Afaraaytumu allata walAAuzza (surah Najm: 19)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(53:19) Have you ever thought about al-Lat and al-Uzza, *15

Afara`aytumul laata wal `uzzaa

*15) That is, "You regard the teachings being givcn to you by Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) as erroneous and falsehood, whereas he is being given this knowledge by Allah, and Allah has made him see with his own eyes the verities to which he is testifying before you. Now consider it for yourself as to how irrational are the beliefs that you are following persistently and'' as to whom you arc causing loss by opposing and resisting the person who is guiding you to the Right Way. In this connection, especially the three goddesses that were worshipped generally by the people of Makkah, Ta'if and other parts of Hejaz have been taken as an example. About them, they have been asked: Have you ever considered rationally whether they could have even the slightest role in the affairs of the Godhead of the earth and heavens? Or could they bear any relationship whatever with the Lord of the Universe? The shrine of Lat was in Ta'if and the Bani Thaqif were so devoted to it that when Abraha was advancing to Makkah with his army of elephants to destroy the Ka'bah, the people only in order to save the temple of their deity had provided the wicked man with guides to lead him w Makkah so that he should spare Lat, whereas like all the Arabs the people of Thaqif also believed that the Ka'bah is Allah's House. Scholars have disputed the meaning of Lat. According to Ibn Jarir Tabari, it is the feminine gender of AIlah, i.e. originally this word was allahatun which became al-Lat. According to Zamakhshari, it is derived from hva yalvi, . which means to turn to or bow to somebody. As the polytheists turned to it for worship and bowed to it and circumambulated it, it began to be called Lat. Ibn 'Abbas _reads it as left (with a stress on t) and holds it is derived from latt yalittu, which means to churn and mix together. He and Mujahid state that this, in fact, was a man, who lived on a rock near Ta'if, and used to entertain the pilgrims to Makkah with barley drinks and food. When he died the people built a shrine to him on the same rock and began to worship him. But this explanation of Lat, in spite of having been reported on the authority of scholars like Ibn 'Abbas and Mujahid, is not acceptable for two reasons. First, that in the Qur'an it has been called Lat and not Latt; second, that the Qur'an describes all the three as goddesses, and according to this tradition Lat was a man, not a woman.
'Uzza is derived from 'izzat, and it means the one (female) enjoying veneration and respect. This was the special goddess of the Quraish and her shrine was situated at Hurad in the valley of Nakhlah, between Makkah and Ta'if. (For the location of Nakhlah, see E.N. 33 of Surah AL-Ahqaf). The people of Bani Shaiban, who were the allies of the Bani Hashim, were its attendants. The Quraish and the people of other tribes paid visits to it and presented offerings and made sacrifices to it. As for the Ka`bah sacrificial animals were driven to it also and it was held in the highest esteem. Ibn Hisham relates that when Abu Uhaihah was on the point of death, Abu Lahab paid him a visit and found him weeping. Abu Lahab asked, 'Why do you weep, Abu Uhaihah ? Are you afraid of death ?-and death is the destiny of everybody !" He said, `By God, I do not weep because of the fear of death, but I am grieved to think as to how 'Uzza will be worshipped after me. " Abu Lahab said, "It was neither worshipped for your sake in your lifetime, nor will it be given up after you have left the world." Abu Uhaihah said, 'Now I am satisfied that there are people who will take my place after me." The shrine of Manat was situated at Qudaid by. the Red Sea between Makkah and Madinah, and the people of Khuza`ah and Aus and Khazraj were in particular its great devotees. People visited it as pilgrims, circumambulated it and made offerings and sacrifices before it. In the Hajj months as soon as the pilgrims became free from their visit to the Ka`bah and the religious services at Mina and 'Arafat, they would start raising cries of 'Labbaik, labbaik"even there for the purpose of visiting Manat, and the people who intended to go on this second "hajj" did not run between the Safa and the Marwah.