Abraha

Abraha, also known as Abraha al-Ashram, was a Christian commander. He had become the ruler of Yemen after overthrowing the Jewish King who had burnt the Christians alive. During his rule in Yemen in the sixth century, he realized that the Arabs had made it a regular practice to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca and visit the Kaaba. This enraged Abraha greatly and he made a plan to prevent them from visiting the Kaaba. He, thus, built a grand cathedral in the city of Sana in Yemen to challenge the supremacy of the Kaaba but the angry Arab tribes did not accept the dominance of this cathedral over the Kaaba. This prompted Abraha to march towards Mecca and destroy the Kaaba. He set out for Mecca with a large number of his soldiers on elephants but when he tried to enter the city, his elephant called Mehmood refused to move further. This is when swallows with little pebbles in their beaks appeared in the sky and started pelting them on Abraha’s army which caused sores over their bodies. The sores were later likened to smallpox and measles which they had contracted for the first time. As Abraha’s army could not face God’s wrath, many of them died in the desert including Abraha who suffered the most and met a dreadful death. The year this happened is known as the “Year of the Elephant”. This account of Abraha’s expedition and his dreadful death is presented in the Quran (Sura 105).

Reference: Kahaan se aaye abaabeel Abraha ke liye/Tere basher ko maal-o-ghana ki haajat hai (Yusuf Taqi). Also see: https://www.rekhta.org/nazms/vaqt-kii-ret-pe-adil-mansuri-nazms

Abraha, also known as Abraha al-Ashram, was a Christian commander. He had become the ruler of Yemen after overthrowing the Jewish King who had burnt the Christians alive. During his rule in Yemen in the sixth century, he realized that the Arabs had made it a regular practice to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca and visit the Kaaba. This enraged Abraha greatly and he made a plan to prevent them from visiting the Kaaba. He, thus, built a grand cathedral in the city of Sana in Yemen to challenge the supremacy of the Kaaba but the angry Arab tribes did not accept the dominance of this cathedral over the Kaaba. This prompted Abraha to march towards Mecca and destroy the Kaaba. He set out for Mecca with a large number of his soldiers on elephants but when he tried to enter the city, his elephant called Mehmood refused to move further. This is when swallows with little pebbles in their beaks appeared in the sky and started pelting them on Abraha’s army which caused sores over their bodies. The sores were later likened to smallpox and measles which they had contracted for the first time. As Abraha’s army could not face God’s wrath, many of them died in the desert including Abraha who suffered the most and met a dreadful death. The year this happened is known as the “Year of the Elephant”. This account of Abraha’s expedition and his dreadful death is presented in the Quran (Sura 105).

Reference: Kahaan se aaye abaabeel Abraha ke liye/Tere basher ko maal-o-ghana ki haajat hai (Yusuf Taqi). Also see: https://www.rekhta.org/nazms/vaqt-kii-ret-pe-adil-mansuri-nazms