Historian F.E. Peters in 'Muhammad and the Origins of Islam', has this to say about the moon cult of Mecca:

“The most powerful of the idols with whom Allah shared the sanctuary of Mecca was undoubtedly the well-known god Hubal. [p. 108]

“Hubal was introduced into the Ka'ba but he never supplanted the god Allah, who house it continued to be.” [p. 110]

For Peters and some other historians the mysterious Allah – never detailed, never revealed as to what it is – stands apart from Hub'Al the moon idol, related to the Semitic Baal or the Mesopotamian Sin. This is plausible but disputed. In any event it does not change the fact that the pagan antecedents of Hub'Al or Allah; manifest themselves within Islam and Moslem practices.

“Amidst the profusion of idols in the West Arabian pantheon, one stands out as the chief idol of the Meccans. The cult of the deity termed simply the god (Allah < al-ilah); was known throughout Syria and northern Arabia, and was obviously of central importance in Mecca, where the building called the Ka'ba was indisputably his house.” [p. 107]

The Ka'ba shrine, which was a primitive structure of wood and hardly worthy of the name 'shrine'; housed 360 idols including Jesus and Mary. This 'house' was that of the Allah 'god' according to Peters, with Hub'Al or the moon deity, as the main idol of worship.

“Allah was not merely a god in Mecca, but was widely regarded as the 'high god', the chief and head of the entire Meccan pantheon, whether this was the result, as has been argued, of a natural progression towards henotheism, or of the growing influence of Jews and Christians, in the peninsula.” [p. 104]

Undoubtedly the Jews and Christians, along with the Mesopotamian pantheon, influenced northern Arabian theological development. This is an undeniable historical artifact. Most of the literate scribes taken as prisoners by the Moslems in their early years of war and conquest were of course literate Jews and Christians. It stands to reason that before the advent of the political-theological fascism named 'submission' that the learned and educated Jews and Christians, whose communities were growing and prospering in Arabia, would have tutored the unlettered Arab Bedouins in all matters of civilization including theology.

But as Peters admits, the vestiges of Arab paganism were impossible to erase. If Allah was separate from Hub'Al – and this is very doubtful – the paganism of the Arabs, distorted, malformed and corrupted the idea of Judeo-Christian monotheism; in essence conflating and impregnating the monotheistic ideals of the Semitics, with the disorderly and brutal pagan practices of the Meccans. For example;

“Of the three 'daughters of Allah', al-Uzza was the most recent arrival, but apparently the dearest to the Meccans...and her shrine was in a valley named Hurad not very far to the east of Mecca, complete with a Haram, and a sacrificial altar.” [p. 111]

Allah had 3 daughters; Allat, Uzza and Manat. Allat is now thought to be his consort or concubine the sun goddess. Whether there are 3 daughters; or 2 plus a consort is in the main a trivial argument. These 3 feminines represent celestial bodies and power, namely, the sun, venus and likely mars. Some believe that mars was not venerated, but rather wisdom and fertility [such as the cult of Artemis or Diana]. It does not really matter. The important point is that Allah, even if divorced from Hubal which is unlikely; was in the main a veneration of polytheism. Allahu Akhbar is simply Allah is greatest, not Allah is god.