“Verily, We have sent among
every nation a messenger
(proclaiming): ‘Worship
Allah (Alone), and avoid (or
keep away from) Tagoot (all
false deities, etc.).”[1]
Allah, the Most Merciful,
sent Messengers with the
pure message of Tawheed to
every nation for their
guidance. They called their
nations towards abandoning
of Shirk and returning to
Allah in repentance.
However, as time passed,
Shirk gradually crept into
the beliefs of the people,
and teachings of the
Prophets were either changed
or lost. One of the major
avenues, by which Shaytaan
was successful in leading
people astray, was through
veneration and exaggeration
in the honor and respect of
pious people. Shaytaan
inspired the people to build
idols and memorials, and
subsequently led them to the
worship of the dead.
The prominent commentator of
the Qur’aan, Abdullah Ibn
Abbas (radhi allahu anhu)[2]
said regarding the verse,
“They said to each other:
‘Do not leave your gods! Do
not give up Wadd and Suwaa,
nor Yaghooth, Ya’ooq and
Nasr!”[3]
(he said): “These (Wad,
Suwaa’, Yaqhoot, Ya’ooq and
Nasr) were among the idols
of Prophet Nooh’s (alaihi
as-salaam) nation, which in
time ended up among the
Arabs… These idols were
named after some righteous
men among Nooh’s people.
When these righteous men
died, Shaytaan inspired the
people to make statues of
them, named after them.
These statues were placed in
their favorite meeting
places as reminders of
righteousness, and no one of
that generation worshiped
them. However, when that
generation died off, the
purpose of the statues was
forgotten. The following
generation from then on
started to worship them.”[4]
Ibn Jarir at-Tabaree (the
author of the famous Tafseer
at-Tabaree) mentions the
explanation of Mujahid about
the verse, “Have you then
considered al-Lat and al-Uzza.
[5]“[6]
“He (al-Laat) used to serve
the pilgrims by preparing
Seewaq (fine flour of barley
or wheat mixed with water
and ghee) for them. After
his death, the people began
to stay and confine at his
grave for the purpose of
reward.”[7]
Imam Ibn Katheer
(rahimahullah) mentions in
Qasas al-Ambiya: “Ibn Abi
Hatim related this story,
“Waddan was a righteous man,
who was loved by his people.
When he died, they withdrew
to his grave in the land of
Babylonia and were
overwhelmed by sadness. When
Iblees (name of Shaytaan)
saw their sorrow caused by
his death, he disguised
himself in the form of a man
saying, ‘I have seen your
sorrow because of this man’s
death; can I make a statue
like him which could be put
in your meeting place to
make you remember him?’ They
said: ‘Yes.’ So, he made a
statue like him. They put it
in their meeting place in
order to be reminded of him.
When Iblees saw their
interest in remembering him,
he said: ‘Can I build a
statue of him in the home of
each one of you so that he
would be in everyone’s house
and you could remember him?’
They agreed. Their children
learned about and saw what
they were doing. They also
learned about their
remembrance of him, until
they took him to be a deity
and worshiped him instead of
Allah. So, the first to be
worshiped instead of Allah
was Waddan, the idol which
they named thus.”[8]
This shows that exaggeration
in love for the righteous
led to the veneration of
their graves, and in turn
became the first step
towards open idol worship.
[2]
Abdullah Ibn Abbas is
one of the prominent
commentators (Mufassiroon)
of the Qur’aan among the
Sahabah (radhi allahu
anhu). The Prophet (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) once
embraced Abdullah and
said,
“O Allah, give him a
deep understanding of
the Religion and make
him skillful in Tafseer
(interpretation).”
[Saheeh al-Bukharee
(Eng. Trans.) vol. 1,
no: 10, Saheeh Muslim
(Eng. Trans.) vol. 4,
no: 6055] In spite of
Ibn Abbas’s youth, the
Prophet (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam)
conferred on him the
title of “Tarjumaan
al-Qur’aan” (Explainer
of the Qur’aan) [Saheeh
al-Bukharee (Eng.
Trans.) vol. 1, no: 75
and vol. 5, nos:
100-101]
