The story of how historical Arabia became pagan

 The Arabs before the time of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ were followers of the religion of Prophet Ismail (alayhis salaam). They shared a common ancestor with the Israilites as they both descended from Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salaam). The Arabs used to worship Allah only, and they even made one of the Himyarite rulers a believer. But all these changed when the tribe of Khuza'ah entered the territory of the Arabs.

The leader of Bani Khuza'ah was Amr ibn Luhay al-Khuza'i. Amr was a respected man, and also a very religious person. But one day, Amr set out on a journey to various civilisations in the Levant. One particular civilization was that of the Amalekites. He was impressed by their devotion to the idols. Amr asked the cult leader, “Could I purchase one of these idol statues, so the Arabs can worship it?” The cult leader told him it was free of charge, and handed him the idol. When he returned to Arabia, he kept the idol safely in his house's storeroom. 

Amr also interacted with the Jinn, and one of the Jinn helped him to locate some idols that were buried on the coast of Jeddah. Amr dug up the idols, and was excited and surprised when he found out these idols were extremely ancient ones he never thought actually existed. He had only heard about the idols in stories his elders had narrated to him. These idols were the infamous Waaz, Suwah, Yaghooth, Ya'uq and Nasr, a group of idols dating back to the time of Prophet Nuh (alayhis salaam). 

During the season of Hajj, the Arabs all went to Makkah to perform the Hajj. Amr saw this as a perfect opportunity to introduce idol worship. So, he displayed the idols in front of the Ka'bah and presented them to the Arab pilgrims. Amr promised that these idols could give them money and power. The Arabs, who had become ignorant due to a lack of guidance caused by many years since Prophet Ismail had taught them, accepted the idols. They began praying towards the idols. One of the idols Amr introduced was Hubal.

A few days later, an Arab man named Ibn al-Zurib died. He was a baker who cooked a bread porridge for Arab pilgrims performing the Hajj. Amr ibn Luhay told the people that Ibn al-Zurib was still alive in his grave, and they built a house over his grave where they worshipped in it. Over years, this house eventually became a temple for the pagan goddess Al-Lat, and hence, this strangely meant that Ibn al-Zurib was deified as a female goddess.

Only a few people did not believe in this pagan religion that Amr introduced. But eventually, years passed, and Amr died. After several years, at least three hundred idols were present inside and outside the Ka'bah. Hubal was the main idol, standing above them all. After the Conquest of Makkah had happened, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ destroyed Hubal, and with the help of His cousin, he destroyed the rest of the idols and removed them from the Ka'bah.

Imam al-Bukhari reports a Hadith that was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah; The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I saw Amr ibn Amir Al-Khuza’i dragging his intestines in the Fire; he was the first one to release animals (for the idols).”

Source:

Al-Mufashshal fi Tarikh al-‘Arab Qabla al-Islam by Jawad Ali, volume 11 page 225 (second paragraph)

Dictionary of Arab gods before Islam by George Kader (about Amr ibn Luhay)

Fath al-Bari by Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (about how Amr rediscovered the idols)

At-Tahreer wa At-Tanweer by Tahir al-Ashour (additional information about what happened after Amr recovered the idols)

Sahih al-Bukhari (for the end Hadith)