The Drift into Idolatry

For generations the descendants of Isma'il kept the worship of Allah alone and the pilgrimage of Ibrahim. Over time, though, the tribe of Khuza'ah took control of Makkah, and the message slowly blurred. The Prophet ﷺ named one man in particular, 'Amr ibn Luhayy al-Khuza'i, as the first to set animals free in the names of idols, and said he saw him punished in the Fire (Sahih al-Bukhari 3521). Other reports call him the first to alter the religion of Isma'il, and the historians add that 'Amr brought an idol called Hubal from the north and set it up at the Ka'bah.

Once the door was open, idols multiplied. Ibn 'Abbas reported that the idols once worshipped by the people of Noah later found their way to Arabian tribes (Sahih al-Bukhari 4920). Al-Lat, al-'Uzza and Manat became the great goddesses of the region (53:19–20), and by the time of the conquest of Makkah, 360 idols stood around the Ka'bah (Sahih al-Bukhari 2478).

Yet most Arabs never stopped believing in Allah as Creator. They said their idols would only ﴿لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَىٰ﴾ (“bring us nearer to Allah”) (39:3), and even changed the pilgrims' chant to add "except a partner who belongs to You" (Sahih Muslim 1185). The House dedicated to Allah alone had been crowded with intermediaries.