Abraha al-Ashram

Abraha al-Ashram was the Abyssinian Christian viceroy of Yemen who led a massive military expedition against Mecca to destroy the Ka'bah in approximately 570 CE — the year the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born. This year became known as 'Am al-Fil (the Year of the Elephant) and was the standard dating reference for Arabs of that era. Abraha had built a magnificent cathedral called al-Qullays in Sana'a, Yemen, hoping to redirect the pilgrimage traffic of Arabia from Mecca to his church. When Arabs defiled it in protest, he led a massive army north to Mecca, including a war elephant (or several elephants) named Mahmud at the front. The Quraysh evacuated Mecca and fled to the hills, unable to resist the army. Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet's grandfather and chief of the Quraysh, went to Abraha to negotiate the return of camels that had been seized. Abraha asked why he came only about camels and not about the Ka'bah — to which Abd al-Muttalib reportedly said: 'I am the lord of the camels. The Ka'bah has its own Lord who will protect it.' On the day Abraha's army prepared to march on Mecca, the lead elephant Mahmud refused to move toward Mecca. When turned in other directions, it ran; when turned toward Mecca, it sat down. Then came the army of Ababil — birds carrying stones of baked clay, dropping them on the army until they were destroyed 'like eaten straw' (Surah al-Fil 105). Abraha himself is reported to have fled back to Yemen, diseased and dying. The Quran commemorates this event in Surah al-Fil (Chapter 105): 'Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?'