CHAPTER 105: AL-FIL (THE ELEPHANT)

It was revealed in the Mecca period. It consists of five verses. It takes its name from the same word in the first verse. (H. T. FEYIZLI 1/601)

This surah deals with the state of Abraha, the governor of Abyssinia, and his army, who built a church in Sana'a (Yemen) to gather people there and, with a proud and tyrannical attitude—relying on his political superiority—intended to destroy the Kaaba, a sacred symbol of Islam. It also serves as a warning to enemies of the sacred in similar positions and situations, valid for all times. There is an important warning here, directed toward all ages, against people like Abraha who, relying on their authority, power, and wealth, prepare plans to attack or struggle against the sacred values of Islam. (H. T. FEYIZLI 1/601)

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

105/1-5 HAVE YOU NOT SEEN WHAT YOUR LORD DID TO THE COMPANIONS OF THE ELEPHANT?

Translation

1- [O my Prophet!] Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant [Abraha and his army, who came to destroy the Kaaba]?

2- 5- Did He not make their plan [to destroy the Kaaba] go astray? 3- And He sent against them birds in flocks [Ababil], 4- striking them with stones of hard clay [like hail]. 5- And He made them [Abraha and his army] like eaten straw [shredded and riddled with holes]. [He destroyed them.]

Commentary

(1) ‘Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant (who came to destroy the Kaaba)?’

You have seen the traces of what Allah did to the Abyssinians and you have heard the reports about it as mutawatir (frequent and consistent reports). Therefore, these are in the place of visual observation for you. (From Nasafi; S. HAWWA 16/382)

According to what is recounted in tafsir and history sources, Abraha, the general governor of Yemen—which was then under the administration of Abyssinia—built a large cathedral called Kulleys or Kalis in Sana'a to draw the Arab pilgrims, who visited the Kaaba in Mecca every year, to Sana'a. He sent propagandists to various regions and called the people to Sana'a to visit the temple. However, when this hope was not realized, he decided to destroy the Kaaba and marched on Mecca, probably in the year 570, with a large army that included an elephant named Mahmud/Mamut. (QUR’AN WAY 5/689)

(2) ‘Did He not make their plan to destroy the Kaaba go astray?’

Did He not make them lose? Did He not render it invalid? That is, they first set a plot against the House of Allah by building the Kulleya church to turn the direction of the pilgrims there, and Allah frustrated their plot by causing a fire in that church. Secondly, they set a plot against the House of Allah with the desire to destroy it, and Allah frustrated their plot by sending birds upon them. (From Nasafi; S. HAWWA 16/383)

(3) ‘And He sent against them birds in flocks.’

Zeccac says: "Birds in groups coming from here and there." (S. HAWWA 16/383)

What is meant by Ababil in the relevant verse is not people, but flocks of birds that Allah specifically created to destroy Abraha's army; the objects thrown by the said birds were not microbes, but stones of the baked brick type. Accordingly, the elephant incident is entirely a miracle. It is probably for this reason that Abdullah b. Abbas stated that an itch began on the bodies of the soldiers wounded by the stones thrown by the birds, and then their skin burst and their flesh fell off. In another narration, Abdullah b. Abbas (r. anhuma) said that he saw one of these stones thrown by the birds, which had red stripes like a victory bead, in the house of Umm Hani, the daughter of the Prophet's uncle Abu Talib. (From Razi) It has even been stated that Abraha met the same fate, his body was torn to pieces due to the stones that hit him, and blood flowed from everywhere. (MAWDUDI; M. DEMIRCI 3/637)

(4, 5) ‘(These) were striking them with stones of hard clay.’ ‘And (Allah) made them like eaten straw.’

The word siccil in the 4th verse, which we translated as "baked brick," means "petrified clay." The word asf in the last verse means "crumbs such as straw of crops and wheat husks eaten by moths, insects, and larvae, which the wind blows to and fro." Commentators have stated that the birds carried such stones in their beaks and feet and hurled them onto Abraha's army; as a result, many of the soldiers died due to the effect of these stones, and Abraha died in Sana'a after returning there wounded. (Tabari, Razi) The last verse, meaning "Allah turned them into eaten and trampled crops," shows what a great disaster Abraha and his army were subjected to and were ultimately destroyed. Because of the importance of this event for the Meccans, this year was called the "Year of the Elephant," and they used the event as the beginning of their history. (QUR’AN WAY 5/691)