Seerat-un-Nabi ﷺ: Episode 7

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Seerat-un-Nabi ﷺ: 

Episode 7 - Al-Ma'rifat 

The Idols Worshipped by Arabs at the Time of the Blessed Birth ﷺ

At the time of the blessed birth of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the Arabs and especially the polytheists of Makkah considered the following idols as very important:

1. Hubal

Hubal was one of the most important idols of the Mushrikeen of Makkah. In reality, it was the deity "Ba'al" of the people of Syria, which means "Powerful", and which the Arabs distorted and named Hubal. This idol was found by the Quraish of Makkah in the form of a human statue carved from red agate. Its right hand was broken, which the Quraish of Makkah replaced with one made of gold. Hubal was installed on the roof of the Kaaba. The Mushrikeen of Makkah used to raise war cries in the name of this Hubal. On the occasion of the Conquest of Makkah, Hazrat Ali (R.A) shattered it into pieces.

2. Uzza

A few miles from Makkah, in the valley of Nakhlah, under an acacia tree was the sanctuary of Uzza where the idol of Uzza was installed, while an idol of Uzza was also kept inside the Kaaba which was broken at the time of the Conquest of Makkah. To break the main idol of Uzza in the valley of Nakhlah, Hazrat Khalid bin Waleed (R.A) was sent. The idol of Uzza was considered the greatest idol by the Mushrikeen of Makkah.

3. Laat

This was installed in Taif at the place where today the left minaret of the Taif Mosque stands. Laat means "one who mixes barley porridge". In reality, he was a man who used to mix and serve porridge to the pilgrims. Later, on the instigation of Amr bin Luhay, his idol was made and worshipped. The Quraish used to worship Uzza and Laat before going to sleep at night and also used to swear by these two idols.

4. Manaat

This was the oldest idol of Arabia, installed near the sea at a place called Qudaid in the area of "Mushallal" between Makkah and Madinah. The worship of Manaat was also started by Amr bin Luhay. When the tribes of Aws and Khazraj would return to Madinah after performing Hajj, they would take off their Ihram near the idol of Manaat, while Banu Azd and Banu Ghassan would even perform a formal Hajj of this idol. According to the people of Madinah, Hajj was not complete until Manaat was worshipped. This idol was also destroyed by Hazrat Ali (R.A) on the order of the Prophet ﷺ while going for the Conquest of Makkah.

5. Isaaf and Naailah

These were idols in human form. In reality, a man "Isaaf" and a woman "Naailah" committed adultery in the Kaaba and when people came and saw them, they had turned into stone. The people of Makkah placed them on Safa and Marwa as a lesson, but Amr bin Luhay brought them into the Haram of the Kaaba and placed them near Zamzam. People also performed Tawaf around them and offered sacrifices.

6. Suwa

This was among the five idols worshipped by the nation of Nuh (A.S) and which Amr bin Luhay brought from Syria. The other four idols include Nasr, Wadd, Ya'uq and Yaghuth. This idol was in the form of a woman and was installed near Madinah Munawwarah.

7. Nasr

This idol was installed in the Himyar region in Yemen. It was in the form of a vulture. The people of Himyar continued to worship it until they adopted Judaism.

8. Ya’uq

Ya'uq means "one who prevents calamity". This idol in the form of a horse was brought by Amr bin Luhay from Syria and handed over to Banu Hamdan and Khaulan who took it with them to Yemen and installed it at a place called "Arhab" near Sana'a and started worshipping it.

9.Yaghuth

This idol was also installed in an area of Yemen called "Akmah". It was an idol in the form of a lion. Yaghuth means "one who reaches out for help".

10. Wadd

This idol was installed at the place of Daumat al-Jandal and Banu Kalb used to worship it, while the Quraish of Makkah also believed in its greatness and worshipped it.

Apart from these, Aaim, Al-Daizanan, Aqaisar, Al-Jalsad, Dhul-Khalasah, Dhul-Shara and Dhul-Kafain were also among the important idols of the Arabs, while a large number of unimportant idols exist besides these.

...To be continued InshaAllah