When he asked why they worshipped those idols...

When he asked why they worshipped those idols, they replied, “They cause the rain to fall and help us in many ways.” He asked them for an idol, and they gave him an idol called Hubal. Later, he took it to the Kaaba and stuck it on it asking people to worship it.[^170] Besides this, there are two other idols next to the Kaaba: Asaf and Na’ilah.[^171] These two were also worshipped upon his recommendation. In this way, he laid the foundation of idolatry.

The Holy Prophet is reported to have said: `Amr ibn Luhayy was the one who transformed Isma`il's religion and laid the foundation of idolatry. I have seen him in the fire of Hell.[^172] Second: When Isma`il's children grew in numbers in Mecca, they decided to go to different cities and locations to continue with their life.

Due to their extreme respect and love for Mecca, everybody used to take away a piece of stone and put it on the ground wherever they went and started going around it like the ceremony around the Kaaba. Little by little, the motive behind this practice was forgotten and each stone transformed into an idol. People then would worship any stone they liked.

In this way, they completely forgot their precious customs and religion: they transformed the religion of Prophet Abraham and Prophet Isma`il, accepting idolatry.[^173] Of course, these two factors were the basic reasons for the spread of idolatry.

Naturally, there were other factors in this process, such as ignorance, human fondness of sensation (according to which man prefers God to be tangible), zeal for being the chief or among the prominent figures of the tribe who preferred people to be stuck in ignorance so that they could carry on with their domination, and imitating their ancestors that caused the spread of idolatry in different forms.[^174] The number of idols gradually increased to such an extent that there was an idol in every home.

On their trips, they used to caress it with their hands and ask for blessing.[^175] At the time of the conquest of Mecca, there were three hundred and sixty idols in this city.[^176] Did Idolaters Believe in Allah? The idolaters did not deny the existence of Allah; they considered Him as the Creator of the skies, the earth and the universe—a fact established in the Holy Qur'an.[^177] However, they committed two huge mistakes which were the very root of their misleading.

(1) A false recognition of Allah and His Attributes; they had puzzling attitudes towards Allah.