Al-Qadim Cosmology&Afterlife

I am going to begin by saying that I have never played the Al-Qadim setting, nor do I know enough about it to say for sure what to do with these concerns.

However, knowing a bit about modern Arabic culture, and having done at least a little studying on Sumerian, Mesopotamian, and Persian cultures, I think that Rip is correct that there is nothing preventing the deities from having realms in the current planescape setup - and if you needed them to be secluded for some reason, like if it was necessary to have it separate from the rest of the plane's features, it would be totally possible since the deities can morph the outer planes to their will. As Divinely Morphic planes, any outer plane is going to be subject to the intention of the divine power that rules that section of the realm.

It would be VERY interesting to see how these realms might differ at least in appearance or composition from the rest of the plane they reside in, but I think for the most part it would be completely possible to incorporate those elements without creating an entirely separate cosmology. Also, because alignments are a big thing in Planescape but some of the deities have no alignment, they might also be privy to having small demiplanes connected to the Astral Plane, or else take up residence in the outer plane of their choosing - regardless of their (non-)alignment; it could simply be the plane of alignment most closely corresponding to their tenets and faiths.

I have always loved Arabic and eastern cultures... so much more interesting than the western world's cultures, and much more in tune to the creative spirit of the human individual. I believe that Dragon Magazine also had an edition which outlined Sumerian deities in some amount... Maybe that could help as well - at least to give an idea of precedent for the deities specifically from Al-Qadim.

I would love to see a cosmological concept based around Hindu, Buddhist, and/or Persian cultures... There is so much there that could be really inspirational in the creative sense, and definitely an overlooked niche of D&D religious concepts.
-will

I'm sorry I'm not more easily disappointed, but I don't think you're right. Faithful Zakharans might feel like their deities are "above" the deities of other cultures, but this is almost certainly just their own ethnocentricity; the gods of Zakhara are simply gods in every other respect.

The Al-Qadim setting is unique among D&D campaigns in not assigning alignments to its deities, but this isn't really a characteristic of the deities themselves, but of the unique way the gods are perceived by the people of the Land of Fate. Some of the Zakharan gods, such as Selan the Beautiful Moon (Selune), the Beast (Malar), and Lotha (Lolth), are almost certainly the same beings as the gods worshiped elsewhere on the world of Toril, where they are given alignments and places in the Great Wheel just as any other gods have. There's nothing that indicates the so-called Great Gods are any more above alignment than, for example, the Cold Gods of the Elements, who are definitely worshiped elsewhere on Toril.

The Zakharan gods aren't enlightened (though they're sometimes described that way); the Zakharan faiths are enlightened, which ultimately simply means those who practice those faiths tend to think of themselves as enlightened compared to the ajami barbarians of other lands. Their practices differ - they don't assign moral or ethical qualities to their deities, and they don't usually have "specialty priests" dedicated to one god alone - but the entities themselves do all the basic things a deity does in D&D, with no real need to set them apart. Ultimately, it's just Zakharan arrogance at work.

Besides, creatures said to be the servants of the Zakharan gods in the Al-Qadim Monstrous Compendium Appendix, the asuras, are very much evident in the Upper Planes of the Great Wheel (in Planes of Conflict, indicating that this is probably where the Zakharan gods live as well. The buraq are placed in Elysium, Bytopia, the Beastlands, and Mount Celestia in the Al-Qadim MC itself, showing that those planes are relevant to Zakharans.

The Outer Planes of the Great Wheel are anything but dull, normal, or mundane! The gods of the Great Wheel are wondrous, paradoxical, mythic, mysterious... if they aren't impressive enough for you, I think taking their alignments away isn't going to make them any more impressive (and I think you're playing them wrong). The Zakharan deities aren't credited with any deeds or myths that makes them seem any more "special" than the gods of any other mythos. They're as petty and quarrelsome as any others, and the genies were able to fight them as equals during the time of the Loregiver. They're certainly not overdeities (if they were, the genies would hardly have been worthy opponents)! They're worshiped on the world of Toril, which makes them subordinate to the overgod Ao, just as much as any other gods of that world are. Brahman isn't really an overdeity either, but more the collective soul of the Vedic pantheon.

Overdeities are, as a rule, not worshiped by mortals. Overdeities are the gods of gods; they're for other gods to worship. If a mortal worships it, and receives spells, it's probably a regular god.

I don't mind exceptions to the various "rules" in Planescape - gods on the Elemental Planes or the Material Plane or in some unknown region - but there should be a reason for such an exception, and I don't see one that merits putting the Zakharan gods in any place special. They fit fine in the Outer Planes we know, which are about much more than alignment. As described, they're not special enough to deserve a special place to live. They're just gods.

And the Zakharan gods do seem to only be worshiped by Zakharans, and some genies. There are plenty of "enlightened" people on other worlds who've never heard of them. It's only the hubris of the Zakharans that tries to restrict the word "enlightened" to apply to only their own particular cultural understanding of the term.

No, Selan the Beautiful Moon is one of the Great Gods, just as much as Kor or Hajama or Najm. She's not considered an ajami deity like Helam.

I strongly suspect the designers intended her to be the same as Selûne, seen from a Zakharan rather than Faerûnian perspective, though I can't prove it. But I prefer the idea that Faerûnians worship her one way, as a chaotic good goddess, and Zakharans worship her another, as an "enlightened goddess" beyond alignment.

Lotha's considered one of the "forgotten gods," but no gods are given alignments in the Land of Fate boxed set (I'm not sure about elsewhere).

I would still put Zakharan petitioners in the same Outer Planes as everyone else.

I think it is only belief that the Great Gods submitted to the Law of the Loregiver after their war with geniekind in ancient times, but in Planescape belief is power, and can shape reality. As far as Zakhara is concerned, it's true, but elsewhere other beliefs may have more strength.

Uh, guys, the Player's Guide to Faerun (don't recall which page) states that the Al Qadim deities all dwell on Zahkara (either that or 'an unknown demiplane')

Right, I quoted from the PGtF already in post #12.

It depends on your personal preference, of course, but yeah, as we discussed above, Planes of Conflict seems to indicate the Zakharan gods dwell somewhere in the upper planes of conflict. I think it's more Planescapey if characters have the opportunity to go visit their realms, even (or maybe especially) with the whole "no alignment" paradox.

On Hallowed Ground gave the Cerilian gods all places in the Great Wheel. For example, Avani dwells in the Gleaming Spire on Mechanus, Sera lives in the Marketplace Eternal in the Outlands, and Nesirie dwells in Thalasia.

Warriors of Heaven gave the good-aligned Immortals of Mystara places in the Great Wheel, but it generally did a poor job at it. I think the Immortals make more sense in their own cosmology, but they could work in the Wheel. Warriors of Heaven put very little thought into its assignations, though, placing some of the Immortals in places that weren't even realms; for example, it placed the hierarch Ixion rather ignominiously in what, if you look up the original module that described the site, is a simple bird's nest. Ixion is the ruler of the Sphere of Energy, and is not a bird. I don't think he'd be comfortable there, even though the bird in question is a phoenix. It's not built for humanoids, or people who like walls and roofs over their heads. There are many problems like that with Warriors of Heaven.

Generally, though, I don't think you have to change Planescape's rules very much to fit unusual pantheons in it. The Vedic pantheon, for example, lives in fairly typical realms scattered throughout the Great Wheel. The Believers of the Source and Dustmen believe everyone reincarnates, not just Vedic worshipers.