HOW MONOTHEIST ARABS BECAME IDOLATOS

Have you ever wondered how the Arabs started worshiping so many idols before the advent of Islam ?

In fact the Arabs who claim decent from Moulana Ishmael, professed the Tawheed of Allah as taught by Nabi Ibrahim  (SA) for a long time , until they forgot part of what they had been told to obey, follow and jealously guard.

However, they still maintained such fundamental beliefs, such as monotheism, as well as other aspects of Nabi Ibrahim's teachings.
 
The stumbling block and one of the reason responsible according to me was the tribal culture of the Arabs. Heads of tribes enjoyed dictatorial privileges, they were held in awe and respect by their tribesmen.

These tribal chiefs were always in constant competition with each other, outdoing each other in entertaining guests, affecting generosity, wisdom and chivalry - here is the catch and the cause - not to please ALLAH or to perform good, but for the sole purpose of outranking their rivals, and gaining fame among people, especially poets, who were the official spokesmen at the time.

So as we say in our colloquial ' niyat maj khot hati ' as a result of which such sorry state of the Arabs, once proud upholders of the Oneness of Allah and the progeny of Moulana Ishmael became idolaters.
 
Among the pan Arab tribes, the rulers of Hijaz, were greatly esteemed and respected, and came to be considered as rulers and servants of religious center.

 Rulership of Hijaz was, in fact, a mixture of secular and official precedence as well as religious leadership. They ruled among the Arabs in the name of religious leadership and always monopolized the custodianship of the Holy Sanctuary and its neighborhood.


One such leader was the chief of Khuza'a  namely Amr bin Luhai, who was renowned for righteousness, charity, and was granted unreserved love and obedience by his tribesmen.

He was the one who first brought the idol - Hubal from Syria after seeing it worshiped there.
 
He placed it in the middle of Kabah and summoned his people to worship it. Readily enough, paganism spread all over Makkah being custodian of not only the Sacred House but all of the Haram as well. A great many idols, bearing different names, were introduced into the area.

An idol called Manat was worshipped in a place known as Al Mushallal near Red Sea. Another   Al Lat in Ta'if, the third Al Uzza in the valley of Nakhlah, and so on and so forth.

With passing of years, it so happened that every tribe, every house, had their own idols, and the Sacred House was overcrowded with them.

It was destined for Moulana Ali (SA) to climb up on the Kabah and break all the 360 idols that had been defiled the House of Allah.


Now we come to know that a single act of an Arab Chief Amr bin Luhai was responsible for the idol worship in Arabia.