The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 79
II - Arabia & its Inhabitants 79 shamelessness. 1 These few rituals have been mentioned merely as an example. Nonetheless, Arabia was full of countless rituals and many strange customs had been innovated, but Islām fully abolished them with a single strike. Ancient Religions of Arabia Prior to Islām, Arabia was composed of the followers of many diverse religions – the most distinctive of which were Idolatry, Atheism, Zoroastrianism, Sabianism, Christianity and Judaism. Of these religions the most common and wide-spread throughout the country was the religion of idolatry, which in actuality, should be referred to as the true religion of the country. Idolaters did acknowledge the existence of Allāh the Exalted, but considered their idols a means to reach Him. They were entangled in their intermediary mediators to such an extent as the thought of their true creator had escaped their minds. In addition to commonly shared idols, every tribe possessed its own exclusive idol as well. In Makkah, Isāf and Nā’ilah were the idols of the Quraish, before which sacrifices were slaughtered. ‘Uzzā was an idol situated in Nakhlah, commonly shared by the Quraish and Banū Kinānah. In Ṭā’if was the idol belonging to the Banū Thaqīf, known as Lāt. Manāt belonged to the Aus and Khazraj. In Dummatul-Jandal the idol named Wadd, belonged to the Banū Kalb. Suwā‘ was the idol of the tribe of Hudhail. Yagūth was the idol of the tribes of Mudhḥaj and Ṭayy. Nasr was the idol of the Dhul-Kilā‘, and finally Ya‘ūq which belonged to the tribe of Hamdān, was situated in Yemen, and so on and so forth. The greatest of all was named Hubal, which was placed in the Ka‘bah, and during battle, upon victory, slogans of its name were called out. 2 In Arabia, the centre of the Idolaters was the Ka‘bah where many idols had been placed collectively. 3 The idolatrous people of Arabia would gather in Makkah from all over the country for the purpose of pilgrimage. This was as if the only remaining sign of the teachings of Abraham as. However, even in the rites of pilgrimage, these people had invented many idolatrous traditions, which were later dispelled by Islām. Due to its distinctively inherent religious element, Makkah and its surrounding region was known as the Ḥaram 4 , 1 Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābun-Nikāḥ, Bābu Man Qāla lā Nikāḥa illā bi-Walīyin, Ḥadīth No. 5127 2 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Malik bin Hishām, pp. 74-76, Qiṣṣatu Amr bin Luḥaī wa Dhikru Aṣnāmil-‘Arab, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) 3 Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Wujūbil-Ḥajj 4 Sacred proximity of the Ka‘bah (Publishers)