Answering Islam - A Christian-Muslim dialog

Shabir Ally Caught Lying Again!


The Origin of Idolatry

Sam Shamoun

Previously, we took a careful look at Q. 5:90-91 in light of Muslim taqiyyist Shabir Ally’s assertion that the Quran does not teach that wine is a creation of Satan, and showed that this is exactly what the text claims. We stated that the items that are mentioned within these verses are vices which the Quran states originated from Satan himself. We quote the passage again so the readers can be reminded of what it actually says:

Believers, wine and games of chance, idols and divining arrows, are abominations devised by Satan. Avoid them, so that you may prosper. Satan seeks to stir up enmity and hatred among you by means of wine and gambling, and to keep you from the remembrance of God and from your prayers. Will you not abstain from them? N. J. Dawood

In this section we are going to cite from specific Islamic authorities to substantiate our assertion that, contrary to Ally’s argument, the foregoing text does in fact claim that wine is something which Satan created either by having produced it himself, or by inspiring others to do so, in order to use it to destroy mankind. 

According to the traditions attributed to Muhammad and the explanation of Muslim scholars, it was Satan who inspired men to commit idolatry and who also erected images for them to worship. The following are just some of the many references which confirm this point:

“'Iyad b. Him-ar reported that Allah's Messenger, while delivering a sermon one day, said: Behold, my Lord commanded me that I should teach you which you do not know and which He has taught me today. (He has instructed thus): The property which I have conferred upon them is lawful for them. I have created My servants as one having a natural inclination to the worship of Allah but it is Satan who turns them away from the right religion and he makes unlawful what has been declared lawful for them and he commands them to ascribe partnership with Me, although he has no justification for that…” (Sahih Muslim, Book 040, Number 6853)


(And they have plotted a mighty plot. And they have said: `You shall not leave your gods, nor shall you leave Wadd, nor Suwa`, nor Yaghuth, and Ya`uq and Nasr.') These are the names of their idols which they used to worship besides Allah. Al-Bukhari recorded from Ibn `Abbas that he said, “The idols that were among the people of Nuh wound up among the Arabs afterwards. In reference to Wadd, it became the idol of the people of Kalb in the area of Dawmat Al-Jandal. Suwa` became the idol of the people of Hudhayl. Yaghuth became the idol of the people of Murad, then the people of Bani Ghutayf at Al-Juruf in the area of Saba' worshipped it after them. Ya`uq became the idol of the people of Hamdan. Nasr became the idol of the people of Himyar for the family of Dhu Kala`. These idols were all named after righteous men from the people of Nuh. Then when these men died, SHAYTAN INSPIRED his (Nuh's) people to erect statues in honor of them at their gathering places where they used to come and sit, and to name these statues after these men (with their names). So they did this (AS SHAYTAN SUGGESTED), but these statues were not worshipped until after those people (the ones who built them) had died and the knowledge was lost. Then, those statues were later worshipped.” This has also been similarly reported from `Ikrimah, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah and Ibn Ishaq. `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "These are statues that were worshipped in the time of Nuh.” Ibn Jarir recorded from Muhammad bin Qays that he said concerning Yaghuth, Ya`uq and Nasr, “They were righteous people between the time of Adam and Nuh, and they had followers who used to adhere to their guidance. Then, when they died, their companions who used to follow them said, `If we make images of them, it will increase our desire to perform worship when we remember them.' So they made images of them. Then, when those people died and other people came after them, Iblis approached them and said, `They (your predecessors) used to worship these statues and they were granted rain by their worship of them.' Thus, they (the latter people) worshipped them.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Q. 71:23; bold and capital emphasis ours)

Here is another citation:

Then Abbas explained: "Following upon the death of those righteous men, Satan inspired their people to erect statues in the places where they used to sit. They did this, but these statues were not worshipped until the coming generations deviated from the right way of life. Then they worshipped them as their idols."

These idols represented, respectively, manly power; mutability, beauty; brute strength; swiftness; sharp sight, insight. (Source: A. Yusuf Ali, The Holy Quran: Translation and Commentary. Appendix XIII)

In his version, Ibn Jarir narrated: "There were righteous people who lived in the period between Adam and Noah and who had followers who held them as models. After their death, their friends who used to emulate them said: 'If we make statues of them, it will be more pleasing to us in our worship and will remind us of them.' So they built statues of them, and, after they had died and others came after them, Iblis crept into their minds saying: 'Your forefathers used to worship them, and through that worship they got rain.' So they worshipped them."

Ibn Abi Hatim related this story: "Waddan was a righteous man who was loved by his people. When he died, they withdrew to his grave in the land of Babylonia and were overwhelmed by sadness. When Iblis saw their sorrow caused by his death, he disguised himself in the form of a man saying: 'I have seen your sorrow because of this man's death; can I make a statue like him which could be put in your meeting place to make you remember him?' They said: 'Yes.' So he made the statue like him. They put it in their meeting place in order to be reminded of him. When Iblis saw their interest in remembering him, he said: 'Can I build a statue of him in the home of each one of you so that he would be in everyone's house and you could remember him?' They agreed. Their children learned about and saw what they were doing. They also learned about their remembrance of him, until they took him to be a deity and worshipped him instead of Allah. So the first to be worshipped instead of Allah was Waddan, the idol which they named thus."

It was narrated that 'Umm Salmah and 'Umm Habibah told Allah's Prophet Muhammad about the church called "Maria" which they had seen in the land of Abyssinia. They described its beauty and the pictures therein. He said: "Those are the people who build places of worship on the grave of every dead man who was righteous and then make therein those pictures. Those are the worst of creation unto Allah."

The essence of this point is that every idol from those earlier mentioned was worshipped by a certain group of people. It was mentioned that people made pictures and as the ages passed they made these pictures into statues, so that their forms could be fully recognized; afterwards they were worshipped instead of Allah. (Alim Islamic Software, Stories of the Prophets. Nuh (Noah): Various Hadith Describing the Origin of Idolatry; bold emphasis ours)

Worshiping anything other than Allah is a tragedy that results not only in the loss of freedom (by worshiping anything other than Allah, man becomes enslaved to Satan, who is himself a creature, and becomes harnessed to his own baser qualities); its serious effect reaches man's mind and destroys it as well. Almighty Allah created man and his mind with its purpose set on achieving knowledge, the most important of which is that Allah alone is the Creator and all the rest are worshipers (slaves). Therefore, disbelief in Allah, or polytheism, results in the loss of freedom, the destruction of the mind, and the absence of a noble target in life. (Ibid, Commentary – Idolatry; bold emphasis ours)

Now for our final reference:

“Allah mentions the idols that the people of Nuh used to worship…

‘And they said: Do not abandon your idols! And do not abandon Wadd, Suwa’, Yaghuth, Ya‘iq, and Nasr’ [Surah Nuh; 23].

“Ibn Abbas stated, with regards to the origin of idols: ‘These are the names of five pious men that lived at the time of Nuh. When they died, Shaytan inspired their people to carve out images of them, which they placed in their places of gathering. They were not worshipped until that generation had died, and knowledge was lost. When that occurred, these structures were then worshipped (as gods).’17 Another early authority, Muhammad ibn Ka‘ab al-Quradhi (d. 120 A.H.), narrated: ‘These were five pious people between the time of Adam and Nuh. When they died, a generation came after them who used to follow their ways in the worship of Allah. But Iblis came to them, and said, “Are you grieved at the loss of your companions?” They said, “Yes!” So he said, “Should I not make images of them, and place them in front of you while you pray, so that when you look at them, you will remember them (and their worship of Allah)?” They said, “We do not like that you place in front of us anything while we pray.” So he asked them, “What if I place them behind you?” They agreed to that. As time went by, and that generation died, other generations replaced them, until Iblis came to them once again, and told them, “Those who were before you used to worship these images.” So they started worshipping them as idols.’18

All these narrations clearly show that idolatry WAS INTRODUCED BY SHAYTAN HIMSELF, after mankind had originally followed pure tawhid… So mankind was initially united in the truth, unified in its worship of Allah. However, Shaytan caused people to deviate and set up partners and rivals besides Allah. Hence, Allah sent prophets and messengers to guide them to the truth, and to remind them of the pure worship of Allah.” (An Explanation of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s Kashf al-Shubuhat (A Critical Study of Shirk), translation and commentary by Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi [Al-Hidayah Publishing & Distribution, 1003], pp. 19-20; bold and capital emphasis ours)

17 Paraphrased from al-Bukhari (8/535, # 4920).

18 Reported by Abu al-Shaykh in his al-Adhamah (5/1590) and Ibn Mardawayh in his Tafsir, and others. Although there is a slight weakness in the chain of narrators, the narration of Ibn Abbas confirms it. (Ibid, p. 19)

The preceding citations conclusively establish that, in Islamic theology, idolatry is a vice created by Satan himself, as a means of misleading mankind away from God’s path. This simply substantiates the fact that Q. 5:90 does indeed classify actions such as gambling, idolatry, divining arrows etc. as the handiwork of Satan. Since wine is also included among these items which Satan allegedly created or introduced, there is simply no getting around the fact that the Quran not only contradicts itself concerning the origin and benefits of intoxicants such as wine (cf. Q. 2:219; 16:66-67), but it also has Allah making the promise that a work or creation of Satan will be found and enjoyed in paradise itself  (cf. Q. 47:15). Allah is going to allow his followers to drink from rivers of a drink which Satan caused humans to produce for the sole purpose of destroying the lives of Allah’s creatures. To make matters worse, Allah even calls this abomination a pure drink in Q. 83:25!

Can we really believe that Allah is in the business of taking the filth that Satan created and makes it into something pure and lawful for the inhabitants of paradise to consume?

Moreover, wouldn’t that be an admission that a creation of Satan is better than what Allah was able to give as a reward to his faithful believers? In other words, doesn’t this imply that Allah failed to create what is best and had to take something that was invented by Satan in order to satisfy the believers and reward them in the best manner? Hence, Allah couldn’t come up with anything better than what Satan had invented?

Does Allah have to pay Satan royalties for using his inventions in paradise?