The Life of Muhammad The Prophet
The Year of the Elephant
The above-mentioned episode happened in his youth. Now we come to the
most important event of his life which took place just eight years
before his death. By then, he was the patriarch of the tribe.
The Ethiopian governor of Yemen, Abraha al-Ashram, envied the reverence
in which the Ka'bah was held by the Arabs. Being a staunch Christian, he
built a big cathedral in Sanaa (the capital of Yemen) and ordered the
Arabs to go there for pilgrimage instead. The order was ignored. Not
only that; someone entered the cathedral and made it unclean. The wrath
of Abraha knew no bounds. In his fury, he decided to avenge it by
demolishing and desecrating the Ka'bah itself. He advanced with a large
army towards Mecca.
There were many elephants in his army; he himself rode a huge elephant.
It was an animal which the Arabs had not seen before, thus the year came
to be known as 'Amul-Fil (the year of the elephant), and it started an
era for reckoning the years in Arabia. This remained in use until the
days of 'Umar ibn al Khattab when, on the advice of Hazrat 'Ali ibn Abi
Talib, he replaced it with the era of Hijra.
When news of the advance of Abraha's army came, the Arabian tribes of
Quraish, Kinanah, Khuza'ah and Hudhayl joined together to defend the
Ka'bah. Abraha sent a small contingent towards Mecca to capture the
camels and young people. The contingent captured many animals, including
two hundred of 'Abdul-Muttalib's.
Meanwhile, a man from the tribe of Himyar was sent by Abraha to Quraish
to advise them that Abraha had not come to fight them: his only aim was
to demolish the Ka'bah. But if the Quraish resisted, they would be
crushed. Then followed a frightening description of his huge army,
which, admittedly, was much larger and better equipped than all the
tribes put together.
'Abdul-Muttalib replied to this ultimatum in these words: "By Allah, we
do not want to fight him. So far as this House (the Ka'bah) is
concerned, it is the House of Allah; if Allah wants to save His House,
He will save it, and if He leaves it unprotected, no one can save it."
Then 'Abdul-Muttalib, with 'Amr ibn Lu'aba and some other prominent
leaders, went to see Abraha. Abraha was informed before hand of the
prestige and position of 'Abdul-Muttalib. Also the personality of
'Abdul-Muttalib was very impressive and aweinspiring. When he entered
Abraha's tent, the latter rose from his throne, warmly welcomed him, and
seated him beside him on the carpet. During the conversation,
'Abdul-Muttalib requested him to release his camels. Abraha was
astonished. 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 respect in Arabia, and you say nothing to save it; instead,
you ask me to return your few camels back to you?!"
'Abdul-Muttalib said: "I am the owner of the camels, (therefore, I
tried to save them), and this House has its own Owner Who will surely
protect it." Abraha was stunned by this reply. He ordered the camels to
be released, and the deputation of Quraish returned.
On the second day, Abraha issued orders to his army to enter Mecca.
'Abdul-Muttalib told the Meccans to leave the city and to seek refuge in
the surrounding hills. But he, together with some leading members of
Quraish, remained within the precincts of the Ka'bah. Abraha sent
someone to warn them to vacate the building. When the messenger came, he
asked the people who their leader was. All fingers pointed towards
'Abdul-Muttalib. He was again invited to go to Abraha where he had a
talk with him. When he came out, he was heard saying: "The Owner of this
House is its Defender, and I am sure He will save it from the attack of
the adversaries and will not dishonor the servants of His House."
'Abdul-Muttalib then took hold of the door of the Ka'bah and, crying to
Allah, prayed in the following words (of poetry):
(O Allah! Surely a man defends his own home, therefore, Thou shouldst
protect Thy Own House. Their cross and their wrath can never overcome
Thy wrath. O Allah, help Thy Own people against the fellows of the cross
and its worshippers).
Then he, too, went to the summit of the hill, Abu Qubays. Abraha
advanced with his army. Seeing the walls of the Ka'bah, he ordered its
demolition. No sooner had the army reached near the Ka'bah than an army
of Allah appeared from the western side. A dark cloud of small birds
(known in Arabic as Ababil) overshadowed the entire army of Abraha. Each
bird had three pebbles: two in its claws and one in its beak. A rain of
the pebbles poured down from the birds, and in a few minutes, the whole
army was destroyed. Abraha himself was seriously wounded; he fled
towards Yemen but died on the way.
It is to this important event that Allah refers in Chapter 105:
Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the companions of the
Elephant? Did He not make their treacherous plan go astray? And He sent
against them birds in flocks, striking them with stones of baked clay,
so He rendered them like straw eaten up. (Qu'ran, 105)
Some historians have tried to minimize the impact of the Divine
intervention by suggesting that the army perished because of an epidemic
of smallpox. But such an explanation creates more puzzles than it
solves. How was it that the whole army was seized by that epidemic just
when it was advancing on the Ka'bah? How was it that not a single
soldier survived that epidemic? Why was it that no Meccan caught that
contagious epidemic? Moreover, if there was no epidemic in Mecca before
or after that sudden burst of the plague, where did the epidemic come
from?
This epoch-making episode happened in 570 A.D. It was in the same year
that the Holy Prophet of Islam was born to `Abdullah and Amina.