This is the amazing event mentioned by Allah Ta'ala in Surah Feel:
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ
أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِي تَضْلِيلٍ
وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ
تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍ مِّن سِجِّيلٍ
فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَّأْكُولٍ
Have you
not seen how your Lord dealt with the People of the Elephant?
Had He not turned
their plan into nullity?
And He sent upon them flying birds in flocks
throwing upon them stones of
baked clay
and thus He turned them into
an eaten-up chaff.
How the event unfolded:
Yemen was under the rule of Hiyar. Their last
king Dhu Nuwas cruelly burnt alive around 20,000 Christians [the event is mentioned in Surah Burooj].
Two Christian men managed to escaped. They fled to Syria and
took refuge with Caesar, emperor of Syria.
To avenge this cruel act, Caesar wrote
to Najashi [Negus; King of Abyssinia] as he was closer to Yemen. Najashi sent two governors with him: Ariat
and Abraha bin
as-Saba'h, along with a huge army of around 100,000.
The army invaded Yemen and conquered the country. Dhu Nuwas tried to escape, but was
drowned in the sea or committed suicide.
Abraha and Ariat fought each other
until Ariat was killed. Abraha was appointed the commander of the Abyssinian army in Yemen, and the governor.
In Yemen, he built a luxurious
cathedral called al-Qullays. The purpose was to honour Negus and divert
Arabs from Ka’aba. It was huge and tall so that a person standing at the bottom
was not able to see the top. He decorated the structure with gold, silver and
other precious gems.
The Arabs, whether Qahtani or Adnani,
were enraged and infuriated. One night, A Kinani Arab entered the church and defiled it. According to other narratives, a nomadic tribe halted near the church
and started a fire for their own needs. The wind on that day was blowing violently
and the cathedral caught on fire and sustained much loss.
When Abrahah found out, he swore to
march to the House of Allah in Makkah and destroy it stone by stone. He asked for
Najashi's permission. He sent for him a special elephant whose name was Mahmud.
It was unusually huge in size and powerful in strength the like of which had
never been seen before. The king of Abyssinia sent in eight more elephants as
reinforcements for the army.
The Yemeni Arabs raised an army under
the command of Dhu Nafr. Abraha defeated
them. This was due to Allah's will that no humans should protect His House and
His intent to expose the enemy to embarrassment and venerate the Sacred
Sanctuary to the highest degree. Dhu Nafr was taken prisoner.
The army continued on its way until it
came to the settlement of the Banu Khath'am tribe. Their leader, Nufail Ibn Habib,
led his tribe but they were defeated and Nufail was taken prisoner. Abrahah and
took him as his guide to Hijaz.
At Taif, the people of Thaqif wanted to pacify
him and were afraid that he would
demolish their temple of idol Al-Lat. They did not resist him and sent a guide
by the name of Abu Righal.
When they arrived in Al-Maghmas, near
Makkah, they settled there. This was the pasture where the camels of the
Quraish grazed. They captured two hundred camels of 'Abdul-Muttalib.
Abrahah then sent emissary Hanatah Al-Himyari
to enter Makkah and bring to him the leader of the Quraish. He did not come to
fight with the Makkans unless they stood in his way. Abdul-Muttalib replied: "By
Allah! We too have no desire to fight him, nor do we have the might to do so.
This is the Sacred Sanctuary of Allah built by His friend Prophet Ibrahim. If
He wills to prevent Abrahah from pulling it down, He will protect it. And if He
allows him to approach it, by Allah, we have no means to defend it."
Abraha was impressed with 'Abdul-Muttalib
who had the most handsome, charming and attractive personality. He descended from his
throne and sat with the latter on a carpet on the ground. He then said to his
interpreter to ask him: "What do you need?" 'Abdul-Muttalib replied
to the interpreter: "I want the king to give back my two hundred camels
which his soldiers have taken from me." Then Abraha said: "When I
first set my eyes on you, I admired you greatly and had great respect for you.
But all that is now lost. You speak only of your two hundred camels while you fully
well know that I have come to tear down your Ka'bah which is the embodiment of
your religion and the religion of your forefathers. You did not even say a
single word to persuade me to spare it." Abdul-Muttalib calmly responded: "I
am the owner of my camels and am concerned about them. I am not the owner of Allah'
House. The Master of the House knows how best to protect His House." Abrahah
rudely rebuffed: "Your God cannot protect it from me." Abdul-Muttalib:
"Then do as you like or [take your chance!]"
'Abdul-Muttalib took his camels and
ordering his people to leave Makkah and seek shelter at the top of the
mountains. He held the metal ring of the door of Ka'bah and implored: "We have no strength to
face the army of Abrahah. So, Oh my Lord! Defend Your Ka'bah."
Abraha mobilized his army, and they
turned the elephant towards the Ka'bah. Nufail whispered in its ears:
"Return safely where you came
from, because you are, verily, in the Sacred City of Allah. They are taking you to destroy Allah's house." Thus, it knelt and
didn’t go forward. They cruelly tried striking it with large iron spears and putting
iron arrowheads in its trunk, beat it on
its head with axes and used hooked staffs to pull it out , but it refused.
So they turned it towards Yemen, and
it rose and walked quickly. Then they turned it towards Syria, it walked fast.
Then they turned it towards the east and it walked briskly. Then they turned it
towards Makkah, it knelt and sat down again.
Some flocks of birds (unusual which
were never seen before) smaller than pigeons, and their claws were red in
colour, were seen coming from the sea. Each bird carried three pebbles of the
size of gram seeds or lentils, one in each claw and two in its beak. They flew
over the army and pelted them with the pebbles.
It tore directly through the body and settled
deep in the ground. Elephants fled in panic, except one which was destroyed by
the pebble.
Some were destroyed then. Others died excruciatingly
on their way back. Two of Mahmud's drivers remained in Makkah, but both of them
became blind and paralyzed. Sayyidah Asma' says that she would see the two blind and
paralyzed men begging in Makkah. Abu Yaksum got
all the way back to Najashi but the bird followed him and killed him no sooner had
he finished recounting the incident.
Allah Ta’ala afflicted Abraha with a
deadly disease. A kind of poison spread thoroughly through his entire body and
caused every single part to decay - his limbs began to rot and separate from
the rest of his body and he started losing one finger after another until his
heart protruded out. He had said that he would destroy Ka’aba brick by brick.
When the incident occurred:
It occurred approximately 50-55 days before the birth of Nabi Muhammad [upon who be blessings].
The event is known as an Irhaas. This means a miracle that happens prior to a Prophet becoming a Prophet. It is a prelude and indication to the people that a Prophet is soon to be born.
This event secured in the hearts of the people, the esteem of Quraish and the Ka'aba.
