| Author | Hisham ibn al-Kalbi |
|---|---|
| Original title | كتاب الأصنام |
| Translator | Nabih Amin Faris |
| Language | Arabic |
| Subject | Pre-Islamic Arabian Religion |
| Genre | Religious, Historical |
| Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Publication date | 819 |
| Publication place | Abbasid Caliphate |
Published in English | 1952 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 74 |
| ISBN | 978-0691627427 |
The Book of Idols (Kitāb al-ʾAṣnām), written by the Arab scholar Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737–819), is the most popular of the Islamic-era works about the gods and rites of pre-Islamic Arab religions.[1] The book portrays pre-Islamic Arabian religion as predominantly polytheistic and guilty of idol worship (idolatry) before the coming of Muhammad, including at the Kaaba, the pre-eminent shrine of Mecca. This, for Al-Kalbi, was a degraded state of religious practice since the pure monotheism that, in Islamic religion, was instituted by Abraham (a hanif) when the Kaaba was founded.[2][3]