frankincense, myrrh, and ivory.

The Nabataean origins are unclear, with their first definite appearance in 312 BCE. They controlled significant trade routes and were known for their capital, Petra.

The Lakhmid Kingdom, founded by Yemeni immigrants in the 2nd century, was an Arab Christian state in Southern Iraq. Similarly, the Ghassanids, migrating from Yemen to southern Syria in the early 3rd century, were South Arabian Christian tribes.^[5]

From 106 CE to 630 CE, northwestern Arabia was part of the Roman Empire as Arabia Petraea.^[6] A few nodal points were controlled by Iranian Parthian and Sassanian empires. Pre-Islamic religious practices in Arabia included polytheism, ancient Semitic religions, Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, Mandaeism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, and occasionally Hinduism and Buddhism.