… God the Exalted says: “Have you considered al-Lat and al-Uzza, and Manat…?” Did they ever profit you? Did they help you? Did they grant you victory? Could they create, provide, give life, or cause death? What did you really find in them? The verse is an explicit reproach, intended to jolt the mind back to sound reason: these are nothing but stones and trees—created objects that can neither benefit nor harm. When Islam prevailed and the Messenger of God ﷺ conquered blessed Mecca, he sent al-Mughira b. Shuba and Abu Sufyan b. Harb to al-Lat in Taif, and they demolished it at his command. He dispatched Khalid b. al-Walid to al-Uzza; he destroyed it, cut down its trees, killed the jinniyya that used to address and mislead the people, and obliterated the shrine completely—praise be to God. He also sent Ali b. Abi Talib against Manat, and he demolished and erased it as well. If these idols could not even save themselves, how could they rescue their worshippers? “Have you considered al-Lat and al-Uzza, and Manat, the third, the other?” Where are they now? Did they benefit you? Could they shield themselves from the soldiers of God and the armies of the monotheists? This passage proves that some people worship trees and stones. These three idols were their greatest deities; yet God erased them from existence. They could neither defend themselves nor help their devotees. The Messenger of God ﷺ attacked their followers, and the idols offered no protection—precisely the evidence the Shaykh, may God have mercy on him, cites to show that people do worship stones and trees. Glory be to God! Rational human beings worshipping inert trees and stones… (1) See: Zad al-Maad, 4/413–415.