Abrahah tried to destroy the Ka^bah

والصَّلَاةُ والسَّلاَمُ عَلَى سَيّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ أَشْرَفِ اْلمُرْسَلِيْنَ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ الطَّيّبِيْنَ الطَّاهِرِيْن

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born in Makkah in the year when the Abyssinian (Ethiopian) Abrahah tried to destroy the Ka^bah. Instead, Allah destroyed Abrahah and his army. At that time in Makkah, the people named years by major events. Therefore, it is said that the Prophet ﷺ was born in the ”Year of the Elephant”. It was 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 ﷺ had been perverted and Abrahah had a blasphemous belief. Abrahah knew of the Arabs’ strong attachment to the Ka^bah and that many would travel there during the Hajj season. He built a huge church called Qullays in Yemen and wanted the people to come there instead of going 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. With the army they brought elephants; one was a very big elephant that would lead the others. When the army came close to Makkah, they attacked the livestock in the area. They took 200 of ^Abdu l-Muttalib’s camels.

By the time of Abrahah’s invasion, ^Abdu l-Muttalib ibn Hashim had become one of the leaders of Makkah. As most of the people in Makkah, he was from the tribe of Quraysh. Abrahah sent one of his soldiers to Makkah where he met with ^Abdu l-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.” ^Abdu l-Muttalib said, ”We do not have the ability to fight him. We will not try to confront him.” (Abrahah’s army was huge in comparison to the numbers of Quraysh).

^Abdu l-Muttalib

^Abdu l-Muttalib went with the messenger to Abrahah. When he entered the king’s chambers, Abrahah praised and honoured him then he told the translator, ”Ask him about his need from the king.” The translator asked and ^Abdu l-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 l first saw you l was impressed, but now l do not think highly of you. l came to destroy something you consider holy in your religion, and you do not even mention it! Rather you ask about you camels that were taken?”

^Abdu l-Muttalib replied, ”I am the lord (owner) of the camels, ”as for this House, (the Ka^bah), it has a lord who will protect it.” Abrahah returned the camels to ^Abdu l-Muttalib. Fearing that the army would harm people on its way to Makkah, ^Abdu l-Muttalib instructed Quraysh to disperse in the mountains, they obeyed him.

Abrahah directed his army towards Makkah with the large elephant in the front. However, the elephant refused to advance towards the Ka^bah 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 a large number of birds from the direction of the sea in small groups. Each bird carried three stones, two in its talons 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. 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 was unable to enter into the Holy mosque of Makkah. The Ka^bah was safe from his evil.

The people of Makkah

It was said that Abrahah’s army was 60,000 soldiers. All of them died instantly except for Abrahah and a small group with their commander, who returned to Yemen, told their story, then they died. Abrahah became very sick. His body fell apart, one small piece at a time. He did not die until his heart came out of his chest.

At the time when Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born, the people of Makkah were in the terrible state of worshipping idols. They believed that God was only one of many gods. The people of Makkah made many statues and worshipped them unrightfully. They believed that the Ka^bah was a special structure, but they put their ugly idols around it. People used fortune-telling arrows to make decisions and sought fortune-tellers for advice.

People came from all around to visit the Ka^bah and worship the idols there. They claimed to be following their forefather, Abraham, in making Hajj (Pilgrimage). However, their ugly actions were not in any way similar to Hajj by Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) before them. They circled the Ka^bah naked while clapping and whistling. The Makkah got wealthy from the money spent by the tribes who came to their city to worship unrightfully.

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was orphaned as an infant. Some scholars say that the Prophet was two months old when his father died, and others say that Aminah was still pregnant with the Prophet when ^Abdu l-Lah died. ^Abdu l-Lah left an inheritance of five camels, some goats, and a female slave called barakah (also known as Ummu 'Ayman).