Abu Waqid al-Laythi reported: “We set out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to Hunayn while we were still new to Islam. The idolaters had a lote-tree (sidrah) around which they used to gather, hanging their weapons on it for blessing; it was called Dhatu Anwat. As we passed by a lote-tree we said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, appoint for us a Dhatu Anwat just as they have a Dhatu Anwat.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, ‘Allah is Most Great! These are the very precedents. By the One in whose hand is my soul, you have said exactly what the Children of Israel said to Moses: “Appoint a god for us just as they have gods.” He replied, “You are a people who act in ignorance.” (Qur’an 7:138) You will surely follow the ways of those who came before you.’” (1) Reported by al-Tirmidhi, who graded it sound.

— Abu Waqid al-Laythi: al-Harith ibn ʿAwf, a well-known Companion; d. 68 AH at the age of eighty-five.
— Hunayn: A valley east of Mecca, a little over ten miles away, where the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fought the tribe of Hawazin.
— hudathāʾu ʿahd bikufr (“still new to disbelief”): meaning, we had only recently left unbelief behind.
— yaʿkifūna: they would stay there, venerate the tree, and seek blessing through it.
— yanūṭūna aslīḥatahum: they would hang their weapons on it for blessing.
— anwāṭ: plural of nawṭ, a verbal noun that came to denote the object on which something is hung; the tree was named for the many weapons suspended from it in quest of blessing.