—who, up to that point, had remained upon the religion of Abraham (peace be upon him) until ʿAmr ibn Luḥayy al-Khuzaʿī appeared. He altered the religion of Abraham, importing idols into the land of the Arabs, and especially into the Ḥijāz. The idols were worshipped besides Allah, and polytheism spread throughout this sacred land and its environs—until Allah sent His Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets (Allah bless him and grant him peace). He called humanity to monotheism and to the creed of Abraham, and he strove in Allah’s cause with the fullest striving. Through him the doctrine of monotheism and the way of Abraham were restored, the idols were smashed, and Allah perfected the religion and completed His favor upon all creation.

The foremost generations of this community followed his path, but when ignorance became widespread in the later centuries and foreign elements from other religions infiltrated, polytheism returned to many members of the ummah. This happened through the efforts of misguided preachers and through the construction of edifices over graves, leading to the veneration of “saints” and the righteous, under the pretext of loving them. Shrines were erected over their tombs and turned into idols worshipped besides Allah by means of various acts of devotion—supplication, cries for relief, ritual slaughter, and vows made for their “stations.” They labeled this polytheism “tawassul through the righteous” and “an expression of love for them,” claiming it was not worship—yet they forgot that this