Idol-worship in Makkah:
The Quraysh continued to hold to the religion of Ibrahim and Isma'il, glorifying the creed of
Tauheed and the worship of Allah alone, until Amr ibn Luhayy became their chief. He was the first to deviate from the religion of Isma'il and to set up idols which he encouraged people to worship. Once he had
traveled from Makkah to Syria on business where he saw people worshipping idols. He was so impressed that he brought some idols back to Makkah and set them up, commanding the people there to venerate them.
Traditionally some people would take a few stones from the Haram, the sanctuary, with them when they traveled from Makkah as a token of respect for the holy spot. This led to the day when they began to worship any stones they liked. Later generations lost track of the reasons why stones were originally venerated and the Quraysh were happy to worship stone idols just like the people were doing in surrounding countries.