This excerpt is taken from Sheikh al-Islam Imam Ibn Taymiyyah's book Al-Jawab al-Bahir fi Zuwar al-Maqabir, translated by Sheikh Ataullah Saqib.
Banu Thaqif and the Pilgrimage of Lat:
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, did not permit travel for worship except to three mosques. The obligatory Hajj is only the one specifically associated with the Kaaba. Besides that, there are only two mosques to which travel for worship is allowed. Traveling to any other significant and revered place is considered a form of Hajj, which is strictly prohibited. This is confirmed by the hadith of Abu Sufyan, in which he met Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt al-Thaqafi, who mentioned one of the Christian scholars who had predicted the time of the appearance of a Prophet in Arabia. Umayyah said: "We are also among the Arabs." He said: "He will be born in a family whose house the Arabs perform Hajj to." Umayyah said: "We are from Banu Thaqif, and we have such a house to which the Arabs come for Hajj." He said: "The coming Prophet will not be from among you but will be born among your brothers, the Quraysh."
It should be noted that the deity of Banu Thaqif was Lat, which is mentioned in the Qur'an as follows:
أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ اللَّاتَ وَالْعُزَّىٰ ﴿١٩﴾ وَمَنَاةَ الثَّالِثَةَ الْأُخْرَىٰ ﴿٢٠﴾ أَلَكُمُ الذَّكَرُ وَلَهُ الْأُنثَىٰ ﴿٢١﴾
"Have you considered al-Lat and al-'Uzza and Manat, the third - the other one? Is the male for you and for Him the female?"
Reference: (53-An-Najm:19-21)
It is also said that Lat was the name of a place where a person used to give a drink called "Satu" to the pilgrims passing by. When he died, people began to sit near his grave as pilgrims, and gradually this grave became a large idol that was worshiped. The polytheists of Arabia called traveling to Lat a form of Hajj. From this, it is concluded that traveling to any shrine is like performing Hajj to it, as someone said:
وحق النبى الذى تحج المطايا إليه
"And the right of the Prophet to whom the mounts are made for Hajj."
Abd bin Humaid, in his Tafsir, narrates the statement of Mujahid, may Allah have mercy on him, regarding أفرأيتم اللات والعزى:
"Lat was the name of a person who used to give Satu to people. After his death, his grave was turned into a place of worship."
Abd bin Humaid also narrates the statement of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both:
"Lat was a person who used to give Satu to the pilgrims."
Ibn Abi Hatim also narrated the statement of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, that:
"This person used to give Satu to people on a mountain, and whoever drank it became fat. After his death, people began to worship him."
Amash narrated the statement of Mujahid, may Allah have mercy on him, that:
"This person used to give Satu to people on a mountain located between Makkah and Taif. When he died, people began to sit near his grave as pilgrims."
Sulaiman bin Harb Abi al-Jawza narrated that:
"Lat was a stone on which a person used to give Satu to people. After his death, the name of this person became famous as Lat."
Reference: For the above statements, see Tafsir Dur Manthur (573/7-576) and others
Lat Azza and Manat:
Abdullah bin Musa Abi Saleh narrates this statement:
"Lat, whom the Arabs had made their Allah, used to torment people. And Uzza was a date palm tree on which the Arabs used to hang beautiful veils and cotton, and near a place called Manat Qadeed there was a stone."
A group from the Salaf also recited Al-‘Alat. It is also said that this name of majesty is derived from the name of Allah.
Al-Khattabi says:
"The Arab polytheists used to refer to some of their important idols by the word Allah, so the Generous Lord, to protect and preserve His personal name, turned their pronunciation away from it."
We say that there is no difference between the above two statements and the two recitations because a person used to sit on a hill and torment people. After his death, people sat on his grave and gave it this very name. By pronouncing this word without the emphasis of (t), their intention was that it is a deity, as they generally used to call idols 'ilahat' (goddesses). Thus, both forms were combined in this name.
The People of Mecca and Uzza:
Lat was the idol of the people of Ta'if, which was also called Al-Rubatah, and Uzza was the deity of the people of Mecca. This was the reason why Abu Sufyan said in the Battle of Uhud:
لنا العزى ولا عزى لكم
"Our god is Uzza, and you have no Uzza!"
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, asked the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, why they did not respond to this. The Companions said, "What should we reply?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Give this reply:"
الله مولانا ولا مولى لكم
"Our helper is Allah, and you have no helper."
Reference: (Sahih Bukhari, Book of Military Expeditions, Chapter: Battle of Uhud, Hadith: 4023)
Manat was called the problem solver of the people of Medina.
In short! There was no city or settlement in Hijaz that did not have its own distinct and permanent false deity, and the Arabs who performed Hajj did not worship it, nor did they consider it their intercessor.
The Hajj of Uzza:
Some commentators have written that 'Uzzā bin Ghatafān was considered a granter of needs because they worshipped him. Near Arafat, in the valley of Batn Nakhlah, his statue was installed, and near it, the tribe of Ghatafān resided. The people of Makkah used to go there for pilgrimage.
People of Yathrib and Manāt:
Authentic traditions and reliable historical books indicate that the people of Makkah worshipped this same 'Uzzā, and the people of Ta'if worshipped Lāt, and Manāt was located near a place called Qadid. From this place, the polytheists of Madinah would assume ihram, which is also supported by the hadith of Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) in Sahih Bukhari. The statement of Mu'ammar bin Muthanna that these three idols were made of stone and were inside the Ka'bah is unanimously rejected by scholars as incorrect.
The Hubal of the people of Makkah:
However, the idol named Hubal was inside the Kaaba, about which Abu Sufyan said during the Battle of Uhud:
أعل هبل أعل هبل
“Hubal is exalted, Hubal is exalted!”
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, told the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, to respond by saying:
الله أعلى وأجل
“Allah is the Most High and Exalted.”
Reference: (Reference as before)
Asaf and Naila:
It is also worth remembering that the idols of the goddess Asaf and Naila were installed on the Safa and Marwah hills respectively, and around the House of Allah, 360 idols were hung. Lat, Uzza, and Manat were famous female deities.
