Companions of " Elephant
By: Hussain"eSho#comer
{Seest thou not how thy Lord dealt
with the Companions of the
Elephant? * Did He not make their
treacherous plan go astray? * And
He sent against them flights of
Birds, * Striking them with stones
of baked clay. * Then did He make
them like an empty field of stalks
and straw, (of which the corn) has
been eaten up.}
{Surat Al-Fil (105:1-5)} Chapter of
The Elephant
The "Year of the Elephant" is a
famous year in Islam's history,
marking the birth of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad (pbuhap) and
also the attempted destruction of the
Holy Ka'aba, the House of God (swt).
According to Islamic history the year
was 570AD, Abrahah ibn Ashram
(titled 'King of Yemen') built a great
church called "Al-Qullays" which
became very famous. Abrahah wanted
the Arabs to change their pilgrimage
from the Ka'aba to Al-Qullays and he
made an announcement for this but
the Arabs ignored it.
It is said that a person defiled the
church by defecation after the
announcement. This made Abrahah
very mad and he decided to demolish
the Ka'aba. After hearing of the army
of Abrahah the Arabs got very scared,
forty thousand men.
Before this attack went ahead, Abd
al-Muttalib the grandfather of
Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali
(pbut) had around 100-200 camels
which were plundered by the people
of Abrahah. Abd al-Muttalib decided
to speak to Abrahah.
Abrahah was very impressed with
Abd al-Muttalib and was awed by
him, he rose from his throne, warmly
welcomed him, and seated him beside
him on the carpet. However, upon
hearing the request of Abd alMuttalib to release his camels, he
said:
"When my eyes fell upon you, I was
so impressed by you that had you
requested me to withdraw my
army
and go back to Yemen, I would
have granted that request. But
now, I have no respect for you.
Why? Here I have come to
demolish the House which is the
religious center of yours and of
your forefathers and the
foundation of your prestige and
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