What religion did the Wise Men from the East practise?
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From Mat. 2:1,2,7 we can gather that they were astrologers (or "magi"), looking for omens in/among the stars. Just as astrology does nowadays, producing the horoscopes that many (have) put their faith in.
One of the foremost references to such people in the Hebrew Scriptures can be found in Daniel 2:27, that relates the failure of the wise men, conjurers, magic-practicing priests or astrologers of Babylon to relate and interpret the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. So these "wise men" from the East might actually have been from that region or a group of people that originated there.
In the Law of Moses, there are a references to such people, forbidding their practices:
"You must not look for omens or practice magic." ~Leviticus 19:26
"As for the person who turns to the spirit mediums and the fortune-tellers so as to commit spiritual prostitution with them, I will certainly turn against that person and cut him off from his people." ~Leviticus 20:6
"Any man or woman who acts as a spirit medium or is a fortune-teller should be put to death without fail." ~Leviticus 20:27
"There should not be found in you (...) anyone practicing magic, anyone who looks for omens (...) ~Deuteronomy 18:9-13
From the above it is clear that the true God has a hatred against such practices and people who get involved with them. It would therefore not be logical that any of such people would be used for any of his purposes, when (as mentioned in Deuteronomy 18), the Canaanites were driven out because of such "detestable" practices. Also refer to the account of Balak and Balaam in Numbers 22-24. In addition, if these men had been used for what they thought they were doing, they would have been led to Bethlehem, not to Jerusalem, which came with such terrible consequences.
So in conclusion, these men were certainly not practicing a religion that was in any way compatible with the religion that the Jews were practicing, but may have had Babylonian roots instead, or possibly Canaanite ancestors.
I hope this helps.
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