User blog comment:LurkerLordB/Religion in a world without Christianity/@comment-1593341-20120424094112/@comment-1593341-20120429014149

Islam was based on the native Hanif monotheistic religion of which Muhammed was a practitioner. It was also heavily influenced by the pagan god Allah, of which most arabs incorporated in their pagan traditions. Christianity was almost nonexistant in the Arabian peninsula, and of those who were christian, they were generally gnostic, which are incredibly different from mainstream christianity.

The Hanif religion was an abrahamic religion that existed alongside Judaism and is considered by muslims to be the precursor to Islam.