The Elephant Troops and Their Invasion of Kabah, A Momentous Incident before Muhammad's Birth

Before Muhammad was born, there was a momentous incident.

At the end of February 571 AD, six thousand troops came to destroy Mecca.  This army was led by Abrahah ibn Ash-Shabbah al Habasyi one of the rulers of Yemen. Abrahah was eager to tear down the Ka’bah. Why would he do that?

Abrahah was a Christian. He was annoyed since many people came to Ka’bah to do worshipping (although the practice had already been astray from the actual sharia of Prophet Abraham – people worship the idols surrounding the Ka’bah). Abrahah hated this fact. To attract people’s attention he tried to build a big tall gold-layered church at Shan’a to challenge the popularity of Ka’bah. However, it didn’t work as he planned.

Abrahah got more outraged after one night he found out a man from Bani Kinanah broke into his church and put camel’s manure on the walls at the central orientation of the church. He thus initiated to destroy Ka’bah with his elephant troops. Equipped with six thousand troops and 9 to 13 elephants, Abrahah was extremely assured of being able to tear down the Ka’bah. With his arrogance, he led his troops.

The citizens of Mecca heard the news. They anticipated the danger by escaping to the hills and mountains to avoid the attack. Mecca was like a dead town at that time. Not a single citizen stayed.

The elephant troops got nearer to Mecca. However, at the place between Muzdalifah and Mina, a strange thing happened. The 13 elephants suddenly stopped. They sat on the sand instead. These elephants would not walk to Kabah. Every time they are commanded to go to the south, north, and east, they got up and go. However, when ordered to go to Kabah, they wouldn’t do it.

Abrahah and his troops wondered this incidence. All of sudden, a flock of birds appeared on the sky. These birds (called birds of 'Ababil' - sent down by Allah) sounded so loudly that made Abrahah and his troops shut their ears. Without any prediction before, the birds dropped burning stones onto them. The stones were originally from the hell-fire. You can imagine that. They were scattered and tried their best to escape from the situation.

Every bird dropped three stones: one from their beaks and two from their legs. If the stones touch a man, the man’s will surely get holes like leaves eaten by caterpillars. Not everyone was stoned to death; some of them tried to escape but due to the great number of the troops, they squeezed each other and fell down. They were then stepped by their own friends who were also trying to run away.

Abrahah made it to escape to Shan’a. However, at the end, he suffered a strange disease. He felt his body joints were falling apart. He was just like a bird whose chest got split and his heart stood out and he finally died.