they worshipped them. This was how idols first came to be worshipped. These idols subsequently passed to the Arabs. Al-Bukhārī related this in his Sahīh from Ibn ‘Abbās, who said:

“The idols that had been among Noah’s people later appeared among the Arabs. Wadd belonged to Kalb at Dūmat al-Jandal; Suwā‘ belonged to Hudhayl; Yaghūth belonged to Murād, then to Banū Ghutayf at al-Jurf near Saba’; Ya‘ūq belonged to Hamdān; and Nasr belonged to Himyar, to the family of Dhū al-Kalā‘. These were the names of righteous men from Noah’s people. When they died, Satan prompted their people to erect monuments at the places where they used to sit and to name them after those men. They did so, but the monuments were not worshipped until that generation had died out and knowledge had been lost. Then they were worshipped.”

Noah, peace be upon him, remained among his people for a thousand years less fifty, calling them to worship Allah alone. He was the first messenger whom Allah sent to the people of the earth, as is established in the Sahīh. Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the last of the messengers. Both messengers were sent to polytheists who worshipped these idols, which were fashioned in the likenesses of righteous human beings. The purpose of worshipping them was to worship those righteous people.

The same is true of the polytheists among the People of the Book and among the innovators and misguided members of this community: this is the ultimate extent of their polytheism. Christians make images in their churches of the human beings they venerate besides Jesus and his mother, such as Saint George and other saints. They worship these images, petition them, invoke them, and offer