أصنام
Aṣnām
Topic
The idols the Meccans worshipped: al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat, and Wadd, Suwa, Yaghuth, Yauq and Nasr, named in the Quran.
What it means
The Quran asks: “Have you considered al-Lat and al-Uzza, and Manat, the third, the other?” (53:19–20). Noah’s people are said to have worshipped Wadd, Suwa, Yaghuth, Yauq and Nasr (71:23). Hubal was the chief idol in the Kaaba. The Quran says that these “are but names which you and your fathers have named; God has sent down no authority for them” (53:23).
Often misunderstood as
That the Prophet once recited verses allowing prayer to these goddesses (the “Satanic verses”).
What the sources say
The story of the “high-flying cranes” (gharānīq) is told in the biography of Ibn Sa’d and in al-Tabari, with chains that are broken. Hadith scholars such as Ibn Hajar and al-Albani judged them unsound, and Qadi Iyad and others refuted the story. The verse sometimes cited for it (22:52) is explained by most commentators as saying that Satan throws doubts and obstacles in the way of a prophet’s mission, and that God removes them; it does not say that he adds words to revelation. The Quran says of the Prophet that “he does not speak from desire” (53:3).