“O Uzza, I renounce you—no glory be to you! I have seen Allah bring you to disgrace!”

Then a female devil emerged from it, with her hair dishevelled, crying out in woe and placing her hand upon her head.

It is also said that Khalid returned to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, “I have uprooted it.” He asked, “What did you see?” Khalid replied, “I saw nothing.” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “You have not uprooted it. Go back to it.” So he returned to it with a pickaxe, uprooted it, and tore out its roots. Then a naked woman emerged from it, and he killed her. He then returned to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and informed him of this. He said, “That was Uzza, and she will never be worshipped again.” (1)

Al-Dahhak said: “It was an idol of Ghatafan, which Sa‘d ibn Zalim al-Ghatafani set up for them. He had come to Mecca, where he saw Safa and Marwah and saw the people of Mecca circumambulating between them. He returned to the valley of Nakhlah and said to his people, ‘The people of Mecca have Safa and Marwah, whereas you do not; and they have a god whom they worship, whereas you do not.’ They asked, ‘Then what do you command us to do?’ He said, ‘I shall make the same for you.’ So he took a stone from Safa and a stone from Marwah and carried them to Nakhlah. He set down the one he had taken from Safa and said, ‘This is Safa.’ Then he set down the one he had taken from Marwah and said, ‘This is Marwah.’ Then he took three stones and propped them against a tree, saying, ‘This is your lord.’ They then began to circumambulate between the two stones and worship the stones, until the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, conquered Mecca. He ordered the stones removed and sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to Uzza, who cut it down.”

Ibn Zayd said: “It was a sanctuary at al-Ta’if which Thaqif used to worship.”

“And Manat, the third—the other one?” (20)

Ibn Kathir recited the name as Manā’ah, with a lengthened vowel and a hamzah, whereas the majority recited it without lengthening or hamzah, as Manat. This is because the Arabs used the names Zayd Manat and Abd Manat, and the lengthened form was not known in these names. Qatadah said: “It belonged to Khuza‘ah and was located at Qudayd.” Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said concerning the Ansar: “They would enter consecration for Manat, which stood opposite Qudayd.” Ibn Zayd said: “It was a sanctuary at al-Mushallal, worshipped by Banu Ka‘b.” Al-Dahhak said: “Manat was an idol of Hudhayl and Khuza‘ah, worshipped by the people of Mecca.” Others said: “Al-Lat, Uzza, and Manat were stone idols situated within the Ka‘bah, which they worshipped.” (2)

The Quran reciters differed over where to pause when reciting al-Lat and Manat: some paused on both with an h sound, while others paused with a t sound. Some said: “Whatever is written in the mushaf with a t is paused upon with a t, and whatever is written with an h is paused upon with an h.”