Book of Idols

The Book of Idols (Kitāb al-ʾAṣnām), written by the Arab scholar Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737–819), describes gods and rites of pre-Islamic Arab religions. The book portrays pre-Islamic Arabian religion as predominantly polytheistic and guilty of idol worship (idolatry) before the coming of Muhammad, including at the Kaaba, the pre-eminent shrine of Mecca. This, for Al-Kalbi, was a degraded state of religious practice since the pure monotheism that, in Islamic religion, was instituted by Abraham (a hanif) when the Kaaba was founded.^[1]^[2]

^ Brown, Daniel W. (2004). A New Introduction to Islam. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-0-631-21604-9.
^ Hawting, Gerald R. (1999). The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History. Cambridge UP. pp. 68, 88–95. ISBN 978-0-521-65165-3.

[1] Brown, Daniel W. (2004). A New Introduction to Islam. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-0-631-21604-9.

[hawting-2] Hawting, Gerald R. (1999). The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History. Cambridge UP. pp. 68, 88–95. ISBN 978-0-521-65165-3.

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