at which they used to slaughter animals and offer supplications. After the conquest of Mecca the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—sent Khālid ibn al-Walīd to that site; he destroyed it, and the Prophet distributed whatever valuables it contained. A she-devil with hair disheveled fled from it, whereupon al-ʿUzzā despaired of ever being worshipped again.

As for Manāt, she was venerated by the people of Medina, who would begin their pilgrimage rites in her name—an act of polytheism. Her shrine stood near Qudayd, at the mountain situated between Mecca and Medina along the coastal route.

Whoever wishes to understand how the idolaters worshipped their gods, to grasp the reality of the shirk that Allah has condemned and its various forms—so that the meanings of the Qur’an become clear to him and he recognizes what Allah and His Messenger abhor—should study the Prophet’s biography, the condition of the Arabs in his era, and the accounts recorded by al-Azraqī in his Chronicle of Mecca, as well as the writings of other scholars.

The idolaters also had a tree on which they hung their weapons, calling it Dhāt Anwāṭ. Some people therefore said, “Messenger of Allah, assign for us a Dhāt Anwāṭ just as they have a Dhāt Anwāṭ.” He replied,

“Allāhu akbar! You have uttered exactly what the people of Moses said: ‘Make for us a god just as they have gods.’ These are the recurring ways—you will surely follow the ways of those who came before you.”

Thus the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—rejected even the mere resemblance to the unbelievers in adopting a tree around which to gather and upon which to hang their arms.