The Year of the Elephant

In the article The People of the Book we discussed how the Abyssinians returned to Yemen in the year 525 in retaliation against the injustice of Dhu Nawas. Dhu Nawas, the last Jewish king of Himyar, had burned thousands of Christians in Najran alive in fire pits. This horrific event is referenced in Surah Al-Buruj. The Abyssinian king Kaleb invaded Yemen, defeated Dhu Nawas and appointed a governor named Aryat. But it was not Aryat who would change the course of history. It was a general in his army: Abraha al-Ashram.

The Rise of Abraha

Abraha was an Abyssinian military commander who remained in service under governor Aryat after the conquest of Yemen. He was ambitious and dissatisfied with his subordinate position. When tensions between them escalated, Abraha challenged the governor to a duel. During this fight, a servant of Abraha intervened and killed Aryat treacherously. Abraha himself was wounded in the face, which earned him the nickname al-Ashram (the man with the scar).

The Abyssinian king Kaleb was furious when he heard that his governor had been murdered. He sent two armies to remove Abraha, but both were defeated. Eventually, Kaleb accepted the situation after Abraha swore loyalty and paid tribute. Thus Abraha became the undisputed ruler of Yemen, a position he would hold for decades.

Al-Qullays: The Cathedral of Sana’a

Once Abraha had established his power, he began aggressively spreading Christianity among the Arabs. His ambition extended beyond religious zeal alone. He wanted to replace the Ka’bah in Makkah as the spiritual centre of the Arabian Peninsula. To achieve this, he built an enormous cathedral in Sana’a: Al-Qullays (القليس), a name derived from the Greek word ekklesia (church).

Al-Qullays was a structure without equal in that region. Abraha wrote letters to both the Abyssinian king and the Byzantine emperor, requesting marble, mosaic artists and craftsmen. The result was impressive:

• The walls were constructed of stone in four colours: green, yellow, white and black
• A marble staircase led to the bronze doors
• The interior consisted of three sections: a great hall, a vaulted portal and a dome
• The dome was decorated with mosaics of gold and silver in the shape of crosses
• Precious wood, ivory and gemstones completed the decoration

Abraha wrote to the king of Abyssinia that he had built a church without equal in the world, and that he would redirect the pilgrimage from Makkah to Yemen.

The Desecration

When the Arabs heard of Abraha’s plan to replace the pilgrimage to the Ka’bah, the anger was immense. A man from the tribe of Banu Kinanah travelled to Sana’a, entered the cathedral by night and desecrated the building. This act of contempt drove Abraha into a fury. He swore an oath that he would personally march to Makkah and tear down the Ka’bah stone by stone.

The March on Makkah

Abraha assembled an enormous army. According to the narrations, it numbered around sixty thousand men. The most striking element of this army was the war elephant, a colossal beast named Mahmud. The Arabs had never seen a war elephant before, and the animal struck great fear into them.

The army marched northward from Yemen through the Arabian Peninsula. Along the way, Abraha encountered resistance from various Arab tribes, but none could withstand his superior force.

Dhu Nafar, a Yemeni leader, gathered Arabs to stop Abraha. He was defeated and taken prisoner. Rather than killing him, Abraha kept him alive as a captive.

Nufayl ibn Habib al-Khath’ami led the tribes of Shahran and Nahis in resistance. He too was defeated and captured. Abraha spared his life on the condition that he guide the army through the Hijaz. Nufayl knew the roads and passes like no other and had no choice but to obey.

When the army reached Ta’if, the Thaqif chose not to fight. They sent a man named Abu Righal along as a guide towards Makkah. Abu Righal died on the way at a place called Al-Mughammas. His grave was stoned by the Arabs for generations as a sign of contempt for his betrayal.

The army set up camp in the valley of Al-Mughammas, situated between Muzdalifa and Mina, close to Makkah. Abraha’s advance guard raided livestock from the surrounding areas. Among the spoils were two hundred camels belonging to Abdul-Muttalib ibn Hashim, the chieftain of the Quraysh and the grandfather of the Prophet ﷺ.

Abdul-Muttalib and Abraha

Abdul-Muttalib was the most prominent man of the Quraysh, a leader of impressive stature and presence. When he heard that his camels had been seized, he went personally to Abraha’s military camp.

Abraha had heard who this man was. Out of respect, he descended from his throne and sat beside him on the ground. Through an interpreter, he asked Abdul-Muttalib what he wished. Abdul-Muttalib replied that he had come for his two hundred camels that had been confiscated.

Abraha was astonished. He said: “When I saw you, I was impressed by you, but now that you speak, you have lost my respect. I have come to destroy the House, the religious centre of you and your forefathers, and you ask me about your camels?”

Abdul-Muttalib gave the answer that would go down in history:

“I am the lord of the camels, and the House has a Lord who will protect it.”

Abraha returned the camels. Abdul-Muttalib departed.

Back in Makkah, Abdul-Muttalib went to the Ka’bah, grasped the ring of the door and implored Allah ﷻ to protect His House. He knew that the Quraysh were powerless against this army. He then ordered the inhabitants of Makkah to withdraw to the mountains and passes surrounding the city. The city was abandoned. The fate of the Ka’bah now lay in the hands of its Lord.

The Destruction of the Army

When dawn broke and Abraha gave the command to advance towards the Ka’bah, the unexpected happened. The elephant Mahmud refused to move. Every time his rider turned him towards Makkah and struck him, Mahmud lay down and refused to stand. But when they turned him in another direction, to the south, east or north, he stood up and walked. Towards the Ka’bah, he would not move. The animal that was the mightiest weapon of the army refused to approach the Sacred House.

Then Allah ﷻ sent swarms of birds upon them. Wave after wave they came, small birds resembling swallows, in numbers that darkened the sky. The Arabs called them Ababil, birds that came in successive groups. Each bird carried three stones: one in its beak and one in each claw. They were stones of baked clay, hijara min sijjil, no larger than lentils or chickpeas.

When these stones struck a soldier, the effect was devastating. The stones pierced through bodies and caused wounds that spread. A large part of the army was killed on the spot. The rest fled in all directions, in blind panic, without formation, without leaders.

Nufayl ibn Habib, the guide who had been forced by Abraha to march along, stood on a mountain above the valley and witnessed everything. He composed the verse:

“Where do they wish to flee when the True God is the pursuer? Al-Ashram is the defeated, not the victor.”

When the fleeing soldiers called upon Nufayl to lead them back to Yemen, he remained hidden on the mountain. He had no intention of guiding a doomed army.

Abraha himself survived the initial destruction, but his body began to fall apart. According to the narrations, he lost his limbs one by one as he tried to return to Yemen. He died in Sana’a, broken and humiliated, a man who had sworn to destroy the House of Allah ﷻ and who was himself destroyed.

Wadi al-Muhassar

The valley where the army was destroyed, called Wadi al-Muhassar, is situated between Muzdalifa and Mina in the sacred area around Makkah. To this day, pilgrims walk at a quickened pace through this valley during the Hajj, as a reminder of the divine punishment that took place there. The Prophet ﷺ himself gave the instruction to walk swiftly through this valley and not to linger.

The Significance

Allah ﷻ did not protect the Ka’bah at that moment for the sake of the Quraysh. The Quraysh were idol worshippers who had filled the House of Ibrahim ﵇ with images. Allah ﷻ protected His House because it is His House, and because there was a plan greater than what the people could comprehend. In that same year, merely fifty days after the destruction of Abraha’s army, the last Prophet ﷺ would be born in that very city. The protection of the Ka’bah was not an endpoint. It was a preparation for the greatest transformation the world would ever know.