"What we can say is that early medieval Arabia was a rich melting-pot for cults and deities. In some cities and regions (notably the region we now call Yemen) there were thriving communities of Arab Jews and Christians. But in many more places pagan polytheism was the norm. Then there were what we might describe as pagan monotheists – believers in a single God who was not the same as the God of Christian or Jewish scripture. Desert prophets, mystics, monks, and hermits abounded, some following in the traditions of the early Christian ‘desert fathers’ who had sought proximity to God through ascetic living in the sunbeaten sands. In short, Arabian religion was diverse, shifting and heavily localized, and this was only natural. Arabian society was essentially tribal, and despite the nearness of several regional superpowers – Byzantium and Zoroastrian Persia, as well as Christian Ethiopia – none had ever been able to bring the Arabs under their command for long enough to sponsor or enforce the spread of a settled ‘state’ faith, The best the Byzantines and Persians had been able to do was to enlist two northern Arabian tribal groups, the Lakhmids and Ghassanids, into their proxy wars. This was clientelism, not colonialism. In Arabia, change was destined to come from within."