Soon after the Conquest of Mecca, Muhammad began to dispatch expeditions on errands aiming at eliminating the last symbols reminiscent of pre-Islamic practices.
He sent Khalid bin Al-Walid in Ramadan 8 A.H. to a place called Nakhlah, where there was an idol of the goddess called Al-‘Uzza worshipped by the Quraish and Kinanah tribes, and guarded by custodians from Banu Shaiban. Khalid, at the head of thirty horsemen, arrived at the spot and destroyed the idol.
Upon his return, Muhammad asked him if he had seen anything else there, to which Khalid replied, "No". He was told that the idol had not been destroyed and that he must go back and fulfill the task. Khalid went again to Nakhlah and there saw a black Abyssinian (Ethiopian) woman, naked with disheveled hair. He struck her with his sword and cut her into "two pieces", according to the Muslim scholar, Saifur Rahman al Mubarakpuri. He returned once again and narrated his story to Muhammad, who then confirmed the fulfillment of the task, saying that the black Ethiopian woman was the real "al-Uzza". [5][3][4]
Abu Bakr Abdullah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. He is known with the honorific title "al-Siddiq" by Sunni Muslims.
Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included indigenous Arabian polytheism, ancient Semitic religions, Christianity, Judaism, Mandaeism, and Zoroastrianism.
The Battle of Badr, also referred to as The Day of the Criterion in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE, near the present-day city of Badr, Al Madinah Province in Saudi Arabia. Muhammad, commanding an army of his Sahaba, defeated an army of the Quraysh led by Amr ibn Hishām, better known as Abu Jahl. The battle marked the beginning of the six-year war between Muhammad and his tribe. Prior to the battle, the Muslims and the Meccans had fought several smaller skirmishes in late 623 and early 624.
Al-ʻUzzā was one of the three chief goddesses of Arabian religion in pre-Islamic times and she was worshiped by the pre-Islamic Arabs along with al-Lāt and Manāt. A stone cube at Nakhla was held sacred as part of her cult. She is mentioned in Qur'an 53:19 as being one of the goddesses who people worshiped.
In Arabian mythology, Hubal was a god worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia, notably by the Quraysh at the Kaaba in Mecca. The god's idol was a human figure believed to control acts of divination, which was performed by tossing arrows before the statue. The direction in which the arrows pointed answered questions asked of the idol. The specific powers and identity attributed to Hubal are equally unclear.
Manāt was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshiped in the Arabian Peninsula before the rise of Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the 7th century. She was among Mecca's three chief goddesses, alongside her sisters, Allat and Al-‘Uzzá, and among them, she was the original and the oldest.
al-Lat, also spelled Allat, Allatu and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula, including Mecca where she was worshipped alongside Manat and al-'Uzza as one of the daughters of Allah. The word Allat or Elat has been used to refer to various goddesses in the ancient Near East, including the goddess Asherah-Athirat.
Waraqah ibn Nawfal ibn Asad ibn Abd-al-Uzza ibn Qusayy Al-Qurashi was the paternal first cousin of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, the first wife of Muhammad. He was considered to be a hanif, who practised the pure form of monotheism in pre-Islamic Arabia. Waraqah presumably died in 610 CE, shortly after Muhammad is said to have received his first revelation.
Wadd is a pre-Islamic Arabian god. He was the national god of the Minaeans of South Arabia, and the snake was associated with him. It is also called Waddum and Wadd'ab.
Layla bint al-Minhal was an Arab woman during the spread of Islam. She was a contemporary to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the wife of Khalid Ibn al Walid, one of the greatest generals of all time after the likes of Alexander the Great.
The Conquest of Mecca was the capture of the town of Mecca by Muslims led by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in December 629 or January 630 AD (Julian), 10–20 Ramadan, 8 AH. The conquest marked the end of the wars between the followers of Muhammad and the Quraysh tribe.
Al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi was the chief of the Banu Makhzum clan of the Quraysh tribe.
The Expedition of Abdullah ibn Unais, also known as the Assassination of Khaled bin Sufyan was the first attack against the Banu Lahyan, which took place in the month of Muharram in the year A.H. 3. It was reported that Khaled bin Sufyan Al-Hathali, considered an attack on Madinah and that he was inciting the people on Nakhla or Uranah to fight Muslims. So Muhammad sent Abdullah ibn Unais to assassinate him. After cutting off Khaled bin Sufyan's head at night, Unais brought it back to Muhammad.
Banu Salim or Banu Saleem or Bani Salim was a tribe during the Islamic prophet Muhammad's era. They participated in the Al Kudr Invasion. On Khalid ibn Walid's return from Nakhla expedition to destroy al-Uzza, Khalid bin Al-Waleed at the head of 350 horsemen of Helpers, Emigrants and Banu Saleem was despatched once again in the same year 8 A.H in the Expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid to the habitation of Bani Khuzaimah bedouins, who were Sabaeans. A famous tribe that descends from Bani Salim is Al Hanadi a one of the largest Arab Tribes in Egypt.
The raid of Amr ibn al-As, to Ruhat, took place in January 630 AD, 8AH, 9th month, of the Islamic Calendar.
Raid of Sa'd ibn Zaid al-Ashhali, took place in January 630 AD, 8AH, 9th month, of the Islamic Calendar, in the vicinity of al-Mushallal. Sa'd ibn Zaid al-Ashhali was sent to demolish the images of the gods worshipped by the polytheist tribes around the area.
Expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid, to Mecca, against Banu Jadhimah, took place in January 630 AD, 8AH, 9th month, of the Islamic Calendar.
The Expedition of Ukasha bin Al-Mihsan, against the tribes of Udhrah and Baliy, took place in October 630 AD, 9AH of the Islamic Calendar.
Khalid ibn al-Walid invaded the city of Dumat Al-Jandal in April 631 AD, under the orders of Muhammad to retaliate for the killings of preachers that had previously been sent by him. He also ordered Khalid to destroy an idol that was worshipped by the Bani Kalb tribe.
The Demolition of Dhul-Khalasa occurred in April and May 632 CE, in 10 AH of the Islamic calendar. Sources refer to Dhul-Khalasa,, as both a cult image and as a temple, venerated by some Arabian tribes. Muhammad sent the companion Jarir ibn ʿAbdullah al-Bajali, to destroy the image, leaving in ruin the shrine surrounding it. The cult image was of white stone or quartz, in the form of a pillar, column, or phallic symbol, the top of which was embroidered with a stone crown.
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