The Very First False Idols

As Salaamu Alaykum

Many people have questions about idol worship and how it first began.

This is an abridged form of the explanation of al-‘Imaam ‘Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Baaree, edition Maktabat ash-Shaamelah, 8/667-669.

‘Ibraaheem bin Muusaa narrated to us, Hishaam informed us, on authority of ‘Ibn Jurayj, and ‘Ataa’ said on authority of ‘Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah have mercy on him:

The idols (‘awthaan, sing. wathan) which were among the people of Nuuh came to be among the Arabs afterwards; as for Wadd, (Naafi’ alone narrated this as Wudd) she was for (the tribe of) Kalb in Duumat al-Jandal (not Dawmat) (a city in Shaam, near Tabuuk); as for Suuwaa, she was for Huthayl (a place near Makkah); as for Yaghuuth, then she was for (the tribe of) Muraad, then for Banee Ghutayf in al-Jawf (and in some transmissions al-Jawn, or al-Juruf) (near Yamaamah?) near Sabaa (and from ‘Abee Tharr: Sabaa’); as for Ya’uuq, then she was for Hamdaan (a city in Yemen); as for Nasr, then she was for Himayr, for the people of Theel-Kalaa’ (as-Sadafee says the inclusion of ‘Nasr’ is an error)- (Wadd, Suuwaa’, Yaghuuth, Ya’uuq, and Nasr are all)- names of righteous men from the people of Nuuh, so when they passed away, (there was) a revelation (‘awhaa) of Shaytaan to their people (the righteous peoples’) that they direct themselves towards their meeting places (the righteous peoples’) where stone idols (‘ansaab) were sitting, and they named them (sammuu) with their (the righteous peoples’) names, so they did (that); then they did not worship (them) until those (people) passed away, and the knowledge (al-‘Ilm) (of what) they worshipped was nullified (tanassakh) (by time, or on purpose).

There is some jarh on this narration according to al-‘Imaam ‘Ibn Hajar, surrounding ‘Ataa’ and whether or not he is al-Khuraasaanee or ‘Ibn ‘Abee Ribaah. Apparently ‘Ibn Jurayj never heard from al-Khuraasaanee any tafseer, and neither did al-Khuraasaanee hear from ‘Ibn ‘Abbaas according to ‘Alee bin al-Madeenee, from Saalih bin ‘Ahmad and al-‘Ismaa’eelee. Al-Faakahee and ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq both transmit this very report but without mentioning the epithet al-Khuraasaanee for ‘Ataa’.

Al-‘Imaam ‘Ibn Hajar however seems content to rely upon the judgment of al-‘Imaam al-Bukhaaree in this matter due to his conditions being so rigid. The only Jarh available is from al-‘Imaam al-Bukhaaree’s shaykh, al-‘Imaam ‘Ibn al-Madeenee, who was the Shaykh of al-‘Imaam al-Bukhaaree and so this information would not have been lost on him. To show that al-‘Imaam al-Bukhaaree did not lapse in mentioning this report, he mentioned this report also in his Book of Nikaah as well.

Regarding the idols 

‘Abd ar-Razzaaq on the authority of Ma’mar, on the authority of Qataadah: “They were gods which the people of Nuuh worshipped, then the Arabs worshipped them afterwards.”

‘Abuu ‘Ubaydah said: “And they alleged that they were Majuus, and that they drowned in the flood, so when the water dried up from them, ‘Iblees came out and raised them in the earth”- end quotes.

And his saying that they were ‘Majuus’ is mistaken, since indeed the word ‘Majuus’ is not heard of until after that (the time of the flood) for a long time, and if they were Persians, they would have been called different than that.

And as-Suhaylee mentioned in (his book) At-Ta’reef: “Yaghuuth was a son of Sheeth (Seth) bin ‘Aadam, according to one saying, and the same with Suuwaa’, and whoever after him, they were seeking blessings by calling on them; so when one of them died, they would make a likeness of his image and rub it until the time of Mihlaa’eel, the great-grandson of Sheeth (Seth), the grandfather of ‘Idrees (‘Ilyaas). So they worshipped her (the likeness) with the promotion (of the practice) by Shaytaan, then it became a tradition among the Arabs in Jaahileeyah, and there was no knowing from where these names came to them. From the direction of al-Hind (India), indeed it was said that they were the ones who began worshipping idols after Nuuh, or Shaytaan inspired the Arabs with that”- end quote.

And what is mentioned whereof its narration is received from Tafseer Baqee bin Mukhlid, so indeed it is mentioned in it something about what ‘Imaam ‘Ibn ‘Asakir was informed of in his (book) Thayl, and in it is that these names took place in al-Hind (India), so they designated their idols with them, then they (the names) entered into the land of the Arabs by ‘Amrw bin Lahee.

And on authority of ‘Urwah bin az-Zubayr, that they were the children of ‘Aadam from his loins, and Wadd was the oldest and most vilified of them. ‘Umar bin Shubah came out with it in Kitaab Makkah, from a pathway of Muhammad bin Ka’b al-Qarthee, he said: “There was for ‘Aadam 5 sons, so he named them…” He said: “And they were people. So a man from them died, then they mourned him. So Shaytaan came to them in an image of a son of Qaabeel bin ‘Aadam.”

And it came out of al-Faakahee from a pathway of ‘Ibn al-Kalbee, he said: “Indeed ‘Amrw bin Rabee’ah saw a vision from a Jinn, so it came to him and said: ‘Respond ‘Abaa Thamaamah, and enter without reproach.’ Then he went to a marked seashore, and he found in it a number of idols. Then he brought them to Tahaamah (a city close to Makkah), and did not like it, then he called the Arabs to worship them (as an) obligation.”

And it follows another report like this one, but with the names of the idols and that ‘Amrw bin Rabee’ah is actually ‘Amrw bin Lahee, and that he alleged to the Arabs that the worship of the idols was upon the guidance of Nuuh and ‘Idrees.

Al- Waaqidee said: Wadd was an image of a man, Suuwaa’- a woman, Yaghuuth- a lion, Ya’uuq- a horse, and Nasr- a bird; and al-‘Imaam ‘Ibn Hajar says: this is irregular (shaath), and the majority say that they were upon images of men.

Anything good is from Allah and all the mistakes are mine, please forgive me, and may Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, increase us in knowledge