(72:6) The Appearance of Mecca The building of Mecca goes...

(72:6) The Appearance of Mecca The building of Mecca goes back to the time of Prophet Abraham who was ordered by God to bring his wife Hajar and his infant Isma`il from Syria to live in a dry climate. (14:37) Upon the appearance of Zamzam by God to water these two,[^158] Jurhum, a southern tribe whose individuals had moved towards the north due to famine and drought, came to settle there.

[^159] Reaching the age of adulthood, Isma`il married a girl from this tribe.[^160] Prophet Abraham was commanded by Allah to build up the Kaaba with the assistance of his son, Isma`il. (2:127) When it was built, the city of Mecca came into being and Isma`il's offspring gradually settled therein. The Remnants of Abraham's Religion: Hanifiyyah `Adnan was the great ancestor of the `Adnani Arabs and the twentieth ancestor of the Holy Prophet from Isma`il’s generation.

Living in Hijaz, Najd, and Tihamah,[^161] the `Adnanis followed Prophet Abraham’s religion. In the words of Ya`qubi: “Quraysh and `Adnan's children in general believed in some principles of Prophet Abraham’s religion.

They used to perform their pious pilgrimage; they observed the Hajj ceremonies; they were hospitable; they observed the prohibited months; they abhorred nasty deeds, the severing of relations with relatives and injustice or tyranny; they used to punish the wrongdoers.[^162] The remnants of Prophet Abraham’s traditions, such as belief in God, avoidance of marrying one's mother or daughter, ceremonies of Hajj and Sacrifice, nocturnal pollution,[^163] circumcision, and shrouding and burying the dead[^164] were all carried out up to the advent of Islam: they carried the ten rules of cleansing the body and removing the unwanted hairs and the like.[^165] They believed, as well, in the prohibitions imposed on the four months which was one of Prophet Abraham’s traditions.

[^166] If for any reason, there occurred a fight among them; they called it a sinful and obnoxious war.[^167] Thus, monotheism had a long history with the Arabs of that region and their idolatry entered there only later and drove them astray from monotheism.

The Beginning of Idolatry Among Arabs In accordance with numerous documents, two factors have been effective in the propagation of idolatry among Arabs: First: `Amr ibn Luhayy, the chief of Khuza`ah, an influential man and custodian of the Kaaba,[^168] made a trip to Syria where he could visit a group at `Amaliqah[^169] who were engaged in idolatry.