'Amr ibn Luhayy (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: عمرو بن لحي) was a chief of the

Banu Khuza'ah The Banū Khuzāʿah (, singular ''Khuzāʿī'') are an Azdite, Qahtanite tribe, one of the main ancestral tribes of Arabia. They ruled Mecca and were the Kings of Hejaz for 500 years, before the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and many members of t ...

, a tribe originating in

pre-Islamic Arabia Pre-Islamic Arabia is the Arabian Peninsula and its northern extension in the Syrian Desert before the rise of Islam. This is consistent with how contemporaries used the term ''Arabia'' or where they said Arabs lived, which was not limited to the ...

. 'Amr gained an infamous reputation in Islamic tradition due to him being cited by traditional Arabic sources as the first person to introduce the worship of idols into the

Hijaz Hejaz is a historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al-Bahah. It is thus known as the "Western Province ...

. He was also known as Abu al-Asnam (Father of Idols).

Biography

Family

The full lineage of 'Amr ibn Luhayy has been listed by several genealogists as: 'Amr, son of Luhayy, son of Qam'ah, son of Ilyas, son of Mudar, son of Nizar, son of Ma'ad, son of Adnan. Hence we can see that 'Amr is a descendant of

Adnan Adnan () is traditionally regarded as the patriarch of the Adnanite Arabs, a major Arab lineage that historically inhabited Northern, Western, Eastern, and Central Arabia. The Adnanites are distinct from the Qahtanite Arabs of Southern Arabia ...

, from the

Mudar The Mudar () was a principal grouping of the northern Arab tribes. History The Mudar and Rabi'a are recorded in central Arabia in the Arabic histories of the pre-Islamic period; the kings of the Kindah bore the title of "king of the Ma'add ( ...

tribal group.

Ibn Ishaq Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar al-Muttalibi (; – , known simply as Ibn Ishaq, was an 8th-century Muslim historian and hagiographer who collected oral traditions that formed the basis of an important biography of the Islamic proph ...

also adds on that

Mudrikah ibn Ilyas Mudrikah ibn Ilyas (), was a tribal leader in the era of pre-Islamic Arabia. Mudrikah is the father of Hudhayl, who would be the progenitor of the Banu Hudhayl tribe. He is also one of the ancestors of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Genealog ...

and Khuzaymah are the uncle and cousin of 'Amr, respectively; while

Ilyas ibn Mudar Ilyas ibn Mudar () also spelled al-Yas was a pre-Islamic Arabian tribal chief and an ancestor of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is the progenitor of the Khindifite tribes, such as the Quraysh. A pioneer of pre-Islamic monotheism, Ilyas ibn Mud ...

is his great-grandfather.

Tribal affiliation

'Amr ibn Luhayy is associated with the

tribe, as evidenced by his nisba, al-Khuza'i. However, the Banu Khuza'ah are a

Qahtanite The Qahtanites (; ), also known as Banu Qahtan () or by their nickname ''al-Arab al-Ariba'' (), are the Arabs who originate from modern-day Yemen. The term "Qahtan" is mentioned in multiple Ancient South Arabian script, Ancient South Arabian ins ...

tribal group and hence are not paternally descended from Adnan. Muslim

Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...

scholar

Badr al-Din al-Ayni Abū Muḥammad Maḥmūd ibn Aḥmad ibn Mūsā Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī, often quoted simply as al-'Ayni (; born 26 Ramadan 762 AH/30 July 1360 CE, died 855 AH/1453 CE) was a Sunni Islamic scholar of the Hanafi madh'hab and the Shadhili tariq ...

, in his commentary on Hadiths involving the Khuza'ah, explains that 'Amr ibn Luhayy was the son of Luhayy, an adoptive son of an Azdite chief named Haritha, son of

Muzayqiya Muzayqiya () was the leader of the Azd tribes and a king ruling parts of Yemen in the 2nd century CE. Muzayqiya succeeded his brother Imran in the leadership of the kingdom. During his time, the Ma'rib Dam collapsed which resulted in several Qahta ...

. Badr al-Din al-Ayni further explains that the wife of the

Adnanite The Adnanites () were a tribal confederation of the Ishmaelites, Ishmaelite Arabs who originate from the Hejaz. They trace their lineage back to Ishmael in Islam, Ishmael, son of the Islamic prophet and patriarch Abraham in Islam, Abraham and hi ...

Arab chief, Qam'ah ibn Ilyas, gave birth to Luhayy while she was staying with Haritha ibn Muzayqiya; Luhayy was adopted by Haritha afterwards hence 'Amr ibn Luhayy is Qahtanite by adoption and Adnanite by birth.

Ibn 'Abd al-Barr Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Abū ʿUmar al-Namarī al-Andalusī al-Qurṭubī al-Mālikī, commonly known as Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr ()

, however, takes a different approach by claiming that 'Amr is a great-grandson of

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...

agrees, and considered Qahtan himself to be a descendant of

Nebaioth Nebaioth ( ''Nəḇāyōṯ''; ) or Nebajoth is mentioned at least five times in the Hebrew Bible, according to which he was the firstborn son of Ishmael, and the name appears as the name of one of the wilderness tribes mentioned in the Book of Gen ...

Nicknames

'Amr became known by the title Abu al-Asnam (Father of Idols) by later Muslim authors.

Introduction of idol worship into Arabia

The traditional Arabic sources, from later post-Islamic periods, cite 'Amr as being the first one to introduce idolatry into the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

and change the religion of the Arabs from monotheism to polytheism. The traditional account goes as follows: It starts off with 'Amr, a well-respected and pious tribal chief, heading into the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

and meeting with the people there. Impressed by their idol worship, he becomes convinced that the idols are able to act as intermediaries for God. So he is allowed to take home one of their idols,

Hubal In Arabian mythology, Hubal () was a god worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia, notably by the Quraysh at the Kaaba in Mecca. The god's icon was a human figure believed to control acts of divination, which was performed by tossing arrows before the ...

, which he them sets up for the Arabs to worship during the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

season. 'Amr also introduces rituals and superstition into the monotheistic Arabian religion. With the help of a companion from the

jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

, 'Amr manages to locate and dig up the idols of the people of

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

that were supposedly buried on the coast of

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

. He then distributes the idols to other tribes who build temples to house the newly-discovered idols. Then, after a while, all of the Arabs begin worshipping the idols and forgetting about the religion of their ancestor,

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

. One of the few scholars who disagreed with this story was

Ibn al-Kalbi Hishām ibn al-Kalbī (), 737 – 819 CE / 204 AH, also known as Ibn al-Kalbi (), was an Arab historian. His full name was Abu al-Mundhir Hisham ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sa'ib ibn Bishr al-Kalbi. Born in Kufa, he spent much of his life in Baghdad. L ...

, who agreed that it was 'Amr who introduced the idolatry, but he credited Khuzaymah ibn Mudrikah as being the first one to set up the Hubal idol for worship (instead of 'Amr as stated in the above story).

Time period

Claude Addas dates the lifetime to 'Amr to be around the 3rd centuries CE, basing her conclusion off a commentary of the Kitab al-Asnam of Ibn al-Kalbi. The 12th-century '' Kitāb al-Milal wa al-Nihal'' regards 'Amr as being a contemporary of the

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

king, Shapur Dhu al-Aktaf, which may place 'Amr as living in the 4th century CE. However, idol worship has been recorded in the Arabian Peninsula in earlier years, including

Neo-Assyrian The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...

inscriptions that date to the reign of Assyrian kings

Sennacherib Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...

and

Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (, also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669 BC. The third king of the S ...

which provide clear proof of the Qedarite Arabs worshipping idols.

Islamic tradition

The fate of 'Amr in the afterlife as described by

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

was narrated in

Sahih al-Bukhari () is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar al-Bukhari () in the format, the work is valued by Sunni Muslims, alongside , as the most authentic after the Qur'an. Al-Bukhari organized the bo ...

Abu Huraira Abū Hurayra ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣakhr al-Dawsī al-Zahrānī (; –679), commonly known as Abū Hurayra (; ), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and considered the most prolific hadith narrator. Born in al-Jabur, Arabia to ...

: Bukhari himself agreed that the narration was authentic, as did later Hadith scholars like

Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj Abū al-Ḥusayn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj ibn Muslim ibn Ward al-Qushayrī an-Naysābūrī (; after 815 – May 875 CE / 206 – 261 AH), commonly known as Imam Muslim, was an Islamic scholar from the city of Nishapur, particularly known as a ' ...

and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani.Ibn Ḥajar: ''Fatḥ al-Barī''. Ḥadīth No. 3520; vol. 6; pg. 632.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luhay, Amr ibn 3rd-century Arab people 4th-century Arab people Islamic mythology Pre-Islamic Arabia