Army of the Elephant: Difference between revisions

'''Army of Elephants''' or '''Aṣḥāb al-Fil''' (Arabic: {{ia|اصحاب الفیل}}) was an army led by [[Abraha]] moved from [[Yemen]] to destroy the [[Ka'ba]] and [[God]] annihilated them by sending flocks of birds. In the [[Qur'an]], [[Sura al-Fil]] narrates this story. They say that after that year, all the people of [[Arabia]] found a strong belief in the Ka'ba.

[[al-Tabrisi]] and some exegetes have mentioned this issue that [[Abraha]] built a building like the Ka'ba in Yemen and ordered people to circumambulate it like in [[hajj rituals]]; but, they did not follow it and meanwhile, a man from [[Banu Kinana]] went to Yemen and polluted that place. Abraha became angry of that and said, "I swear by my [[Christian]] faith that I will destroy that house, so that no one goes there for visiting and [[hajj]]". Then, he ordered to gather elephants and prepared to move there with a group of people. In the middle of the way, Abraha sent a person to Banu Salim to call people to visit the building he had built like the Ka'ba, but he was killed and this made Abraha more resentful to move more quickly toward [[Mecca]].<ref>Ṭabāṭabāyī, ''al-Mīzān'', vol. 20, p. 362; Ṭabrisī, ''Majmaʿ al-bayān'', vol. 10, p. 822.</ref>

In [[al-Mizan]], [[Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i]] reports that some exegetes have considered [[Sura al-Fil]] and [[Sura al-Quraysh]] one [[sura]] and accordingly said that about Ashab al-Fil, God said, "If We did not treat Ashab al-Fil that way, We had indeed granted a blessing upon Quraysh and Ashab al-Fil were afflicted with this, so that Quraysh who had escaped from the city could return to it and live there and this made them love [[Mecca]] and the [[Ka'ba]] more than before."<ref>Ṭabāṭabāyī, ''Tarjuma-yi tafsīr-i al-Mīzān'', vol. 20, p. 630.</ref> About the independence or unity of the two suras, exegetes have extensively discussed.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāyī, ''Tarjuma-yi tafsīr-i al-Mīzān'', vol. 20, p. 630.</ref>