عام الفيل
The Year of the Elephant
The event of Abraha As-Sabah Al-Habashi, the Abyssinian (Ethiopian) viceroy in Yemen. He had
seen that the Arabs made their pilgrimage to Al-Ka‘bah so he built a large church in San‘a in order to
attract the Arab pilgrims to it to the exclusion of Makkah. A man from Kinana tribe
understood this move, therefore he entered the church stealthily at night and
besmeared its front wall with excrement. When Abraha knew of that, he got very angry and led a great army –
of sixty thousand warriors – to demolish Al-Ka‘bah. He chose the biggest elephant for himself. His army
included nine or thirteen elephants. He continued marching until he reached a
place called Al-Magmas.
There, he mobilized his army, prepared his elephants
and got ready to enter Makkah. When he
reached Muhassar Valley,
between Muzdalifah and Mina, the
elephant knelt down and refused to go forward. Whenever they directed it
northwards, southwards or eastwards, the elephant moved quickly but when
directed westwards towards Al-Ka‘bah, it knelt down.
Meanwhile, Allâh loosed upon them birds in flights, hurling against
them stones of baked clay and made them like green blades devoured.
These birds were very much like swallows and sparrows, each
carrying three stones; one in its peak and two in its claws. The stones hit Abraha’s men and cut
their limbs and killed them. A large number of Abraha’s soldiers were killed in this way and the others fled
at random and died everywhere. Abraha himself had an infection that had his fingertips
amputated. When he reached San‘a he was in a miserable state and died soon after.
The Quraishites on their part had fled for their lives to the hillocks
and mountain tops. When the enemy had been thus routed, they returned home
safely.
The Event of the Elephant took place in the month of
Al-Muharram, fifty or fifty five days before the birth of Prophet Muhammad
(Peace be upon him) which corresponded to late February or early March 571 A.D.
It was a gift from Allâh to His Prophet
and his family. It could actually be regarded as a Divine auspicious precursor of the light
to come and accompany the advent of the Prophet and his family. By contrast, Jerusalem had
suffered under the yoke of the atrocities of Allâh’s enemies. Here we can recall Bukhtanassar in B.C. 587
and the Romans in 70 A.D.
AlKa‘bah, by Divine Grace, never came under the hold of the
Christians – the Muslims of that time – although Makkah was populated by polytheists.
News of the Elephant Event reached the most distant
corners of the then civilized world. Abyssinia (Ethiopia) maintained strong
ties with the Romans, while the Persians on the other hand, were on the vigil
with respect to any strategic changes that were looming on the sociopolitical
horizon, and soon came to occupy Yemen. Incidentally, the Roman and Persian
Empires stood for the powerful civilized world at that time. The Elephant Raid
Event riveted the world’s attention to the sacredness of Allâh’s House, and
showed that this House had been chosen by Allâh for its ho. It followed then if any of its people
claimed Prophethood, it would be
congruous with the outcome of the Elephant Event, and would provide a
justifiable explanation for the ulterior Divine Wisdom that lay behind backing
polytheists against Christians in a manner that transcended the
cause-and-effect formula.
Brief Tafseer of
Surah Al-Feel
In the Name of Allah , the Most Gracious,
the Most Merciful
Have you not considered, [O Muhammad],
how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?(1) Did
He not make their plan into misguidance? (2) And He sent against them birds in flocks, (3)
Striking
them with stones of hard clay, (4) And He made them like eaten straw. (5)
[Quran 105:1-5]
(1) In this Surah while addressing the
noble Prophet ﷺ has
reminded the event of the destruction of the People of Elephant, who had come
from Yemen in the intoxication of their strength and power to demolish the
House of Allah, and said: ‘Allah is also Capable to destroy the wicked and
rebels of Quraishi in
the same way. Hence O My Prophet! Observe patience and wait for Our Decision.
The story of the People of Elephant proved by the chain of narrators. In
view of its fame and significance, the people of Makkah had made it the beginning of their
history. Ibn Hisham and
other historians who have mentioned the details of this event, its summary is
that Abrahah the
Abyssinian who was the governor of Yemen from Najashi (Negus) built a church in San’a’ so
that he might invite the people for its pilgrimage and circuit instead of the
‘House of Ka’bah’.
One person of Quraish on
hearing it became very agitated , and defecated in the church in the night, and
painted its wall with it. On hearing it, Abrahah became very angry, and set out to
demolish the house of Ka’bah with
a large army (in which there were 13 elephants). When he reached Makkah,
‘Abdul Muttalib
tried to convince him in every manner, but he was adamant on his stand. So
‘Abdul Muttalib said
to the people: “All of us will climb the mountains, and Allah to Whom the House
belongs will safeguard His Own House.”
Hence Abrahah in
the intoxication of his power moved forward, then by the command of Allah
swarms of small birds (Ababil)
came flying, carrying stones and pebbles in their beaks and claws and hurled
them upon the army. It is narrated that whomsoever the pebbles touched, their
bodies started itching, and their flesh started dissolving and all of them died
in and around the valley of Mahassar. Abrahah escaped, but also died after reaching
Yemen.
Like this Allah saved the House of Ka’bah and
the people of Makkah, and
this event became a scourge of lesson until the end of the world. None could
dare like Abrahah till
today, and nothing could interfere its peace and security.
In order to convince the people of Quraish for
the favour
conferred upon them, Allah said to the noble Prophet ﷺ:
“Have you not seen the proofs of the Power of Allah, His dignity of splendor, His
mercy upon His sevants, and
His Oneness and the truthfulness of His Messenger in the event of the People of
Elephant? How he made the conspiracy of the People of Elephant unsuccessful,
and in order to destroy them sent the flocks of birds which had come from the
direction of the ocean, the people of Makkah (who had climbed the peaks of the
mountains) had witnessed this scene with their own eyes, that they came upon
the army of Abrahah, and
hurled down the pebbles in their beaks and claws upon them, and they turned into the heaps of dead bodies before
their eyes, and looked like the eaten straw.
[Taisirur Rahman Le Bayanil Qur’an
by Dr. Mohammad Mohammad Salafi]
The Birth of the
Final Messenger to
Mankind
Muhammad (Peace be upon him), the Master
of Prophets, was born in Bani Hashim lane
in Makkah on
Monday morning, the ninth of Rabi‘ Al-Awwal, the same year of the Elephant Event,
and forty years of the reign of Kisra (Khosru Nushirwan), i.e. the twentieth or twenty-second of
April, 571 A.D., according to the scholar Muhammad Sulaimân Al-Mansourpuri, and
the astronomer
Mahmûd
Pasha. Ibn Sa‘d
reported that Muhammad’s mother said: “When he was born, there was a light that
issued out of my pudendum and lit the palaces of Syria.” Ahmad reported on the
authority of ‘Arbadh bin Sariya
something similar to this. It was but controversially reported that significant
precursors accompanied his birth: fourteen galleries of Kisra’s
palace cracked and rolled down, the Magians’ sacred fire died down and some churches
on Lake Sawa sank
down and collapsed. His mother immediately sent someone to inform his
grandfather ‘Abdul-Muttalib of
the happy event. Happily he came to her, carried him to Al-Ka‘bah,
prayed to Allâh and
thanked Him. ‘Abdul-Muttalib
called the baby Muhammad, a name not then common among the Arabs. He
circumcised him on his seventh day as was the custom of the Arabs.
[Ar-Raheequl-Makhtoom]
Did the Prophet ﷺ Celebrate the
Day of His Birth?
Praise be to Allaah.
There is nothing in the Qur’aan to
say that we should celebrate the Mawlid or birthday of the Prophet (peace
and
blessings of Allaah be
upon him). The Prophet himself (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) did not do this or command anyone to do it, either during his
lifetime or after his death. Indeed, he told them not to exaggerate about him
as the Christians had exaggerated about Jesus (upon whom be peace). He said:
“Do not exaggerate about me as the Christians exaggerated about the son of
Maryam. I am only a slave, so say, ‘The slave of Allaah and His Messenger.’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari).
What has been reported is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) made the day of his birth a day of worship, which is different to
celebration. He was asked about fasting on Mondays, and he said: “That is the
day on which I was born and the day on which I was entrusted with the Mission
or when I was first given Revelation.” (Reported by Muslim, al-Nisaa’i and
Abu Dawood).
Moreover, we know that the Sahaabah (may
Allaah be
pleased with them) were the people who loved the Prophet most. Was it reported
that Abu Bakr, who
was the closest of people to him and the one who loved him the most, celebrated
the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him)? Was it reported that ‘Umar, who ruled for twelve years, or ‘Uthmaan, did
this? Was it reported that ‘Ali, his relative and foster son, did this? Was it
reported
that any of the Sahaabah did
this?
No, by Allaah! Is it because they were not aware of
its importance, or did they not truly love the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him)? No one would say such a thing except one who has gone astray and is
leading others astray.
Did any of the imaams – Abu Haneefah, Maalik, al-Shaafi’i, Ahmad, al-Hasan al-Basri, Ibn Seereen – do
this or command others to do it or say that it was good? By Allaah, no!
It was not even mentioned during the first and best three centuries. The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said in a saheeh hadeeth:
“The best of mankind are my generation (or my century), then those who come
after them, then those who come after them. Then there will come a people who
will not care if their testimony comes before their oath or vice versa (i.e.,
they will not take such matter seriously).” (Reported by al-Bukhaari,
Muslim and al-Tirmidhi).
The celebration of the Prophet’s birthday appeared many centuries later, when
many of the features of true religion had vanished and bid’ah had
become widespread.
Thus this
celebration became a sign of one’s love for the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be
upon him)? But can it be possible that the Sahaabah, the imaams and the people of the best three
centuries were unaware of it, and it was only those who came later who were
aware of its importance?! What the Qur’aan tells us is that love of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) is demonstrated by following the guidance he brought.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say (O Muhammad): ‘If you (really)
love Allaah,
then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allaah
is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Say: ‘Obey Allaah
and the Messenger.’ But if they turn away, then Allaah
does not like the disbelievers.” [Aal ‘Imraan
3:31-32]
The first aayah explains that love is just a claim, but
the proof of sincerity is following what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) brought. The second aayah reaffirms the importance and necessity
of obeying Allaah and
His Messenger. Hence Allaah
ended the aayah with
a very stern warning in which those who refuse to obey are described as kaafirs, and
Allah does not love the disbelievers. We ask Allaah to keep us safe from that. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) told us of the danger of not obeying him, and the danger of adding to
what he brought. The celebration of Mawlid or his birthday is indeed an addition to
what he brought – as all the scholars agree. He said: “The best of speech is
the Book of Allaah, and
the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The most evil of things are
those which are newly-invented (in religion), and every innovation is a going
astray.” (Reported by Muslim and al-Nisaa’i).
We ask Allaah to protect us from bid’ah and
to bless us by helping us to follow. Allaah knows best. May Allaah
bless our Prophet Muhammad.
[www.islamqa.info]
[Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid]
A Necessary Caution
We should not deviate from the path of
moderation in describing the status of the Prophet ﷺ .
Here it is necessary to give word
of caution. Some people leave the path of balance in the love of the Prophet
ﷺ .
They attribute to him such qualities as have neither been mentioned by Allah,
The Most High, nor by the Prophet ﷺ . Some people leave the way of
moderation to the extent that they ascribe to the Prophet
ﷺ
attributes that are exclusive to Allah.
When such people are warned against this
immoderation, they justify it by their excessive love for
the Prophet ﷺ . At
the same time they blame those who forbid them that their hearts were empty
from the Prophet’s ﷺ
love.
They disregard the fact that the
Prophet ﷺ
himself forbade from exaggerations and spreading lies about him. Imam Bukhari
relates on the authority of Umar bin Al- Khattab that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Do not exaggerate in praising me
like chirstians did
in respect of Prophet Isa. In fact I am only a servant of Allah. You should
say: ‘Servant of Allah and His Prophet ﷺ .’ ”
Those who deviate from the path of
moderation in praising the
Prophet ﷺ
often neglect the fact that the Prophet ﷺ strongly forbade from ascribing to such
attributes as are exclusively reserved for Allah. When someone said to him:
“It will happen as Alllah
wills and as you will”
The Prophet ﷺ strongly rebuked him.
According to the report transmitted by Imam
Ahmed Bin Hanbal on
the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas, the Prophet ﷺ said to that person:
“Have you equated me with Allah? You should
instead say:
“As Allah alone wills.” ”
On the other side, we find some claimants
of the Prophet’s ﷺ
love, swearing by the Prophet
ﷺ.
They ignore the fact that it was the Prophet ﷺ himself who had forbidden us from
swearing by anyone other than Allah.
Imam Bukhari relates on the authority of Abdullah bin
Umar that he said:
“The Prophet ﷺ has forbidden swearing by one’s father.
He who needs to swear, should swear by Allah.
Claiming the love of the Prophet
ﷺ does
not mean that we should ascribe to him such qualities that he has denied from
himself. The true love of the Prophet ﷺ requires that we act as he has commanded
us to act and should refrain from those things that he has prohibited.
[Love for the Noble Prophet
ﷺ and
its Signs
by Prof. Dr. Fazal Elahi]
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