Ka'bah nor they could have exchanged it with anything howsoever precious. The perturba-
tion caused by the declared intentions of Abraha set them on fire. Some Kinanite dare-devils
accepted the challenge and one of them defiled the cathedral by defecating in it. Now, this
caused a serious tumult. Abraha was enraged and he swore that he would not take rest until
he had destroyed the Ka'bah.
Abraha took the road to Makkah at the head of a strong force which included a large
number of elephants. The Arabs had heard awesome stories about elephants. The news
made them all confused and bewildered. Some of the Arab tribes even tried to obstruct the
progress of Abraha's army, but they soon realised that it was beyond their power to meas-
ure swords with him. Now, hoping against hope, they left the matter to God putting their
trust in Him to save the sacred sanctuary.
The Quraysh took to the hills and craggy gorges in order to save themselves from the ex-
cesses of Abraha's soldiers. 'Abdul Muttalib and a few other persons belonging to the Qu-
raysh took hold of the door of the Ka'bah, praying and imploring God to help them against
Abraha. On the other side, Abraha drew up his troops to enter the town and got his ele-
phant 'Mahmud' ready for attack. On his way to the city, the elephant knelt down and did
not get up in spite of severe beating. But when they made it face Yemen, it got up imme-
diately and started off.
God then sent upon them flocks of birds, each carrying stones in its claws. Everyone who
was hit by these stones died. The Abyssinians thereupon withdrew in fright by the way they
had come, continually being hit by the stones and falling dead in their way. Abraha, too, was
badly smitten, and when his soldiers tried to take him back, his limbs fell one by one, until
he met a miserable end on reaching San'a (101). The incident finds a reference in the
Qur'aan also.
"Hast You not seen how Your Lord dealt with the owners of the Elephant? Did He not
bring their stratagem to naught, And send against them swarms of flying creatures,
Which pelted them with stones of baked clay, And made them like green crops de-
voured (by cattle)?" [Qur'aan 105:1-5]REPERCUSSIONS OF ABRAHA'S FAILURE
When God turned back the Abyssinians from Makkah, crushed and humbled, and inflicted
His punishment upon them, the Arabs, naturally, looked up to the Quraysh in great respect.
They said: "Verily, these are the people of God: God defeated their enemy—and they did
not have even to fight the assailants." The esteem of the people for the Ka'bah naturally
increased strengthening their conviction in its sanctity. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. 1, p.57)
It was undoubtedly a miracle; a sign of the advent of a Prophet (r) who was to cleanse the
Ka'bah of its contamination of idols. It was an indication that the honour of the Ka'bah was