Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, was born in Makkah in the year when Abrahah, the Abyssinian, came to destroy the Ka^bah. Instead God destroyed Abrahah and his army. At that time in Makkah, the people named years by major events. Therefore, it is said that the Prophet was born in the “Year of the Elephant”. It is the year 571 of the western calendar.
Abrahah was a Christian ruler in Yemen, ruling on behalf of the Abyssinian king. By that time, the true teachings of Jesus had been perverted and Abrahah had a blasphemous belief. Abrahah had built a church called Qullays in Yemen and wanted the people to come there instead of to the Ka^bah. However, when he found that the Arabs’ hearts were still attached to the Ka^bah, he set out with his army to destroy it. They brought a big elephant, which was the leader, along with other elephants. When the army came close to Makkah, Abrahah ordered his troops to attack the livestock. They took some of ^Abdul-Muttalib’s camels.
^Abdul-Muttalib Ibn Hashim was one of the leaders of Makkah and the grandfather of our beloved Prophet Muhammad. As most of the people in Makkah, he was from the tribe of Quraysh.
The king sent one of his soldiers to Makkah where he met with ^Abdul-Muttalib. The soldier said, “The king has sent me to tell you that he did not come here to fight you unless you fight him first. Rather, he came to destroy this house (meaning the Ka^bah). Then he will leave you.” ^Abdul-Muttalib said, “We do not have the ability to fight him. We will not try to confront him.”
The messenger of Abrahah came back with ^Abdul-Muttalib to Abrahah. When ^Abdul-Muttalib entered the king’s chambers, the king praised and honored him. Then he told the translator, “Ask him about his need from the king.” The translator asked and ^Abdul-Muttalib replied, “My need is for the two-hundred (200) camels that were taken from me during the attack to be given back to me.”
Abrahah told his translator, “Tell him: When I first saw you I was impressed, but now I do not think highly of you. I came to destroy something you consider holy in your religion and you do not discuss that with me, rather you talk about the camels that were taken?”
^Abdul-Muttalib replied, “I am the lord (owner) of the camels; as for this House, i.e., the Ka^bah, it has a Lord Who will protect it.” Abrahah returned his camels to him. Fearing that the army would harm people on its way to Makkah, ^Abdul-Muttalib instructed Quraysh to disperse in the mountains. They obeyed him.
Abrahah directed his army towards Makkah with the big elephant in the front. However, the elephant refused to move despite the beating and orders given to it. To their surprise, when they directed it towards Yemen and ash-Sham areas, it ran quickly without delay.
Then, God sent birds from the direction of the sea in small groups. Each bird had three stones, two in its feet, and one in its beak. Each stone was bigger than the size of a lentil but smaller than the size of a chickpea, and on each was written the name of one of Abrahah’s soldiers. The stone would fall on the named soldier, enter from his head, and leave from his bottom, killing him. Thus, Abrahah’s army was destroyed and did not enter into the Holy Mosque of Makkah.
It was said that there were 60,000 soldiers. None of them returned, except for a small group with their commander, who told their story; then he died. Abrahah became very sick. His body fell apart, small piece by small piece. Abrahah did not die until his heart came out of his chest.
