A moral ideal was what the Makkans lacked most of all, or one can say, except for the
binding force of some stale customs and traditional sentiments of Arab chivalry, they had no
code of ethics to guide their conduct. Gambling was a favourite pastime in which they took
pride, unrestrained drunkenness sent them into rapturous delight and immoderate dissipa-
tion satisfied their perverted sense of honor. Their gatherings were the scenes of drinking
bouts and wanton debauchery without any idea of sin or crime; they never took any aver-
sion to wickedness, iniquity, callousness and brigandage.
The moral atmosphere of Arabia in general and of Makkah in particular, was faithfully de-
picted by J'afar b. Abu Talib, a prominent member of the Quraysh, in the court of Negus,
when he said to him;
"O King we were an unenlightened people plunged in ignorance: we worshipped idols, we
ate dead animals, and we committed abominations; we broke natural ties, we ill-treated our
neighbors and our strong devoured the weak." (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p.336)
RELIGIOUS LIFE
The religious practices and beliefs of the Arabs were, beyond doubt, even more despica-
ble, particularly, by reason of the influence they exerted on the social and moral life of the
people. Having lost all but little touch with the salubrious teachings of the Prophets of old,
they had been completely submerged in the crude and materialistic form of fetishism like
that prevailing in the countries surrounding them. So fond had they become of idol worship
that no less than three hundred and sixty deities adorned, or defiled, the holy sanctuary.
The greatest amongst these gods was Hubal whom Abu Sufyan had extolled at the battle of
Uhud when he had cried out: "Glory be to Hubal". The idol occupied a central place in the
Ka'bah, by the side of a well in which the offerings were stored. Sculptured in the shape of a
man, it was made of a huge cornelian rock. As its right hand was missing when the Quraysh
had discovered it, they had replaced it by a hand made of solid gold. Two idols had been
placed in front of the Ka'bah, one was called Isaf and the other as Na'ila; the former had
been installed close to the Ka'bah and the latter by the place of Zamzam. After sometime
the Quraysh had shifted the first one near the other, where they offered up sacrifices be-
sides them. On the mounts of Safa and Marwah, there were two more idols called Nahik
Mujawid al-Rih and Mut'im at-Tayr.
Every household in Makkah had an idol which was worshipped by the inmates of the
house. Al-'Uzza had been installed near 'Arafat within a temple constructed for it. Quraysh
venerated al-'Uzza as the chief or the noblest of all deities. The Arabs used to cast lots with
the help of divining arrows placed before these idols for taking a decision to commence any
affair. There were also other idols, one of which named as al-Khalsa, had been set up in the
depression of Makkah's valley. The idol was garlanded, presented an offering of barley and
wheat and bathed with milk. The Arabs used to make sacrifices and hang the eggs of an