Part of It happened in Ramadan (the series is completed)
· Lesson 4 of 10
Event in Ramadan | D. Abdul Rahman Raafat Al-Basha | H (4) | Demolishing idols
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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Mawaddah Association presents:
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Events in Ramadan.
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By the grace of the Most Merciful, the compassion of the Pasha.
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The demolition of the idols.
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In Ramadan of the eighth year after the Hijrah.
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And on the twenty-fifth of that momentous month, most likely.
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The noble Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, ordered
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The demolition of the greatest idol that was worshipped besides Allah in the Arabian Peninsula.
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It was the idol known as al-‘Uzza.
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The hand that demolished it was the hand of the Sword of Allah, Khalid ibn al-Walid.
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For al-‘Uzza and its peers among the idols in the Arabian Peninsula,
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There is a dark, black history.
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The light of Islam erased its darkness.
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And the radiance of faith removed its gloom.
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This story begins in the era of Isma‘il ibn Ibrahim, peace be upon them both.
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For Isma‘il settled in Makkah the Honored.
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His descendants multiplied there.
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And as days passed, his progeny expanded,
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Until Makkah, despite its vastness, became crowded for them.
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At that point, his descendants spread throughout the land.
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They set out across the Arabian Peninsula in search of sustenance.
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And no one would depart from Makkah
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Without taking with them a stone from the stones of the Sacred Precinct,
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Out of reverence for the House of Allah.
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Whenever they settled in a place,
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They would place the stone there,
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And they would circumambulate it just as they circumambulated the Ka‘bah, out of affection for it,
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And veneration for it, and longing for it.
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Then a long time passed,
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And generations followed one another,
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Until those stones were worshipped besides Allah,
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And the people took them as idols and lords.
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This was the affair of the stones.
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As for the carved idols,
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They were brought into the Arabian Peninsula by ‘Amr ibn Rabi‘ah.
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He was a custodian of the Ka‘bah and one of the leaders of the Arabs.
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This ‘Amr fell severely ill.
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It was said to him,
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"In al-Balqa’ in the land of the Levant, there is a hot spring;
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If you go to it, you will be healed."
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So he went to it, bathed in it, and was healed.
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He found its people worshipping idols.
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He asked, "What is this?"
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They replied, "We seek rain through them,
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And we seek victory over the enemy through them."
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He asked them to give him some, and they did.
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He brought them to Makkah and set them up around the Ka‘bah.
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The oldest of the Arab idols was Manat.
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It was called so
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Because blood was spilled (tumna) before it as an offering and out of reverence for it.
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Manat was set up on the seashore
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Between Makkah and Madinah.
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The Arabs revered and feared it,
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And named their children after it,
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Such as ‘Abd Manat and Zayd Manat.
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The people who revered it most intensely
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Were the Aws and the Khazraj.
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Then the Arabs adopted al-Lat after Manat.
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The origin of al-Lat was a square rock in Ta’if.
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A Jew used to sit upon it, kneading flour (sawiq) for the people so they could eat it fresh.
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The people used to call him "al-Lat."
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When the Jew died,
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The tribe of Thaqif built a Ka‘bah and an idol for themselves over the rock.
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Quraysh and the rest of the Arabs revered al-Lat,
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And named their children after it,
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Saying Zayd al-Lat and Taym al-Lat.
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Then the Arabs adopted al-‘Uzza after that.
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They built it in the land of Nakhlah, nine miles from Makkah.
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Al-‘Uzza was the greatest idol among Quraysh.
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They built a house over it to rival the Ka‘bah,
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And protected a sanctuary for it to rival the Makkan sanctuary.
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They established a slaughterhouse there to sacrifice offerings.
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Quraysh singled out al-‘Uzza for special veneration.
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When they circumambulated the Ka‘bah, they would say,
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"By al-Lat, al-‘Uzza, and the third one, Manat,
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For they are the exalted cranes (gharaniq),
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And their intercession is indeed to be hoped for."
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They used to say about these three idols
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That they were the daughters of Allah.
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Exalted is Allah far above what they associate with Him.
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When Allah sent His Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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With guidance and the religion of monotheism, he condemned al-‘Uzza
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Among the idols of Quraysh that he condemned.
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This weighed heavily upon them, to the point that Sa‘id ibn al-‘As,
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When he fell into the illness from which he died,
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Abu Lahab came to visit him.
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He said,
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"Why are you weeping, O Abu Uhayhah?
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Are you weeping because of death, which is inevitable?"
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He said, "No,
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But I fear that al-‘Uzza will not be worshipped after I am gone."
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Abu Lahab said,
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"By Allah, it was not worshipped during your life because of you,
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So that you should worry about it being abandoned after your death."
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Abu Uhayhah said,
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"Now I know that I have a successor who will protect it after me."
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Quraysh had other idols inside the Ka‘bah.
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The greatest of them was Hubal.
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Hubal was made of red carnelian in the shape of a human.
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Its right hand was broken,
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So they made a hand of gold for it.
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In front of Hubal were seven arrows.
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Written on the first was "pure" (sarih),
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And on the other was "attached" (mulsaq).
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If someone doubted the lineage of a newborn,
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They would offer a gift to it,
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Then cast the arrows.
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If "pure" came out, the newborn was attributed to his father.
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If "attached" came out, they disowned him.
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Every household in Makkah had an idol in their home,
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Which they worshipped besides Allah.
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If one of them wanted to travel,
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The last thing he would do in his house was to touch it for blessing.
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And if he returned from his journey,
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The first thing he would do upon entering his house was to touch it.
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When Allah sent Muhammad with the monotheism of Allah and singling Him out for worship,
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They said, "Has he made the gods one God?"
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“Maketh he the gods One Allah? Lo! that is an astounding thing.” (38:5)
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When a man from the Arabs traveled,
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And stopped in a place,
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He would take four stones.
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He would look at the best of them and take it as a lord,
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And make the remaining three a hearth,
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Placing his pot upon them to cook his food.
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The worship of these idols by the Arabs was not without its ironies.
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Among them is that one of them passed by one of these set-up idols,
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And found a fox standing next to the idol and urinating on its head.
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He said, "Is this a lord that a fox urinates on its head?
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Humiliated is he upon whom the fox has urinated."
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Another is that Imru’ al-Qays ibn Hujr
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Went to an idol on the day his father was killed,
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And cast the arrows before it to consult it regarding vengeance for his father.
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The arrow came out forbidding him from seeking vengeance for his father.
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So he kicked the idol with his foot, cursed it, and insulted it,
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And said to it,
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"If your father had been killed, you would not have said this!"
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A man from the tribe of Mulkan brought his camels to an idol of his people called Sa‘d,
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Intending to dedicate them to it, seeking its blessing.
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When the camels saw the idol, they bolted from the blood that was spilled before it,
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And scattered everywhere.
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The Bedouin became angry, took a stone, threw it at the idol, and said,
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"We came to Sa‘d to unite our scattered herd,
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But Sa‘d scattered us; I am no longer a follower of Sa‘d.
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Is Sa‘d anything but a rock in a desolate land, neither guiding to error nor to righteousness?"
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Among these stories is that of ‘Amr ibn al-Jamuh, a leader of the tribe of Salamah.
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He had taken an idol into his house.
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When the young men of Salamah embraced Islam,
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And witnessed the Pledge of ‘Aqabah with their fathers and returned to Yathrib,
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Whenever night fell, they would enter ‘Amr’s house, take the idol,
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And throw it into a pit where the filth of the Banu Salamah gathered.
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When ‘Amr woke up, he would say,
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"Woe to you! Who has attacked our gods tonight?"
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Then he would go out searching for it,
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And when he found it, he would wash it, perfume it, and say to it,
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"By Allah, if I knew who did this to you, I would disgrace him."
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When evening came and he slept,
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They would go to it and do the same to his idol.
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He would wake up searching for it,
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And find it in the same state of filth.
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He would wash it, clean it, and perfume it.
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Then he brought his sword and hung it upon it,
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And said to it,
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"By Allah, I do not know who is doing this to you, as you see.
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If there is any good in you, defend yourself,
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For this sword is with you."
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When evening came and he slept,
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They went to it, took the sword from its neck,
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Then took a dead dog,
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And tied it to the idol with a rope,
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Then threw it into one of the wells of the Banu Salamah.
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‘Amr went out and did not find it in its place,
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But found it in the well, upside down,
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Tied to a dead dog.
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Those who had embraced Islam from his people spoke to him,
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And invited him to Islam.
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He embraced Islam, and his Islam was sincere.
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Then he said, thanking Allah for saving him
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From the blindness and misguidance he was in:
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"By Allah, if you were a god, you would not be
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You and a dog in a well, tied together.
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Praise be to Allah, the Most High, the Bestower,
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The Giver, the Provider, the Judge of the Religion.
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He is the One who saved me before
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I was held hostage in the darkness of the grave."
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Most of these idols remained
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Worshipped besides Allah in the Arabian Peninsula,
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Until Allah granted His Prophet
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The clear victory.
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That was a sign of the end
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Of the era of idols,
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And the removal of the symbols of polytheism.
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It was among the virtues of Ramadan
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That in its glorious days,
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All the idols were demolished.
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For on the twentieth of Ramadan,
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In the eighth year after the Hijrah,
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The Messenger of Allah,
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Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, entered Makkah as a conqueror,
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He turned his face toward the Sacred Mosque.
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The idols were set up around the Kaaba.
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He took the tip of his spear.
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He began striking them in their eyes and faces.
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They would collapse at his feet while he recited.
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“And say: Truth hath come and falsehood hath vanished away. Lo! falsehood is ever bound to vanish.” (17:81)
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“And say: Truth hath come and falsehood hath vanished away. Lo! falsehood is ever bound to vanish.” (17:81)
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Then he gave orders regarding them.
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They were overturned onto their faces.
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They were removed from the Mosque.
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And fire was set to them.
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At the head of them was Hubal.
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On the twenty-fourth of Ramadan,
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in the eighth year after the Hijrah,
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the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sent
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Sa'd Ibn Zayd al-Ashhali to Manat.
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He demolished it and found nothing in its treasury.
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On the twenty-fifth of Ramadan,
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the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sent
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Khalid Ibn al-Walid
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with thirty horsemen of his Companions.
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He commanded them to demolish al-'Uzza.
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Its custodians and caretakers were from the Banu Shayban.
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When its custodian heard of Khalid’s approach toward it,
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he hung a sword upon it.
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And he recited to it, saying:
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"O 'Uzza, show your might, do not be slow,
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against Khalid; cast off your veil and gird yourself.
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O 'Uzza, if you do not kill Khalid today,
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then prepare for an immediate disgrace or become a Christian."
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When Khalid reached it,
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he demolished it while repeating:
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"O 'Uzza, may you be denied, not glorified,
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for I have seen that Allah has humiliated you."
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Then Khalid returned to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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and informed him of the demolition of al-'Uzza.
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He said to him, "Praise be to Allah who has honored us through you
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and saved us from destruction.
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I used to see my father come to al-'Uzza,
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bringing it the best of his wealth in camels and sheep.
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He would slaughter them for al-'Uzza,
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then stay by it for three days,
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and then return to us joyful.
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I reflected upon what my father died upon,
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and how he was deceived,
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until he ended up slaughtering for that which neither hears nor sees,
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and neither harms nor benefits."
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The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
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"This matter rests with Allah.
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Whoever He guides to the truth, it is made easy for him,
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and whoever He leaves to misguidance, he remains within it."
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In Ramadan of the ninth year after the Hijrah,
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the delegation of Thaqif, the owners of al-Lat, came to the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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offering their Islam to him.
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They asked him to leave al-Lat for them for three years without demolishing it.
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But the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, refused that.
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They did not cease asking him, year by year,
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and he refused them.
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Until they asked for just one month,
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but he refused to leave it for any specified time.
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He insisted on its demolition.
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They asked him that they not be the ones to demolish it with their own hands.
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The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
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"As for breaking your idols with your own hands,
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we will excuse you from that."
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Then the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sent
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with them Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb
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and al-Mughirah Ibn Shu'bah
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to demolish al-Lat.
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When they reached Ta'if,
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the women of Thaqif came out unveiled, weeping for their deities,
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lamenting their loss,
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and criticizing their men who had surrendered them.
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When al-Mughirah intended to demolish it, he said to Abu Sufyan,
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"Shall I make you laugh at Thaqif?"
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He said, "Yes."
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He took the axe and struck al-Lat one blow.
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Then he shouted and fell on his face as if he had been struck down.
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Ta'if erupted with cries of joy,
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believing that al-Lat had struck down al-Mughirah.
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They approached him saying,
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"Woe to you! How did you see it?
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It destroys those who show it enmity!
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It destroys those who show it enmity!"
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Then al-Mughirah stood up, laughing at the people,
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and mocking their foolishness.
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He then turned to al-Lat, striking it with his pickaxe,
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while saying:
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"Allah is the Greatest,
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Allah is the Greatest.
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There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner,
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the One, the Eternal Refuge."
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So congratulations to the Muslims for Ramadan,
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congratulations to them for its glorious days.
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For in it, the idols were disgraced,
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and in it, the statues were uprooted.