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Pre-Islamic Arab Paganism (Jahiliyyah)

وثنية العرب قبل الإسلام

From Amr ibn Luhay (unknown/traditional; several centuries before Islam) to the conquest of Makkah, 630 CE date disputed

The idol worship of Arabia that corrupted the Abrahamic religion of Makkah. Sahih Bukhari names Amr ibn Luhay al-Khuza'i as the first to introduce pagan practices such as the sa'iba, and the Quran critiques al-Lat, al-'Uzza and Manat.

Biography

The Prophet ﷺ said he saw Amr ibn Amir ibn Luhay al-Khuza'i dragging his intestines in the Fire, and that he was the first to institute the sa'iba (animals set free in the name of idols) (Sahih Bukhari 3521; see also 4623). Later sirah and history works (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn al-Kalbi's Kitab al-Asnam) add that he brought the idol Hubal from Syria and placed it at the Ka'bah; these details are historical reports rather than Sahih Hadith.

The Quran critiques the goddesses al-Lat, al-'Uzza and Manat (53:19-23), the practices of bahira, sa'iba, wasila and ham (5:103), assigning shares of crops and cattle to idols (6:136), and female infanticide (16:58-59; 81:8-9). The pagans acknowledged Allah as Creator (29:61) but claimed 'we only worship them so that they may bring us nearer to Allah' (39:3) and 'these are our intercessors with Allah' (10:18). Sahih Muslim records their altered talbiyah, which added 'except a partner who is Yours'. According to Ibn Abbas (Sahih Bukhari 4920), the idols of Nuh's people also ended up among Arab tribes.

At the conquest of Makkah (8 AH / 630 CE), the Prophet ﷺ entered while 360 idols stood around the Ka'bah and struck them, reciting 'Truth has come and falsehood has vanished' (17:81), as recorded in Sahih Bukhari.

Islamic lens: this branch is an alteration of the Hanif religion of Ibrahim and Ismail, combined with idols inherited from earlier idolatry. Its ending forms part of Phase 2 (the Seerah).

Sources & explanation

۞ Qur'an

53:19 53:20 53:21 53:22 53:23 39:3 10:18 29:61 5:103 6:136 6:138 16:58 16:59 81:8 81:9 71:23 17:81

Links open quran.com.

📜 Hadith verified on sunnah.com

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 4920 Sahih

    Ibn Abbas: the idols of the people of Nuh (Wadd, Suwa', Yaghuth, Ya'uq, Nasr) were names of righteous men; later generations worshipped their images, and these idols passed to the Arabs.

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3521 Sahih

    The Prophet ﷺ saw 'Amr ibn Luhayy al-Khuza'i dragging his intestines in the Fire; he was the first to introduce the Sa'ibah (animals dedicated to idols).

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 2478 Sahih

    On the conquest of Makkah the Prophet ﷺ entered with idols around the Ka'bah and struck them, reciting 'Truth has come and falsehood has vanished' (17:81).

💬 Explanation Unverified

Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's perspective

Methodological note (not a direct quote): Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's widely known approach is to build narratives primarily on the Quran and Sahih Hadith, to set aside Israiliyat (Judeo-Christian lore absorbed into later tafsir) and weak or fabricated narrations, and to avoid sectarian framing. Applied to this node: The authentic core is Sahih Bukhari 3521 and the Quranic critique; the Hubal story and other details are from sirah reports and would be labelled as such.

Empires in their lifetime

  • Nabataean Kingdom c. 300 BCE – 106 CE
    Nabataean gods such as Dushara and al-Lat belonged to the wider Arabian pantheon.
  • Kingdom of Kinda c. 450 CE – c. 550 CE
    Kinda ruled central Arabian tribes in the pre-Islamic era.

Further references

  • Sahih Bukhari 3521
  • Sahih Bukhari 4623
  • Sahih Bukhari 4920
  • Sahih Bukhari (idols broken at the conquest of Makkah)
  • Sahih Muslim (talbiyah of the polytheists)
  • Quran 53:19-23
  • Quran 5:103
  • Quran 39:3
  • Ibn al-Kalbi, Kitab al-Asnam (historical)

Connections

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