Do we have any surviving relics of the idols, or of idol worship, that were around the Kabaa in Mecca, from the time directly before Muhammed and Islam?

by ftumpsch
EndlessMichael

I'm not aware of any actual physical remnants of idols from the Kaaba. I think its very unlikely that any idols that were there would have survived, since Islamic tradition records that Muhammed had them removed and destroyed.

However, we do have a description of what one of those idols might have looked like by the Arab historian Hisham ibn al-Kalbi, who died around 821 CE, just under 200 years after Muhammed took control of Mecca. From his Book of Idols:

The Quraysh had also several idols in and around the Ka'bah. The greatest of these was Hubal. It was, as I was told, of red agate, in the form of a man with the right hand broken off. It came into the possession of the Quraysh in this condition, and they, therefore, made for it a hand of gold. The first to set it up was Khuzaymah ibn-Mudrikah ibn-al-Ya's' ibn-Mudar. Consequently it used to be called Khuzaymah's Hubal.

It stood inside the Kaaba. In front of it were seven divination arrows. On one of these arrows was written "pure" and on another [alien or unclear]. Whenever the lineage of a new-born was doubted, they would offer a sacrifice to it and then throw the arrows. If the arrows showed the word "pure," the child would be declared legitimate and the tribe would accept him. If, however, the arrows showed the word [alien or unclear] the child would be declared illegitimate and the tribe would reject him.

The third arrow was for divination concerning the dead, while the fourth was for divination concerning marriage. The purpose of the three remaining arrows has not been explained. Whenever they disagreed concerning something, or purposed to embark upon a journey, or undertake some project, they would proceed to it and shuffle the divination arrows before it. Whatever result they obtained they would follow and do accordingly.

Ibn al-Kalbi also describes some other pre-Islamic Arabian idols (these were not located around the Kaaba). Dhu-al-Khalasah "was a carved piece of white quartz with something in the form of a crown upon its head." Al-Fals "was a red rock, in the form of a man, projecting in the center of their mountain, Aja, which was black." Sa'd was a tall rock image where the smell of blood from sacrifices was so intense that it once caused camels to bolt, after which the herder "became furious, and picked up a stone and threw it at the rock saying, 'Accursed god! Thou hast caused my camels to shy.'

Again, Ibn al-Kalbi was writing almost two centuries after these idols were destroyed and he didn't see them for himself. He was also a devout Muslim and fairly hostile to the idols and their worshippers. But he also seems to have been a dedicated researcher who tried to double-check the stories he heard.

For example, he writes "The Khaywin adopted Ya'uq as their god. It was placed in a village of theirs called Khaywan, at a distance of two nights' journey towards Mecca. I have not heard of the Hamdan, or of any other tribe among the Arabs, naming any of their members after Ya'uq. Nor have I ever heard of any mention of Ya'uq in their poetry. I think this is because they were situated close to San'a, and consequently mixed with the Himyar and embraced Judaism with them."

In other words, he probably wasn't making up his descriptions of the idols out of whole cloth. Whether or not they are accurate is another question of course, but I think they are the best source we have at the moment.