SHAFAQNA- On Friday 17th of Rabi-al-Awwal in the year of ‘Am-al-Fil in 570 CE, a child was born in the city of Mecca, who was named Muhammad (PBUH).
Muhammad means ‘Praiseworthy’, and the reason for this name, in the first place, was his praise in the sight of God Almighty and secondly in other heavenly religions and by all the beings of the world. He is the last Prophet and messenger of God for this generation of mankind, and he was born when the world was thirsty for a savior to save them from the depravity and corruptions that have penetrated even within the heavenly religions and led to human and moral decline.
The basic message of Muhammad (PBUH) is: “O’ people, say there is no god but Allah (SWT), and you shall be successful.” And also God Almighty said: “Muhammad is the Messenger of God” (Fat’h: 29), “And Muhammad is no more than a messenger; other messengers have gone before him.” (Aal-e-Imran: 144).
And what kind of messenger for the salvation of man is better than such a messenger that is a sample of creation and a source of pride for the world, and If there is no such person in the whole creation, no creature is worthy of life, and it is not without reason that God said about him: “if it were not for you, I would not have created the heavens”, Because the world needed someone to develop “ethics” and if such a person did not exist, the whole creation would be pointless.
‘Am-al-Fil
Muhammad (PBUH) was born in the year when the famous “”Am-al-Fil” incident took place. The story of this event is that Abrahah bin Sabah Ashram, the Christian King of Yemen, who saw that Mecca had become the Qiblah of the world, decided to build a cathedral to attract the attention of the people of Yemen and other lands, and when he built it, he wrote to the king of Abyssinia: “I have built a church that has never been seen before. After the completion of its construction, I will draw the pilgrims of the Kaaba towards it.”
The church that Abrahah built with religious and especially economic motives (to deal with the trade of different tribes with Mecca, which had become one of the trade centers of that time), was not welcomed by the people and some even insulted it, which caused him more angr and decided to march there to destroy the Kaaba and left for Mecca with his companions. First of all, he sent an envoy to Abd Al-Muttalib, the Grandfather of Muhammad (PBUH), who was in charge of “supporting” the pilgrims, that I will not come there to destroy the people, but my only goal is to demolish the Kaaba.
Abd Al-Muttalib’s answer to Abrahah was as follows: “We also do not intend to fight with you because we do not have the power to do so. But about the destruction of the Kaaba, tell Abrahah that this house is the house of our God and the house of his Khalil Ibrahim, the only Prophet of the monotheists. He can protect his house and Khalil’s house, and if he doesn’t want to, we can’t do anything.” It seems that when Abrahah’s companions reached Mecca, they also looted Abd Al-Muttalib,’s camels, and he came to Abrahah and asked for his camels.
Abrahah answered: “I thought you came to talk to me about Mecca and this house that you worship, but now you ask me nothing but to return your camels”…Abd al-Muttalib replied: “I am the owner of the camels, and the Kaaba also has an owner who takes care of it himself.” While ordering the camels to return him, Abrahah proudly said: “In this way, no one has the power to stop me from my goal.” After this, Abd Al-Muttalib went to Mecca and ordered the people to evacuate the city and take their possessions with them, and he himself went to the Kaaba and in the Masjid Al-Haram he prayed to God in a state of supplication and prayed:
“O’ God, a man protects his house, so protect Your House; Let not their cross and their craft tomorrow overcome Your craft. If You will to leave them and our Qiblah to themselves, You may do as You please. My Lord, I do not cherish any hope from anyone against them except You. O my Lord, protect Your House from them. The enemy of this House is Your enemy. Stop them from destroying Your settlement.”
Therefore, the God of Mecca, who is the protector of Mecca, sent swarms of birds named “Ababil” carrying stones named “Sajil” in their beaks and claws and showered these on the troops and destroyed Abrahah’s huge army.
It is said that Abrahah got wounded in the meantime and died in Yemen after some time, but Mecca remained the house of God and the Qiblah of the Muslims of the world. And this incident is mentioned in the Holy Quran in Surah Al-Fil as follows: “َHave you not seen ˹O’ Prophet˺ how your Lord dealt with the Army of the Elephant? Did God not frustrate their scheme? For God sent against them flocks of birds, that pelted them with stones of baked clay, leaving them like chewed up straw.” So it happened that this year was called “‘Am al-Fil” and the Companions of Abrahah, the enemies of the Kaaba, miraculously were destroyed.
After the incident of ‘Am-al-Fil
On the other hand, God honored the Quraysh and made them a chosen people to hand over the leadership of the Islamic world to a son of their descent. In the Holy Qur’an, it is said about the Quraysh: “˹At least˺ for ˹the favour of˺ making Quraysh habitually secure—secure in their trading caravan ˹to Yemen˺ in the winter and ˹Syria˺ in the summer—let them worship the Lord of this ˹Sacred˺ House, Who has fed them against hunger and made them secure against fear.”(Quraysh: 1-4).
It has been narrated that after the incident of ‘Am al-Fil, the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, seeing this process during which God increased the honor and glory of the Kaaba, found a firm belief in it, and the honor and closeness of the Quraysh increased so much that they were called “Ahlulullah” (Family of God).
With this event, it is as if God has laid the groundwork for the mission of his most perfect creation until the Kaaba once again becomes the Qiblah of the Muslims after a gap of several thousand years, from the time of Moses (AS) to the mission of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), no one can argue against the greatness of this blessed house.
The Kaaba, which is inside the “Masjid Al-Haram” of this divinely safe house, has become a symbol of the unity of the Almighty and the inviolability of purity, unity, equality and brotherhood of all Muslims, and God will undoubtedly be its protector and guardian.
God has said in the Holy Qur’an about Mecca: “Surely the first House ˹of worship˺ established for humanity is the one at Mecca—a blessed sanctuary and a guide for ˹all˺ people”.(Aal-e-Imran: 96)
This text is written by Mohammad Saeid Taheri Moosavi & translated by Fatemeh Aghaei for Shafaqna English. All rights reserved for Shafaqna.
Part of a series: Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Facts
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