When those men passed away, Satan whispered to their people: “Erect stone markers in the very assemblies where they used to sit and give each marker their names.” They complied, yet the markers were not worshipped until that generation itself had died and knowledge had faded; only then were they taken as objects of worship.

A report with the same purport is found in the commentary of Ibn Jarīr and others, transmitted from several of the early authorities—may Allah be pleased with them all.

Al-Durr al-Manthūr (6/269) cites:

“ʿAbd b. Ḥumayd transmits from Abū Muṭahhar who said:

They once mentioned Yazīd b. al-Muhallab in the presence of Abū Jaʿfar—meaning al-Bāqir. He said, ‘Indeed, he was killed in the very first land where anything besides Allah was worshipped.’ He then spoke about Wadd, saying:

‘Wadd was a Muslim man, dearly loved by his people. When he died they camped around his grave in the land of Babylon and were overwhelmed with grief for him. When Iblīs saw the depth of their mourning, he assumed the form of a human being and said:’