He said to them, “What are these idols which I see you worshipping?

He said to them, “What are these idols which I see you worshipping?” They told him that they were worshipping them because whenever they pleaded to them to let the rain fall, they responded, and whenever they sought victory over their foes, they obliged. Amr said to them, “Could you please give me an idol so I may take it to the land of the Arabs to worship it?” They gave him an idol called Hubal, a huge idol in the shape of a man.

It was given to Amr by the Moabites of Syria, and it became Mecca’s chief idol. Amr brought it to Mecca, installed it and ordered people to worship and glorify it. It was placed near a well (perhaps Zamzam) in the depth of the Kaaba precincts. This was the idol worshipped by Quraish. It is said that the first stone worship was started among the descendants of Ishmael.

Whenever a man left Mecca from among them, or whenever someone wanted to migrate due to harsh living conditions, he would carry one of the stones of the Haram, the Ka`ba, as a sign of glorifying it. Whenever someone reached his destination, he would put it down and circle it as pilgrims used to circle the Kaaba during those days.

Gradually, they started worshipping whatever stones they deemed to be good and which they liked, forgetting their original pristine faith, changing the religion of Abraham and Ishamel for this idol worship, thus joining other misled nations. But there were few among them who safeguarded their creed. They glorified the Kaaba, circled it, performed the Hajj and `Umra, stood on `Arafa and Muzdalifa, offered sacrifices and introduced beliefs of their own in all of these “rituals”.